The Cork Intermediate A Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as Bon Secours Cork County Intermediate A Football Championship and abbreviated to the Cork IAFC) 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 ki ...

competition organised by the Cork County Board of the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

and contested by the second tier intermediate clubs in the

county of Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

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 ...

. It is the fourth tier overall in the entire Cork football championship system. The Cork Intermediate Championship was introduced in 1909 as a competition that would bridge the gap between the senior grade and the

junior grade A junior grade is a subdivision of a military rank, lower than the corresponding rank without that qualification. In the U.S. armed forces, the Army formerly appointed warrant officers (junior grade), and the Navy's lieutenants, junior grade ar ...

. At the time of its creation it was the second tier of Cork football. In its current format, the Cork Intermediate Championship begins in mid summer. The 16 participating club teams are drawn into four groups of four teams and play each other in a round-robin system. The two group winners proceed to the knockout phase that culminates with the final match at

Páirc Uí Chaoimh Páirc Uí Chaoimh ( ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Cork, Ireland. It is the home of Cork GAA. The venue, often referred to simply as The Park, is located in Ballintemple and is built near to the site of the original Cork Athletic Grounds. The s ...

. The winner of the Cork Intermediate Championship, as well as being presented with the Seán Ó Súilleabháin Cup, gains automatic promotion to the Cork Premier Intermediate Championship for the following season. Bantry Blues is the most successful teams in the tournament's history, having won it six times. Kilshannig are the reigning champions, having beaten

Aghabullogue Aghabullogue or Aghabulloge () is a village and parish in the barony of Muskerry East in northwest County Cork, Ireland. It lies around west of Cork City, south of the Boggeragh Mountains and north of the River Lee. The parish of Aghabul ...

by 1-16 to 0-10 in the 2022 final.

Format

Development

On 2 April 2019, a majority of 136 club delegates voted to restructure the championship. The new format limited the number of participating clubs to 16.

Stages

Group stage: The 16 teams are divided into four groups of four. Over the course of the group stage, which features one game in April and two games in August, each team plays once against the others in the group, resulting in each team being guaranteed at least three games. Two points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. The teams are ranked in the group stage table by points gained, then scoring difference and then their head-to-head record. The top two teams in each group qualify for the knockout stage and the bottom team in each group enter the relegation playoffs. Relegation Playoffs: The bottom team is relegated to the Cork Premier Junior Football Championship. Quarter-finals: The eight group stage winners contest this round. The four winners from these four games advance to the semi-finals. Semi-finals: The four quarter-final winners contest this round. The two winners from these four games advance to the semi-finals. Final: The two semi-final winners contest the final. The winning team are declared champions and gain automatic promotion to the following year's Cork Premier Intermediate Football Championship.

2023 Teams

Sponsorship

In keeping with its sponsorship deal for all Cork hurling and football championships, Permanent TSB provided the sponsorship since the 1990s. The ''

Evening Echo ''The Echo'', formerly known as the ''Evening Echo'', is an Irish morning newspaper based in Cork. It is distributed throughout the province of Munster, although it is primarily read in its base city of Cork. The newspaper was founded as a b ...

'' became the primary sponsors of all Cork hurling and football championships in 2005 and have continued their sponsorship ever since.

Venues

Early rounds

Fixtures in the opening rounds of the championship are usually played at a neutral venue that is deemed halfway between the participating teams.

Final

The final has always been played at one of Cork GAA's two main stadiums. On several occasions the final has been played at

as the curtain raiser to the senior final, however, in recent times

Páirc Uí Rinn Páirc Uí Rinn (), also known as Páirc Chríostóir Uí Rinn, is a Gaelic Athletic Association stadium located between Ballinlough and Ballintemple in Cork. It was previously known as Flower Lodge and was used as an association football ...

has been the venue of choice for the final.

Trophy

The winning team is presented with the Seán Ó Súilleabháin Cup. A secondary school teacher by profession, John Lock O'Sullivan (1976-2002) played with the Adrigole club and the Beara divisional team, with whom he won the Cork Senior Championship in 1997. He also lined out for Cork as a member of the under-21 and junior teams. O'Sullivan died suddenly on 19 November 2002.

List of finals

* 1927 Nemo Rangers and Kilmurry were disqualified after meeting in the other semi-final

Roll of Honour

References

{{Cork GAA Cork Intermediate Football Championship 2 Intermediate Gaelic football county championships