Tailteann Cup

The Tailteann Cup is a second tier Gaelic football championship competition held annually since 2022 and organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is contested by those county teams who do not qualify for the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and the winner is awarded the Tailteann Cup.

Tailteann Cup
Current season or competition:
2023 Tailteann Cup
IrishCorn Tailteann
CodeGaelic football
Founded2022
RegionIreland (GAA)
No. of teams17
Title holders Meath (1st title)
Most titles Westmeath, Meath (1 titles)
TV partner(s)RTÉ
Official websitewww.gaa.ie

The name 'Tailteann' comes from the ancient Tailteann Games.

History

Following ongoing one-sided matches in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship between counties of differing standards, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) began considering the addition of a tournament for so-called weaker counties who were usually eliminated in the early stages of their respective provincial championship. At a national conference in November 2018, the GAA found broad support for the introduction of a second-tier championship and canvassed options for its potential structure and future inclusion within the annual calendar.[1] One year later at a specially convened congress, 76% of delegates formally approved of the second-tier tournament.[2] The tournament was named the Tailteann Cup in February 2020 and it was intended it would hold its inaugural season that year,[3] though its introduction was ultimately delayed until 2022 due the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games over that period.

Second and third-tier competitions have been incorporated in hurling for several years, such as the Christy Ring Cup and Nicky Rackard Cup.

Format

Up to 17 teams compete in the cup. The teams are drawn from the bottom 16 rankings from that season's National Football League, plus New York. However, if a team in this position qualifies for the final of its provincial championship, that team continues to compete in the same year's All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and does not compete in the Tailteann Cup.[4]

The teams that compete in the Tailteann Cup are split into four round-robin groups, and the top two teams from each group proceed to one of four knockout quarter-finals matches, followed by semi-finals and the final.[4][5] The Winners of the four Quarter Final pairings qualify for the semi-finals, with pairings decided via an open draw. The final of the Tailteann Cup is currently scheduled three weeks before the All-Ireland Football Final, and is staged at Croke Park in Dublin.[6]

For the inaugural 2022 Tailteann Cup, the format was altered to a straight-knockout competition with Round 1 and the Quarter Finals organised on a geographical basis with Northern and Southern Sections. From 2023 onwards, there are scheduled to be no North/South sections.[7]

Unlike the contest for the Sam Maguire Cup, London and New York are permitted to meet each other in the contest for the Tailteann Cup.

Teams

List of Tailteann Cup counties

The following teams have competed in the Tailteann Cup in at least one season.

County Total years First year Most recent year Titles Last Title Most recent finish Best finish
Antrim 2 2022 2023 0 — Semi-final Semi-final
Carlow 2 2022 2023 0 — Quarter-final Quarter-final
Cavan 2 2022 2023 0 — Quarter-final Runners-up
Down 2 2022 2023 0 — Runners-up Runners-up
Fermanagh 2 2022 2023 0 — Prelim. Quarter-final Quarter-final
Laois 2 2022 2023 0 — Semi-final Semi-final
Leitrim 2 2022 2023 0 — Group stage Quarter-final
Limerick 1 2023 0 — Quarter-final Quarter-final
London 2 2022 2023 0 — Group stage Group stage
Longford 2 2022 2023 0 — Prelim. Quarter-final Prelim. Quarter-final
Meath 1 2023 1 2023 Champions Champions
New York 2 2022 2023 0 — Prelim. Quarter-final Quarter-final
Offaly 2 2022 2023 0 — Prelim. Quarter-final Semi-final
Sligo 1 2022 0 — Semi-final Semi-final
Tipperary 2 2022 2023 0 — Group stage Group stage
Waterford 2 2022 2023 0 — Group stage Group stage
Westmeath 1 2022 1 2022 Champions Champions
Wexford 2 2022 2023 0 — Quarter-final Quarter-final
Wicklow 2 2022 2023 0 — Group stage Group stage

Participation by province
Province No. County No. Years
Leinster 8 Carlow 2 2022, 2023
Laois 2 2022, 2023
Longford 2 2022, 2023
Offaly 2 2022, 2023
Wexford 2 2022, 2023
Wicklow 2 2022, 2023
Westmeath 1 2022
Meath 1 2023
Ulster 4 Antrim 2 2022, 2023
Cavan 2 2022, 2023
Down 2 2022, 2023
Fermanagh 2 2022, 2023
Munster 3 Tipperary 2 2022, 2023
Waterford 2 2022, 2023
Limerick 1 2023
Connacht 2 Leitrim 2 2022, 2023
Sligo 1 2022
Britain 1 London 2 2022, 2023
North America 1 New York 2 2022, 2023

List of Finals
Year Date Winners Runners-up Venue Winning captain(s) Winning Margin Referee
County Score County Score
2023 15 July Meath 2-13 (19) Down 0-14 (14) Croke Park Donal Keogan 5 Noel Mooney (Cavan)
2022 9 July Westmeath 2-14 (20) Cavan 1-13 (16) Croke Park Kevin Maguire 4 Barry Cassidy (Derry)

Roll of honour

Performances by county
County Title(s) Runners-up Years won Years runner-up
Westmeath 1 0 2022 —
Meath 1 0 2023 —
Cavan 0 1 — 2022
Down 0 1 — 2023

Performances by province
Province Winners Runners-up Total
Leinster 2 0 2
Ulster 0 2 2

Team records and statistics
Main article: Tailteann Cup records and statistics

Legend
  • 1st – Champions
  • 2nd – Runners-up
  • 3rd – Semi-Final
  • PR/R1/GS/PQF/QF – Preliminary Round/Round 1/Group Stage/Preliminary Quarter-Final/Quarter-Final
  • AI – All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

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

Team 2022 (17) 2023 (17) Years
Antrim R1 SF 2
Carlow QF QF 2
Cavan 2nd QF 2
Down R1 2nd 2
Fermanagh QF PQF 2
Laois R1 SF 2
Leitrim QF GS 2
Limerick AI QF 1
London R1 GS 2
Longford R1 PQF 2
Meath AI 1st 1
New York QF PQF 2
Offaly SF PQF 2
Sligo SF AI 1
Tipperary R1 GS 2
Waterford PR GS 2
Westmeath 1st AI 1
Wexford PR QF 2
Wicklow R1 GS 2

Seasons in Tailteann Cup

The number of years that each county has played in the Tailteann Cup between 2022 and 2023. A total of 19 counties have competed in at least one season of the Tailteann Cup. 15 counties have participated in the most championships. The counties in bold participate in the 2023 Tailteann Cup.

Years Counties
2 Antrim, Carlow, Cavan, Down, Fermanagh, Laois, Leitrim, London, Longford, New York, Offaly, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford, Wicklow
1 Limerick, Meath, Sligo, Westmeath

Debut of counties
Year Debutants Total
2022 Antrim, Carlow, Cavan, Down, Fermanagh, Laois, Leitrim, London, Longford, New York, Offaly, Sligo, Tipperary, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow 17
2023 Limerick, Meath 2
Total 19

All time table

Legend

Colours
Currently competing in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
Currently competing in the Tailteann Cup

As of 15 July 2023 (After 2023 Cup).

# Team Pld W D L Points P.P.G.
1 Meath 6 6 0 0 12 2.000
= Cavan 8 6 0 2 12 1.500
3 Down 8 5 0 3 10 1.250
4 Offaly 8 4 1 3 9 1.125
5 Westmeath 4 4 0 0 8 2.000
= Antrim 6 4 0 2 8 1.333
= Carlow 7 4 0 3 8 1.143
8 Laois 7 2 2 3 6 0.857
9 Wexford 6 2 1 3 5 0.833
= Fermanagh 6 2 1 3 5 0.833
11 Sligo 3 2 0 1 4 1.333
= Limerick 4 2 0 2 4 1.000
= Wicklow 5 2 0 3 4 0.800
14 Tipperary 4 1 0 3 2 0.500
= Longford 5 1 0 4 2 0.400
= Leitrim 5 1 0 4 2 0.400
17 London 4 0 1 3 1 0.250
18 New York 2 0 0 2 0 0.000
= Waterford 4 0 0 4 0 0.000

By decade

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

Match records

Finishing positions

Unbeaten sides

Beaten sides

On one occasion a team was defeated twice but have remained in the knockout championship:

Final success rate

Only two counties have appeared in the final, being victorious on all occasions:

On the opposite end of the scale, only two counties has appeared in the final, losing on each occasion:

Consecutive participations

15 counties have the record number of consecutive participations in the Tailteann Cup, taking part in the all 2 seasons.

Winning other trophies

Although not an officially recognised achievement, no teams have ever achieved the distinction of winning the Tailteann Cup and their respective Division in the National Football League.

Biggest wins

Scoring Events

Successful defending

Defending champions are promoted and a number of teams survived the first year of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. These are:

Gaps
  • Longest gaps between successive cup titles:
    • 0 years: N/A
  • Longest gaps between successive Tailteann Cup final appearances:
    • 0 years: N/A
  • Longest gap between successive championship appearances
    • 0 years: N/A

Active gaps
  • Longest active gaps between since last title:
  • Longest active gaps since last cup final appearance:
  • Longest active gap since last cup appearance

Provinces
  • On 0 occasions has the Tailteann Cup final involved two teams from the same province.
  • The province providing the highest number of different winning teams is Leinster, with two:
  • Province success rates
    • Leinster 17% (2 out of 12 counties)
    • Connacht 0% (0 out of 5 counties)
    • Munster 0% (0 out of 6 counties)
    • Ulster 0% (0 out of 9 counties)

Longest undefeated run

The record for the longest unbeaten run stands at 6 games held by Meath (2023-).

Miscellaneous

Player records
Main article: Tailteann Cup records and statistics

Overall
Year Player County Tally Total Matches Average
2022 John Heslin Westmeath 1–25 28 4 7.0
2023 Pat Havern Down 1–34 37 7 5.3

Final
Year Player County Tally Total Opposition
2022 Ronan O'Toole Westmeath 0–05 5 Cavan
2023 Jack O'Connor Meath 1–02 5 Down

See also

References
  1. "Second Tier Championship format to be discussed in January". gaa.ie. 24 November 2018.
  2. Sean Moran (19 October 2019). "Tier 2 football championship gets green light at special congress". The Irish Times.
  3. Kevin O'Brien (29 February 2020). "Tier 2 football championship to be called the Tailteann Cup". the42.ie.
  4. "All-Ireland football championship to be revamped in 2023 as Green Proposal passes Congress". the42.ie. 26 February 2022.
  5. "GAA publish Master Fixtures Schedule for 2022". gaa.ie. 21 December 2021.
  6. "Tailteann Cup decider won't feature on All-Ireland undercard". RTE Sport. 22 December 2021.
  7. Ciarán Murphy (10 March 2022). "Ciarán Murphy: Priorities unclear until the GAA gives the Tailteann Cup some love". The Irish Times.
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