57-639: The Connacht Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament played between senior clubs in Connacht , with one qualifying from each of the five individual county championships. The winners of the Connacht football championship qualify for the All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship . The Connacht Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament played on
114-471: A construction accident in Quincy, Massachusetts , in 1998, aged just 21. He was the son of singer Charlie McGettigan . Gaelic football Gaelic football ( Irish : Peil Ghaelach ; short name Peil ) , commonly known as simply Gaelic , GAA or football , is an Irish team sport . A form of football , it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of
171-469: A crowd of 70,000 spectators. By 1958, Wembley Stadium hosted annual exhibition games of Gaelic football in England, before tens of thousands of spectators. National Football League (Ireland) The National Football League ( NFL ; Irish : Sraith Náisiúnta Peile ) is an annual Gaelic football competition between the senior county teams of Ireland plus London . Sponsored by Allianz , it
228-581: A dozen clubs had been established in the US by 1893. The first clubs appeared in England in 1896. Around 1900 the game began to resemble more closely to the running game of today, players were able to lift the ball off the ground and run and carry it if they bounced it every 4 yards. The first match played in Australia was in 1902 finding a niche in Queensland during a period when Australian football there
285-509: A knockout basis between the senior club championship winners of the competing counties in Connacht, with the addition of the London champions since 2018. Prior to this, the London champions entered the all-Ireland series at the quarter final stage. The current holders of the title are Padraig Pearses of Roscommon. While a provincial competition existed prior to 1970, Galway side Fr. Griffins were
342-443: A larger ground. 2. There shall not be less than 14 or more than 21 players a side in regular matches. 3. There shall be two umpires and a referee. Where the umpires disagree the referee's decision shall be final. There shall also be a goal umpire at each end of the ground to watch for goals and points. The referee shall keep the time, and throw up the ball at the commencement of each goal. 4. The goalposts shall stand at each end in
399-404: A player from throwing the ball a little in front to allow himself more freedom in kicking it. 11. Where the rules are broken the referee may allow a free kick if he thinks fit. In such a free kick the ball must be kicked from the ground. No player on the opposite side is to approach nearer than 14 yards until the ball is kicked; but if the free kick is allowed nearer than 14 yards of the goal line,
456-578: A variable number of substitutes. Gaelic football is one of four sports (collectively referred to as the " Gaelic games ") controlled by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), the largest sporting organisation in Ireland . Along with hurling and camogie , Gaelic football is one of the few remaining strictly amateur sports in the world, with players, coaches, and managers prohibited from receiving any form of payment. Gaelic football
513-762: Is France, where it has been growing lately, not least in the Celtic region of Brittany . Gaelic Park in New York City is the largest purpose-built Gaelic sports venue outside Ireland. Three major football competitions operate throughout the year: the National Football League and the All-Ireland Senior Championship operate on an inter-county basis, while the All-Ireland Club Championship
570-556: Is contested by individual clubs. The All-Ireland Senior Championship is considered the most prestigious event in Gaelic football. Under the auspices of the GAA, Gaelic football is a male-only sport; however, the related sport of ladies' Gaelic football is governed by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association . Similarities between Gaelic football and Australian rules football have allowed
627-439: Is driven over the goal line, and not through the goal, the goalkeeper shall have a free kick from the goal, and no player on the opposite side to approach nearer than the 21-yard line until the ball is kicked. If the ball is driven over the goal line by a player whose goal line it is, it shall count one point for the opposite side; if driven over the goal line within 21 feet of either goal post, it shall count three points; if through
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#1732782382569684-574: Is mainly played on the island of Ireland, although units of the Association exist in Great Britain , mainland Europe, North America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. The final of the All-Ireland Senior Championship , held every year at Croke Park , Dublin , draws crowds of more than 80,000 people. Outside Ireland, football is mainly played among members of the Irish diaspora . A notable exception
741-720: Is most likely the "football kicking under the Irish rules" that Thomas Croke later recalled in County Cork . Irish football is a great game and worth going a long way to see when played on a fairly laid out ground and under proper rules. Many old people say just hurling exceeded it as a trial of men. I would not care to see either game now as the rules stand at present. I may say there are no rules and therefore those games are often dangerous. Maurice Davin , 1884 Irish historian Garnham, citing R.M. Peter's Irish Football Annual of 1880, argued that Gaelic football did not exist before
798-766: Is officially known as the Allianz National Football League . The Gaelic Athletic Association organises the league. The winning team receives the New Ireland Cup, presented by the New Ireland Assurance Company . The National Football League is the second most prestigious inter-county Gaelic Football competition after the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship . Unlike many league competitions in sport, each team plays
855-691: The 2020 National League was suspended in March and all Gaelic games ceased until the middle of the year, when club fixtures were first to resume. The National League was then completed in October, ahead of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (which was completed in December). This led to a motion (passed at the 2021 GAA Congress ) to adopt a "split season" model, whereby club competitions would occupy one part of
912-487: The United Ireland magazine on 7 February 1887. The original rules bear many similarities to modern football with the requirement to kick, handpass, and the basic scoring system, however, the original rules also included many Australian features including additional scoring posts (removed later in 1910 ). The code had already begun to diverge, with the mark being deprecated, the soccer ball being adopted, and carrying
969-578: The Victorian Rules (first codified in 1859 and then played extensively in the Colony of Victoria and Colony of Queensland and to a lesser extent in the colonies of New South Wales and New Zealand ). This kicking variety of football was even played with an oval ball which became customary in Australia in the 1870s and that scoring was achieved only by kicking goals. A major difference between
1026-420: The "field game" in which the object was to put the ball through arch-like goals, formed from the boughs of two trees, and; the epic "cross-country game", which lasted the whole of a Sunday (after mass ) and was won by taking the ball across a parish boundary. "Wrestling", "holding" opposing players, and carrying the ball were all allowed. Some accounts of traditional Irish football come not from Ireland, but from
1083-412: The 1840s in the Colony of Victoria including Melbourne at Batman's Hill and the goldfields in the Colony of Victoria . The account of H C A Harrison , one of the seminal in the history of Victorian football, of Irish rules was that it gave players "the full ability to kick anybody that came within reach". Shin-kicking (or hacking ) was a major feature of traditional Irish football and also one of
1140-559: The 1858 Cambridge Rules ) and Blackheath (1862 club rules). County Limerick was a stronghold of the game in the 1880s, and the Commercials Club in Limerick , founded by employees of Cannock's Drapery Store, was one of the first to impose a set of rules, which was adapted by other clubs in the city. These rules are believed to be the basis for the rules that were later adopted by the GAA and appear to have contained some of
1197-494: The 1880s and curious about the origin of the distinctive features believed that clubs from England in 1868 most likely introduced elements of their codes including the " mark " (a free kick to players who cleanly catch the ball, which was a feature of the matches played in the 1880s), lack of offside and scoring by kicking between the upright posts. Unable to identify the source of these peculiar traits he concluded that they must have been introduced by Trinity, Cambridge (those known as
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#17327823825691254-493: The 1880s are scant. USGAA makes the unsourced claim that matches were played at Hyde Park, San Francisco in the 1850s. During the 1860s and 1870s, rugby football started to become popular in Ireland. Trinity College Dublin was an early stronghold of rugby, and the rules of the (English) Football Association were codified in 1863 and distributed widely. By this time, according to Gaelic football historian Jack Mahon, even in
1311-596: The Irish countryside, caid had begun to give way to a "rough-and-tumble game", which even allowed tripping. The first account of what the founders of modern Gaelic football referred to as Irish football dates to 1873. Paddy Begley notes that in County Kerry in 1870 only soccer and rugby were played, although historian Paddy Foley notes that by 1874 a third, very different form of football began to emerge and spread across South-West Ireland . At Killarney , these highly popular matches were virtually indistinguishable from
1368-579: The Irish diaspora, often in celebrating traditional events such as St Patrick's Day. The largest such communities existed in Britain, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. Many of the earliest football matches in Australia date back to the 1840s amongst Irish immigrants. In the Colony of South Australia , there are several accounts of Irish football being played at Thebarton in 1843 and again in 1853. There were similar accounts of football in
1425-540: The Lyons or Newcastle), was charged with accidentally stabbing a player named William Bernard. A field near Newcastle, South Dublin is still known as the football field. The Statute of Galway of 1527 allowed the playing of "foot balle" and archery but banned " ' hokie'—the hurling of a little ball with sticks or staves" as well as other sports. By the 17th century, the situation had changed considerably. The games had grown in popularity and were widely played. This
1482-484: The Victorian Rules of 1866. It is not known how or when these Victorian Rules reached Ireland, though many of the goldrush Irish immigrants returned to Ireland during the 1870s and 1880s as the colonial fortunes faded. At a similar point in time, the same football rules were proposed as an alternative to those of soccer and rugby in northern England but did not take root there. Playing the code under its own rules
1539-461: The ball not allowed, as such there was no requirement to bounce or solo the ball carrying the ball remained illegal until the turn of the 20th century. The game was intended to promote peace and harmony, rejecting the violence of other football codes, and Davin even included a requirement for players to hold hands with their opponents though this practice fell out of favour. The first game of Gaelic football under GAA rules (developed by Maurice Davin)
1596-472: The ball were permitted. However even "foot-ball" was banned by the severe Sunday Observance Act of 1695 , which imposed a fine of one shilling (a substantial amount at the time) for those caught playing sports. It proved difficult, if not impossible, for the authorities to enforce the Act and the earliest recorded inter-county match in Ireland was one between Louth and Meath , at Slane , in 1712, about which
1653-459: The calendar year, while the SFC occupied the inter-county window during those months that made up the middle of the year, e.g. May, August. Club competitions of lesser importance occurred alongside the inter-county games so as to provide meaningful game time for players possessed of insufficient ability to compete at the higher (inter-county) level. From 2002, National League fixtures were played during
1710-431: The centre of the goal line. They shall be 21 feet apart, with a crossbar 8 feet from the ground. Besides the goal posts, there shall be two upright posts standing in each goal line 21 feet from the goal posts. A goal is won when the ball is driven between the goalposts and under the crossbar. A point is counted when the ball is driven over the crossbar, or the goal line, within 21 feet of either goal post. 5. The captains of
1767-834: The club (representing County Limerick) later won the inaugural 1887 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final . English (Association) football started to take hold, especially in Ulster , in the 1880s. By the mid-1880s it had become so popular that it was feared by many to completely displace Irish football. Ball-playing, hurling, football kicking, according to Irish rules, 'casting', leaping in various ways, wrestling, handy-grips, top-pegging, leap-frog, rounders, tip-in-the-hat, and all such favourite exercises and amusements amongst men and boys, may now be said to be not only dead and buried, but in several localities to be entirely forgotten and unknown. Thomas Croke , 1884 letter to Michael Cusack Irish football, however, continued its grip on
Connacht Senior Club Football Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue
1824-424: The competition, having played in the final on twenty-nine occasions and won twenty-three of these. Both of these (final appearances and wins) are records. Kerry also is the team to have most often achieved the "double", by winning both the league title and the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. In the 20th century, National League fixtures were played during inter-county windows in the later and early months of
1881-505: The development of international rules football , a hybrid sport , and a series of Test matches has been held regularly since 1998. While Gaelic football as it is known today dates back to the late 19th century, various kinds of football were played in Ireland before this time. The first legal reference to football in Ireland was in 1308, when John McCrocan, a spectator at a football game at Novum Castrum de Leuan (the New Castle of
1938-624: The early NFL, winning seven titles in eight seasons until the tournament was suspended during the Second World War . For many seasons in the 1950s and 1960s, the winners of the "home" league played New York in the NFL final; the journey to New York formed an additional prize for the winners. New York won three of these finals. In 2002 , the league was changed to a February–April calendar. This increased interest, boosted attendances and led to live games being broadcast on TG4 . The 2009 season
1995-512: The early months of the calendar year, preceding the SFC, which remained in the traditional mid-year position. An April club window allowed inter-county players to return to their clubs to participate in some early rounds of the more important club competitions, i.e. championship fixtures. This arrangement was disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic . Due to the impact of the pandemic on Gaelic games ,
2052-521: The first winners of the competition in its current format, in the 1970–71 season. The most successful club is Corofin of Galway, who have won the competition on nine occasions, while Roscommon's Clann na nGael hold the record for consecutive titles, with their six-in-a-row from 1984 to 1989. Galway clubs have the most wins, with 19 titles. The trophy is the Shane McGettigan Cup, named after an Allen Gaels and Leitrim player, who died in
2109-505: The game, two types of scores are possible: points and goals. A point is awarded for kicking or hand-passing the ball over the crossbar, signalled by the umpire raising a white flag. A goal is awarded for kicking the ball under the crossbar into the net (the ball cannot be hand-passed into the goal), signalled by the umpire raising a green flag. Positions in Gaelic football are similar to those in other football codes and comprise one goalkeeper , six backs, two midfielders, and six forwards, with
2166-432: The goal it shall count a goal. 9. The match shall be decided by the greater number of goals. When no goal is made, or when the goals are even, it shall be decided by the greater number of points. 10. The ball must be struck with the hand. It may be caught when off the ground, and the player catching it may kick it any way he pleases, but must not carry it or throw it forward. Note. — There is nothing in this rule to prevent
2223-461: The inaugural National Football League. The NFL has traditionally played second fiddle to the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, with most counties using it as preparation for that event. This was not helped by the fact that the league was initially played in winter (usually November–March), while the Championship had the more attractive summer dates and knockout structure. Mayo dominated
2280-684: The main reasons why it failed to be widely adopted in Australia. Irish football was also played in the Colony of New Zealand in the 1860s and 1870s in Auckland during Thomas Croke 's term as Archbishop there. An 1882 theatrical performance in New York portrays a controversial Irish football match on Saint Nicholas Day 6 December 1790 at the school of Champs de Mars in Paris. Despite a large Irish population references to it being played in America before
2337-467: The match, full power to disqualify any player or order him to stand aside and discontinue play, for any act he may consider unfair, as set out in Rule 6, or for vicious play. No nails or iron tips are allowed on the boots. Strips of leather fastened on the soles will prevent slipping. The dress for hurling and football is to be knee breeches and stockings and shoes or boots. Gaelic football spread throughout
Connacht Senior Club Football Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue
2394-436: The opposite players need not stand behind that line. 12. If the ball strikes a bystander near the sideline, except the referee or umpire, it shall be considered out of play and must be thrown in as directed in Rule 8. If it occurs near the goal line it shall be considered out of play and must be kicked from the goal. In the latter case, the referee may allow one point or more if he thinks fit. 13. The referee shall have, during
2451-400: The other teams in their division only once. Teams that meet in the same division over the course of a number of years often play on a home and away basis in alternative years, though this is not strictly adhered to. Once the divisional matches have been played, the latter stages of the league become a knockout competition for the top teams in each division. This is seen as good preparation for
2508-632: The poet Séamas Dall Mac Cuarta wrote a poem of 88 verses beginning "Ba haigeanta". A six-a-side version was played in Dublin in the early 18th century, and 100 years later, there were accounts of games played between County sides (Prior, 1997). By the early 19th century, various football games, referred to collectively as caid , were popular in County Kerry , especially the Dingle Peninsula . Father W. Ferris described two forms of caid :
2565-405: The referee may think fit, and his side cannot substitute another man. Wrestling shall not be allowed. 7. The time of actual play shall be one hour, and sides are to be changed only at half-time. 8. When a player drives the ball over the sideline, it shall be thrown back from the point where it first crossed the line by a player on the opposite side. It may be thrown in any direction. When the ball
2622-513: The rules widely distributed in 1887. The GAA sought to promote traditional Irish sports, such as hurling, and to reject "foreign" (particularly English) imports. The first Gaelic football rules, showing the influence of hurling (and incorporating some of the Victorian Rules of 1866 and 1877 ) represented the strong desire to differentiate from association football (and rugby)—for example in their lack of an offside rule . The rules were first drawn up by Maurice Davin in 1884 and later published in
2679-402: The southern counties. Accounts from 1889 state that the variety of football that was becoming popular in Ireland in 1884 bore little resemblance at all to the old mob football and was received by the public as more a hybrid of English and Scotch football. Irish forms of football were not formally arranged into an organised playing code by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) until 1884 with
2736-411: The sport is to score by kicking or punching the ball into the other team's goal (3 points) or between two upright posts above the goal and over a crossbar 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) above the ground (1 point). Players advance the ball up the field with a combination of carrying, bouncing, kicking, hand-passing, and soloing (dropping the ball and then toe-kicking the ball upward into the hands). In
2793-430: The teams shall toss for choice of sides before commencing play, and the players shall stand in two ranks opposite each other in the centre of the field until the ball is thrown up, each holding the hand of one of the other side. 6. Pushing or tripping behind, holding from behind, catching below knees, or butting with the head, shall be deemed foul, and the player so offending shall be ordered to stand aside for such time as
2850-470: The two styles is that the Irish variety featured high kicking " up and under " whereas in colonial Victoria, the little marks or foot passes were much more common. While the founders of the game were all familiar with or played rugby, including Cusack and Davin, few had played Irish football as it was so rare outside of the South-West, though the influence of this football on the founders was obvious, this
2907-419: The upcoming All-Ireland Championship and there is usually more intensity to the division finals than those played earlier in the league, but still lacking the intensity of Championship matches. Derry are the current league champions, having won the 2024 league . The National Football League was first held in 1925–26 , thirty-eight years after the first All-Ireland Senior Football Championship . Laois won
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#17327823825692964-533: The world in the late 19th century. Despite a huge Irish American population there was limited awareness of the game in America, though there was limited knowledge of its rules, apart from that the ball cannot be lifted from the ground by hand, and throttling is banned. It was first played in North America in the 1890s with games being played in both Canada and the United States in 1892. More than
3021-628: Was attacked by the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), including its Auxiliary Division . 14 people were killed and 65 were injured. Among the dead was Tipperary footballer Michael Hogan , for whom the Hogan Stand at Croke Park (completed in 1924) was named. In 1930 the GAA banned children found playing rugby instead of Gaelic football. In 1939, at Yankee Stadium in New York City , Kerry played Galway in front of
3078-551: Was broadcast live on Setanta Sports . Coverage of the 2010 finals in Croke Park saw TG4 become the most watched channel, with 650,000 viewers tuning in to watch some of the games. The Division 1 Final had an average audience of 220,000 viewers. The National Football League winners receive the Irish National Insurance Cup, first presented to Kerry in 1928–29 . Kerry is the most successful team in
3135-517: Was due to the patronage of the gentry. Now instead of opposing the games it was the gentry and the ruling class who were serving as patrons of the games. Games were organised between landlords with each team comprising 20 or more tenants. Wagers were commonplace with purses of up to 100 guineas (Prior, 1997). The earliest record of a recognised precursor to the modern game dates from a match in County Meath in 1670, in which catching and kicking
3192-463: Was in recess. Some Gaelic Athletic Associations began to impose strict nationalistic policies during this time. For example, in Connacht free kicks began to be introduced into some leagues penalising speaking of any language but Irish, and imposing a rule that the referee may speak only in Irish. On Bloody Sunday in 1920 , during the Irish War of Independence , a football match at Croke Park
3249-464: Was played near Callan, Co Kilkenny in February 1885. From 1886 the GAA banned tackling. The widely published GAA rules were as follows: 1. The ground for full teams (21 aside) shall be 140 yards long by 84 yards broad, or as near that size as can be got. The ground must be properly marked by boundary lines. Boundary lines are to be at least five yards from the fences. Note— There is no objection to
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