2019 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

2019 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

Championship details
Dates	May – 1 September 2019
Teams	33
All-Ireland Champions
Provincial Champions
Championship statistics
← 2018 2020 →

The 2019 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship will be the 132nd edition of the GAA's premier inter-county Gaelic football tournament since its establishment in 1887.

Thirty-three teams took part – thirty-one of the thirty-two Counties of Ireland, London and New York. Kilkenny, as in previous years, do not enter.

Competition Format

Replays are only held for drawn provincial finals and the All-Ireland final. "Winner On The Day" rules are applied in all other championship matches except the Super 8 group matches. Initially two extra time periods of ten minutes each way are played. If the score is still level two further periods of five minutes each way are played. If the score is still level, the winner is determined by a free-taking competition.

Provincial Championships format

Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster each organise a provincial championship. Most teams who lose a match in their provincial championship enter the All-Ireland qualifiers – New York do not enter the qualifiers. All provincial matches are knock-out.

Qualifiers format

Twenty eight of the twenty nine teams beaten in the provincial championships enter the All-Ireland qualifiers, which are knock-out. Sixteen of the seventeen teams (New York do not enter the qualifiers) eliminated before their provincial semi-finals play eight matches in round 1 of the qualifiers, with the winners of these games playing the eight beaten provincial semi-finalists in round 2. The eight winning teams from round 2 play-off against each other in round 3, with the four winning teams playing the four beaten provincial finalists in round 4. This completes the double-elimination format as the four round 4 winners re-enter the main competition at the All-Ireland quarter-final group stage. Further details of the format are included with each qualifier round listed below.

All-Ireland format

Significant changes to the format of the All-Ireland championship were made at the GAA's Annual Congress in February 2017 and introduced in 2018. The major change was the creation of the All-Ireland Super 8s, which replaced the four quarter-finals. Two groups of four teams compete in the Super 8s with the top two teams in each group contesting the semi-finals. The All-Ireland final will be played by the 35th Sunday of the year.

The changes will be trialled for three years before being reviewed by the GAA in late 2020.

Live Gaelic Football On TV

RTÉ, the national broadcaster in Ireland, will provide the majority of the live television coverage of the football championship in the second year of a five-year deal running from 2017 until 2021. Sky Sports will also broadcast a number of matches and have exclusive rights to some games including some All-Ireland football super 8 matches.

Provincial Championships

Connacht Senior Football Championship

The Connacht county teams play London and New York on a rotational basis. The match involving New York is now a quarter final – it was last a preliminary game in 2017.

Quarter-Finals May

Semi-Finals June

Connacht Final June

New York

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Mayo

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'

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Leitrim

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Roscommon

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'

'

'

'

Sligo

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London

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Galway

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Leinster Senior Football Championship

The four teams who won the quarter-finals in the previous year are given byes to this year's quarter-finals. Six of the seven remaining teams play-off in the first round with the seventh team receiving a bye to the quarter-finals.

Preliminary Round

Quarter-Finals

Semi-Finals

Leinster Final

Dublin

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Louth

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Wexford

'

'

'

'

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Longford

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Wicklow

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Kildare

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'

'

'

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Carlow

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Meath

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Offaly

'

'

'

'

'

Westmeath

'

Laois

'

Munster Senior Football Championship

The two teams who won the semi-finals in the previous year are given byes to this year's semi-finals.

Quarter-Finals May

Semi-Finals June

Munster Final June

Cork

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Tipperary

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Limerick

'

'

'

'

'

Kerry

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Clare

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Waterford

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Ulster Senior Football Championship

An un-seeded draw determined the fixtures for all nine teams. In April 2018 the Ulster GAA Competitions Control Committee introduced a rule that the two teams who play in the preliminary round are exempt from playing in the preliminary round in the following two years. Derry and Tyrone will therefore be awarded byes to the quarter-finals in 2020 and 2021.

Preliminary Round

Quarter-Finals

Semi-Finals

Ulster Senior Football Final

Cavan

Monaghan

'

'

Down

Armagh

'

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Fermanagh

Donegal

'

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Antrim

Tyrone

'

Derry

All-Ireland Qualifiers

Qualifiers Format

The A and B split system for the qualifier draws introduced in 2014 has been discontinued. In rounds one to three, teams from divisions three and four of the National Football League will have home advantage if drawn against teams from divisions one and two.

Qualifiers Round 1

In the first round of the qualifiers sixteen of the seventeen teams beaten in the preliminary rounds or quarter-finals of the provincial championships compete. New York does not enter the qualifiers. The round 1 draw is unrestricted − if two teams have played each other in a provincial match they can be drawn to meet again. The eight winners of these matches play the eight beaten provincial semi-finalists in round 2 of the qualifiers.

The following teams take part in round 1 –

Connacht (2)

Leinster (7)

Munster (2)

Ulster (5)

Qualifiers Round 2

In the second round of the qualifiers the eight winning teams from round 1 play the eight beaten provincial semi-finalists. The round 2 draw is unrestricted − if two teams have played each other in a provincial match they can be drawn to meet again. The eight winners of these matches play each other in round 3.

The following teams take part in round 2 –

Round 1
Winners (8)

Beaten Provincial
Semi-Finalists (8)

Qualifiers Round 3

In the third round of the qualifiers the eight winning teams from round 2 play off in four matches. Round 3 draw rules do not allow two teams that have played each other in a provincial match to meet again if such a pairing can be avoided. The four winners of these matches play the four beaten provincial finalists in round 4.

The following teams take part in round 3 –

Round 2 Winners (8)

Qualifiers Round 4

In the fourth round of the qualifiers, the four winning teams from round 3 play the four beaten provincial finalists. Round 4 draw rules do not allow two teams that have played each other in a provincial match to meet again if such a pairing can be avoided. The matches are normally held in neutral venues. The four winners of these matches play in the round robin All Ireland Super 8.

The following teams take part in round 4 –

Round 3
Winners (4)

Beaten Provincial
Finalists (4)

All-Ireland

All-Ireland Super 8s

Format

The four provincial champions and the four winning teams from round four of the All-Ireland qualifiers play three games each in two groups of four teams during the months of July and August. Each group consists of two provincial champions and the two losing finalists of the other two provinces or the team that beats them in round four of the qualifiers.

In the first round (officially phase one) each of the two provincial champions play one of the two round four qualifiers with the provincial champions having home advantage. In round two (phase two) the provincial champions play each other and the two qualifiers play each in Croke Park. In round 3 (phase three) the qualifiers have home advantage when they play the provincial champions. Dublin, if they qualify, will also play their home game at Croke Park.

Two points are awarded for a win and one point for a draw. The top two teams in each group advance to the All-Ireland semi-finals.

Tie-breaker

If only two teams are level on group points -

• The team that won the head-to-head match is ranked first
• If this game was a draw, score difference (total scored minus total conceded in all group games) is used to rank the teams
• If score difference is identical, total scored is used to rank the teams
• If still identical, a play-off is required

If three or more teams are level on group points, score difference is used to rank the teams.

Group 1

Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Diff	Pts
Provincial Champion	0	0	0	0	0-0	0-0	0	0
Provincial Champion	0	0	0	0	0-0	0-0	0	0
Round 4 Winner	0	0	0	0	0-0	0-0	0	0
Round 4 Winner	0	0	0	0	0-0	0-0	0	0

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Round 1

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Round 1

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Round 2

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Round 2

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Round 3

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Round 3

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Group 2

Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Diff	Pts
Provincial Champion	0	0	0	0	0-0	0-0	0	0
Provincial Champion	0	0	0	0	0-0	0-0	0	0
Round 4 Winner	0	0	0	0	0-0	0-0	0	0
Round 4 Winner	0	0	0	0	0-0	0-0	0	0

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Round 1

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Round 1

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Round 2

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Round 2

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Round 3

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Round 3

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All-Ireland Semi-Finals

The winners of Group 1 play the runners-up of Group 2. The winners of Group 2 play the runners-up of Group 1.

Semi-Final 1

Winner Group 1	v	Runner-up Group 2

Semi-Final 2

Winner Group 2	v	Runner-up Group 1

All-Ireland Final

The Central Competitions Control Committee of the GAA decided in October 2018 that, in future, the final should be played "by the 35th Sunday of the year". Traditionally the final was held on the third Sunday in September.

1 September 2019

Final

Winner Semi Final 1	v	Winner Semi Final 2

Stadia and locations

Team	Location	Stadium	Stadium Capacity
Antrim	Belfast	Casement Park	32,500
Armagh	Armagh	Athletic Grounds	19,500
Carlow	Carlow	Dr. Cullen Park	21,000
Cavan	Cavan	Breffni Park	32,000
Clare	Ennis	Cusack Park	14,864
Cork	Cork	Páirc Uí Chaoimh	50,288
Derry	Derry	Celtic Park	22,000
Donegal	Ballybofey	MacCumhail Park	18,000
Down	Newry	Páirc Esler	25,000
Dublin	Dublin	Parnell Park	12,000
Fermanagh	Enniskillen	Brewster Park	20,000
Galway	Galway	Pearse Stadium	26,197
Kerry	Killarney	Fitzgerald Stadium	43,180
Kildare	Newbridge	St. Conleth's Park	6,200
Laois	Portlaoise	O'Moore Park	27,000
Leitrim	Carrick-on-Shannon	Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada	9,331
Limerick	Limerick	Gaelic Grounds	49,866
London	Ruislip	Emerald GAA Grounds	5,000
Longford	Longford	Pearse Park	10,000
Louth	Drogheda	Drogheda Park	7,000
Mayo	Castlebar	MacHale Park	42,000
Meath	Navan	Páirc Tailteann	10,000
Monaghan	Clones	St. Tiernach's Park	36,000
New York	Kingsbridge	Gaelic Park	2,000
Offaly	Tullamore	O'Connor Park	20,000
Roscommon	Roscommon	Dr. Hyde Park	25,000
Sligo	Sligo	Markievicz Park	18,558
Tipperary	Thurles	Semple Stadium	53,500
Tyrone	Omagh	Healy Park	26,500
Waterford	Waterford	Walsh Park	17,000
Westmeath	Mullingar	Cusack Park	11,000
Wexford	Wexford	Wexford Park	20,000
Wicklow	Aughrim	Aughrim County Ground	10,000