The 2004 Leinster Senior Football Championship Final was the final

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

match of the 2004

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 ...

(SFC), contested by

Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

and

Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...

over two games in

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and he ...

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 ...

. The first game finished level so a replay occurred. Westmeath won their first ever title at senior level, leaving

Wicklow Wicklow ( ; ga, Cill Mhantáin , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; non, Víkingaló) is the county town of County Wicklow in Ireland. It is located south of Dublin on the east coast of the island. According to the 2016 census, it has ...

and

Fermanagh Historically, Fermanagh ( ga, Fir Manach), as opposed to the modern County Fermanagh, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Fermanagh. ''Fir Manach'' originally referred to a distinct kin group of al ...

as the only other counties yet to achieve this. The season also saw the emergence of

Denis Glennon Denis Glennon is a Gaelic footballer from Tyrrellspass, County Westmeath, Ireland who plays for the Westmeath county team. His younger brother David was also a member of the senior panel. Glennon is considered to be one of the finest talent ...

Pre-match

Westmeath had only ever appeared in two Leinster SFC finals in their history: in 1931 and 1949. They went into the 2004 Leinster SFC bidding to win their first ever title at senior level, with the only other counties still to achieve this being Wicklow and Fermanagh. Westmeath midfielder

Rory O'Connell Rory O'Connell is a former Gaelic footballer from Athlone, County Westmeath. He was Westmeath's first Football All Stars winner in 2001. He was also part of the Westmeath team that won the county's first Leinster Senior Football Championship ...

was banned for 12-weeks for stamping on

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 ...

's Pascal Kellaghan during Westmeath's Leinster SFC win on 23 May 2004. This threatened O'Connell's participation in the final. Kellaghan submitted a letter saying the offence had not happened.

Reaction

Commentators hailed Westmeath's win as monumental, with the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet new ...

''s Eamonn Sweeney, '

Richard Stakelum Richard Stakelum (born 1963 in Borrisoleigh, County Tipperary, Ireland) is an Irish hurling manager and former player. He is the current manager of the Dublin under-21 hurling team. Stakelum enjoyed a successful playing career at club level wi ...

famously greeted

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 ...

's first Munster title in sixteen years with the words, "The famine is over." What Westmeath have endured makes the famine of other counties look more like minor spells of peckishness. There was a song a few years back which described the failures of the

English soccer team The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affiliat ...

as "thirty years of hurt." Thirty years? How about one hundred and twenty years of hurt. And those years never stopped Westmeath dreaming either.'

Colm O'Rourke Colm O'Rourke (born 31 August 1957) is a Gaelic football manager, former player, retired secondary school principal, sports broadcaster and columnist. He has been manager of the Meath county team since 2022. O'Rourke's league and championship ...

said it was "one of the greatest days ever in Croke Park and must have given rise to the biggest street party ever in he Westmeath capital

Mullingar Mullingar ( ; ) is the county town of County Westmeath in Ireland. It is the third most populous town in the Midland Region, with a population of 20,928 in the 2016 census. The Counties of Meath and Westmeath Act 1543 proclaimed Westmeat ...

last night".

Aftermath

Westmeath player David Mitchell later joined

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

References

{{Leinster Senior Football Championship Leinster Senior Football Championship Final Leinster Senior Football Championship Finals Laois county football team matches Westmeath county football team matches

Pre-match

Reaction

Aftermath

See also

References