Founded | 1887 |
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Region | Ireland (GAA) |
Number of teams | 34 (qualifiers) 8 (final series) |
Current champions | Dublin (26th title) |
Most successful team(s) | Kerry (37 titles) |
The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the premier competition in Gaelic football, is an annual series of games played in Ireland during the summer and early autumn, and organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). 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 competition culminates on the third or fourth Sunday in September with the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. The winning team receives the Sam Maguire Cup. The final has been played at Croke Park in Dublin since 1913, with the exception of the 1947 final which was played at the Polo Grounds in New York. Finals held before the GAA's acquirement of Croke Park were played at venues around Dublin and the counties of Cork, Kildare and Tipperary.
Dublin are the current champions.
Teams from the southern province of Munster shared the early titles, with Limerick, Tipperary and Cork winning the first three finals. The first Championship 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-Irelands, there were no provincial championships and it 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).