The 2012 All-Ireland Football Final, the 125th event of its kind and the culmination of the
2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, was played at
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, on 23 September 2012.
Donegal Donegal may refer to:
County Donegal, Ireland
* County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster
* Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland
* Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...
and
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 ...
, widely considered "one of the most novel final pairings of all time", met to decide the destination of the
Sam Maguire Cup
The Sam Maguire Cup ( ga, Chorn Sam Mhic Uidhir), often referred to as Sam or The Sam , is a trophy awarded annually by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) to the team that wins the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the main competiti ...
, with Donegal ultimately emerging victorious as Mayo were yet again undone by "the curse".
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 ...
were the defending champions after defeating
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 ...
by a single point, 1–12 to 1–11, in the
2011 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. Neither side made it to the 2012 decider; Mayo defeated defending champions Dublin by three points in their semi-final encounter and Donegal defeated Kerry at the quarter-final stage. After the game,
Neil Lennon
Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971) is a Northern Irish football coach and former player.
During his playing career he represented English clubs Manchester City, Crewe Alexandra and Leicester City. Lennon moved to Celtic in 2000, where he ...
offered Donegal manager
Jim McGuinness
Jim McGuinness (born 16 November 1972) is an association football coach and former Gaelic footballer, coach and manager, who won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship as both player and manager with the Donegal county team.
Having gu ...
a professional role as a performance consultant at
Celtic F.C.
The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic (), is a Scottish professional football club based in Glasgow, which plays in the Scottish Premiership. The club was founded in 1887 with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the immigran ...
's
Lennoxtown training centre
Lennoxtown Training Centre is Celtic F.C.'s training centre, located at Lennoxtown, East Dunbartonshire in Scotland. The complex houses the club's training and educational facilities.
Background
Lennoxtown was designed to replace Celtic's former ...
.
The match was screened live internationally, including in Australia, India, South Africa, Thailand, the United States, and elsewhere, while cinemas also showed the game. More than a quarter of Ireland's population watched the match live on
RTÉ2
RTÉ2 is an Television in the Republic of Ireland, Irish free-to-air television channel operated by public service broadcaster RTÉ. It was launched in 1978 as the Republic of Ireland's second television channel.
History
In the 1970s, the Iri ...
and
RTÉ Online
(RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...
, the second highest audience in eight years. Donegal's success spawned a controversial interview with
Ryan Tubridy
Ryan Tubridy (born 28 May 1973), nicknamed 'Tubs
' is an Irish broadcaster. He presents ''The Ryan Tubridy Show'' and '' The Late Late Show''.
Tubridy previously presented RTÉ 2fm breakfast radio show ''The Full Irish'', which at its end was ...
on ''
The Late Late Show'' the following week, as well as the documentary ''
Jimmy's Winnin' Matches''—its title derived from
the similarly named anthem that celebrated Donegal's 2012 Championship success.
Paths to the final
Donegal progressed directly to the All-Ireland quarter finals after retaining the
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 usu ...
following victories against
Cavan
Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Bally ...
,
Derry
Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...
,
Tyrone and
Down. They defeated
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 ...
at this stage; it was the first Championship meeting between the sides at senior level. Kerry had been defeated at this stage only once before. Donegal played Cork in the semi-finals. Cork were favourites to win both the match and the championship, but Donegal reached the final following a 0–16 – 1–11 (14 points) victory. Tyrone's
Mickey Harte
Mickey Harte (born 1952) is an Irish Gaelic football manager and former player. He has been manager of the Louth county team since 2020.
Harte managed the Tyrone county team from 2002 until his resignation in 2020, at which time he was the ...
, a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
analyst that day, expressed his shock: "To be honest, I could not see that coming. Donegal annihilated Cork, there is no other word for it."
, a member of the successful 1992 side, said it was the best ever performance by any Donegal team, including his own.
Mayo defeated
and also progress directly to the All-Ireland quarter-finals. They then defeated
. They went into the game as underdogs, but won on a 0–19 – 0–16 scoreline. It had the highest attendance of the season prior to the final (81,364).
. Mayo last reached the final in
despite contesting the final five times. The two counties had never previously met in an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final; their only previous Championship meeting was a semi-final in 1992.
This was the first final between counties from the provinces of
football team in Donegal, drowned in Dublin after watching Donegal defeat Cork in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final. He had only decided to stay in Dublin at the last-minute, to celebrate Donegal's victory.