Dates 1 May 2016 – 4 Sep 2016 Teams 14 | Location Ireland | |
People also search for 2015 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship | ||
The 2016 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 129th staging of the All-Ireland championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1887. It is the top tier of senior inter-county championship hurling.
Contents
- Format
- Leinster and Munster Hurling Championships
- Qualifiers
- All Ireland
- Non participating Provincial Championships
- Changes from 2015 championship
- Broadcasting
- Leinster Format
- Leinster Qualifier Group
- Leinster Knock out
- Munster Format
- All Ireland Qualifiers
- Qualifiers Round 1 Format
- Qualifiers Round 2 Format
- All Ireland Quarter Finals
- All Ireland Semi Finals
- Scoring
- Miscellaneous
- Overview
- Referees
- Attendances
- Awards
- References
The championship began on 1 May 2016 and ended on 4 September 2016.
Kilkenny were the defending champions. Kerry qualified for the competition for the first time since 2004
Tipperary won the title for the 27th time and for the first time since 2010, defeating Kilkenny in the final, 2–29 to 2–20.
Format
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship is a double-elimination tournament based on the Leinster and Munster provincial championships. Fourteen teams take part.
Leinster and Munster Hurling Championships
Leinster Senior Hurling Championship
Seven Leinster counties compete. Galway and Kerry, though not in Leinster, also participate. The competition begins with a qualifier group consisting of the four weakest teams. Two teams from the qualifier group progress and the remainder of the competition is knock-out. Most of the beaten teams enter the All-Ireland qualifiers – the two bottom teams in the Leinster qualifier group do not.
In 2016 the bottom team in the Leinster qualifier group will be relegated to next year's Christy Ring Cup (2nd tier). Their place in next year's Leinster qualifier group will be taken by the winner of 2016’s Christy Ring Cup.
Kerry qualified for this year's Leinster Championship by winning the 2015 Christy Ring Cup.
Munster Senior Hurling Championship
Five Munster counties compete. Kerry participates in The Leinster Hurling Championship (see above). The competition has a knock-out format. All of the beaten teams enter the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Qualifiers
All teams beaten in the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the Leinster and Munster Hurling Championships enter the All-Ireland hurling qualifiers which are knock-out. The qualifiers eventually result in two teams who play the beaten finalists of the Leinster and Munster championships in the two All-Ireland quarter-finals.
All-Ireland
The Leinster and Munster champions play the winners of the two quarter finals in the semi-finals. The final normally takes place on the first Sunday in September.
Non-participating Provincial Championships
Connacht and Ulster teams can qualify for the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship by winning the Christy Ring Cup (tier 2).
Connacht Senior Hurling Championship
This competition is no longer organised. Galway represent Connacht and participate in the Leinster Championship.
Ulster Senior Hurling Championship
Although this competition takes place, it is not part of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. Currently no Ulster teams qualify for the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.
Changes from 2015 championship
Hawkeye was used for the first time in the Munster Hurling Championship in Thurles when Tipperary played Cork on 22 May 2016. Previously it was only installed in Croke Park.
Broadcasting
Matches will be broadcast live on television in Ireland on RTÉ and Sky Sports, and in the United Kingdom on Sky Sports. Worldwide coverage will be provided on GAAGO.
RTÉ coverage will be shown on RTÉ One on The Sunday Game Live presented by Michael Lyster in high definition. Des Cahill will present The Sunday Game highlights and analysis show on Sunday evening.
These matches were broadcast live on television in Ireland
Leinster Format
Nine counties compete - seven from Leinster plus Galway and Kerry. Last year's Leinster champions receive a bye into the semi-final. The championship begins with a qualifier group involving the four weakest teams. The group winners and runners-up join four of the five strongest teams in the three Leinster quarter finals.
Leinster Qualifier Group
Leinster Qualifier Group Table
Leinster Qualifier Group Round 1
Leinster Qualifier Group Round 2
Leinster Qualifier Group Round 3
Leinster Knock-out
Leinster Quarter-Finals
Last year's Leinster champions receive a bye into the semi-finals. The remaining six teams (four seeded teams plus the qualifier group winners and runners-up) play in three quarter-finals. If a team from the qualifier group wins their quarter-final, they will be seeded in next year's Leinster championship and the beaten seeded team will compete in next year's Leinster qualifier group.
Leinster Semi-Finals
Last year's Leinster champions receive a bye into the semi-finals. They are joined by the winners of the three quarter-finals.
Leinster Final
Munster Format
Five of the six Munster counties compete. Kerry qualify for the qualifier group of the Leinster championship. The competition is straight knock-out.
All-Ireland Qualifiers
All qualifier matches are knock-out.
Qualifiers Round 1 Format
The eight teams beaten in the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the Leinster (5 teams) and Munster (3 teams) provincial championships play in four matches. A draw is made that ensures there are three matches between Leinster and Munster teams and one match between two Leinster teams.
Qualifiers Round 2 Format
The four winners of round 1 play in two matches. The draw was made on 4 July. Teams who have already met in the Leinster or Munster championships cannot be drawn to meet again.
All-Ireland Quarter-Finals
The beaten finalists from the Leinster and Munster championships play the winners of round 2 of the qualifiers.
All-Ireland Semi-Finals
The Leinster and Munster champions play the winners of the two quarter-finals.
Scoring
Widest winning margin: 35 points
Most goals in a match: 5
Most points in a match: 49
Most goals by one team in a match: 5
Highest aggregate score: 61
Lowest aggregate score: 34
Most goals scored by a losing team: 2
Miscellaneous
Overview
All bar one of the teams from the 2015 championship will line out in hurling's top tier in 2016.
Antrim, who finished bottom of the 2015 Leinster qualifier group, were relegated to the Christy Ring Cup. Their place in the 2016 Leinster qualifier group goes to Kerry who won the 2015 Christy Ring Cup and gained automatic promotion. It will be the first time since 2004 that Kerry will participate in the senior championship.
Referees
Sean Cleere - Kilkenny
Brian Gavin - Offaly
Fergal Horgan - Tipperary
John Keenan - Wicklow
Alan Kelly - Galway
Barry Kelly - Westmeath
Diarmuid Kirwan - Cork
Colm Lyons - Cork
James McGrath - Westmeath
Paud O'Dwyer - Carlow
James Owens - Wexford
Johnny Ryan - Tipperary
Attendances
Highest attendances:
Total attendance: 486,553
Average attendance: 24,328
Awards
The Sunday Game team of the year was picked on 4 September, which was the night of the final. The panel consisting of Brendan Cummins, Henry Shefflin, Michael Duignan, Ger Loughnane, Liam Sheedy, Eddie Brennan and Cyril Farrell selected Tipperary's Séamus Callanan as the Sunday game player of the year. Other players nominated were Padraic Maher and John McGrath of Tipperary.
On 4 November, the 2016 All Star Award winners were announced at the awards ceremony in the National Convention Centre in Dublin. Austin Gleeson of Waterford was named as the All Stars Hurler of the Year and the All Stars Young Hurler of the Year.