All-Ireland Minor Football Championship Totally Explained

Everything about The All-ireland Minor Football Championship totally explained

The All-Ireland Minor Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the ESB Minor Football Championship) is the premier "knockout" competition for under-18 competitors of the game of Gaelic football played in Ireland. The series of games are organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association and are played during the summer months with the All-Ireland Minor Football Final being played on the first or second Sunday in September in Croke Park, Dublin. The minor final provides the curtain-raiser to the senior final. The prize for the winning team is the Tom Markham Cup, which is named in honour of former Clare figure Tom Markham.

Overview

The All-Ireland Minor Football Championship features the youngest competitive players of the game of Gaelic football - players must be under eighteen years of age on 1 January of the year of the competition. The first minor championship was played in 1929 when Clare were crowned the champions. The championship has been held every year since then, however, it was suspended for a period during 'The Emergency'.
Predictably Kerry are the most successful team in minor football, however, they're closely followed by Cork and Dublin. All three teams have achieved famous three-in-a-rows: Kerry from 1931 to 1933; Cork from 1967 to 1969; and Dublin from 1954 to 1956. The coveted treble of winning senior, under-21 and minor titles in the same year has been achieved on just one occasion, by Kerry in 1975. Because teams will only play together for at most, about two or three years, unlike the senior competition, it's unusual that one county will dominate for periods any longer than this.
The current champions are Galway who defeated Derry in Croke Park on Sunday, September 16th 2007.

Top Winners

	Team	Winner	Winning Years
1	Kerry	11	1931, 1932, 1933, 1946, 1950, 1962, 1963, 1975, 1980, 1988, 1994
2	Dublin	10	1930, 1945, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1979, 1982, 1984
	Cork	10	1961, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1974, 1981, 1991, 1993, 2000
4	Tyrone	6	1947, 1948, 1973, 1998, 2001, 2004
	Mayo	6	1935, 1953, 1966, 1971, 1978, 1985.
	Galway	6	1952, 1960, 1970, 1976, 1986, 2007
7	Down	4	1977, 1987, 1999, 2005.
	Roscommon	4	1939, 1941, 1951, 2006.
	Derry	4	1965, 1983, 1989, 2002,
10	Laois	3	1996, 1997, 2003.
	Meath	3	1957, 1990, 1992.
12	Louth	2	1936, 1940.
	Cavan	2	1937, 1938.
14	Offaly	1	1964.
	Westmeath	1	1995.
	Clare	1	1929.
	Tipperary	1	1934.
	Armagh	1	1949.

By Province

	Province	Wins	Last Win	Biggest Contributor	Wins
1	Munster	23	2000	Kerry	11
2	Leinster	20	2003	Dublin	10
3	Ulster	17	2005	Tyrone	6
4	Connaught	17	2007	Mayo, Galway	6

The following counties have never won an All Ireland:

Province	County(Last final)
Leinster	Kildare, Kilkenny
Connaught	Leitrim, Sligo
Ulster	Antrim, Donegal, Fermanagh, Monaghan,
Munster	Limerick, Waterford

Roll of Honour

Year	Winner	Opponent
2007	Galway	Derry
2006	Roscommon	Kerry
2005	Down	Mayo
2004	Tyrone	Kerry
2003	Laois	Dublin
2002	Derry	Meath
2001	Tyrone	Dublin
2000	Cork	Mayo
1999	Down	Mayo
1998	Tyrone	Laois
1997	Laois	Tyrone
1996	Laois	Tyrone
1995	Westmeath	Derry
1994	Kerry	Galway
1993	Cork	Meath
1992	Meath	Armagh
1991	Cork	Mayo
1990	Meath	Kerry
1989	Derry	Offaly
1988	Kerry	Dublin
1987	Down	Cork
1986	Galway	Cork
1985	Mayo	Cork
1984	Dublin	Tipperary
1983	Derry	Cork
1982	Dublin	Kerry
1981	Cork	Derry
1980	Kerry	Derry
1979	Dublin	Kerry
1978	Mayo	Dublin
1977	Down	Meath
1976	Galway	Cork
1975	Kerry	Tyrone
1974	Cork	Mayo
1973	Tyrone	Kildare
1972	Cork	Tyrone
1971	Mayo	Cork
1970	Galway	Kerry
1969	Cork	Derry
1968	Cork	Sligo
1967	Cork	Laois
1966	Mayo	Down
1965	Derry	Kerry
1964	Offaly	Cork
1963	Kerry	Westmeath
1962	Kerry	Mayo
1961	Cork	Mayo
1960	Galway	Cork
1959	Dublin	Cavan
1958	Dublin	Mayo
1957	Meath	Armagh
1956	Dublin	Leitrim
1955	Dublin	Tipperary
1954	Dublin	Kerry
1953	Mayo	Clare
1952	Galway	Cavan
1951	Roscommon	Armagh
1950	Kerry	Wexford
1949	Armagh	Kerry
1948	Tyrone	Dublin
1947	Tyrone	Mayo
1946	Kerry	Dublin
1945	Dublin	Leitrim
1944	No championship
1943	No championship
1942	No championship
1941	Roscommon	Louth
1940	Louth	Mayo
1939	Roscommon	Monaghan
1938	Cavan	Kerry
1937	Cavan	Wexford
1936	Louth	Kerry
1935	Mayo	Tipperary
1934	Tipperary
1933	Kerry	Mayo
1932	Kerry	Laois
1931	Kerry	Louth
1930	Dublin	Mayo
1929	Clare	Longford

Further Information

Get more info on 'All-ireland Minor Football Championship'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://all-ireland_minor_football_championship.totallyexplained.com">All-Ireland Minor Football Championship Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.