1996 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

1996 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

All-Ireland Champions
Winning team	Meath (6th win)
Provincial Champions
Munster	Kerry
Leinster	Meath
Ulster	Tyrone
Connacht	Mayo
Championship statistics
Player of the Year	Martin O'Connell (footballer)
← 1995 1997 →

The 1996 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was played from May to September 1996. Meath defeated Mayo in the final after a replay. The replay encounter is famous for the massive brawl between players of both teams after only five minutes of the challenge.

Provincial championships

Munster Senior Football Championship

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	Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Final
	Kerry		2-15
	Tipperary		1-7			Kerry		3-16
						Waterford		0-8
											Kerry		0-14
											Cork		0-11
						Clare		1-16
	Cork		2-19			Cork		2-16
	Limerick		1-6

Leinster Senior Football Championship

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	1st Preliminary Round				2nd Preliminary Round				Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	Carlow	4-17
	Wexford	1-11			Carlow	3-10
					Wicklow	2-10
									Meath	0-24
									Carlow	0-6
													Meath	2-14
													Laois	1-9
									Laois	3-9
									Kildare	0-13
																	Meath	0-10
																	Dublin	0-8
									Westmeath	0-11
									Dublin	1-18
													Dublin	1-9
													Louth	0-8
									Louth	3-8
									Offaly	0-12

Connacht Senior Football Championship

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	Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Final
	Mayo		1-11
	London		1-5			Mayo		0-14
						Roscommon		0-10
											Mayo		3-9
											Galway		1-11
						Leitrim		2-11
	Galway		0-19			Galway		2-13
	Sligo		2-7

Ulster Senior Football Championship

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	Preliminary Round					Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Final
						Tyrone		1-18
						Fermanagh		0-9
											Tyrone		1-13
											Derry		1-8
						Derry		1-16
						Armagh		1-13
																Tyrone		1-9
																Down		0-9
						Cavan		1-15
						Antrim		1-11
											Cavan		0-13
											Down		1-13
						Monaghan		0-9
	Down		1-9			Down		0-14
	Donegal		0-11

All-Ireland series

Semi-finals

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Final

1996 is generally remembered, rightly or wrongly, as the year that Mayo threw it away. Connacht had not seen a champion crowned at Croke Park since Galway in 1966 and after such a barren spell it looked as though Mayo would bridge the yawning gap. Mayo favoured the short passing game whereas Meath were a more direct side. The contrast promised an intriguing game.^[1]

To say Mayo dominated the first game would be a severe understatement. Time and time again the westerners approached the Meath goal, only to be stymied by a resolute Royal back line.^[1] At the break there points between the teams. The second half continued in the same fashion and such pressure began to tell. With eighteen minutes remaining, Ray Dempsey managed to capitalise on a mistake by the Meath defence and score the only goal of the game. At this point, Mayo held a six point lead over Meath and looked like securing their first All-Ireland title in 45 years.

However, as has happened so often in the past, Meath reacted to such adversity with their indomitable spirit.^[1] The final quarter saw Mayo only manage to score one point as Meath slowly reduced the gap. At the final whistle, Mayo fans did not know whether to feel relieved or disappointed. Few will forget the unlikely last Meath point as Colm Coyle hoisted a ball towards the Mayo goal, only to see it bounce on the edge of the parallelogram before looping over the crossbar. Meath had snatched a draw at the death and the final would go to a replay.

All-Ireland Final Replay

The replay will be recalled in most minds as the day that a huge brawl broke out after only 5 minutes had gone. It lasted a little over 30 seconds but remains one of the most talked about incidents in GAA history.

A Maurice Sheridan free-kick dropped short in front of the Meath goal and within seconds, a scramble for the ball had turned into a full scale brawl between the teams. A plethora of mean blows were struck in the melee. Just three players in the opposite end of the field; the Mayo goalkeeper John Madden, his full-back Kevin Cahill and Meath full-forward Brendan O'Reilly were not involved. Everyone else had been drawn to that corner of the field between Hill 16 and the Cusack Stand where most of the action took place.^[2]

When order was restored, referee Pat McEnaney consulted with his officials was in no doubt about the correct course of action. The net result was the dismissal of Mayo's hugely influential Liam McHale and Meath's saviour the first day Colm Coyle. While the Royal would miss their classy defender there is little doubt that the loss of McHale to Mayo was a bigger body blow, who was man of the match in the drawn game.^[2]

As play resumed, there were over sixty minutes left to play in which the Connacht champions led for much of it. Mayo re-organised their formation and gained the upper hand when substitute PJ Loftus struck the first goal of the game near the end of the first-half. However, within a minute of the goal that had put Mayo seven points clear, Meath were given a lifeline. Pat McEnaney awarded Meath a penalty and Trevor Giles kept his cool to strike past John Madden. The goal cut Mayo's interval lead to four points, 1-06 to 1-02.^[2]

Mayo dug deep to sustain their lead in the second half but Meath managed to take the lead against the run of play late on. The turning point came when Pat Holmes fouled Graham Geraghty, and the Meath wing forward slipped a quick free into Dowd, who slid the ball to the net. The goal put Meath one point clear and with five minutes left to go, it was still neck and neck. Brendan O'Reilly scored a point that sealed victory at the very death for the Royal county, despite a last-gasp Mayo onslaught.^[2] A young Jason Gill was left heartbroken after the match and vowed never to play football again for his beloved Kiltimagh. Gill went on to have a successful handball career touring America.

Meath Gold and Green Shirts/Green Shorts/Green Socks	2-09 - 1-11 (final score after 70 minutes)	Mayo Green and Red shirts/White shorts/Red socks
Manager: Sean Boylan Team: Conor Martin(GK) Mark O’Reilly Darren Fay Martin O’Connell Colm Coyle Enda McManus Paddy Reynolds Jimmy McGuinness John McDermott Trevor Giles Tommy Dowd (Capt.) Graham Geraghty Colm Brady Brendan Reilly Barry Callaghan Substitutes: John Devine, Ollie Murphy	Half-time: 1-02 - 1-06 Competition: All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (Final Replay) Date: 15.30 BST Sunday, 29 September, 1996 Venue: Croke Park, Dublin Attendance: ? Referee: Pat McEnaney Match rules: 70 minutes. Replay if scores still level. Maximum of 3 substitutions.	Manager: John Maughan Team: John Madden (GK) D Flanagan Kevin Cahill Kenneth Mortimer Pat Holmes James Nallen Noel Connelly (Capt.) Liam McHale David Brady James Horan Colm McManamon Maurice Sheridan Ray Dempsey John Casey A Finnerty Substitutes: PJ Loftus, Pat Fallon, T Reilly, J Gill

References

• Meath keep heads to deny luckless Mayo
• Football Final Draws

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Trophy Leinster Connacht Munster Ulster Records and statistics Winning captains Winning managers Winning players Losing players Winning teams Seasons 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Finals 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Connacht Championship Leinster Championship Munster Championship Ulster Championship