The 1981 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 95th staging of the

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) ( ga, Craobh Shinsir Peile na hÉireann) is the premier competition in Gaelic football. An annual tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), it is contested by the county ...

, 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 Inter-county, or inter county is Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) terminology which refers to competitions or matches between counties, as used in Gaelic games (differently from legal counties). The term can also be used to describe the players o ...

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 10 May 1981 and ended on 20 September 1981.

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 ...

entered the championship as the defending champions and were hoping to win a record-equalling fourth successive championship title. On 20 September 1981, Kerry won the championship following a 1-12 to 0-8 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 ...

in the All-Ireland final. This was their 27th All-Ireland title and their fourth championship in succession. Offaly's

Matt Connor Matt Connor (born 1960 in Walsh Island, County Offaly) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for his local club Walsh Island and at senior level for the Offaly county team from 1978 until 1984, when he was seriously injured in a car c ...

was the championship's top scorer with 1-31. Kerry's

Jack O'Shea Jack O'Shea (born 19 November 1957 in Cahersiveen, County Kerry) is an Irish former sportsperson. He played Gaelic football at various times with his local clubs St Mary's in Kerry and Leixlip in Kildare. He was a member of the Kerry senior foo ...

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 ...

Munster Championship format change

The normal system of 2 Quarter-final's and 2 Semi-final's is back.

Results

Connacht Senior Football Championship The Connacht Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition for the senior county teams of Connacht GAA. All of the counties of Connacht participate in the championship, as well as counties London and New York. The winning ...

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final

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

First 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 The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) ( ga, Craobh Shinsir Peile na hÉireann) is the premier competition in Gaelic football. An annual tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), it is contested by the county ...

Semi-finals Final

Championship statistics

Top scorers

;Overall ;Single game

Miscellaneous

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

after six years in the Connacht championship play their games this year on home ground at

Ruislip Ruislip ( ) is an area in the London Borough of Hillingdon in West London, and in the historic county of Middlesex. Ruislip lies west-north-west of Charing Cross, London. The manor of Ruislip appears in the Domesday Book, and some of the ear ...

. *

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 ...

won their first Connacht title since 1969. *

become the third team in the history of the championship to win four All-Ireland titles in-a-row. They equalled the record set by

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...

(1915-1918) and

(1929-1932).

References

{{All-Ireland Senior Football Championship