/https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.footballgroundguide.com%2Fmain%2F2026%2F08%2FICONSPORT_241669_0015-1.jpg)
Manchester United are set to face Leeds United in a blockbuster pre-season friendly at Croke Park on Wednesday, 12 August, with fans of both clubs set to pack out the iconic stadium.
Tickets for the match have been officially sold out since April, but demand among local supporters has remained through the roof. As a result, the resale market for these tickets is extremely active, with tickets now going for more than £250.
Ticket touting continues to plague the sport
While the act of ticket touting outside stadiums has now largely disappeared, digital touting has arguably never been more prevalent.
This is seemingly an issue worsening in Ireland, despite ticket touting laws being passed five years ago. Fine Gael TD John Clendennen has called on Irish law enforcement, the Gardai, to do something about it. He told the Independent:
“The pattern is always the same: strong legislation, but no visible enforcement. Ordinary fans who missed out on the official sale are now being asked to pay hundreds of euro to touts, while the law designed to stop this sits unused.
“The Gardai need to act now, not after the final whistle has blown. This is a sold-out, family-friendly fixture at a stadium which has been legally designated to prevent this kind of price-gouging, and yet the tickets are sitting openly on resale sites at multiples of their face value.”
Manchester United will face Leeds in a sold out Croke Park on Wednesday.
— Kev 屮 (@UtdKev08) August 9, 2026
It’s the 3rd largest stadium in Europe with a capacity of 82,000.
It will be the FIRST time the stadium has host a club football game with the stadium usually hosting Gaelic Football.
A special stadium. 🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/qKSbq7q3J9
According to Clendennen, this is an issue that has been seen at other major sporting events in Ireland in recent years, including Six Nations Rugby Union matches and the Ryder Cup.
“I will continue to engage and work with An Garda Síochána and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission [CCPC] to ensure they have the powers they need to take action against operators openly advertising these tickets.”
“Since the Act commenced in 2021, there has not been a single prosecution. That needs to change.”
FGG says: A means to an end that must come to an end
The issue with ticket touting is that for some fans, paying over the odds for an in-demand match is worth it if it means they get into the stadium. However, when you consider the wider point that far more face value tickets will be available for such matches if touts were unable to hoard tickets, the original argument loses value. Clendennen is right – it's time to prosecute touts.