1983 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final
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| Event | 1983 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship | ||||||
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| Date | 18 September 1983 | ||||||
| Venue | Croke Park, Dublin | ||||||
| Referee | John Gough (Antrim) | ||||||
| Attendance | 71,988 | ||||||
The 1983 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, also known as the Game of Shame (Irish: An Cluiche Náireach), was the 96th All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1983 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland.
Barney Rock scored an 11th-minute goal, while four players (3 Dublin, 1 Galway) were sent off, earning the Dublin team the epithet "The Dirty Dozen". The game was marred by scenes of thuggery and ugliness. Galway had also lost to Dublin in their previous All-Ireland football final appearance in 1974.
GAA fans were looking forward to the final in 83 as both counties had a proud footballing tradition, and it was also the first final since 1977 that didn't involve Kerry. Ironically both Dublin and Galway were lucky to have reached the final at all, as both needed late goals in the semi-finals to stay in the championship. Dublin salvaged a draw with Cork thanks to a Barney Rock goal in injury time before beating them in a memorable replay in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, while Galway defeated an unlucky Donegal thanks to a Val Joyce strike.
Conditions were terrible on the day of the match with the gale-force wind and driving rain making it impossible for the players to play constructive football, and the physical battle was more intense than usual. The game was full of dangerous sliding tackles and heated exchanges between players was frequent.
It is impossible to locate the exact source of the disgraceful scenes which marred the final as there was no history of violence in previous clashes between the sides. According to Barney Rock, "If you study the match again, the first dig was thrown by Galway.". That statement seems to backed up by Galway player Brian Talty who said "We would be getting stuck in there’s no doubt about that. There’s no point in playing Gaelic Football unless you’re going to get stuck into the guy.". Barney Rock scored a bizarre goal from 40 yards after a poor free-out from Galway goalkeeper Padraig Coyne. Galway protested claiming that the goal should not have been allowed due to Dublin manager Kevin Heffernan interfering with play as he attended to the injured Joe McNally, but referee John Gough did not agree and the goal stood.
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