The 1995 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final was the 108th All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1995 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an 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 for the top teams in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It was the story of

Charlie Redmond Charles Redmond is a Dublin-born former Gaelic footballer who played at senior level for the Dublin county team and current manager of Trinity Gaels seniors. His notoriety within the game was secured during the 1995 All-Ireland Senior Footba ...

, the man who was sent off twice in the same All-Ireland final.

Pre-game

Redmond sustained a

groin In human anatomy, the groin (the adjective is ''inguinal'', as in inguinal canal) is the junctional area (also known as the inguinal region) between the abdomen and the thigh on either side of the pubic bone. This is also known as the medial comp ...

injury while practising free-taking on the Thursday ahead of the match. Dublin manager Dr Pat O'Neill told Redmond (according to Redmond's own account) the day before the game: "We'll look after you, we'll give you an injection, we'll sort it out". Redmond said: "So in my head I was thinking I was going to have an injection that was going to sort me out. So 20 minutes before the game, I said, 'Okay, Pat, I'm ready to get the injection'. He says, 'I don't give injections'. I said, 'What are you talking about?' He says, 'Charlie, I have never given a player a pain-killing injection and I never will, if you can't play put your track-suit on. If you can play then get out and play'. He knew by telling me I'd get an injection that I'd relax from the Friday or Saturday".

Match

Summary

Redmond opted to start the game in spite of his groin injury. He scored Dublin's goal late in the first half, further damaging his groin as he did so.

Peter Canavan Peter Canavan (born 9 April 1971) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer, manager and pundit. He played inter-county football for Tyrone, and is one of the most decorated players in the game's history, winning two All-Ireland Senior Football Ch ...

hit eleven of Tyrone's twelve points, but missed a late free that would have tied the game. The final is best remembered though for one incident early in the second half. Redmond, the Dublin goal scorer, appeared to attempt a headbutt on

Feargal Logan Feargal Logan is a Gaelic football manager and former player, who was a starting member of the Tyrone county team that reached the 1995 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. Legal career Since retiring from play, Logan's name has ...

after Logan dropped his knee into Redmond's back while Redmond was on the ground. Referee

Paddy Russell Patricia "Paddy" Russell (4 July‌ 1928 – 2 November 2017) was a British television director. She was among the earliest female directors at the BBC. Early life and career Born in Highgate, to Bertie Russell, a P&O clerk, and his wife, Alici ...

spoke to Redmond and Redmond did not leave the field. Play resumed and Redmond became involved in a further Dublin attack receiving the ball from

Mick Deegan Mick Deegan (born 1964) is a former manager of the Dublin junior Gaelic football team and Fingal Ravens. He is a former inter-county Gaelic footballer for Dublin, and a former footballer for Crusaders. Playing career Mick won his first inter-c ...

, Deegan having had it passed to him by Keith Barr. Redmond sent the ball a considerable distance, towards

Dessie Farrell Dessie Farrell is an Irish Gaelic football coach and former player. He has been manager of the Dublin county team since 2019. A former All Star Gaelic footballer who played at senior level for Dublin county team for nearly 15 years, he retire ...

. Farrell then accidentally tripped Tyrone back

Chris Lawn Chris Lawn is a former Gaelic footballer who played for the Tyrone county football team, Tyrone county team. He was on the substitutes bench for the entirety of the 2003 final, and came on as a substitute in the 2005 final, for the injured Joe ...

and the referee blew his whistle. Paul Clarke charged in and kicked Lawn while he was on the ground; Clarke had his name taken by the referee, this nearly two minutes after Redmond had been sent off. While this was occurring, Tony O'Donoghue provided an update from the sideline for RTÉ television viewers on the extent of Fergal Logan's "very bad" ankle injury. Finbar McConnell moved to take the free for Tyrone but was stopped short by a further blow from the referee's whistle. As the referee gently ambled towards standby referee Willie O'Mahony, the television commentator mentioned "a potential nightmare few minutes there for… uh… Dublin, and for Charlie Redmond in particular". O'Mahony exchanged words with the referee at the side of the field. The referee then headed in the direction of Redmond, shaking his head sternly, and began ushering Redmond from the field. The TV commentator said: "This is very confusing. I've never seen anything like this in an All-Ireland final. '' ause' I think he ''has'' sent him off! '' urther pause' So Dublin are indeed down to fourteen players". The incident lasted more than three minutes, before Redmond left the field, shaking his head.RTÉ video footage (available on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

). Note that Seán Moran, writing in ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' in 2019, noted that: "Watched on

, the forbidden period on the field comes in at 28 seconds — admittedly that's nearly half a minute more than ideal, but not nearly the length of time some had thought, and during which Redmond never touched the ball".

Details

Post-match

Redmond joked afterwards that he thought Russell was "waving to his family". The incident prompted the GAA to introduce

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

and

yellow card Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative conce ...

s. Many years later, Redmond encountered Russell at a function. Redmond said Russell remembered it better than he did. "I apparently said, 'Paddy, you are making a huge mistake and you will be able to see it tonight on television' and he said, 'Well, that's a mistake I'm willing to make'". Redmond is teased by children whom he says were unborn at the time of the incident. Peter Canavan was named Footballer of the Year. Tyrone would not appear in another All-Ireland final until

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

. Dublin would not appear in another All-Ireland final until

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

. This was Dublin's last All-Ireland Senior Football Championship title until they won the 2011 final. The two teams did not meet again in an All-Ireland final until

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

won by Dublin.

References

{{Tyrone county football team matches All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, 1995

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Finals All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Finals Dublin county football team matches Gaelic football controversies Tyrone county football team matches