All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) (Irish: Craobh Shinsir Peile na hÉireann) is the premier inter-county competition in Gaelic football. County teams compete against each other and the winner is declared All-Ireland Champions.

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
Current season or competition:
2023 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
Logo
IrishCraobh Shinsir Peile na hÉireann
CodeGaelic football
Region Ireland (31 teams)
 England (1 team)
 United States (1 team) (GAA)
TrophySam Maguire Cup
No. of teams33
Title holders Dublin (31st title)
Most titles Kerry (38 titles)
SponsorsSupervalu
Allied Irish Bank
Allianz
TV partner(s)RTÉ, BBC Northern Ireland, Premier Sports, TG4[1]
Official websiteGAA

Organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), the championship has been contested every year except one since 1887.

The final is played by the 35th Sunday of the year at Croke Park in Dublin, with the winning team receiving the Sam Maguire Cup. For the majority of its existence, the All-Ireland Championship has been played on a straight knockout basis whereby once a team loses they are eliminated from the championship. In more recent years, the qualification procedures for the championship have changed several times. Currently, qualification is limited to teams competing in 6 feeder competitions; the finalists of the 4 provincial championships: Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster, the Tailteann Cup holders and the best non-qualified National Football League teams to make the 16 team group stage.

Thirty three teams currently participate in the All-Ireland Championship, with Kerry, Dublin, Galway and Cavan being the most successful teams in their respective provinces.

The title has been won by 19 different counties, 17 of whom have won the title more than once. The all-time record-holders are Kerry, who have won the championship on 38 occasions. Dublin are the current title holders, defeating Kerry by 1-15 to 1-13 in the 2023 final.

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, Donnybrook (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]

Unlike in other European countries, such as neighbouring England, where annual sports events were cancelled during the twentieth century due to the First and Second World Wars, the All-Ireland Championship has been running continuously since 1887, with the final running since 1889 (the 1888 competition was played but no final was held due to the Invasion mentioned above). The competition continued even in spite of the effects on the country of the Civil War and the Second World War (the National Football League was not held during the latter). In 1941, the All-Ireland Championship was disrupted by an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease but the postponed Leinster final were later rescheduled.[3]

The duration of certain championship matches increased from 60 to 80 minutes during the 1970s. They were settled at 70 minutes after five seasons of this in 1975.[4] This applied only to the provincial finals, All-Ireland semi-finals and finals.[5]

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 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.[6]

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.[7] 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.[8] 2013 also brought the first Friday night game in the history of the Championship – a first round qualifier between Carlow and Laois.[9]

In recent years further changes have been made to the structure of the championship. In 2018 the Super 8s were introduced, where the four provincial champions and the four-round 4 qualifier winners would be split into two groups of four teams. Each team plays their group rivals once, with the top two teams progressing to the All-Ireland Semi-Finals. In 2022 a two-tier format will be adopted for the championship. Division 3 and 4 teams from the National Football League that fail to reach a provincial final will not proceed to the All-Ireland qualifiers and will instead play in the Tailteann Cup.[10][11]

Format

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 provided weaker counties with opportunities to play big games at Croke Park.

The county is a geographical region in Ireland, and each of the thirty-two counties in Ireland organise their own Gaelic games affairs through a County Board. The county teams play in their respective Provincial Championships (reflective of the four Irish provinces) 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. The Provincial Championships operate through a knock-out cup competition format.

Connacht Championship (Seven teams)

Quarter-finals (3 matches): These are three matches between the first six teams drawn - the other team receive a bye. Three teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the semi-finals.

Semi-finals (2 matches): The winners of the three quarter-finals join the other team to make up the semi-final pairings. Two teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the final and qualify for the All-Ireland group stage.

Final (1 match): The winners of the two semi-finals contest this game. The Connacht champions and runners-up advance directly to the All-Ireland group stage as first seeds and second seeds respectively.

Leinster Championship (Eleven teams)

Preliminary round (3 matches): These are three matches between the first six teams drawn - the other five teams receive a bye. Three teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the quarter-finals.

Quarter-finals (4 matches): The winners of the three preliminary round matches join the other five teams to make up the quarter-final pairings. Four teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the semi-finals.

Semi-finals (2 matches): The winners of the four quarter-finals make up the semi-final pairings. Two teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the final and qualify for the All-Ireland group stage.

Final (1 match): The winners of the two semi-finals contest this game. The Leinster champions and runners-up advance directly to the All-Ireland group stage as first seeds and second seeds respectively.

Munster Championship (Six teams)

Quarter-finals (2 matches): These are two matches between the first four teams drawn - the other two teams receive a bye. Two teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the semi-finals.

Semi-finals (2 matches): The winners of the two quarter-finals join the other two teams to make up the semi-final pairings. Two teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the final and qualify for the All-Ireland group stage.

Final (1 match): The winners of the two semi-finals contest this game. The Munster champions and runners-up advance directly to the All-Ireland group stage as first seeds and second seeds respectively.

Ulster Championship (Nine teams)

Preliminary round (1 match): This is one match between the first two teams drawn - the other seven teams receive a bye. One team is eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the quarter-finals.

Quarter-finals (4 matches): The winners of the preliminary round join the other seven teams to make up the quarter-final pairings. Four teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the semi-finals.

Semi-finals (2 matches): The winners of the four quarter-finals make up the semi-final pairings. Two teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the final and qualify for the All-Ireland group stage.

Final (1 match): The winners of the two semi-finals contest this game. The Ulster champions and runners-up advance directly to the All-Ireland group stage as first seeds and second seeds respectively.

All-Ireland Championship

Group stage (24 matches): The 8 provincial finalists, the Tailteann Cup holders and the next 7 highest ranked counties in the National Football League make up the group stage teams. Teams are divided into four groups of four. The group winners advance to the quarter-finals and the group runners-up and group third placed teams advance to the preliminary quarter-finals. Four teams are eliminated at this stage while twelve teams advance to the All-Ireland knockout-stage.

Preliminary quarter-finals (4 matches): The second-placed teams from the group stage play the third-placed teams from the group stage. Teams who met in the provincial finals are kept apart in separate quarter-finals and provincial champions are kept apart where possible. Four teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the quarter-finals.

Quarter-finals (4 matches): The winners of the preliminary quarter-finals join the first placed teams in the group stage. Teams who met in the provincial finals are kept apart in separate quarter-finals and provincial champions are kept apart where possible. Four teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the semi-finals.

Semi-finals (2 matches): The winners of the quarter-finals make up the semi-final pairings. Teams who met in the provincial finals are kept apart in separate semi-finals. Two teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the final.

Final (1 match): The two winners of the semi-finals contest this game.

Historic format (1888–2000)

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.

Quarter-finals format (2001–2017)

From 2001 to 2017, the Championship was played using the Quarter-finals format. Under this format, Provincial matches would take place during the months of May, June and July. The winners of each of the four Provincial Championships would earn a place in the All-Ireland Quarter-Finals, which would take place in the month of August. Replays would be played for all drawn matches, not just drawn Provincial Finals and drawn All-Ireland Finals. Extra-time would only be used for Replays and Qualifier Matches. If the teams were still level after extra time, the qualifier match would go to a replay or in the case of replays, another replay would take place.

The qualifiers series (also referred to as the "back door") for teams that did not win their provincial championships would take place in the months of June and July with the winning four teams of Round 4 playing the four Provincial Champions in the All-Ireland Quarter Finals.

  • All-Ireland Quarter-Finals: The four Provincial Champions would be drawn against the winning four teams from Round 4 of the All-Ireland Qualifiers. If a match finished with both teams level, a replay would take place. The four winning teams qualify for the All-Ireland Semi-Finals.
  • All-Ireland Semi-Finals: The All-Ireland Semi-Finals would take place in August and be contested by the four winners of the All-Ireland Quarter Finals. If a match ended with both teams level, a replay would take place. The two winning teams qualify for the All-Ireland Final.
  • All-Ireland Final: The two remaining teams would meet in the All-Ireland Final, usually on the third Sunday in September. The winning team is crowned All-Ireland Champions.[12]

Single-tier championship format (2018–2019)

This championship was identical to the format above, though with no second-tier championship all teams who failed to win their provincial final were eligible to play in the qualifiers. The qualifiers took place over four rounds rather than two, and the four winners of the fourth round proceeded to the All-Ireland Super 8s. As in the format above, the further a team progressed in their provincial championships the later the round they entered the qualifiers. The All-Ireland Super 8s were a round-robin group stage, featuring four teams placed into two groups. The two-highest ranked teams from each group were drawn into an All-Ireland Semi-Final, which was followed by the All-Ireland Final.[13]

Return to single-elimination format (2020–2022)

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 and 2021 championships returned to the historic single-elimination format. Teams that were eliminated in their provincial championships did not access the qualifiers, which were cancelled, and the "Super 8's" were removed in favour of a straight-knockout semi-final and final.

Integration with the league and Tailteann Cup (2023–)

In 2023, the format of the championship was again altered. Under this system, approved at a Special Congress of the GAA in February 2022, the results in the National Football League (held in January through to March of each year) would have an impact on counties' progression in the championship. After the conclusion of the four provincial championships, whose structures remain unaltered, there would be a round-robin competition for 16 teams, split evenly into four. The groups would be made up of the four provincial champions and four runners-up, joined by a further eight teams based on their overall ranking from the league. The four group winners would automatically qualify for the All-Ireland Quarter Finals, and the four remaining spots in the quarter-finals are determined by playoff-matches between the second and third placed teams. The quarter finals, semi finals and final are then played under the traditional single-elimination format. Furthermore, the 16 teams that fail to qualify for the round-robin stage would compete in the second-tier Tailteann Cup, which is also played via round-robin groups and single-elimination finals.[14][15]

Teams

2023 Championship

Thirty three counties competed in the 2023 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship: seven teams in the Connacht Senior Football Championship, eleven teams in the Leinster Senior Football Championship, six teams in the Munster Senior Football Championship and nine teams in the Ulster Senior Football Championship.

County Location Stadium Province Position in 2023 Championship Current Championship First year in championship Provincial Titles Last Provincial Title Championship Titles Last Championship Title
Antrim Belfast Corrigan Park Ulster Semi-finals (Tailteann Cup) Ulster Senior Football Championship 1890 10 1951 0
Armagh Armagh Athletic Grounds Ulster Quarter-finals Ulster Senior Football Championship 1890 14 2008 1 2002
Carlow Carlow Dr Cullen Park Leinster Quarter-finals (Tailteann Cup) Leinster Senior Football Championship 1897 1 1944 0
Cavan Cavan Breffni Park Ulster Quarter-finals (Tailteann Cup) Ulster Senior Football Championship 1888 40 2020 5 1952
Clare Ennis Cusack Park Munster Group Stage Munster Senior Football Championship 1887 2 1992 0
Cork Cork Páirc Uí Chaoimh Munster Quarter-Finals Munster Senior Football Championship 1887 37 2012 7 2010
Derry Derry Celtic Park Ulster Semi-Finals Ulster Senior Football Championship 1904 9 2023 1 1993
Donegal Ballybofey MacCumhaill Park Ulster Preliminary quarter-finals Ulster Senior Football Championship 1906 10 2019 2 2012
Down Newry Páirc Esler Ulster Runners-Up (Tailteann Cup) Ulster Senior Football Championship 1904 12 1994 5 1994
Dublin Donnycarney Parnell Park Leinster Winners Leinster Senior Football Championship 1887 62 2023 31 2023
Fermanagh Enniskillen Brewster Park Ulster Preliminary quarter-finals (Tailteann Cup) Ulster Senior Football Championship 1903 0 0
Galway Galway Pearse Stadium Connacht Preliminary quarter-finals Connacht Senior Football Championship 1887 48 2023 9 2001
Kerry Tralee Austin Stack Park Munster Runners-Up Munster Senior Football Championship 1889 84 2023 38 2022
Kildare Newbridge St Conleth's Park Leinster Preliminary quarter-finals Leinster Senior Football Championship 1888 13 2000 4 1928
Laois Portlaoise O'Moore Park Leinster Semi-finals (Tailteann Cup) Leinster Senior Football Championship 1888 6 2003 0
Leitrim Carrick-on-Shannon Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada Connacht Group Stage (Tailteann Cup) Connacht Senior Football Championship 1906 2 1994 0
Limerick Limerick Gaelic Grounds Munster Quarter-finals (Tailteann Cup) Munster Senior Football Championship 1887 1 1896 2 1896
London South Ruislip McGovern Park Britain Group Stage (Tailteann Cup) Connacht Senior Football Championship 1900 0 0
Longford Longford Pearse Park Leinster Preliminary quarter-finals (Tailteann Cup) Leinster Senior Football Championship 1903 1 1968 0
Louth Drogheda Drogheda Park Leinster Group Stage Leinster Senior Football Championship 1887 8 1957 3 1957
Mayo Castlebar MacHale Park Connacht Quarter-Finals Connacht Senior Football Championship 1901 48 2021 3 1951
Meath Navan Páirc Tailteann Leinster Winners (Tailteann Cup) Leinster Senior Football Championship 1887 21 2010 7 1999
Monaghan Clones St Tiernach's Park Ulster Semi-Finals Ulster Senior Football Championship 1888 16 2015 0
New York Bronx Gaelic Park North America Preliminary quarter-finals (Tailteann Cup) Connacht Senior Football Championship 1999 0 0
Offaly Tullamore O'Connor Park Leinster Preliminary quarter-finals (Tailteann Cup) Leinster Senior Football Championship 1896 10 1997 3 1982
Roscommon Roscommon Dr Hyde Park Connacht Preliminary quarter-finals Connacht Senior Football Championship 1892 24 2019 2 1944
Sligo Sligo Markievicz Park Connacht Group Stage Connacht Senior Football Championship 1905 3 2007 0
Tipperary Thurles Semple Stadium Munster Group Stage (Tailteann Cup) Munster Senior Football Championship 1887 10 2020 4 1920
Tyrone Omagh Healy Park Ulster Quarter-finals Ulster Senior Football Championship 1890 16 2021 4 2021
Waterford Waterford Walsh Park Munster Group Stage (Tailteann Cup) Munster Senior Football Championship 1887 1 1898 0
Westmeath Mullingar Cusack Park Leinster Group Stage Leinster Senior Football Championship 1890 1 2004 0
Wexford Wexford Chadwicks Wexford Park Leinster Quarter-finals (Tailteann Cup) Leinster Senior Football Championship 1887 10 1945 5 1918
Wicklow Aughrim Aughrim County Ground Leinster Group Stage (Tailteann Cup) Leinster Senior Football Championship 1887 0 0

Debut of counties

Year Debutants Total
1887 Clare, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick, Louth, Meath, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford, Wicklow 12
1888 Cavan, Kildare, Laois, Monaghan 4
1889 Kerry 1
1890 Antrim, Armagh, Tyrone, Westmeath 4
1891 None 0
1892 Roscommon 1
1893-95 None 0
1896 Offaly 1
1897 Carlow 1
1898-99 None 0
1900 London 1
1901 Mayo 1
1902 None 0
1903 Fermanagh, Longford 2
1904 Derry, Down 2
1905 Sligo 1
1906 Donegal, Leitrim 2
1907-98 None 0
1999 New York 1
2000- None 0
Total 34

Venues

Dublin Thurles Limerick Killarney
Croke Park Semple Stadium Gaelic Grounds Fitzgerald Stadium
53°21′38.70″N 6°15′4.80″W 52°40′55.91″N 7°49′30.40″W 52°40′12.50″N 8°39′15.10″W 52°3′58.75″N 9°30′28.56″W
Capacity: 82,300 Capacity: 45,690 Capacity: 44,023 Capacity: 38,000
Castlebar Clones
MacHale Park St Tiernach's Park
53°51′13.92″N 9°17′3.93″W 54°11′8.04″N 7°13′57.86″W
Capacity: 25,369 Capacity: 29,000
Galway Cork Kilkenny Cavan
53°15′47.92″N 9°5′2.98″W 51°53′59.10″N 8°26′6.15″W 52°39′23.03″N 7°14′22.85″W 53°58′54.54″N 7°21′33.38″W
Pearse Stadium Páirc Uí Chaoimh Nowlan Park Breffni Park
Capacity: 26,197 Capacity: 45,000 Capacity: 27,000 Capacity: 25,030

Stadia and locations

County Location Province Stadium(s) Capacity
N / A Dublin Leinster Croke Park (neutral) 82,300
Antrim Belfast Ulster Corrigan Park 3,700
Armagh Armagh Ulster Athletic Grounds 18,500
Carlow Carlow Leinster Dr Cullen Park 21,000
Cavan Cavan Ulster Breffni Park 32,000
Clare Ennis Munster Cusack Park 19,000
Cork Cork Munster Páirc Uí Chaoimh 45,000
Derry Derry Ulster Celtic Park 22,000
Donegal Ballybofey Ulster MacCumhaill Park 18,000
Down Newry Ulster Páirc Esler 20,000
Dublin Donnycarney Leinster Parnell Park 8,500
Fermanagh Enniskillen Ulster Brewster Park 20,000
Galway Galway Connacht Pearse Stadium 26,197
Kerry Killarney Munster Fitzgerald Stadium 38,000
Kildare Newbridge Leinster St Conleth's Park 8,200
Kilkenny Kilkenny Leinster Nowlan Park 27,000
Laois Portlaoise Leinster O'Moore Park 27,000
Leitrim Carrick-on-Shannon Connacht Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada 9,331
Limerick Limerick Munster Gaelic Grounds 44,203
London South Ruislip Britain McGovern Park 3,000
Longford Longford Leinster Pearse Park 6,000
Louth Drogheda Leinster Drogheda Park 3,500
Mayo Castlebar Connacht MacHale Park 25,369
Meath Navan Leinster Páirc Tailteann 11,000
Monaghan Clones Ulster St Tiernach's Park 36,000
New York Bronx North America Gaelic Park 2,000
Offaly Tullamore Leinster O'Connor Park 20,000
Roscommon Roscommon Connacht Dr Hyde Park 25,000
Sligo Sligo Connacht Markievicz Park 18,558
Tipperary Thurles Munster Semple Stadium 45,690
Tyrone Omagh Ulster Healy Park 17,636
Waterford Waterford Munster Fraher Field 15,000
Westmeath Mullingar Leinster Cusack Park 11,000
Wexford Wexford Leinster Chadwicks Wexford Park 20,000
Wicklow Aughrim Leinster Aughrim County Ground 7,000

List of finals

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

Typically, 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 Kerry.

Due to COVID-19 and the related State restrictions, the 2020 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final was staged on Saturday, 19 December, two weeks after the semi-finals.

For the first time since 2000, the football championship was a sudden-death scenario, while the hurling championship – completed on Sunday, 13 December – contained a backdoor format.

Roll of Honour

Performances in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship by county
County Title(s) Runners-up Years won Years runner-up
Kerry 38 24 1903, 1904, 1909, 1913, 1914, 1924, 1926, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1946, 1953, 1955, 1959, 1962, 1969, 1970, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2014, 2022 1892, 1905, 1910, 1915, 1923, 1927, 1938, 1944, 1947, 1954, 1960, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1982, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2015, 2019, 2023
Dublin 31 13 1891, 1892, 1894, 1897, 1898, 1899, 1901, 1902, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1942, 1958, 1963, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1983, 1995, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023 1896, 1904, 1920, 1924, 1934, 1955, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1984, 1985, 1992, 1994
Galway 9 14 1925, 1934, 1938, 1956, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1998, 2001 1919, 1922, 1933, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1959, 1963, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1983, 2000, 2022
Cork 7 16 1890, 1911, 1945, 1973, 1989, 1990, 2010 1891, 1893, 1894, 1897, 1899, 1906, 1907, 1956, 1957, 1967, 1987, 1988, 1993, 1999, 2007, 2009
Meath 7 9 1949, 1954, 1967, 1987, 1988, 1996, 1999 1895, 1939, 1951, 1952, 1966, 1970, 1990, 1991, 2001
Cavan 5 6 1933, 1935, 1947, 1948, 1952 1925, 1928, 1937, 1943, 1945, 1949
Wexford 5 3 1893, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918 1890, 1913, 1914
Down 5 1 1960, 1961, 1968, 1991, 1994 2010
Kildare 4 5 1905, 1919, 1927, 1928 1926, 1929, 1931, 1935, 1998
Tyrone 4 3 2003, 2005, 2008, 2021 1986, 1995, 2018
Tipperary 4 1 1889, 1895, 1900, 1920 1918
Mayo 3 15 1936, 1950, 1951 1916, 1921, 1932, 1948, 1989, 1996, 1997, 2004, 2006, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2021
Offaly 3 3 1971, 1972, 1982 1961, 1969, 1981
Louth 3 3 1910, 1912, 1957 1887, 1909, 1950
Roscommon 2 3 1943, 1944 1946, 1962, 1980
Donegal 2 1 1992, 2012 2014
Limerick 2 0 1887, 1896
Armagh 1 3 2002 1953, 1977, 2003
Derry 1 1 1993 1958
London[a] 0 5 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1908
Laois 0 2 1889, 1936
Antrim 0 2 1911, 1912
Waterford 0 1 1898
Clare 0 1 1917
Monaghan 0 1 1930

a. ^ London received a bye to the final in five seasons.

Performances by province
Province Winners Runners-up Total
Leinster 53 38 91
Munster 51 43 94
Ulster 18 18 36
Connacht 14 32 46
Britain 0 5 5

Although Wexford were the first county to win four consecutive All-Ireland Senior Football Finals (1915–18), historically Kerry has been the most successful football team in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. As of 2023, Kerry has won the competition on 38 occasions, winning in four consecutive years twice (1929–1932 and 1978–1981) and also for three consecutive years twice (1939–1941 and 1984–1986). Dublin follows Kerry on the competition roll of honour with 31 wins, although up to the 1950s much of the success of Dublin teams was based on teams who had many non-Dublin born players playing.[16][17]

Dublin joined the four in a row club in 2018 by winning the competition consecutively since 2015. As of 2019, Dublin became the first team to win the competition five times in a row. And in 2020, Dublin won a sixth consecutive title. 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, winning their thirty-first title, having defeated Kerry in the 2023 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final.

Team records and statistics

Legend

  • 1st – Champions
  • 2nd – Runners-up
  • SF – Semi-finals
  • QF/PQF – Quarter-finals/Preliminary quarter-finals
  • R2/R1/GS – Round 2/Round 1/Group Stage
  • TC – Tailteann Cup

For each year, the number of teams (in brackets) are shown.

Team 2022 (16) 2023 (16) 2024 (16) Years
Armagh QF QF 2
Clare QF GS 2
Cork QF QF 2
Derry SF SF 2
Donegal R2 PQF 2
Dublin SF 1st 2
Galway 2nd PQF 2
Kerry 1st 2nd 2
Kildare R2 PQF 2
Limerick R2 TC 1
Louth R1 GS 2
Mayo QF QF 2
Meath R1 TC 2
Monaghan R1 SF 2
Roscommon R2 PQF 2
Sligo TC GS 1
Tyrone R1 QF 2
Westmeath TC GS 1

Player records

All-time appearances

Rank Player Team Appearances Year
1 Stephen Cluxton Dublin 111 2001-present
2 Seán Cavanagh Tyrone 89 2002-2017
3 Marc Ó Sé Kerry 88 2002-2015
4 Tomás Ó Sé Kerry 88 1998-2013
5 Colm Cooper Kerry 85 2002-2016
6 Andy Moran Mayo 84 2004-2019
7 Darragh Ó Sé Kerry 81 1997-2010
8 Ross Munnelly Laois 79 2003-2022
9 Aidan O'Shea Mayo 78 2009-present
10 Tom O'Sullivan Kerry 76 2000-2011

Championship Tiers

Title Holders

Competition Year Champions Title Runners-up Next edition
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship 2023 Dublin 31st Kerry 2024
Connacht Senior Football Championship 2023 Galway 48th Sligo 2024
Leinster Senior Football Championship 2023 Dublin 62nd Louth 2024
Munster Senior Football Championship 2023 Kerry 84th Clare 2024
Ulster Senior Football Championship 2023 Derry 9th Armagh 2024
Tailteann Cup 2023 Meath 1st Down 2024
All-Ireland Junior Football Championship 2023 New York 1st Kilkenny 2024

2023 Tiers

Championship County team Province
All-Ireland SFC Armagh Ulster
Clare Munster
Cork Munster
Derry Ulster
Donegal Ulster
Dublin Leinster
Galway Connacht
Kerry Munster
Kildare Leinster
Louth Leinster
Mayo Connacht
Monaghan Ulster
Roscommon Connacht
Sligo Connacht
Tyrone Ulster
Westmeath Leinster
Tailteann Cup Antrim Ulster
Carlow Leinster
Cavan Ulster
Down Ulster
Fermanagh Ulster
Laois Leinster
Leitrim Connacht
Limerick Munster
London Britain
Longford Leinster
Meath Leinster
New York North America
Offaly Leinster
Tipperary Munster
Waterford Munster
Wexford Leinster
Wicklow Leinster
All-Ireland JFC Gloucestershire Britain
Hertfordshire Britain
Kilkenny Leinster
Lancashire Britain
London (2nd team) Britain
New York (2nd Team) North America
Scotland Britain
Warwickshire Britain
Yorkshire Britain

See also

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". Archived from the original on 11 August 2013.
  3. Moran, Seán (11 September 2019). "Remembering when Kerry kicked ahead of Dublin 78 years ago: This year will be only the third replay between the counties, and the first in Croke Park". The Irish Times. Retrieved 11 September 2019. Dublin... hadn't won Leinster for seven years and didn't go into the All-Ireland semi-final as provincial champions – they were nominated by the province because of the foot-and-mouth outbreak that year, which caused the Leinster final against Carlow to be postponed until November. Postscript: Dublin won by 4–6 to 1–4... By this stage [the 1930s] the tendency to spread the [All-Ireland] semi-finals around the country was dying, and the 1941 replay in Tralee would be the last played outside Croke Park until 1983, when Dublin memorably went to Páirc Uí Chaoimh to take on Cork in an All-Ireland semi-final replay.
  4. Breheny, Martin. "The Final Verdict: The Greatest of my Lifetime" in Martin Breheny's Greatest All-Ireland Finals. Irish Independent. 1 September 2018, p. 2.
  5. Moran, Seán (11 September 2019). "Will time be on Dublin's side once more?". The Irish Times. Retrieved 11 September 2019. Another issue touched on by John O'Keeffe in his interview was the strange decision to extend senior championship provincial finals, All-Ireland semi-finals and finals to 80 minutes – which was an extra third on the previous duration of an hour. Curiously, it made little difference to the outcome of matches. Of the five finals plus 1972 replay played over 80 minutes – the length of a match was settled at 70 minutes from 1975 onwards – only the 1971 Offaly-Galway result would have been affected. Had it been played over an hour, it would have ended in a draw instead of Offaly's first All-Ireland triumph.
  6. 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. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  7. "GAA hopes Hawk-Eye will eliminate contentious points". RTÉ Sport. 15 May 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  8. "Hawkeye makes successful debut". Hogan Stand. 2 June 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  9. "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.
  10. "Two tier Football Championship format to be introduced". GAA.ie. 19 October 2019.
  11. "GAA Special Congress 2019: The motions explained". GAA.ie. 19 October 2019.
  12. GAA Archived 26 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  13. "'Super 8' system to replace Senior Football Championship quarter-finals after GAA vote". RTÉ Sport. 25 February 2017.
  14. "All-Ireland football championship to be revamped in 2023 as Green Proposal passes Congress". the42.ie. 26 February 2022.
  15. "New All Ireland SFC format to be adopted". gaa.ie. 26 February 2022.
  16. "Dublin became a football force after the team went 'only Dubs need apply'". The independent. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  17. "Captain's log: the voyage that foundered before Dublin discovered route forward". irishtimes.com. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
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