Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship
| Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship | |
|---|---|
| Irish | Cómortas Iómaint Sínsear Thiobráid Árainn |
| Founded | 1887 |
| Title holders | Thurles Sarsfields (35th title) |
| Most titles | Thurles Sarsfields (35 titles) |
The Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship is an annual competition organised by Tipperary GAA among the top hurling clubs in County Tipperary. The winner qualifies to represent the county in the Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship, the winner of which progresses to the All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship. The winners of the championship receive the Dan Breen Cup.
The Tipperary senior hurling championship is probably the most complicated system in Ireland as it has striven to accommodate from 25 to, currently, 32 teams. A knockout divisional system and group backdoor system has been introduced to accommodate these teams. Before the new system, the county championship was run on a divisional basis with the teams in the divisional finals going into the county quarter-finals and proceeding from there.
A new format is to be introduced in 2014 with the county championship divided into two sections of 16 teams each, the sections determined by clubs' placings in the 2013 championship. Each section will be divided into four groups of four teams with games played on a round robin basis. The top two teams in each Section 1 group, and the top team in each Section 2 group, qualify for the knockout stages, as do the four divisional champions. The bottom team in each Section 1 group is relegated to Section 2, and the top team in each Section 2 group is promoted to Section 1. The bottom teams in each of the Section 2 groups face relegation play-offs, with two teams relegated to the Intermediate Championship. The Intermediate champions move up to Section 2. Thus in 2015 there will be 31 teams in the Senior Championship.
The current (2016) county Champions are Thurles Sarsfields.
The first Tipperary Hurling Championship took place in 1887; Thurles Blues were the first county Champions. Thurles Sarsfields have won the most titles (34), but Toomevara were dominant in the period from 1992 to 2008, and other clubs have also enjoyed periods of sustained success, notably Roscrea (1968-80 - 6 titles), Kilruane (1977-85 - 4 titles) and Borris-Ileigh (1949-53 - 3 titles). On 19 October 2009, Sarsfields captured their 30th title, defeating neighbours Drom-Inch at Semple Stadium by 0-14 to 0-5. In 2010, Thurles Sarsfields won their second title in a row with a 1-17 to 1-6 win against Clonoulty-Rossmore. After Drom-Inch's first win in 2011, Sarsfields regained the title in 2012. Loughmore-Castleiney won a second title in 2013, and Thurles Sarsfields came back to win in 2014 and retain the title again a year later beating Nenagh in a very close game.
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