The 1978 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 92nd staging of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

's premier inter-county

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

tournament. The championship began on 7 May 1978 and ended on 24 September 1978.

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

entered the championship as the defending champions. On 24 September 1978,

Kerry Kerry or Kerri may refer to: * Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name) Places * Kerry, Queensland, Australia * County Kerry, Ireland ** Kerry Airport, an international airport in County ...

won the championship following a 5-11 to 0-9 defeat of Dublin in the All-Ireland final. This was their 24th All-Ireland title and their first in three championship seasons. Kerry's

Pat Spillane Patrick Gerard Spillane (born 1 December 1955), better known as Pat Spillane, is an Irish former Gaelic football pundit and player. His National Football League (Ireland), league and All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, championship career ...

was the choice for

Texaco Footballer of the Year The Texaco Footballer of the Year was a Gaelic football award, created in 1958, that honoured the achievements of a footballer of outstanding excellence. The award was part of the Texaco Sportstars Awards, in which Irish sportspeople from all f ...

. Dublin's

Jimmy Keaveney James Keaveney (born 12 February 1945) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer. His league and championship career at senior level with the Dublin county team spanned sixteen seasons from 1964 to 1980. Keaveney is widely regarded as one of Dubli ...

was the championship's top scorer with 2-31.

Leinster Championship format change

In 1978 Round 2 returns to the Leinster football championship.

Results

Connacht Senior Football Championship

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final

Leinster Senior Football Championship

First round Second round Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final

Munster Senior Football Championship The Munster Senior Football Championship, known simply as the Munster Championship and shortened to Munster SFC, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It i ...

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final

Ulster Senior Football Championship The Ulster Senior Football Championship is an inter-county competition for Gaelic football teams in the province of Ulster. It is organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and begins in early May. The final is usu ...

Preliminary round Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

Semi-finals Final

Championship statistics

Top scorers

;Overall

Miscellaneous

* Kevin Moran, who had signed for

Manchester United F.C. Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd), or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The club competes in the Premier League, ...

in February 1978, was given permission from the club to line out for

in their Leinster semi-final defeat of

Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

. He remained on the panel for all of Dublin's subsequent games. * On 28 May 1978, James Stephens Park, Ballina hosted its first championship game for 28 years it was the Connacht Quarter-final between

Mayo Mayo often refers to: * Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo" * Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States Mayo may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land Australia * Division of Mayo, an Aust ...

and Leitrim. * At the Ulster final between Down and

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Bally ...

, an official attendance of 27,600 is given, however, it is estimated that between 6,000 and 8,000 extra spectators were at the game. * In the All-Ireland semi-final between Down and

, the Down players wore black armbands as a mark of respect to the late Michael Cunningham. He was the father of the team's centre-forward Mickey Cunningham and died in the week leading up to the match. * Kerry won their first title in a year ending with 8. They became the first county in either code to win at least one All Ireland in years ending with all ten digits.

References

{{All-Ireland Senior Football Championship