The 1997 Bank of Ireland

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 ...

was the 111th 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 sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include t ...

's premier inter-county Gaelic football tournament. The championship began on 11 May 1997 and ended on 28 September 1997. Meath entered the championship as the defending champions; however, they were defeated by

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 h ...

in the Leinster final. On 28 September 1997

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 Count ...

, the most successful county in Gaelic football history, claimed their 31st All-Ireland title - and their first since 1986 - with a 0–13 to 1–7 victory over

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 ...

. This year also saw Ulster's most successful county, Cavan, win their first provincial title since 1969.

Munster Championship format change

A new 2 year system was introduced in Munster meaning that

, Cork & Clare would have straight access to the Munster semi-finals for

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

would play in a Preliminary Round and the bye team in a lone Quarter final involved.

Fixtures and results

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 ...

Preliminary round Quarter-final 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 (GA ...

First round Second round Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final

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

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 ...

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

* On 11 May 1997,

O'Kennedy Park O'Kennedy Park (sometimes designated Kennedy Park) is a GAA stadium in New Ross, County Wexford, Ireland. It is the main ground of Geraldine O'Hanrahan's Gaelic football and hurling teams and has also hosted inter-county fixtures. It was ...

, New Ross hosted its 1st game for 53 years it was the drawn game between Wexford vs Westmeath. * Clare record their first win over Cork since 1941. * Cavan win their first Ulster title since 1969 and last until 2020. *

won their first Leinster title since 1982. * All Ireland semi-final Mayo vs Offaly was the first championship meeting between them. *

end their longest drought as All Ireland Champions of 11 years. {{All-Ireland Senior Football Championship