75,000 at Croke Park for Man Utd shows what might have been: the 1990s plan to put a Premier League club in Dublin

The 75,000 fans who packed Croke Park for Manchester United's pre-season friendly with Leeds United earlier this month set a record for a football match in the Republic of Ireland. But what if such occasions were a fortnightly norm rather than summer one-offs?

Three decades ago, an audacious plan almost made it happen.

What was the idea?

In the mid-1990s, Wimbledon FC were ground-sharing with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, with chairman Sam Hammam locked in a dispute with Merton Council over a new home. Tommy Higgins, then working for Ticketmaster Ireland, spotted the opportunity: a property developer named Owen O'Callaghan had planning permission for a 40,000-seater stadium on the outskirts of Dublin. A stadium in need of a club, a club in need of a stadium.

A consortium formed, eventually including broadcaster Eamon Dunphy and Paul McGuinness, manager of U2. They prepared a £6 million bid for 74% of Wimbledon.

Did the players want it?

Former Wimbledon and Ireland defender Kenny Cunningham told the BBC: "The English boys were a bit insular maybe. The lads were talking as if Dublin was the other side of the world, then asking if it was a good night out. A good night out in Dublin... are you serious? I was telling them they were going to love it."

What stopped it?

The fans were horrified. Supporter Ivor Heller said: "Nothing against Dublin, but if we moved there, it was the end of the football club. It could never be Wimbledon in Dublin." He printed placards that read "Dublin = Death."

The Football Association of Ireland feared a Premier League club in Dublin would kill the domestic league. And after 18 months of talks, Hammam went silent. Higgins was walking through an airport when he looked up at a television to see that Hammam had sold 80% of the club to Norwegian investors for £26 million, more than four times their bid.

A shopping centre now sits where the Premier League stadium was to be built.

What happened next?

Wimbledon were controversially relocated to Milton Keynes in 2004. Supporters founded AFC Wimbledon, starting in the ninth tier and climbing back to League One. They have since returned to a newly built stadium at Plough Lane.

Higgins, now chairman of League of Ireland side Sligo Rovers, still has the unsigned contract. "People would be laughing now," he said, "but it's something that would have worked, no doubt about it."