2022 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

2022 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

Championship details
Dates	16 April – 24 July 2022
Teams	33
All-Ireland Champions
Winning team	Kerry (38th win)
Captain	Seán O'Shea
Manager	Jack O'Connor
All-Ireland Finalists
Losing team	Galway
Captain	Seán Kelly
Manager	Pádraic Joyce
Provincial Champions
Munster	Kerry
Leinster	Dublin
Ulster	Derry
Connacht	Galway
Championship statistics
Top Scorer	Shane Walsh (1–36)
Player of the Year	David Clifford
← 2021 2023 →

The 2022 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 135th edition of the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county Gaelic football tournament since its establishment in 1887.

Tyrone entered the championship as the defending champions, but were defeated by Derry in the Ulster Championship and eliminated by Armagh in the All-Ireland Qualifiers.

Thirty three teams took part: all thirty two Irish counties except Kilkenny were joined by London and New York, both of whom were back in the competition for the first time since 2019, an absence caused by public health restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year, the championship split into a two-tier system for the first time, with the Tailteann Cup being the second-tier competition for those teams that did not qualify for the tier 1 Sam Maguire Cup competition. To qualify for the Sam Maguire competition, a county team needed to (a) reach their provincial final or (b) finish in Division 1 or 2 (after promotion and relegation were determined in the 2022 National Football League). This system was planned to only be used for the 2022 season, with it moving to exactly sixteen teams continuing in the Sam Maguire competition from 2023 onwards.

The draws for the provincial championships took place on 27 November 2021.

The

Competition format

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Provincial Championships format

Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster each organise a provincial championship. All teams who lose a match in their provincial championship progress to either the All-Ireland qualifiers (tier 1) or the Tailteann Cup (tier 2). All provincial matches are knock-out.

Qualifiers format

All counties in the competition play in their provincial championships. However, only the counties in National Football League Division 1 and Division 2 play in the All-Ireland Championship qualifiers after losing a game in their provincial championships.^[3] The counties in National Football League Division 3 and Division 4 (as they stand when the 2022 league concludes after the resulting promotion and relegation changes have been applied^[4]) do not progress into the All-Ireland series and instead enter the second-tier Tailteann Cup once they are knocked out of their provincial championship.^[5] The only exception to this is that all eight provincial finalists progress, regardless of their league division; the four provincial champions progress to the All-Ireland quarter-finals, while the four beaten provincial finalists will play off against the best four teams from the Qualifiers for a place in the quarter-finals.

Division 1 and 2 teams who are knocked out of their province without reaching the provincial final play off in the Qualifiers, on a straight knock-out basis. The four survivors play off with the four beaten provincial championship finalists, in a final qualifier round to complete the double-elimination format. The four winners of this final qualifier round join the four provincial champions in the All-Ireland quarter-finals.

All-Ireland format

The four provincial champions play the four winners of the final round of the qualifiers in the quarter-finals. Two semi-finals and a final follow. All matches are knock-out.

Teams

General Information

Thirty three counties will compete in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship: seven teams in the Connacht Senior Football Championship, eleven teams in the Leinster Senior Football Championship, six teams in the Munster Senior Football Championship and nine teams in the Ulster Senior Football Championship.

County	Last Provincial Title	Last Championship Title	Position in 2021 Championship	Current Championship
Antrim	1951	—		Ulster Senior Football Championship
Armagh	2008	2002		Ulster Senior Football Championship
Carlow	1944	—		Leinster Senior Football Championship
Cavan	2020	1952		Ulster Senior Football Championship
Clare	1992	—		Munster Senior Football Championship
Cork	2012	2010		Munster Senior Football Championship
Derry	1998	1993		Ulster Senior Football Championship
Donegal	2019	2012		Ulster Senior Football Championship
Down	1994	1994		Ulster Senior Football Championship
Dublin	2021	2020		Leinster Senior Football Championship
Fermanagh	—	—		Ulster Senior Football Championship
Galway	2018	2001		Connacht Senior Football Championship
Kerry	2021	2014		Munster Senior Football Championship
Kildare	2000	1928		Leinster Senior Football Championship
Laois	2003	—		Leinster Senior Football Championship
Leitrim	1994	—		Connacht Senior Football Championship
Limerick	1896	1896		Munster Senior Football Championship
London	—	—		Connacht Senior Football Championship
Longford	1968	—		Leinster Senior Football Championship
Louth	1957	1957		Leinster Senior Football Championship
Mayo	2021	1951		Connacht Senior Football Championship
Meath	2010	1999		Leinster Senior Football Championship
Monaghan	2015	—		Ulster Senior Football Championship
New York	—	—		Connacht Senior Football Championship
Offaly	1997	1982		Leinster Senior Football Championship
Roscommon	2019	1944		Connacht Senior Football Championship
Sligo	2007	—		Connacht Senior Football Championship
Tipperary	2020	1920		Munster Senior Football Championship
Tyrone	2021	2021		Ulster Senior Football Championship
Waterford	1898	—		Munster Senior Football Championship
Westmeath	2004	—		Leinster Senior Football Championship
Wexford	1945	1918		Leinster Senior Football Championship
Wicklow	—	—		Leinster Senior Football Championship

Team allocation

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
Entry Round	Counties
All-Ireland Quarter-finals	Kerry (1st)	Dublin (1st)	Galway (1st)	Derry (1st)
Qualifiers Round 2	Limerick (2nd)	Kildare (2nd)	Roscommon (2nd)	Donegal (2nd)
Qualifiers Round 1	Armagh	Cork	Mayo	Monaghan
	Clare	Louth	Tyrone	Meath
Tailteann Cup
Entry Round	Counties
Quarter-finals	New York
First round	Antrim	Down	Leitrim	Sligo
	Carlow	Fermanagh	London	Tipperary
	Cavan	Laois	Longford	Westmeath
Preliminary round	Offaly	Waterford	Wexford	Wicklow

Provincial championships

Connacht Senior Football Championship

London and New York were withdrawn from the 2020 and 2021 Connacht championships due to international travel restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but both are back in the 2022 season.

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	Mayo	0–16
	Galway	1–14
					Galway	4–20
					Leitrim	0–09
	London	2–11
	Leitrim	3–12
									Galway	2–19
									Roscommon	2–16
	New York	0–15
	Sligo	1–16
					Sligo	0–11
					Roscommon	0–23

Galway v Roscommon

29 May 2022 Connacht Final	Galway	2–19 – 2–16	Roscommon	Pearse Stadium, Galway
		Report		Attendance: 21,419[6] Referee: Joe McQuillan (Cavan)

The winning finalist advanced to the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals, while the losing finalist advanced to the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers.

Leinster Senior Football Championship

	Preliminary round 24 April					Quarter-finals 30 April / 1 May					Semi-finals 15 May					Final 29 May
	Louth		5-10
	Carlow		0-10			Louth		0-12
						Kildare		2-22
											Kildare		1-21
											Westmeath		2-15
						Westmeath		3-13
						Longford		0-14
																Kildare		1-15
	Wexford		1-15													Dublin		5-17
	Offaly		1-12			Wexford		0-04
						Dublin		1-24
											Dublin		1-27
											Meath		1-14
						Meath		4-13
	Wicklow		5-15			Wicklow		1-12
	Laois		4-12

Dublin v Kildare

28 May 2022 Leinster Final	Dublin	5–17 – 1–15	Kildare	Croke Park, Dublin
	Con O'Callaghan 1–5 (0-1m), Cormac Costello 2–1, Dean Rock 0-4f, John Small and Ciaran Kilkenny 1–0 each, Brian Fenton 0–3, Lee Gannon 0–2, Niall Scully and Aaron Byrne 0–1 each	Report	Jimmy Hyland 1–4 (0-3f), Ben McCormack 0–5 (0-1m), Kevin Feely 0–2 (0-1m), Kevin Flynn, Paul Cribbin, Darragh Kirwan, Paddy Woodgate (0-1f) 0–1 each	Attendance: 33,328 Referee: Paddy Neilan (Roscommon) Man of the Match: Con O'Callaghan (Cuala)

The winning finalist advanced to the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals, while the losing finalist advanced to the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers.

Munster Senior Football Championship

	Quarter-finals 30 April				Semi-finals 7/14 May				Final 28 May
					Cork	0-11
					Kerry	0-23
									Kerry	1-28
									Limerick	0-8
	Waterford	1-08
	Tipperary	2-13
					Tipperary	0-10
					Limerick	2-10
	Clare	1-19
	Limerick	2-16 (p)

Kerry v Limerick

28 May 2022 Munster Final	Kerry	1–28 – 0–08	Limerick	Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney
		Report		Attendance: 14,587[7] Referee: Martin McNally (Monaghan)

The winning finalist advanced to the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals, while the losing finalist advanced to the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers.

Ulster Senior Football Championship

Preliminary round 16 April

Quarter-finals 23/24/30 April, 1 May

Semi-finals 8/15 May

Final 29 May

Donegal

1–16

Armagh

0–12

Donegal

2–16

Cavan

0–16

Antrim

0–10

Cavan

1–20

Donegal

1–14

Derry

1–16

Monaghan

0–23

Down

2–7

Derry

3–12

Fermanagh

2–10

Monaghan

0–17

Tyrone

2–17

Tyrone

0–10

Derry

1–18

Donegal v Derry

29 May 2022 Ulster Final	Donegal	1–14 – 1–16 (a.e.t.)	Derry	St Tiernach's Park, Clones
		Report		Referee: Sean Hurson (Tyrone)

The winning finalist advanced to the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals, while the losing finalist advanced to the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers.

All-Ireland Qualifiers

Round 1

Mayo v Monaghan

4 June 2022 Round 1	McHale Park, Castlebar
	Cillian O’Connor (1–6, 5f), Lee Keegan (0–1), Patrick Durcan (0–1), Eoghan McLaughlin (0–1), Matthew Ruane (0–1), Jack Carney (0–1), Darren McHale (0–1), Robbie Hennelly (0–1)	Report	Jack McCarron (0–3, 1m), Gary Mohan (0–2), Shane Carey (0–2. 2f), Conor McManus (0–1, 1f), Kieran Duffy (0–1), Conor McCarthy (0–1), Conor Leonard (0–1), Micheal Brannigan (0–1)	Attendance: 16,377[8] Referee: Barry Cassidy (Derry)

Clare v Meath

4 June 2022 Round 1	Clare	1–11 – 1–09	Meath	Cusack Park, Ennis
	E Cleary (0-04 1f), P Lillis (1-00), E McMahon (0-02), D O’Neill (0-01), J Malone (0-01), D Tubridy (0-01 1f), K Sexton (0-01 1’45), M Doherty (0-01)	Report	C McGill (1-00 1’Pen), C O’Sullivan (0-02 1f), T O’Reilly (0-01), M Costello (0-01), J O’Connor (0-01 1f), J Scully (0-01), E Harkin (0-01), D McGowan (0-01), B McMahon (0-01 1f)	Attendance: 2,460[9] Referee: Brendan Cawley (Kildare)

Cork v Louth

4 June 2022 Round 1	Cork	2–12 – 2–08	Louth	Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork
	S Sherlock (0–8, 0–6 frees); B Hurley (1–4, 0–1 mark); C O’Callaghan (1–0).	Report	L Jackson (1–1); S Mulroy (0–4, 0–4 frees); C Grimes (1–0); D Corcoran, C Downey, T Jackson (0–1 each).	Referee: Fergal Kelly (Longford)

Armagh v Tyrone

5 June 2022 Round 1	Armagh	1–16 – 1–10	Tyrone	Athletic Grounds, Armagh
	A Nugent (1–1), R O’Neill (0–4, 3f), E Rafferty, S Campbell, A Murnin (0–2 each), C O’Neill, S Sheridan, R Grugan, J Duffy, C Turbitt (0–1 each)	Report	D McCurry (0–7, 4f, 1 mark), C McKenna (1–0), P Harte, C Kilpatrick, R Donnelly (0–1 each)	Attendance: 16,292[10] Referee: David Coldrick (Meath)

Round 2

The four beaten provincial finalists played the four round 1 winners.

Roscommon v Clare

11 June 2022 Round 2	Roscommon	1–17 – 2–15	Clare	Croke Park, Dublin
	Diarmuid Murtagh 1–2 (0-2f), Ciaráin Murtagh 0–5 (0-1f), Ronan Daly 0–2, Donie Smith 0–2 (0-1f), Cian McKeon 0–1, Conor Cox 0-1f, Niall Kilroy 0–1, Conor Daly 0–1, Richard Hughes 0–1, Keith Doyle 0–1.	Report	Keelan Sexton 2–6 (1–0 pen, 0-5f), Emmet McMahon 0–2, Cathal O’Connor 0–2, Eoin Cleary 0-2f, Pádraic Collins 0–1, Cillian Rouine 0–1, Jamie Malone 0–1	Attendance: 16,425

Kildare v Mayo

11 June 2022 Round 2	Kildare	0–14 – 2–13	Mayo	Croke Park, Dublin
	Jimmy Hyland 0–6 (0-5f), Kevin O’Callaghan 0–2, Darragh Malone 0–1, Kevin Feely 0–1, Ben McCormack 0–1, Daniel Flynn 0–1, Neil Flynn 0–1, Shea Ryan 0–1.	Report	Cillian O‘Connor 0–3 (0-1f), Oisín Mullin 1–0, Jordan Flynn 1–0, Eoghan McLaughlin 0–2, Lee Keegan 0–2, Fergal Boland 0–2, Jack Carney 0–1, Diarmuid O’Connor 0–1, Conor Loftus 0–1, Darren McHale 0–1.	Attendance: 16,425 Referee: Derek O'Mahoney (Tipperary)

Limerick v Cork

12 June 2022 Round 2	Limerick	1–16 – 2–18	Cork	Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork
	Hugh Bourke 0–5 (0-4f), Adrian Enright 0–4, Brian Donovan 1–0, Josh Ryan 0–2, Gordon Brown 0–2, Cian Sheehan 0–1, Robbie Burke 0–1, James Naughton 0–1.	Report	Steven Sherlock 0–8 (0-5f, 0–1 ’45), Brian Hurley 1–2 (1–0 pen), Cathail O’Mahony 1–0, John O’Rourke 0–3, Eoghan McSweeney 0–2, Kevin O’Donovan 0–1, Colm O’Callaghan 0–1, Damien Gore 0–1.	Referee: Jerome Henry (Mayo)

Donegal v Armagh

12 June 2022 Round 2	Donegal	0–16 – 3–17	Armagh	St Tiernach's Park, Clones
	M Murphy (0–6, 0–5 frees), S O’Donnell (0–4), A Doherty, R McHugh, J McGee, C Thompson, P McBrearty, N O’Donnell (0–1 each)	Report	R O’Neill (1–7, 1–0 Pen, 2 frees, 1x’45), R Grugan (1–3, 1 free), J Óg Burns (0–3), S Sheridan (1–0), C Turbitt (0–2), S Campbell, J Duffy (0–1 each)	Referee: Brendan Cawley (Kildare)

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

Bracket

	Quarter-finals 25/26 June				Semi-finals 9/10 July				Final 24 July
	Galway (p)	2–21(4)
	Armagh	3–18(1)
					Galway	2–08
					Derry	1–06
	Derry	5–13
	Clare	2–08
									Galway	0–16
									Kerry	0–20
	Dublin	0–21
	Cork	0–10
					Dublin	1–13
					Kerry	1–14
	Kerry	1–18
	Mayo	0–13

Quarter-finals

The four provincial champions played the four winners of the qualifiers round 2.^[11]

25 June 2022 15:45 Quarter-final	Derry	5–13 (28) – (14) 2–08	Clare	Croke Park, Dublin Attendance: 50,874 Referee: Martin McNally (Monaghan)
	Shane McGuigan 1–8 (0-1f), Conor Glass 1–1, Benny Heron 1–1, Paul Cassidy 1–1, Gareth McKinless 1–0, Niall Loughlin 0–1 (0-1f), Conor McCluskey 0–1.	Report	Eoin Cleary 1–5 (0-2f), Pearse Lillis 1–0, David Tubridy 0–2, (0-2f), Jamie Malone 0–1.

25 June 2022 18:00 Quarter-final	Dublin	0–21 – 0–10	Cork	Croke Park, Dublin Attendance: 50,874 Referee: Sean Hurson (Tyrone)
	Dean Rock 0–9 (0–8 f, 0–1 mark), Ciaran Kilkenny 0–3, Brian Fenton, Lee Gannon 0–2 each, Cormac Costello, Sean Bugler, Paddy Small, Tom Lahiff, Aaron Byrne 0–1 each.	Report	Steven Sherlock 0–3 (0–2 f), Cathal O’Mahony 0–3 (0–1 f, 0–1 mark), Brian Hurley 0–2, Eoghan McSweeney, John O’Rourke 0–1 each

26 June 2022 13:45 Quarter-final	Galway	2–21 (27) – (27) 3–18 (a.e.t.) (4–1 pen)	Armagh	Croke Park, Dublin Attendance: 71,353 Referee: David Coldrick (Meath) Man of the Match: Cillian McDaid
	Shane Walsh 0–6 (0-5f), Cillian McDaid 1–2, Robert Finnerty 0–4, Johnny Heaney 1–0, Damien Comer 0–3, Matthew Tierney 0–2, Patrick Kelly 0–1, Finnian O Laoi 0–1, Kieran Molloy 0–1, Paul Conroy 0–1. Penalty kicks Shane Walsh Y Damien Comer Y Robert Finnerty Y Matthew Tierney Y	Report	Rory Grugan 1–3 (0-2f), Aidan Nugent 1–2 (0-1m), Conor Turbitt 1–1, Rian O'Neill 0–4 (0-3f), Stefan Campbell 0–3, Jarlath Og Burns 0–1, Conor O'Neill 0–1, Eoin Woods 0–1, Jemar Hall 0–1, Justin Kieran 0–1. Penalty kicks Stefan Campbell N Rian O'Neill Y Conor Turbitt N

26 June 2022 17:00 Quarter-final	Kerry	1–18 (21) – (13) 0–13	Mayo	Croke Park, Dublin Attendance: 71,353 Referee: David Gough (Meath)
	David Clifford 1–3 (2 marks, 1 free), Paul Geaney 0–4 (1 mark), Tom O’Sullivan 0–3, Sean O’Shea 0–3 (1f), David Moran 0–2, Graham O’Sullivan, Gavin White, Killian Spillane all 0–1.	Report	Cillian O’Connor 0–3 (2f), Jordan Flynn 0–2, Stephen Coen, Aidan O’Shea, Matthew Ruane, Conor Loftus, James Carr, Kevin McLoughlin, Jack Carney, Rob Hennelly (free) all 0–1

Semi-finals

There was no semi-final draw as the pairings were arranged by rota.

9 July 2022 17:30 Semi-final	Galway	2–08 (14) – (9) 1–06	Derry	Croke Park, Dublin Attendance: 68,830[12] Referee: Brendan Cawley (Kildare) Man of the Match: Damien Comer
	Damien Comer 2–2, Shane Walsh 0–4 (0-3f and 0–1 45), John Daly and Johnny Heaney 0–1 each	Report	Lachlan Murray 1–0, Shane McGuigan 0–3 (0-2f), Brendan Rogers 0–2, Niall Loughlin 0–1

10 July 2022 15:30 Semi-final	Dublin	1–13 (16) – (17) 1–14	Kerry	Croke Park, Dublin Attendance: 73,609[13] Referee: Paddy Neilan (Roscommon) Man of the Match: Paudie Clifford
	Ciarán Kilkenny 0–3, Dean Rock 0–3 (0–3f), Cormac Costello 1–0, Lee Gannon 0–1, John Small 0–1, Seán Bugler 0–1, Brian Fenton 0–1, Paddy Small 0–1, Brian Howard 0–1, James McCarthy 0–1	Report	Seán O'Shea 1–4 (0–2f), David Clifford 0–6 (0–1f, 0–1 mark), Paudie Clifford 0–2, Dara Moynihan 0–1, Tom O’Sullivan 0–1

Final

Galway v Kerry

RTÉ Sky Sports

24 July 2022 15:30 IST (UTC+1 ) All-Ireland Final

Report

Galway	0–16 – 0–20	Kerry
(HT: 0–08 – 0–07)
Pts: Shane Walsh 9 (4f, 1 '45), Cillian McDaid 4, Jack Glynn 1, Kieran Molloy 1, Johnny Heaney 1		Pts: David Clifford 8 (3f, 2 mark), Seán O'Shea 3 (3f), Paudie Clifford 2, Killian Spillane 2, Graham O’Sullivan 1, Paul Geaney 1 (1 mark), Diarmuid O'Connor 1, Stephen O’Brien 1, Gavin White 1

Croke Park, Dublin Referee: Sean Hurson (Tyrone) Attendance: 82,300[14] Standby: Paddy Neilan (Roscommon) Linesman: Barry Cassidy (Derry) Sideline: Sean Laverty (Antrim) Umpires: Mark Coney (Ardboe O'Donovan Rossa), Mel Taggart (Clonoe O'Rahilly's), Cathal Forbes (Ardboe O'Donovan Rossa), Martin Conway (Moortown St Malachy's)

Incidents

Armagh-Galway brawl

Hawk-Eye malfunction

The Hawk-Eye score detection system malfunctioned during the first half of the first All-Ireland SFC semi-final on 9 July between Derry and Galway, overruling an umpire who signalled that Shane Walsh's '45 into Hill 16 late in the half had gone over the bar. This meant that Galway entered the half-time break a point behind.^[15]

On Sky Sports at half-time, Jim McGuinness said: "It's a huge decision in the context of the game, and levelling the game up and Galway where they were, and to be back level at half time. I think the scoreboard should be level at half time, the reason I think that is because the technology got it wrong. The referee chalked it down as a point, the technology stepped in — it's not the other way around. the referee is well within his rights to say 'I got that right first time around, that's proven that it's right' and then to change the scoreboard. Otherwise, this game is going down to the wire, it feels that way and if it does go down to the wire, and that's what decides it, then we're in for major drama in the next couple of weeks".^[16] Over on RTÉ, Pat Spillane said: "It's an absolute joke. With our own two eyes, all of us here, that it went between the posts. It was most definitely a point. Hawk-Eye is available in a few grounds in Ireland, and they are getting huge money to get things right. A human error or not, that is scandalous. That is wrong". Lee Keegan added: "I can't even understand why they are calling Hawk-Eye. I don't see point in having it there if we can't get it right. As Pat rightly said, if that isn't rectified it is going to spoil the game."^[17]

A

The GAA issued a statement that evening confirming that Hawk-Eye would not be used during the second semi-final between Dublin and Kerry.[20]^[21]

Galway GAA chairman Paul Bellew later stated that the team would not have returned to complete the second half of the game if Walsh's 45' had not been retrospectively awarded by the referee.^[22]

The GAA confirmed on 15 July that Hawk-Eye would return for the

Glass, who expressed confusion after seeing Walsh's effort go over the bar only for it to be ruled out by Hawk-Eye, later said in an RTÉ Radio 1 interview: "I actually didn't realise (that the previous point was added on) until they went a point up after Shane Walsh's free kick five minutes into the second half... It wasn't communicated very well, either to the Derry staff or even the referee or GAA officials, that the point was added back on. The players didn't have a clue that it was."^[24][25]

Stadia and locations

Wexford

Navan

Aughrim

Cork

Dungarvan

Ennis

Thurles

Ballybofey

Enniskillen

Clones

Omagh

Belfast