Connacht Under-20 Football Championship

The Connacht GAA Football Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Connacht Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Connacht Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county football competition for male players between the ages of 17 and 20 in the province of Connacht. The championship was contested as the Connacht Under-21 Championship between 1964 and 2016 before changing to an under-20 age category from 2018. It is sponsored by EirGrid.

Connacht Under-20 Football Championship
Current season or competition:
2023 Connacht Under-20 Football Championship
IrishCraobh Peile Connachta Fé-20
CodeGaelic football
Founded1964 (1964)
RegionConnacht (GAA)
TrophyJ. J. Fahy Cup
No. of teams5
Title holders Sligo (2nd title)
Most titles Mayo (25 titles)
SponsorsEirGrid
TV partner(s)TG4
Official websiteConnacht GAA website

The final, currently held in March, serves as the culmination of a series of games played during a three-week period, and the results determine which team receives the J. J. Fahy Cup. The championship has always been played on a straight knockout basis whereby once a team loses they are eliminated from the championship.

The Connacht Championship is an integral part of the wider GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship. The winners of the Connacht final, like their counterparts in the other three provinces, advance to the semi-final stage of the All-Ireland series of games.

Five teams currently participate in the Connacht Championship. Mayo are the most successful team with 25 titles, followed by Galway with 21 titles. The title has been won at least once by all five teams, with four of them winning the title more than once.

Sligo are the 2 time title holders, defeating Galway by 0-14 to 0-13 in the 2023 final.[1]

Current format

Overview

The Connacht Championship is a single elimination tournament. Each team is afforded only one defeat before being eliminated from the championship. Pairings for matches are drawn at random and there is currently no seeding. Each match is played as a single leg. If a match is drawn there is a period of extra time, however, if both sides are still level at the end of extra time a replay takes place and so on until a winner is found.

Progression
Teams entering in this round Teams advancing from previous round
Quarter-final
(2 teams)
  • 2 teams drawn at random
Semi-finals
(4 teams)
  • 3 teams who receive a bye at random
  • 1 winner from the quarter-final
Final
(2 teams)
  • 2 winners from the semi-finals

Qualification for subsequent competitions

The Connacht Championship winners gain automatic entry to the semi-final stage of the All-Ireland Championship.

Managers
See also: List of Gaelic football managers

Managers in the Connacht Championship are involved in the day-to-day running of the team, including the training, team selection, and sourcing of players from the club championships. Their influence varies from county-to-county and is related to the individual county boards. The manager is assisted by a team of two or three selectors and an extensive backroom team consisting of various coaches. The under-20 team manager also works closely with the senior team manager due to an overlap of players on both teams. Prior to the development of the concept of a manager in the 1970s, teams were usually managed by a team of selectors with one member acting as chairman.

Winning managers (2003-present)
Manager Team Wins Winning years
Pat Holmes Mayo 3 2006, 2007, 2008
Noel Connelly Mayo 3
John Maughan Mayo 2 2003, 2004
Nigel Dineen Roscommon 2 2012, 2014
Mike Solan Mayo 2 2016, 2018
Peter Ford Galway 1 2005
Michael Collins Mayo 1 2009
Jimmy Jacquin Roscommon 1 2010
Alan Mulholland Galway 1 2011
Alan Flynn Galway 1 2013
Mark Dowd Roscommon 1 2015
Gerry Fahy Galway 1 2017
Pádraic Joyce Galway 1 2019
Donal Ó Fátharta Galway 1 2020
Liam Tully Roscommon 1 2021
Dessie Sloyan Sligo 1 2022

Roll of honour
# County Titles Runners-up Years won Years Runners-up
1 Mayo 25 12 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2016, 2018 1964, 1965, 1966, 1981, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2019, 2021, 2022
2 Galway 21 14 1964, 1965, 1972, 1979, 1981, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2020 1969, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1991, 1997, 2003, 2006, 2015, 2023
3 Roscommon 10 20 1966, 1969, 1978, 1982, 1999, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2021 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1977, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1993, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2020
4 Sligo 2 9 2022, 2023 1979, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2017
Leitrim 2 4 1977, 1991 1986, 1990, 1998, 2014

[2]

List of finals
Year Winners Runners-up
County Score County Score
2023 Sligo 0-14 Galway 0-13
2022 Sligo 4-04 Mayo 1-12
2021 Roscommon 2-11 Mayo 1-07
2020 Galway 4-15 Roscommon 0-05
2019 Galway 0-16 Mayo 0-10
2018[3] Mayo 3-16 Roscommon 1-06
2017[4] Galway 3-20 Sligo 2-14
2016[5] Mayo 1-11 Roscommon 1-10
2015[6] Roscommon 3-14 Galway 3-11
2014[7] Roscommon 0–19 Leitrim 1-03
2013[8] Galway 1–17 Roscommon 2–11
2012 [9] Roscommon 1–13 Sligo 0-08
2011 Galway 1–10 Roscommon 0-04
2010 Roscommon 1-06 Sligo 0-04
2009 Mayo 3–14 Sligo 1-08
2008 Mayo 1–14 Roscommon 0–14
2007 Mayo 1–22 Roscommon 1-08
2006 Mayo 0–15 Galway 1-05
2005 Galway 1–13 Mayo 0-04
2004 Mayo 0–16 Roscommon 0–13
2003 Mayo 1-09 Galway 0–11
2002 Galway 1-09 Mayo 1-08
2001 Mayo 0–15 Sligo 0-07
2000 Galway 1–12 Mayo 0–12
1999 Roscommon 1–12 Sligo 0-09
1998 Galway 0–13 Leitrim 1-07
1997 Mayo 0-07 Galway 0-06
1996 Galway 0–12 Mayo 0-05
1995 Mayo 1–10, 1–16 (R) Sligo 1–10, 3–04 (R)
1994 Mayo 0–12 Sligo 0-06
1993 Galway 0–14 Roscommon 0-09
1992 Galway 1–10 Mayo 0–12
1991 Leitrim 1-07 Galway 0-09
1990 Galway 0-09 Leitrim 0-05
1989 Galway 1–13 Roscommon 0-03
1988 Galway 0–10 Roscommon 0-06
1987 Galway 1–10 Roscommon 0–10
1986 Mayo 0–12 Leitrim 0-05
1985 Mayo 2-06 Galway 0-07
1984 Mayo 2-07 Galway 2-04
1983 Mayo 1–19 Roscommon 1-06
1982 Roscommon 1–10 Galway 0-05
1981 Galway 0-09 Mayo 0-08
1980 Mayo 4–11 Galway 1-05
1979 Galway 0–12 Sligo 0-09
1978 Roscommon 3-09 Galway 2–11
1977 Leitrim 1-03 Roscommon 0-05
1976 Mayo 1-08 Galway 0-02
1975 Mayo 2–10 Galway 0-09
1974 Mayo 1–12 Roscommon 0-09
1973 Mayo 1-07 Galway 0-05
1972 Galway 0–16 Roscommon 0-05
1971 Mayo 5–10 Roscommon 0-08
1970 Mayo 0–14 Roscommon 1–10
1969 Roscommon 1-09, 1–10 (R, AET) Galway 0–12, 2–03 (R, AET)
1968 Mayo 1–13 Roscommon 2-03
1967 Mayo 3–11 Roscommon 2-08
1966 Roscommon 1–15 Mayo 0-09
1965 Galway 3-09 Mayo 1–13
1964 Galway 3-06 Mayo 3-05

Records and statistics

Team
  • Most titles: 25:
    • Mayo (1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2016, 2018)
  • Most consecutive title wins: 4:
    • Mayo (1973, 1974, 1975, 1976)
    • Mayo (1983, 1984, 1985, 1986)
    • Mayo (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009)
  • Most appearances in a final: 35:
    • Galway (1964, 1965, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020)
  • Most appearances in a final without winning: 9:
    • Sligo (1979, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2017)

By decade

The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Connacht Championship titles, is as follows:

  • 1960s: 2 each for Galway (1964-65), Roscommon (1966-69) and Mayo (1967-68)
  • 1970s: 6 for Mayo (1970-71-73-74-75-76)
  • 1980s: 5 for Mayo (1980-83-84-85-86)
  • 1990s: 5 for Galway (1990-92-93-96-98)
  • 2000s: 7 for Mayo (2001-03-04-06-07-08-09)
  • 2010s: 4 each for Roscommon (2010-12-14-15) and Galway (2011-13-17-19)

Gaps

Top three longest gaps between successive championship titles:

References
  1. "Four-goal Galway beat Roscommon to claim second straight Connacht U20 title". The 42. 7 March 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  2. "Complete Roll of Honour on Kilkenny GAA bible" (PDF). Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  3. "Mayo crowned EirGrid Connacht U20 champions as Rossies suffer 16 point defeat". 17 June 2018.
  4. "U21 FC: Tribesmen come good in extra-time". Hogan Stand. 1 April 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  5. "Mayo's smash and grab win stuns Roscommon U21s". Irish Examiner. 4 April 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  6. "Roscommon take Connacht Under-21 title". RTÉ Sport. 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  7. "Roscommon claim third Connacht U21 title in five years". Hogan Stand. 5 April 2014. Archived from the original on 5 April 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  8. "Connacht U21FC final: Tribe have that little bit extra". Hogan Stand. 6 April 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  9. "Smith the hero as Rossies' first-half blitz proves a bridge too far for Sligo". Irish Independent. 9 April 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2012.

Sources
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