The 2018
All-Ireland Minor Football Championship was the
GAA's premier 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 ...
competition for under 17s. Thirty one county teams from Ireland competed (Kilkenny did not participate).
2018 was the first minor competition for under 17 year-olds – previously the competition had an under 18 age limit. The under 17 championship with a new format was introduced after a vote at the GAA congress on 26 February 2016.
A league format was introduced in Connacht and Leinster. Munster retained their double elimination format and Ulster changed to a double elimination format.
Kerry defeated Galway by 0-21 to 1-14 on 2 September 2018 to win their fifth All-Ireland minor title in a row, the first time this feat was achieved.
The winners received the Tom Markham Cup.
Teams
Thirty one teams from Ireland contested the championship as
Kilkenny
Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512.
Kilken ...
withdrew after competing in 2016.
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
and
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 ...
did not participate in this competition.
Competition Format
Provincial Championships
Connacht
Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...
,
Leinster
Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...
,
Munster
Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...
and
Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...
each organised
provincial
Provincial may refer to:
Government & Administration
* Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country
* Provincial city (disambiguation)
* Provincial minister (disambiguation)
* Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...
championships. Each province decided their own rules for determining their champions. The formats for the 2018 provincial championships are explained in the sections below.
All-Ireland
The four provincial winners play the four provincial runners-up in the All-Ireland quarter-finals. Two semi-finals and a final follow. All matches are played in a single knockout format. The minor final is normally played before the All-Ireland senior final.
Provincial Championships
Connacht Minor Football Championship
The Connacht Minor Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition organised by the Connacht Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1928 for the youngest competitors (under-18 until 2017, now under-17) in the province of C ...
Connacht Format
All five Connacht counties compete in a single round robin format. The top 2 teams in the round robin table meet again in the Connacht final.
The winners receive the Tom Kilcoyne Cup.
Connacht Table
Connacht League Section Rounds 1 to 5
Connacht Final
Leinster Minor Football Championship
The Leinster Minor Football Championship is the premier under-17 "knockout" competition in gaelic football played in the province of Leinster. 2017 was the final year of the minor under 18 football championship as it were replaced by an under 17 ...
Leinster Format
Leinster teams competed in two groups, one of six teams and one of five teams. Each team in a group plays a single match against the other teams. The first two teams in each group progress to the Leinster semi-finals.
Leinster Group 1 Table
Leinster Group 1 Rounds 1 to 5
Leinster Group 2 Table
:
Leinster Group 2 Rounds 1 to 5
Leinster Semi-Finals
Leinster Final
Munster Minor Football Championship
Munster Format
All six Munster teams competed in the three quarter-finals of the main draw. The three beaten teams entered the play-off section and, after two play-off matches, one team re-entered the main draw at the semi-final stage. From the semi-finals all matches were knockout.
Munster Main Draw
Munster Playoff Draw
The three teams who were beaten in the quarter-finals of the main draw competed in a play-off in two matches. The winning team from the play-offs re-entered the main draw at the semi-final stage.
Munster Quarter-Finals
Munster Playoff Rounds 1 and 2
Munster Semi-Finals
Munster Final
Ulster Minor Football Championship
Ulster Format
In 2018 the Ulster Championship changed to a
double-elimination format, which replaced the straight knockout style of previous years. Every team who lost a match before the semi-finals re-entered the competition via the Qualifiers Round 1 (R1), Qualifiers Round 2 (R2) or Qualifiers Round 3 (R3). This ensured that all teams played at least two games.
The semi-finals and final were knockout.
The winners received the Father Murray Cup.
Ulster Direct Route
=Ulster Preliminary Round
=
Two of the nine teams were drawn to play in the preliminary round.
=Ulster Round 1
=
The seven teams who avoided the preliminary round plus the winners of the preliminary round competed in four matches in round 1.
=Ulster Round 2
=
The four winning teams from round 1 met in two matches.
Ulster Qualifier Route
=Ulster Qualifiers R1
=
Two of the five teams beaten in the preliminary round or round 1 met in a playoff match. The losing team was eliminated from the competition.
=Ulster Qualifiers R2
=
The four remaining teams who lost only one match in the preliminary round or round 1 met in two matches with the two losing teams being eliminated,
=Ulster Qualifiers R3
=
The two losing teams from round 2 (who lost only one match) met the two winning teams from the qualifiers R2. The two losing teams were eliminated from the competition.
Ulster Knockout Stage
=Ulster Semi-Finals
=
The two winning teams from round 2 met the two winning teams from the qualifiers R3. The two losing teams were eliminated from the competition.
=Ulster Final
=
All-Ireland
All-Ireland Draw
Quarter-Finals
The four provincial champions played the four beaten finalists from the provincial championships.
Semi-Finals
There was no draw for the semi-finals as the fixtures are pre-determined on a three yearly rotation. This rotation ensures that a
provinces's champions play the champions of all the other provinces once every three years in the semi-finals, if they each win their quarter-finals. If a provincial winner loses their quarter final, then the provincial runner-up who beat them take their place in the semi-final.
Final
Minor Team Of The Year
1. John Ball (Kildare)
2. Ronan Grimes (Monaghan)
3. Owen Fitzgerald (Kerry)
4. Tiarnan Woods (Derry)
5. Colm Moriarty (Kerry)
6. Tony Gill (Galway)
7. Mark Lavin (Dublin)
8. Darragh Rahilly (Kerry)
9. Conor Raftery (Galway)
10. Paul Walsh (Kerry)
11. Matthew Costello (Meath)
12. Aaron Mulligan (Monaghan)
13. Luke Mitchell (Meath)
14. Eoin Darcy (Wicklow)
15. Matthew Cooley (Galway)
See also
*
2018 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
The 2018 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 131st edition of the GAA's premier inter-county Gaelic football competition since its establishment in 1887.
Thirty-three teams entered the competition – thirty-one of the thirty-tw ...
*
2018 All-Ireland Under-20 Football Championship
The 2018 Inter-County Under 20 Football Championship was the 55th edition of the competition, and the first since the competition was re-graded from Under 21 to Under 20. It was sponsored by Eirgrid, and known as the EirGrid GAA Football U20 All- ...
References
{{GAA 2018
All-Ireland Minor Football Championship
All-Ireland Minor Football Championship