The All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship is an annual

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 which began in season 1970–71. It is the top-tier competition for the senior football clubs of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

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 ...

. The current champions are Kilcoo of Down who defeated

Kilmacud Crokes Kilmacud Crokes ( ir, Cill Mochuda Na Crócaigh) is a large Gaelic Athletic Association club located in Stillorgan, Dublin, Republic of Ireland. Background Kilmacud GAA club was formed in 1959 following a historic public meeting in Saint ...

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 ...

on 12 February 2022 to win their first title. The current trophy is the Andy Merrigan Cup, named after a footballer who played for Castletown Liam Mellows and

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...

who died as a result of a farm accident at the height of his playing career. It was first presented in 1974.

Competition format

County Championships Ireland's 32

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

play their

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

championships between their senior Gaelic football

clubs Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

. Each county decides the format for determining their county champions. The format can be knockout,

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 ...

, league, etc. or a combination. For instance, Kerry organise two separate championships - one for clubs only and one for clubs and divisional sides. 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 organise a provincial championship for their participating county champions. All matches are knock-out and two ten minute periods of extra time are played if it's a draw at the end of normal time. All-Ireland Championship The four provincial winners advance to the semi-finals. Until the 2018-19 competition, the London Senior Football Champion would play one of the provincial champions in a Quarter Final in December with the winner advancing to the All Ireland Semi Final. The All-Ireland final was traditionally played in Croke Park on St. Patrick's Day, 17 March. In an attempt to shorten the season for club players, the semi-finals and final were brought forward for the 2019–20 season. The semi finals were played on the first weekend in January with the final scheduled for 19 January. Traditional Typical Schedule County championships – April to November
Provincial championships – October to December
All-Ireland quarter-final – mid-December or January
All-Ireland semi-finals – mid-February
All-Ireland final – 17 March in Croke Park, Dublin

History

Ulster and Connacht tournaments were first held in the 1960s and the first unofficial All-Ireland Final took place in 1968. The final was contested by Dunmore McHales of Galway and St Josephs of Donegal. It was a two leg affair with St Josephs emerging as the winners. The motion was then brought to the GAA National Congress in 1969. Despite opposition from many delegations the motion received the necessary two-thirds majority. The first winners in 1970–71 were an East Kerry divisional team (nowadays amalgamations of clubs are not allowed to enter the All-Ireland). In the following year,

Bellaghy Bellaghy () is a village in County Derry, Northern Ireland. It lies north west of Lough Neagh and about 5 miles north east of Magherafelt. In the centre of the village (known locally as The Diamond) three main roads lead to Magherafelt, Po ...

from

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 ...

, became the first individual club to win the All-Ireland Club Championship by defeating UCC of Cork in the final at Croke Park. The Andy Merrigan Cup was first awarded in 1974, donated by the Castletown Liam Mellows club in memory of the great

footballer who died in a farming accident at the height of his career.

clubs ( UCD x2 and St Vincent's of Marino) won three-in-a-row All-Irelands in 1974–76, before

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 ...

and

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

clubs began to dominate, winning 9 titles in 13 years, 1977–89, including four for Nemo Rangers of

Clann na nGael A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meanin ...

won 7 Connacht titles in 8 years (1983–90), but did not win a single All-Ireland. St Mary's Burren of Down ended a 14-year

drought when they were victorious in 1986.

Baltinglass Baltinglass, historically known as Baltinglas (), is a town in south-west County Wicklow, Ireland. It is located on the River Slaney near the border with County Carlow and County Kildare, on the N81 road. Etymology The town's Irish name, ''Be ...

caused a major shock in 1990 by winning their and

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 ...

's first national honour, while Nemo pulled ahead with their fifth title in 1994. In 1998, Corofin won

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

's and

's first national award, six months before the county team's first

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

for 32 years. In the late 1990s the club championship rose to national prominence with regular TV coverage and the prestigious St Patrick's Day fixture in Croke Park for the final.

Crossmaglen Rangers Crossmaglen Rangers Gaelic Athletic Club ( ga, Raonaithe na Croise) is a GAA club in Crossmaglen, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. They cater for Gaelic football and camogie. Their home football ground is St. Oliver Plunkett Park, which was ...

claimed 3 All-Irelands in 4 years from 1997 to 2000. While the Caltra club of Galway won their first Galway title, first Connacht award and first All-Ireland in one year, 2003–04. 2006 saw

Salthill-Knocknacarra Salthill-Knocknacarra () is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in the Salthill and Knocknacarra areas in Galway City, Ireland. The club is a member of the Galway GAA. Salthill-Knocknacarra GAA Club caters for huge numbers of young boys a ...

complete a Connacht three-in-a-row. In 2010, St Gall's in Antrim beat Kilmurry-Ibrickane of Clare to win their first title.

All-Ireland club finals listed by year

Summary of All-Ireland champions

By club

* Nineteen unlisted clubs have also managed to win a single title.

By county

L, M, U, C refer to Leinster/Munster/Ulster/Connacht championships won by clubs from the county. "Most recent winning team" gives the name of the club from the county which last won the All-Ireland; if no club has, the name of the last provincial champion is given in italic type. No club from

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 ...

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 a ...

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 ...

, Leitrim,

Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town * Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia **Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * Cou ...

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 ...

has ever won a national or provincial title.

By province

Provincial champions listed by year

All-Ireland winners are shaded gold, and counties are given in brackets.

References

External links

2006 Results from Setanta.com/ie

List of GAA Clubs Online

"Flashback: five great St Patrick's Day Club SFC finals"
''Hogan Stand'', 17 March 2021 {{Gaelic football Senior