Sigerson Cup
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The Sigerson Cup is the championship for top division of university Gaelic football in Ireland. It is administrated 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).
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[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 in 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
Queen's University Belfast won the 2007 Sigerson Cup defeating UUJ in the final 0-15 to 0-14 at the Malone Playing Fields "The Dub". 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], and Queen's.
[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 | ||||||||||||
[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 | 5 | 2008 |
| 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:
- Athlone IT
- Templemore Garda College
- Dundalk IT
- Dublin IT
- Waterford IT
- University of Limerick
- IT Tallaght
[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 (UUJ) | Donegal |
| 2000 | Diarmaid Marsden | Queens University Belfast (QUB) | Armagh |
| 1999 | Jimmy McGuinness | Institute of Technology, Tralee | Donegal |
| 1998 | Michael Cloherty | Institute of Technology, Tralee | Galway |
| 1997 | Éamon Ferris | Institute of Technology, Tralee | Kerry |
| 1996 | Fachtna Collins | UCD | Cork |
| 1995 | Paul O'Keeffe | University College Cork (UCC) | Kerry |
| 1994 | Niall Savage | UCC | Kerry |
| 1993 | Paul Brewster | Queens | Fermanagh |
| 1992 | Seán Óg de Paor | University College, Galway | Galway |
| 1991 | Noel Donnelly | University of Ulster, Jordanstown (UUJ) | Tyrone |
| 1990 | Fergal Logan | Queens | Tyrone |
| 1989 | John Reihill | Queens | Fermanagh |
| 1988 | John Keane | University College Cork (UCC) | Kerry |
| 1987 | D.J. Kane | University of Ulster, Jordanstown (UUJ) | Down |
| 1986 | Colin Harney | University of Ulster, Jordanstown (UUJ) | Armagh |
| 1985 | Bill Sexton | UCD | Kildare |
| 1984 | Tomás Tierney | University College, Galway | Galway |
| 1983 | Richie Lee | University College, Galway | Galway |
| 1982 | Séamus Boyd | Queens | Antrim |
| 1981 | Gay McManus | University College, Galway | Galway |
| 1980 | Pádraig Monaghan | UCG | Mayo |
| 1979 | Tony McManus | UCD | Roscommon |
| 1978 | Gerry McEntee | UCD | GAA |
[edit] Roll of Honour
Bold text indicates first win.
