Founded 1887 Current champions Dublin (26th title) | Region Ireland (GAA) Most successful team(s) Kerry (37 titles) | |
Number of teams 34 (qualifiers)
8 (final series) | ||
The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the premier competition in Gaelic football, is an annual series of games 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.
Contents
The competition culminates on the third or fourth Sunday in September with the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. The winning team receives the Sam Maguire Cup. The final has been played at Croke Park in Dublin since 1913, with the exception of the 1947 final which was played at the Polo Grounds in New York. Finals held before the GAA's acquirement of Croke Park were played at venues around Dublin and the counties of Cork, Kildare and Tipperary.
Dublin are the current champions.
History
Teams from the southern province of Munster shared the early titles, with Limerick, Tipperary and Cork winning the first three finals. The first Championship 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-Irelands, there were no provincial championships and it 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).
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. As of 2016, they have won the competition on 37 occasions, including two four-in-a-rows (1929–32 and 1978–81) and two three-in-a-rows (1939–41 and 1984–86). Galway were the first team from the West 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.
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. Since Cavan's fifth title in 1952 none have won a final, while Cavan and Wexford have never since appeared in one. Remarkably Mayo who last won in 1951 have appeared in 8 finals since (1989, 1996 (draw and replay), 1997, 2004, 2006, 2012, 2013 & 2016 (draw & replay)) losing them all. This is the longest unbroken sequence of losing finals in the history of the competition (previously equal on 7 with that of Cork between 1891 & 1911), and Mayo's quest to end their All Ireland famine is now a major sub plot the longer it continues.
A record 90,556 attended the 1961 final between Down and Offaly. In the 1990s, a significant sea change took place, as the All-Ireland was claimed by an Ulster team in four consecutive years (1991–94). Since then Ulster has produced more All-Ireland winning teams than any other province. The introduction of the qualifier system (commonly known as the "back door") in 2001 enabled Galway to reach and win that year's final despite losing to Roscommon in the Connacht semi-finals; a further five teams have since claimed the All-Ireland after coming through the qualifiers (Tyrone in 2005 and 2008, Kerry in 2006 and 2009, and Cork in 2010). The 2003 final between Tyrone and Armagh was the first to be contested by two teams from the same province.
Finals
The following table sets out the winning team and beaten finalist of each All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final. The vast majority of finals were contested by the winning semi-finalists, although in certain cases in the early years a provincial championship had not been completed in time and the affected province nominated a team to participate in the All-Ireland semi-final. In some of these cases, the nominated team (e.g. Dublin in 1905) won its semi-final, but was then vanquished in their provincial championship, and their place in the All-Ireland final taken by another team from that province.
Key
All teams are based in Ireland, except where marked (England).