Derry Senior Football Championship

The Derry Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football club competition between the top Derry GAA clubs. The winners of the Derry Championship are awarded the John McLaughlin Cup and qualify to represent Derry in the Ulster Senior Club Football Championship and, if they win Ulster, go on to the All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship.

Bellaghy have won the competition more than any other club with 21 successes. The current Derry senior champions are Ballinderry Shamrocks who won their 13th title in October 2013, defeating Ballinascreen in the final at Celtic Park in Derry City. Bellaghy's Tom Scullion has more senior Championship medals than anyone in Derry, picking up medals between 1956 and 1971.

Format

Before 1958, three regional tournaments were played to help determine the Derry Senior Football Championship finalists - the South Derry Senior Football Championship, the North Derry Senior Football Championship and the Derry City Senior Football Championship. Of the three winners, one would get a bye to the final (on alternating years) and the other two would play a semi-final to see who would meet them in the Derry Senior Football Championship final. 1957 was the last year of this system and from 1958 on the championship took the structure of an open-draw knock-out.

Since the 2007 Championship, the championship was altered to include a round robin, group structure with the 16 teams divided into four groups (since 2008 the groups have been seeded by the previous year's finishing league positions. Each club in a group plays each other once with the top two in each group advancing to the quarter-finals. From the quarter-finals onwards the competition takes the format of a knock-out.

The format will be changed once again for the 2009 Championship.^[1] The Derry Competitions Control Committee accepted a proposal to scrap the group stage and introduce a "backdoor" system.^[1] The 16 clubs will play in the first round. In the second round the eight first round winners will be drawn against each other, with the four winners going into bowl A for the quarter-finals.^[1] The eight first round losers will also be drawn against each other and the four winners will advance to the quarter-finals (in bowl B).^[1] Teams in bowl A will be drawn out against teams from bowl B to make up the quarter-final draw.^[1] From there on the competition will be an open-draw knock-out.^[1]

All matches in the competition are played at neutral venues.

Trophy

At the end of the final, the winning team is presented with the John McLaughlin Cup, which they hold until the following year's final. The First Trust Top Scorer award (sponsored by First Trust Bank) was introduced in 1988 and awarded every year since to the player who scores the most over the course of that year's championship. Since 1989 the man of the match in the final is awarded with the Forbes' Kitchens Man of the Match award (sponsored by Forbes' Kitchens).

Top winners

Notes:

• 1914 Clan Chonail are a Donegal team.
• 1916 Sarsfield's are now defunct. They were a Derry City club, a fore-runner to the modern-day Doire Colmcille club.
• 1930 Buncrana are a Donegal team.
• 1931 Burt are a Donegal team.

Roll of honour

Notes:

• 1907 - Éire Óg club is now defunct.
• 1938 - Pearse's was a Derry City club, now defunct.
• 1944 - Mitchel's was a Derry City club, now defunct.

See also

• Derry GAA club football competitions
• Derry Senior Hurling Championship

References

External links

• Official Derry GAA website
• Derry at Hogan Stand
• Derry at ClubGAA