All-Ireland Football Championship
| All-Ireland Senior Football Championship | |
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Current season or competition: 2017 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
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Logo
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| Irish | Comórtas Shinsear Peile na hÉireann |
| Founded | 1887 |
| Region | Ireland (31 teams) England (1 team) United States (1 team) (GAA) |
| Trophy | Sam Maguire Cup |
| No. of teams | 33 |
| Title holders | Dublin (26th title) |
| Most titles | Kerry (37 titles) |
| TV partner(s) |
RTÉ, Sky Sports, BBC Northern Ireland, |
| Official website | http://www.gaa.ie |
RTÉ, Sky Sports, BBC Northern Ireland,
Setanta Sports, Premier Sports,
(TG4)
The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC), the premier competition in Gaelic football, is an annual series of games played in Ireland and organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final is played on the third or fourth Sunday in September at Croke Park in Dublin, with the winning team receiving the Sam Maguire.
Contested by the top inter-county football teams in Ireland, the tournament has taken place every year since 1887—except in 1888, when the competition was not played due to a tour of the United States by would-be competitors.
The first Championship to be held featured club teams who represented their respective counties after their county championship. The 21 a-side final was between Commercials of Limerick and Young Irelands of Louth. The final was played in Beech Hill, Clonskeagh (not Bird Avenue) on 29 April 1888 with Commercials winning by 1–4 to 0–3. Unlike later All-Ireland competitions, there were no provincial championships, and the result was an open draw.
The second Championship was unfinished owing to the American Invasion Tour. The 1888 provincial championships had been completed (Tipperary, Kilkenny and Monaghan winning them; no Connacht teams entered) but after the Invasion tour returned, the All-Ireland semi-final and final were not played. English team London reached the final four times in the early years of the competition (1900–1903).
In 1892, inter-county teams were introduced to the All-Ireland Championship. Congress granted permission for the winning club to use players from other clubs in the county, thus the inter-county teams came into being. The rules of hurling and football were also altered: goals were made equal to five points, and teams were reduced from 21 to 17 a-side.
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