The 2016 Down Senior Football Championship was the 108th official edition of Down GAA's premier

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 senior clubs in

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

. Sixteen teams compete with the winner representing Down in the

Ulster Senior Club Football Championship The Ulster Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition played between the top clubs in Ulster GAA. The trophy awarded to the winners is the Seamus McFerran Cup ( ga, Corn Shéamuis Mhic Fearáin). The winners and th ...

. The tournament operated a

double elimination A double-elimination tournament is a type of elimination tournament competition in which a participant ceases to be eligible to win the tournament's championship upon having lost ''two'' games or matches. It stands in contrast to a single-elimina ...

format for the opening two rounds of the championship, with the winners and early round losers rejoining in the quarter final stage. Kilcoo Owen Roe's were the defending champions after they defeated Castlewellan 3-10 to 0-11 in the 2015 final. On 25 September 2016 they successfully defended their title and claimed a "5 in a row" of Down S.F.C. titles when they defeated Clonduff 3-11 to 0-9 in the final in

Pairc Esler Park ( gd, A' Phàirc), also known as South Lochs, is a huge area of land connected to the rest of Lewis only by a narrow neck between Loch Seaforth and Loch Erisort. This had a wall called ''Gàrradh an Tighearna'' (''"The Laird's Dyke"'') buil ...

. Loughinisland and Ballymartin return to the senior grade after claiming the Down IFC and IFL titles respectively. Loughinisland made the straight bounce back to the senior grade after being relegated in 2014. Annaclone and Rostrevor are relegated to the 2017 I.F.C. after finishing outside the top 15 ranked teams in the Down football leagues for 2016.

Team Changes

The following teams have changed division since the 2015 championship season.

To S.F.C.

Promoted from I.F.C. * Loughinisland - (IFC Champions) * Ballymartin - (IFL Champions)

From S.F.C.

Relegated to I.F.C. * Clann na Banna (finished 15th in SFL) *

Liatroim Fontenoys Leitrim ( ; ) is a village in County Leitrim, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, on the River Shannon near the border with County Roscommon. It is at the junction of the R280 road (Ireland), R280 and R284 road (Ireland), R284 regional roads. Locatio ...

( finished 16th in SFL)

Round 1

All 16 teams enter the competition in this round. The 8 winners progress to Round 2A while the 8 losers progress to Round 2B. * Kilcoo 4-16, 0-6 Saval, Clonduff, 28/7/2016, *

Mayobridge Mayobridge () is a village within Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland, lying on the small river Clanrye which divides the townlands of Mayo and Bavan. It is located within the Newry and Mourne District Council area - it had a population of 1,069 ...

1-11, 1-10 Rostrevor,

, 29/7/2016, * Clonduff 3-10, 1-7 Ballyholland,

, 29/7/2016, * Castlewellan 3-14, 2-9 Loughinisland, Downpatrick, 30/7/2016
Report
* St. Peter's Warrenpoint 1-10, 1-8 Annaclone, Mayobridge, 30/7/2016, * Bryansford 1-20, 1-13 Glenn John Martin's,

, 31/7/2016, * Burren 1-12, 0-3 Ballymartin, Newcastle, 1/8/2016, *

Russell Gaelic Union, Downpatrick Russell Gaelic Union, Downpatrick is a Gaelic football and ladies' Gaelic football club based in Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland. History The first Gaelic Athletic Association club in Downpatrick was founded in 1896, ''Clan Na Gael'' ...

2-10, 2-5 Longstone, Castlewellan, 1/8/2016,

Round 2

Round 2A

The 8 winning teams from Round 1 enter this round. The 4 winners enter the draw for the quarter-finals while the 4 losers play in Round 3. * Clonduff 2-15, 0-13

, 5/8/2016, * Bryansford 1-13, 1-11 Castlewellan,

, 5/8/2016, * Burren 2-10, 1-7 Kilcoo,

, 7/8/2016, * St. Peter's Warrenpoint 3-8, 3-7

, Clonduff, 8/8/2016,

Round 2B

The 8 losing teams from Round 1 enter this round. The 4 winners go into Round 3 while the 4 losing teams exit the championship. * Longstone 1-13, 0-10 Saval, Atticall, 6/8/2016, * Loughinisland 2-10, 0-15 Annaclone, Castlewellan, 7/8/2016, * Ballyholland 2-11, 1-9 Glenn John Martin's,

, 7/8/2016, * Rostrevor 1-13, 0-7 Ballymartin, Burren, 8/8/2016,

Round 3

The 4 losers from Round 2A play the 4 winners from Round 2B. The 4 winners go into the draw for the quarter-finals. *

2-17, 1-13 Ballyholland,

, 12/8/2016, *

0-15, 0-13 Rostrevor, Castlewellan, 13/8/2016
Report
* Castlewellan 3-13, 2-10 Longstone,

, 14/8/2016, * Kilcoo 0-18, 0-6 Loughinisland, Newcastle, 14/8/2016
Report

Quarter-finals

The 4 winners from Round 2A play the 4 winners from Round 3. * Bryansford 4-6, 2-10

, 27/8/2016
Report
* Clonduff 2-10, 0-14 Castlewellan, 27/8/2016
Report
* Kilcoo 2-13, 0-10 St. Peter's Warrenpoint, 28/8/2016
Report
* Burren 3-15, 1-12

, 28/8/2016,

Semi-finals

---- ----

Final

Last Eight

Ulster Senior Club Football Championship

References

{{Down Senior Football Championship

Down Senior Football Championship The Down Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by top-tier Down GAA clubs. The Down County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association has organised it since 1903. Kilcoo are the title holders (2022) def ...

Down Senior Football Championship