All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
Current season or competition:
2015 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
Green and Sam
Irish Comórtas Shinsear Peile na hÉireann
Founded 1887
Region Ireland (GAA)
Trophy Sam Maguire Cup
No. of teams 33
Title holders Dublin (25th title)
First winner Limerick (2 titles)
Most titles Kerry (37 titles)
TV partner(s)

RTÉ, Sky Sports, BBC,
Setanta Sports, Premier Sports,
(TG4)

[1]
Official website http://www.gaa.ie

The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC), the premier competition in Gaelic football, is an annual series of games usually played in Ireland during the summer and early autumn, and organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). Contested by the top inter-county football teams in Ireland, the tournament has taken place every year since 1887—except in 1888, when the competition was not played due to a tour of the United States by would-be competitors.

The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final is played on the third or fourth Sunday in September at Croke Park in Dublin, with the winning team receiving the Sam Maguire Cup.

History

The first Championship to be held featured club teams who represented their respective counties after their county championship. The 21 a-side final was between Commercials of Limerick and Young Irelands of Louth. The final was played in Beech Hill, Clonskeagh (not Bird Avenue) on 29 April 1888 with Commercials winning by 1–4 to 0–3. Unlike later All-Ireland competitions, there were no provincial championships, and the result was an open draw.

The second Championship was unfinished owing to the American Invasion Tour. The 1888 provincial championships had been completed (Tipperary, Kilkenny and Monaghan winning them; no Connacht teams entered) but after the Invasion tour returned, the All-Ireland semi-final and final were not played. English team London reached the final four times in the early years of the competition (1900–1903).

In 1892, inter-county teams were introduced to the All-Ireland Championship. Congress granted permission for the winning club to use players from other clubs in the county, thus the inter-county teams came into being. The rules of hurling and football were also altered: goals were made equal to five points, and teams were reduced from 21 to 17 a-side.

The 1903 Championship brought Kerry's first All-Ireland title. They went on to become the most successful football team in the history of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.[2]

The first half of the twentieth century brought the rise of several teams who won two or more All-Ireland titles in that period, such as Kildare, Mayo, Cavan, Wexford and Roscommon. In a "remarkable GAA phenomenon" these have all declined and have not won a championship in many decades. Since Cavan's fifth title in 1952 none have won a final and Cavan and Wexford have never even appeared in one again. Mayo have appeared in seven finals since 1989 and have lost all of them.[3] In the 1990s, a significant sea change took place, as the All-Ireland was claimed by an Ulster team in four consecutive years (1991–1994). Since then Ulster has produced more All-Ireland winning teams than any other province.[4]

The All-Ireland Qualifiers were introduced in 2001. Later that year, the 2001 final brought victory for Galway who became the first football team to win an All-Ireland by springing through "the back door." In 2013, Hawk-Eye was introduced for Championship matches at Croke Park.[5] It was first used to confirm that Offaly substitute Peter Cunningham's attempted point had gone wide 10 minutes into the second half of a game against Kildare.[6] 2013 also brought the first Friday night game in the history of the Championship - a first round qualifier between Carlow and Laois.[7]

Teams

Team Colours Sponsor Manager Captain Most recent success
All-Ireland Provincial
Antrim Saffron and white Creagh Concrete Frank Fitzsimmons CJ McGourty 1951
Armagh Orange and white Rainbow Communications Kieran McGeeney Ciaran McKeever 2002 2008
Carlow Red, green and gold Tickets.ie Anthony Rainbow Brendan Kavanagh 1944
Cavan Royal blue and white Kingspan Group Terry Hyland Alan Clarke 1952 1997
Clare Saffron and Blue Pat O'Donnell Colm Collins Gary Brennan 1992
Cork Red and white Chill Insurance Brian Cuthbert Michael Shields 2010 2012
Derry Red and white H&A Damien Barton Mark Lynch 1993 1998
Donegal Gold and green Donegal Creameries Rory Gallagher Michael Murphy 2012 2014
Down Red and black Canal Court Hotel Jim McCorry Conor Laverty 1994 1994
Dublin Sky blue and navy American International Group Jim Gavin Stephen Cluxton 2015 2015
Fermanagh Green and white Tracey Concrete Peter McGrath Eoin Donnelly
Galway Maroon and white Supermac's Kevin Walsh Paul Conroy 2001 2008
Kerry Green and gold Kerry Group Éamonn Fitzmaurice Fionn Fitzgerald
Kieran O'Leary[lower-alpha 1]		 2014 2015
Kildare White Brady Family Ham Jason Ryan Eamonn Callaghan 1928 2000
Laois Blue and white MW Hire Services Tomás Ó Flatharta Ross Munnelly 2003
Leitrim Green and gold The Bush Hotel Seán Hagan Emlyn Mulligan 1994
London Green and white Bewley's Hotels Paul Coggins Seamus Gannon
Limerick Green and white Sporting Limerick John Brudair Seanie Buckley 1896 1896
Longford Royal blue and gold Glennon Brothers Jack Sheedy Dermot Brady 1968
Louth Red and white Morgan Fuels Aidan O'Rourke Craig O'Cathalainn 1957 1957
Mayo Green and red Elverys Sports Stephen Rochford]] Keith Higgins 1951 2015
Meath Green and gold Tayto Park Mick O'Dowd Kevin Reilly 1999 2010
Monaghan White and blue Investec Malachy O'Rourke Conor McManus 2015
New York Red, white and blue Navillus Contracting Ian Galvin Brendan Quigley
Offaly White, green and gold Carroll Cuisine Emmet McDonnell Niall McNamee 1982 1997
Roscommon Primrose and blue Club Rossie John Evans Niall Carty 1944 2010
Sligo Black and white Radisson Blu, Sligo Pat Flanagan Adrian Marren 2007
Tipperary Blue and gold Intersport Peter Creedon Paddy Codd 1920 1935
Tyrone White and Red McAleer & Rushe Mickey Harte Seán Cavanagh 2008 2010
Waterford White and blue 3 Mobile Niall Carew Shane Briggs 1898
Westmeath Maroon and white Renault Paul Bealin Paul Sharry 2004
Wexford Purple and gold Gain Feeds Aidan O’Brien Graeme Molloy 1918 1945
Wicklow Blue and gold Arklow Bay Hotel Johnny Magee

Format

Current format

Main article: GAA county

The county is a geographical region in Ireland, and each of the thirty-two counties in Ireland organises its own GAA affairs through a County Board. The county teams play in their respective Provincial Championships in Connacht (which also includes teams from London and New York), Leinster, Munster, and Ulster. Kilkenny is currently unique among the 32 Irish county associations in not participating in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, however. The Provincial Championships operate through a knock-out cup competition format. They take place during the months of May, June and July. The winners of each of the four Provincial Championships earn a place in the All-Ireland Series, which takes place in the months of August and September.

Each match is played as a single leg. If a match is drawn there is a replay. If that match ends in a draw a period of extra time is played, however, if both sides are still level at the end of extra time another replay will take place.

The twenty-nine teams that fail to win their respective Provincial Championships receive a second opportunity to reach the All-Ireland Series via the All Ireland Qualifiers (also known as the 'back door'). The qualifiers series takes place in the months of June and July and operates as follows:

Fans of Sligo (in black) are visible in the crowd among supporters of Cork, Meath and Tyrone. The introduction of the All-Ireland Qualifiers in 2001 has provided weaker counties with opportunities to play big games at Croke Park.

Historic format

For the first All-Ireland championship in 1887, the competition was played on an open draw knockout basis. From 1888, the provincial system was introduced, whereby the counties in each of Ireland's four provinces would play each other on a knockout basis to find provincial champions. These four champions would meet in the All-Ireland semi-finals. The structure outlined above was adopted in 2001 to allow more games to be played, but still retain provincial championships and the knockout structure, resulting in every game continuing to be a meaningful fixture, with no dead-rubber league format matches being played out.

All-Ireland winners and finalists

Croke Park kitted out in the green and red of Mayo fans at the 2004 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final.

Over the four Sundays of September, All-Ireland Finals in men's football, ladies' football, hurling and camogie take place at Croke Park, the national stadium of the GAA. Two grades are played on each final day, the senior team and the minor team (consisting of younger players, under the age of 18, who have participated in that year's All-Ireland Minor Football Championship). Guests who attend these events include the President of Ireland, the Taoiseach and other important dignitaries. The football final is considered the pinnacle event of this period.

The final game of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship takes place on the third Sunday of September. The men's decider regularly attracts crowds of over 80,000. The winning team captain receives the Sam Maguire Cup. The current champions are Dublin.

Venues

Dublin, County Dublin Thurles, County Tipperary Cork, County Cork Killarney, County Kerry Clones, County Monaghan Castlebar , County Mayo Salthill , County Galway
Croke Park Semple Stadium Páirc Uí Chaoimh Fitzgerald Stadium St Tiernach's Park McHale Park Pearse Stadium
Capacity: 82,300 Capacity: 53,500 Capacity: 32,550 Capacity: 43,180 Capacity: 36,000 Capacity: 42,000 Capacity: 26,197

Records and statistics

Although Wexford were the first county to win four consecutive All-Ireland Senior Football Finals (1915–18), historically Kerry have been the most successful football team in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. As of 2014, Kerry have won the competition on 37 occasions, winning in four consecutive years twice (1929–1932 and 1978–1981) and for three consecutive years twice as well (1939–1941 and 1984–1986). Galway were the first team from the western province of Connacht to win an All-Ireland title, doing so in 1925. The 1933 final brought victory for Cavan, who became the first team from the northern province of Ulster to win an All-Ireland title.

Two teams have won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship as part of a double with that year's All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, namely Cork (1890 and 1990) and Tipperary (1895 and 1900). The championship has never been won by a team from outside Ireland, though London have played in five finals.

Dublin are the reigning champions, having defeated Kerry in the 2015 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Colm Cooper was initially named as Kerry captain ahead of the Championship, but a cruciate ligament injury sustained in the All-Ireland Club Championship ruled him out for the season.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "From Sam Maguire to Dr Maguire – St Eunan's and Naomh Conaill do battle in County Final". Donegal Daily. 4 November 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2012. A huge crowd is expected at MacCumhaill Park at a time when gaelic games in the county have never had a higher profile. Nothing beats being there, as the GAA slogan goes, but for the neutrals who can't be in Ballybofey, the game is live on TG4 from throw-in at 4pm.
  2. ↑ "GAA Roll of Honour".
  3. ↑ McGee, Eugene (6 February 2006). "First signs that Mayo might be set to turn back the clock". Irish Independent (Independent News & Media). Retrieved 6 February 2006.
  4. ↑ Moran, Seán (26 May 2013). "Donegal hoping to avoid being fifth All-Ireland champions in 20 years to fall at first hurdle in Ulster: Uneasy lies the head that wears the northern crown". The Irish Times (Irish Times Trust). Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  5. ↑ "GAA hopes Hawk-Eye will eliminate contentious points". RTÉ Sport. 15 May 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  6. ↑ "Hawkeye makes successful debut". Hogan Stand. 2 June 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  7. ↑ "Qualifiers include first ever Friday night game". RTÉ Sport. 17 June 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2013. Carlow will play Laois on 28 June in Dr Cullen Park, the first time a Championship game will take place on a Friday night.
  8. ↑ "Colm Cooper injury leaves Kerry plans in shreds". Irish Independent. 18 February 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  9. ↑ GAA

External links

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