Dublin are set to play three of their National Football League home fixtures next season as double headers in Croke Park alongside rivals Meath.
With Páirc Tailteann in Navan unavailable because of redevelopment work, Meath will play their “home” 2026 National Football League Division Two matches in Croke Park.
And all three of those games are to act as curtain raisers to Division One contests involving Ger Brennan’s Dubs.
The provisional fixtures for the opening night of the 2026 league campaign on Saturday, January 24th, see Meath facing Derry at Croke Park, followed by Dublin’s season throwing in with a clash against Donegal.
READ MORE
In the third round of matches, on the weekend of February 14th-15th, Meath will play Louth in a repeat of the 2025 Leinster final, which was won by the Wee County. On the same bill at GAA headquarters, Dublin are to host Monaghan.
In Round Six, on the weekend of March 14th-15th, Meath’s final home league game will see the Royals host Tyrone at Croke Park and that match is to be followed by a Division One showdown between Dublin and Kieran McGeeney’s Armagh.
The Dubs are also set to host Kerry in Round Four on Saturday, February 21st, with Jack O’Connor bringing the All-Ireland champions back to Croke Park for the first time since their victory over Donegal last July.
All fixtures are subject to confirmation and are under consideration by county boards before they will be finalised by the Central Competitions Control Committee.
Dublin are no strangers to playing their home league games at Croke Park. They have nominated the stadium as their home venue since 2011.
Indeed, only once since then have the Dubs played a National Football League game at Parnell Park – when they faced Meath in October 2020 in what was effectively a behind-closed-doors fixture due to Covid restrictions.
The last occasion the Dublin footballers played a league game in front of a crowd at Parnell Park was in March 2010, a 1-14 to 0-14 loss to Galway. Pat Gilroy was Dublin manager at the time.
However, attendances have been dropping at Dublin’s Croke Park games in recent years – particularly for their National League fixtures.
The combined attendance from Dublin’s three home league games at Croke Park last year just about broke the 60,000 mark. None of the games managed to attract a crowd of more than 25,000 – v Mayo (24,160), v Derry (18,920), v Galway (17,476).
The first two of those fixtures were also main events as part of double-header bills. For a curtain raiser to the Mayo football game in Croke Park, the Dublin hurlers played Antrim while the capital’s small-ball outfit faced Offaly before Dessie Farrell’s footballers playing Derry.
At Brennan’s official unveiling as new Dublin senior football manager in September, the St Vincent’s clubman was asked if he had a preference of Croke Park or Parnell Park for his side’s home league games.
“I would play matches wherever we’re asked to play,” he said. “In terms of where we play the matches, I don’t really care. I know there are seven games in the National League. Generally speaking, if you’ve four games away in year one, in year two you’ll have four games at home. It’s fairly fair that way so it doesn’t really bother me.”
Dublin had four away games last Spring – with trips to Ballybofey, Tralee, Armagh and Omagh. They will be on the road to Roscommon, Mayo and Galway next season.
Brennan’s first league game at the helm will see the former Louth manager go up against this year’s beaten All-Ireland finalists, Donegal.
His last match as Louth manager was an All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final loss to Donegal in Ballybofey in June, so he will be renewing acquaintances with Jim McGuinness but with a different crest on his chest.
Despite leading Louth to a first Leinster SFC in 68 years, Brennan stood down as Wee County manager in early July and one month later he was appointed as Farrell’s successor in his native Dublin.
For Meath, whilst the decision to relocate from Páirc Tailteann for next season has been forced upon them, Robbie Brennan will hope to use it as an opportunity for his team to become more accustomed to the routine of playing at Croke Park.
The Royals will be in an ultra-competitive Division Two in 2026 where the difference between promotion and relegation is likely to hinge on a couple of points.
Aside from Meath’s Croke Park fixtures against Derry, Louth and Tyrone, Brennan’s men will have away trips to Cavan, Cork, Kildare and Offaly.
With the possibility of Tailteann Cup football hanging over teams in the bottom half of Division Two, all eight sides will be scrambling for a place at the top end of the table.
