Sigerson Cup

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The Sigerson Cup is the championship for top division of university Gaelic football in Ireland. It is adminstrated by the Higher Education committee which is part of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The HE committee also oversees the Trench Cup (effectively Division 2) and the Fitzgibbon Cup (which is the Hurling university championship).

Contents

[edit] History

The Sigerson Cup, named after a former UCD University Professor, Dr. George Sigerson, is the trophy presented for the Higher Education Gaelic football championship. Dr. Sigerson donated the salary from his post at UCD so that a trophy could be purchased for the competition. The cup was first presented in 1911, with the inaugural winners being UCD.

In the early days of the tournament, only UCD, UCC and UCG took part. The competition has been run off every year since, with the exceptions of 1920, 1942 and 1967.

Dr. Sigerson was born in Strabane, Co. Tyrone, in 1839, and was a leading light in the Celtic Renaissance in Ireland. Dr. Sigerson's old Alma Mater, UCD dominated the competition from the off, and they lead the way with 32 titles, there greatest era being in the 1970s when they won the title six times in seven years. These Sigerson Cup wins proved to be the launch pad for success further afield, as UCD went on to add two All-Ireland club championship wins to their haul.

UCG are second in the pecking order in terms of championships won, currently having 21 victories to their credit. UCG actually outdid UCD in that they hold the record for the longest winning sequence. After their victory in 1936, the Galway University went on to claim the next five titles as well, and their six in a row is a record that will do well to be equalled.

As the years passed, the domination of the original big three was challenged by a number of new participants. Queen's University, Belfast, entered the competition for the first time in 1923, but did not enter thereafter until 1933. They have participated in the competition every year since, however, and won their first title in 1958. Queen's have eight titles to their name, winning their eighth tile this year 2007 defeating UUJ 0-15 to 0-14 in the final.

As society in general changed with time, and more and more people began to enter third-level education, the number of Colleges and Universities grew rapidly. The impact of these changes on the Sigerson Cup has been immeasurable. Trinity College Dublin first entered in 1963, followed by NUIM in 1972, University of Ulster (Coleraine) in 1976, and Jordanstown in 1985. The next colleges to enter were Thormond, NIHE Limerick and St. Mary's, Belfast, all in 1988. Further expansion, and the admittance of Regional Technical Colleges to the competition, saw DCU enter in 1990, the RTCs from Athlone in 1991, Sligo in 1992, Cork in 1995 and Tralee in 1996.

Tralee's entry to the competition proved especially fruitful when they won successive titles in 1998 and '99. The stranglehold of the larger Universities, UCD, UCG and UCC, has now been broken. The colleges in the North have gained a new confidence in the competition, and with a whole raft of new participants joining in recent years, the trophy is now harder won than ever.

[edit] 2007

The Sigerson Cup is now at the Quarter final stage. The Quarter finalists were UCD,[1] Sligo IT,[2], and Jordanstown beat the 2006 Sigerson Cup champions DCU to gain a place in the last eight. Other teams include NUI Galway,[3], Cork IT,[4], Maynooth,[5].

[edit] Last 16

  Quarterfinals
February 21
Semifinals
March 2
Final
March 3
                           
   UCD 2-05  
 Queen's 1-12  
     Queen's 1-11  
     Cork IT 0-07  
 Maynooth 0-10
   Cork IT 2-15  
       Queen's 0-15 (AET)
     UUJ 0-14 (AET)
   Garda College/UCC 0-09  
 Sligo IT 1-10  
     Sligo IT 1-11
     UUJ 0-18 AET  
 NUI Galway 0-09
   UUJ 2-11  

Sigerson Cup Results

[edit] Winners

Team County Wins Last win
University College Dublin (UCD) Dublin 32 1996
National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG, formerly UCG) Galway 22 2003
University College Cork (UCC) Cork 19 1995
Queens University Belfast (QUB) Antrim 8 2007
University of Ulster, Jordanstown (UUJ) Antrim 4 2001
Institute of Technology, Sligo Sligo 3 2005
Institute of Technology, Tralee Kerry 3 1999
Dublin City University (DCU) Dublin 1 2006
St. Mary's University College Belfast Antrim 1 1989
National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM) Kildare 1 1976

Other teams competing in 2006 with no titles so far:

[edit] Winning Captains

Year Player College County
2007 Daniel McCartan Queens University Belfast (QUB) Down
2006 Bryan Cullen Dublin City University (DCU) Dublin
2005 Christy Toye Sligo IT Donegal
2004 Michael Moyles Sligo IT Mayo
2003 Lorcan Colleran Galway NUI Galway
2002 Aidan Higgins Sligo IT Mayo
2001 Jimmy McGuinness University of Ulster, Jordanstown Donegal
2000 Diarmaid Marsden Queens University Belfast (QUB) Armagh
1999 Jimmy McGuinness IT Tralee Donegal
1998 Michael Cloherty IT Tralee Galway

[edit] Roll of Honour

Year Winners Score Finalists Score
1911 U.C. Dublin
1912 U.C. Galway
1913 U.C. Cork
1914 U.C. Cork
1915 U.C. Dublin
1916 U.C. Dublin
1917 U.C. Dublin
1918 Not Played
1919 U.C. Cork
1920 U.C. Dublin
1921 U.C. Galway
1922 U.C. Cork
1923 U.C. Dublin
1925 U.C. Cork
1926 U.C. Dublin
1927 U.C. Cork
1928 U.C. Dublin
1929 U.C. Dublin
1930 U.C. Dublin
1931 U.C. Dublin
1932 U.C. Dublin
1933 U.C. Galway Q.U. Belfast
1934 U.C. Galway
1935 U.C. Dublin
1936 U.C. Galway
1937 U.C. Galway U.C. Dublin
1938 U.C. Galway
1939 U.C. Galway Q.U. Belfast
1940 U.C. Galway U.C. Dublin
1941 U.C. Galway U.C. Dublin
1942 Not Played
1943 U.C. Cork U.C. Dublin
1944 U.C. Dublin
1945 U.C. Dublin
1946 U.C. Cork U.C. Dublin
1947 U.C. Dublin U.C. Cork
1948 U.C. Galway U.C. Dublin
1949 U.C. Dublin U.C. Cork
1950 U.C. Galway
1951 U.C. Cork U.C. Galway
1952 U.C. Cork
1953 U.C. Dublin
1954 U.C. Galway
1955 U.C. Dublin U.C. Cork
1956 U.C. Dublin
1957 U.C. Dublin U.C. Cork
1958 Q.U. Belfast U.C. Dublin
1959 U.C. Dublin U.C. Cork
1960 U.C. Galway Q.U. Belfast
1961 U.C. Dublin U.C. Galway
1962 U.C. Galway
1963 U.C. Galway
1964 Q.U. Belfast U.C. Dublin
1965 U.C. Cork U.C. Galway
1966 U.C. Cork
1967 No Competition
1968 U.C. Dublin
1969 U.C. Cork
1970 U.C. Cork Q.U. Belfast
1971 Q.U. Belfast U.C. Galway
1972 U.C. Cork U.C. Galway
1973 U.C. Dublin
1974 U.C. Dublin
1975 U.C. Dublin
1976 Maynooth U.C. Dublin
1977 U.C. Dublin U.C. Galway
1978 U.C. Dublin
1979 U.C. Dublin
1980 U.C. Galway
1981 U.C. Galway
1982 Q.U. Belfast U.C. Galway
1983 U.C. Galway
1984 U.C. Galway U.C. Cork
1985 U.C. Dublin Q.U. Belfast
1986 U.U. Jordanstown
1987 U.U. Jordanstown
1988 U.C. Cork
1989 St. Mary's, Belfast U.U. Jordanstown
1990 Q.U. Belfast St. Mary's, Belfast
1991 U.U. Jordanstown U.C. Cork
1992 U.C. Galway Q.U. Belfast
1993 Q.U. Belfast St. Mary's, Belfast
1994 U.C. Cork Q.U. Belfast
1995 U.C. Cork U.C. Galway
1996 U.C. Dublin Garda College
1997 Tralee R.T.C. University of Limerick
1998 I.T.Tralee U.U. Jordanstown
1999 I.T.Tralee Garda College
2000 Q.U. Belfast U.C. Dublin
2001 U.U. Jordanstown U.C. Dublin
2002 Sligo I.T. U.C. Cork
2003 N.U.I. Galway U.C. Dublin
2004 Sligo I.T. Q.U. Belfast
2005 Sligo I.T. Q.U. Belfast
2006 Dublin C.U. Q.U. Belfast
2007 Q.U. Belfast 0-15 U. U. Jordanstown 0-14

[edit] See also