Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Ulster Senior Football Championship

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Code
  
Gaelic football

Trophy
  
Anglo-Celt Cup

Title holders
  
Tyrone (14th title)

Region
  
Ulster

Founded
  
1888

No. of teams
  
9

Number of teams
  
9


Irish
  
Comórtas Peile Sinsear Uladh

Sponsors
  
Vodafone, Ulster Bank, Toyota

The Ulster Senior Football Championship is a GAA inter-county competition for gaelic football teams within the Irish province of Ulster. It is organised by the Ulster Council and begins in early May. The final is usually played on the third Sunday in July.

Contents

All nine Ulster counties participate. It is regarded as hardest to win of the four provincial football championships.

Cavan are the most successful team in Ulster Championship history, having won the competition on 37 occasions. Fermanagh remain the only team not to have won an Ulster title. The Ulster Senior Football Championship celebrated its 125th year in 2013.

For many decades, winning the Ulster Senior Football Championship was considered as much as a team from Ulster could hope for, as the other provinces were usually much stronger and more competitive. Before 1990, only Cavan in 1933, 1935, 1947, 1948 and 1952, and Down in 1960, 1961 and 1968, had won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship title. In the 1990s however, a significant sea change took place, as the Ulster Champions won the All-Ireland in four consecutive years from 1991–1994. Since then Ulster has produced more All-Ireland winning teams than any other province.

Currently the Ulster Senior Football Championship is considered one of the toughest provinces to compete in. Ulster teams have gained considerable dominance on the All-Ireland scene, having won three All-Irelands from four in the early 2000s, including in 2003 when for the first time ever, the All-Ireland football final was competed for by two teams from one province.

The Ulster football final is normally played on the third Sunday in July, usually at St. Tiernach's Park in Clones. From 2004 until 2006, it was staged at Croke Park in Dublin. The 2007 final—contested by Monaghan and Tyrone—marked a return to Clones, with Tyrone emerging victorious.

In the 2000s, Armagh were a dominant force in Ulster, winning six titles in seven years between 1999 and 2006. Donegal won consecutive Ulster titles from the preliminary round in 2011 and 2012 (a feat achieved by no other county) and added the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in 2012.

Teams

The Ulster championship is contested by the nine traditional counties in the Irish province of Ulster. Ulster comprises the six counties of Northern Ireland as well as Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland.

Current format

The Ulster Senior Football Championship is a straight knock-out competition. All beaten teams compete in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship qualifiers. The Ulster Senior Football Championship winner enters the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship at the quarter-final stage.

Historic format

Before the introduction of the qualifiers in 2001, the winner of the Ulster Senior Football Championship would compete with the other three provincial winners in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-finals. The two semi-final winners competed in the All-Ireland Senior Football Final.

Team progress since 2001

Below is a record of each county's performance since the introduction of the qualifier system to the All-Ireland Series in 2001.

Key

List Of Winners By County

  • A golden background denotes years the Ulster Champions won the All-Ireland as well.

    • List Of Winners By Year

    Notes:

  • 1939 game abandoned – replay ordered
  • 1907 No official final result in records
  • 1901-1902 championship was played over two seasons and only counts as one Ulster Title
  • 1900 Antrim were to have represented Ulster but gave walkover to Galway.
  • 1892–1900 No championship. Cavan played in Leinster Senior Football Championship in 1895.
  • 1891 Cavan Slashers, (Cavan) v Armagh Harps, (Armagh) game Abandoned Smithboro Co Monaghan game replayed Cavan 1-11 Armagh 0-00
  • 1890 Armagh Harps, (Armagh) v Owen Roe O'Neill's (Tyrone)
  • 1889 No Ulster championship
  • 1888 Ulster Senior Football Championship Inniskeen Grattans of (Monaghan) v Maghera McGinns of (Cavan) game went to a Replay
  • 1887 No Ulster championship

    • Scoring records

    On 9 July 2006, Oisín McConville became the record point scorer in the history of the Ulster Senior Football Championship in that year's final at Croke Park.

    All-time top Ulster scorers

    As of 3 June 2008 according to the BBC.

    Notes:

  • Includes Ulster Championship, All-Ireland Championship and Qualifiers.

    • All-time top Ulster goalscorers

    As of 15 June 2008, according to the Sunday Tribune.

    Notes:

  • Includes Ulster Championship, All-Ireland Championship and Qualifiers.
  • Since the records have been done Brendan Coulter has become the top goal scorer with 18.

    • Ulster top scorers by year

  • 2012 TBD
  • 2011 Martin Clarke (Down) & Seán Cavanagh (Tyrone) 2-16
  • 2010 Martin Clarke (Down) 1-30
  • 2009 Paddy Bradley (Derry) 3–12
  • 2008 Steven McDonnell (Armagh) 1-17
  • 2007 Tommy Freeman (Monaghan) 1-15
  • 2006 Oisín McConville (Armagh) 3–25
  • 2005 Stephen O'Neill (Tyrone) 1–26
  • 2004 Colm McFadden (Donegal) & Oisín McConville (Armagh) 1–13
  • 2003 Peter Canavan (Tyrone) 1–38
  • 2002 Rory Gallagher (Fermanagh) 4–12
  • 2001 Rory Gallagher (Fermanagh) 0–16
  • 2000 Rory Gallagher (Fermanagh) 1–19
  • 1999 Oisín McConville (Armagh) 3–18
  • 1998 Joe Brolly (Derry) & Tony Boyle (Donegal) 0–13
  • 1997 Joe Brolly (Derry) 3–15
  • 1996 Peter Canavan (Tyrone) 3–13
  • 1995 Peter Canavan (Tyrone) 0–20
  • 1994 Peter Canavan (Tyrone) 1–17
  • 1993 John Toner (Armagh) 0–23
  • 1992 Enda Gormley (Derry) 0–25
  • 1991 Ross Carr (Down) 0–21
  • 1990 Manus Boyle (Donegal) 1–16
  • 1989 Martin McHugh (Donegal) 2–16
  • 1988 Stephen Conway (Tyrone) 0–17
  • 1987 Enda Gormley (Derry) 0–20
  • 1986 Brendan Mason (Down) 3–17
  • 1985 Eamonn McEneaney (Monaghan) 3–16
  • 1984 Frank McGuigan (Tyrone) 0–19
  • 1983 Derek McDonnell (Cavan) 4–11
  • 1982 John Corvan (Armagh) & Peter McGinnity (Fermanagh) 1–9
  • 1981 Eamonn McEneaney (Monaghan) & Brendan McGovern (Down) 1–17
  • 1980 Patsy Hetherington (Tyrone) & Patsy Kerlin (Tyrone) 4–3
  • 1979 Kieran Finlay (Monaghan) 1–18
  • 1978 Donal Donohoe (Cavan) 0–12
  • 1977 Brendan Kelly (Derry) 2–10
  • 1976 Steve Duggan (Cavan) 1–22
  • 1975 Willie Walsh (Down) 3–8
  • 1974 Seamus Bonner (Donegal) 6–4
  • 1973 Patsy Hetherington (Tyrone) 0–17
  • 1972 Joe Winston (Donegal) 0–26
  • 1971 Sean O'Connell (Derry) 1–18
  • 1970 Andy McCallin (Antrim) 3–15
  • 1969 Sean Woods (Monaghan) & Gene Cusack (Cavan) 3–7
  • 1968 Paddy Doherty (Down) 1–17
  • 1967 Charlie Gallagher (Cavan) 0-*19
  • 1966 PT Treacy (Fermanagh) 4–13
  • 1965 Charlie Gallagher (Cavan) 2–29
  • 1964 Charlie Gallagher (Cavan) 0-*19
  • 1963 Harry Laverty (Donegal) 2–10
  • 1962 Seamus McMahon (Cavan) & Frankie Donnelly (Tyrone) 0–11
  • 1961 Paddy Doherty (Down) 1–16
  • 1960 Con Smith (Cavan) 1–17
  • 1959 Paddy Doherty (Down) 1–17
  • 1958 Paddy Doherty (Down) 3–14
  • 1957 Frankie Donnelly (Tyrone) 1–14
  • 1956 Frankie Donnelly (Tyrone) & Victor Sherlock (Cavan) 2–7
  • 1955 Peter Donohoe (Cavan) 0–14
  • 1954 Brian Gallagher (Cavan) 0–14
  • 1953 Art O'Hagan (Armagh) 3-04
  • 1952 John Joe Cassidy (Cavan) 1-07
  • 1951 Joe McCallin (Antrim) 3–14
  • 1950 Peter Donohoe (Cavan) 3–18
  • 1949 Peter Donohoe (Cavan) 4–10
  • 1948 Peter Donohoe (Cavan) 3–12

    • * Scores only include Ulster Championship. All-Ireland Championship and Qualifiers are not included.

    Broadcasters

    In the late 90's, matches were broadcast in Northern Ireland by UTV before moving to BBC Northern Ireland.

    References

    Ulster Senior Football Championship Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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