Leinster Senior Football Championship

Following the foundation of the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1884, new rules for Gaelic football and hurling were drawn up and published in the United Irishman newspaper. In 1886, county committees began to be established, with several counties affiliating over the next few years. The GAA ran its inaugural All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in 1887. The decision to establish that first championship was influenced by several factors. Firstly, inter-club contests in 1885 and 1886 were wildly popular and began to draw huge crowds. Clubs started to travel across the country to play against each other and these matches generated intense interest as the newspapers began to speculate which teams might be considered the best in the country. Secondly, although the number of clubs was growing, many were slow to affiliate to the Association, leaving it short of money. Establishing a central championship held the prospect of enticing GAA clubs to process their affiliations, just as the establishment of the FA Cup had done much in the 1870s to promote the development of the Football Association in England. The championships were open to all affiliated clubs who would first compete in county-based competitions, to be run by local county committees. The winners of each county championship would then proceed to represent that county in the All-Ireland series.[3] For the first and only time in its history the All-Ireland Championship used an open draw format. 12 teams entered the first championship, however, this number increased to 15 in 1888. Because of this, and in an effort to reduce travelling costs, the GAA decided to introduce provincial championships.

The inaugural Leinster Championship featured Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Louth, Meath, Queen's County, Wexford and Wicklow. Dublin and Kildare contested the very first match on Sunday 3 June 1888. Wicklow beat Wexford in the third quarter-final a month later, however, a replay was ordered after the game was stopped with ten minutes to go as a result of a pitch invasion, and it was also revealed that Wicklow had played a number of illegal player. Postponements, disqualifications, objections, withdrawals and walkovers were regular occurrences during the initial years of the championship. The inaugural Leinster final between Kilkenny and Wexford was played on Sunday 23 September 1888, with Kilkenny claiming a 1-04 to 0-02 victory.

The first years of the Leinster Championship saw one of the most equitable eras in terms of titles won, with five different teams claiming their inaugural titles between 1888 and 1895. In winning the 1892 Leinster final, Dublin, as well as becoming the first team to retain the title, also set in train a level of championship dominance that continues to the present day. After two decades of dominance, Wexford broke the hegemony by setting a new record of six successive titles between 1913 and 1918. Dublin remained the standard-bearers of the province, however, Kildare emerged as a new force, winning eight titles between 1919 and 1935. Since winning their second ever title in 1939, Meath enjoyed some brief periods of dominance and claimed titles in each of the decades that followed to eventually become second only to Dublin in the all-time roll of honour by 1970. A Dublin resurgence in the 1970s was followed by Meath's most successful era, winning eight titles between 1986 and 2001 under Seán Boylan. The first two decades of the 21st Century has seen Dublin win 16 of a possible 21 Leinster Championship titles, including a new record of ten-in-a-row between 2011 and 2020.

The Leinster Championship is a single elimination tournament. Each team is afforded only one defeat before being eliminated from the championship. The draw is seeded, with the previous year's semi-finalists receiving byes to the quarter-finals. Six of the remaining seven teams are drawn together in three first round matches, while the seventh team also receives a bye to the quarter-finals.

In September 2019, the Leinster Council decided against awarding champions Dublin a bye into the semi-final stage; instead deciding to retain the status quo. The Leinster Council did, however, introduce a semi-final draw scheduled for the Sunday night when all quarter-final winners were confirmed, meaning that semi-finalists would not know if they were on the champions' side of the draw until two weeks before the game.[4]

As of the 2021 championship, qualification for the All-Ireland Championship will change due to the creation of a tier 2 championship known as the Tailteann Cup. The Leinster champions will continue to automatically qualify for the All-Ireland Super 8s. National League Division 3 and 4 teams who fail to reach the Leinster final will automatically qualify for the Tailteann Cup. All other teams from Division 1 and 2 will progress to the All-Ireland Qualifiers.[5]

Leinster Championship matches were traditionally played at neutral venues or at a location that was deemed to be halfway between the two participants; however, teams eventually came to home and away agreements. Every second meeting between these teams is played at the home venue of one of them. Championship semi-finals were usually played both on the same day at Croke Park. The selection of Croke Park for the vast majority of Dublin's games in recent years has also come in for criticism in recent years, as it offers a perceived advantage to play in what is effectively their "home" stadium.[6][7]

Stadium attendances are a significant source of regular income for the Leinster Council and for the teams involved. For the 2018 championship, gate receipts fell by almost 30% to €1,879,326, compared to €2,634,837 the previous year. The average attendance for the entire series of games was just over 20,000, down from a peak of over 60,000 in 2002.[8][9] The 2006 final between Dublin and Offaly saw a record attendance of 81,754.[10]

The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Leinster Senior Football Championship titles, is as follows:

• 1880s: 1 each for Kilkenny (1888) and Laois (1889)
• 1890s: 7 for Dublin (1891-92-94-96-97-98-99)
• 1900s: 6 for Dublin (1901-02-04-06-07-08)
• 1910s: 6 for Wexford (1913–14-15-16-17-18)
• 1920s: 5 for Dublin (1920-21-22-23-24)
• 1930s: 3 each for Kildare (1930-31-35), Dublin (1932-33-34) and Laois (1936-37-38)
• 1940s: 3 for Meath (1940-47-49)
• 1950s: 3 each for Louth (1950-53-57), Meath (1951-52-54) and Dublin (1955-58-59)
• 1960s: 3 each for Offaly (1960-61-69), Dublin (1962-63-65) and Meath (1964-66-67)
• 1970s: 6 for Dublin (1974-75-76-77-78-79)
• 1980s: 4 for Dublin (1983-84-85-89)
• 1990s: 4 each for Meath (1990-91-96-99) and Dublin (1992-93-94-95)
• 2000s: 6 for Dublin (2002-05-06-07-08-09)
• 2010s: 9 for Dublin (2011-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19)

• Longest gaps between successive Leinster titles:
  • 57 years: Laois (1946-2003)
  • 44 years: Meath (1895-1939)
  • 42 years: Kildare (1956-1998)
  • 31 years: Louth (1912-1943)
  • 20 years: Wexford (1925-1945)

The record for the longest unbeaten run stands at 30 games held by Dublin. It began with a 1-16 to 0-11 win over Laois on 5 June 2011 and continues as of a 3-21 to 0-09 win over Meath on 21 November 2020.[13]