Galway county hurling team

Galway were runners up in the very first All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, losing to Tipperary in the 1887 final. The team did not reach another final in the competition until the 1923 Championship. In the 1923 final, Galway defeated Limerick, to become champions for the first time in their history. The team made it to the final four more times in that decade, appearing in 1924, 1925, 1928 and 1929 deciders, but lost on each occasion.

Galway continued to come up short in the Championship, and by the time the team lost three finals in a decade being runners up in 1953, 1955 and again in 1958, it had been 35 years since their only triumph. Like many counties that had previously experienced success before enduring a lengthy spell without titles, Galway became the subject of rumours of a curse, as has also happened to Mayo in football and Clare in hurling. In 1969 Connacht reached the final of the interprovincial Railway Cup for the first time in ten years with a team drawn primarily from Galway, and held Munster to a draw before being beaten in the replay, and this boosted the game in the county. However, a disastrous All-Ireland campaign followed for Galway, with the team losing to London in the 1969 championship and the following year Connacht lost at home to Ulster in the preliminary round of the 1970 Railway Cup, running up 20 wides. By the time the Galway hurlers were heavily beaten in 1975 and 1979 finals the curse was part of folklore.

In 1980 Castlegar won the All-Ireland Club Championship, while Connacht beat Munster in that year's Railway Cup final, bringing a measure of success back to Galway. In the 1980 championship, the team was managed by Cyril Farrell. Due to the lack of competition for Galway in Connacht, the team's first match of the season came against Kildare in the quarter-final round, a game which Galway won comfortably on a score of 5–15 to 1–11. From there the team faced Offaly, the Leinster champions, in the semi-final. Galway overcame Offaly by two points on a scoreline of 4–9 to 3–10 to qualify for the decider. Galway faced Limerick in the final. Galway came out on top in a close game that saw five goals scored to win the All-Ireland by 2-15 to 3-9. Captain Joe Connolly became the first Galway man to lift the Liam MacCarthy since Mick Kenny in 1923.

Galway entered the 1981 championship as champions, and played their first game on 19 July against Antrim in the quarter-final, winning by 6-23 to 3-11. Galway progressed to the semi-finals where they met their opponents from the previous year's final, Limerick. A hard fought game between the two finished level at 1-08 to 0-11, with Galway the goal-scoring team. The replay saw Galway come out as five point winners, qualifying for the decider on a final score of 4-16 to 2-17. In the final, Galway met Leinster champions Offaly. Despite having beaten the Faithful County in the previous year's semi-final, Galway failed to retain their title, being three point losers on a score of 2-12 to 0-15.

Galway returned to the final in the 1985 championship, beating Cork to qualify. In the final, the team again met Offaly, and were beaten by their eastern neighbors by 2-11 to 1-12. Galway were again runners up in the 1986 final, when they were beaten by Cork.

The 1987 championship saw Galway qualify for their third final in a row. Still managed by Farrell, Galway overcame Tipperary by 3-20 to 2-17 to make it to the decider. Captained by Conor Hayes and inspired by the young Joe Cooney, who scored five points on the day, Galway defeated Kilkenny by 1-12 to 0-09 in the final. Cooney was named Hurler of the Year for his performances at the age of just 22.

In 1988, Galway opened the defence of their title against London on 16 July, beating the Exiles comfortably by 4-30 to 2-08 in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals they came up against Offaly, a team that had repeatedly stumbled against during the decade, but came out as winners by 3-18 to 3-11. The win over Offaly set up a meeting with Tipperary in the 1988 final. Galway beat the Premier County by 1-15 to 0-14 to win their fourth ever All-Ireland. This was also the first time Galway had managed to retain their title.

The youth and skill of the team which won All-Ireland Championships in 1987 and 1988 was suggestive of more to come. John Commins penalty and race back to the line was one of the great images indicating the spirit of the team. Galway were narrowly beaten by Tipperary in a controversial 1989 semi-final and Cork in the final of 1990, while the brilliance of the 1993 final defeat by Kilkenny is sometimes forgotten because of the drama that ensued in the following years.

For the 2009 Hurling Championship, Galway played in the Leinster Championship, starting a trial period of three years there.

In May 2010, Galway won their ninth National Hurling League with a 2–22 to 1–17 win against Cork at Semple Stadium.[1]

Galway opened their 2010 Championship campaign against Wexford. Despite a second half surge by Wexford, Galway still won by 11 points. Galway then went on to play Offaly. The Faithful county gave Galway a strong scare in the Semi-Final. On 20 June, Offaly and Galway drew 3-16 to 2-19. Six days later, the Tribesman beat Offaly in the replay to propel them into their first Leinster Final ever. In the final, Kilkenny won their 20th Championship game in a row, beating Galway by a scoreline of 1-19 to 1-12. Even though they lost, Galway were given an automatic All-Ireland Quarterfinal birth. In that All-Ireland Quarterfinal match, the Tribesman squared up against Tipperary. In a closely contested match all the way through, Galway fell short of the semi-finals again, losing 3-17 to 3-16. Tipperary went on to upset Kilkenny, who were looking for their fifth championship in a row, in the 2010 All-Ireland Final.

Expectations were high in 2011, as many thought that Galway were ready to take the next step and possibly participate in an All-Ireland Final. The League started with great success as Galway won 4 of the first 5 matches including a victory over Kilkenny. But, they dropped the last two giving everyone a sour taste. The Championship brought new life and hope to the supporters of Galway who saw the opportunity at hand for the season. After a Leinster Quarter-final win over Westmeath, Galway took on Dublin and played one of their worst games in recent memory. Besides an early goal by Joe Canning, Galway never seemed to be in the game at all. A decent Dublin team rolled through them. But, Galway erased the bad feelings from Leinster Semi-final exit over the next month. In two qualifying matches, Galway knocked out Clare and Cork handily, propelling them into the quarter-finals of the All-Ireland and a match with Munster runners up, Waterford. Waterford had two weeks earlier been beaten by Tipperary by seven goals. It wasn't known whether Galway would be in the All-Ireland, but coming up against Waterford, at such a low ebb, seemed to be at least a ticket to the semi-final, but, that wasn't the case. Waterford absolutely hammered Galway 2-23 to 2-13. Serious questions were being raised about the coaching, selection, squad of players, and overall mindset of Galway hurling.

Anthony Cunningham, who had just recently led to Galway U-21s to an All-Ireland, was brought up to manage the Senior team. Mattie Coleman and Tom Helebert were picked to help Cunningham. Many expected 2012 to be a rebuilding year for Galway hurling. Many thought that the team was a few years away from contention yet and needed to do a lot of growing. The League was not kind to Galway. They barely saved their status in Division One by having to go a replay in a relegation play-off match with Dublin.

Galway reached a Leinster Final against Kilkenny after wins over Westmeath and Offaly. Still, many felt that Kilkenny would easily beat Galway. But, it wasn't to be. Galway produced a massive upset, beating Galway lifted their first Bob O'Keefe Cup ever. The road didn't stop there. After a slow first half, Galway held off a strong Cork team in the All-Ireland Semi-final. Galway were matched with Kilkenny again for the All-Ireland final. Joe Canning's 10th-minute goal got Galway rolling and they led by 5 at half time: 1-9 to 0-7. Kilkenny, however, were able to fight back. A Henry Shefflin point taken from the penalty spot separated the sides late in the game but, with 30 seconds left, Davy Glennon was fouled and Joe Canning scored from the free putting the All-Ireland Hurling Final to a replay for the first time in 53 years. In the replay however, Kilkenny overpowered Galway, with a final score of 3-22 to 3-11.

A 2012 Leinster Senior Hurling Championship winners' medal was later sold on eBay for €570.[2]