All-Ireland Junior Football Championship

Not to be confused with All-Ireland Junior Club Football Championship.

All-Ireland Junior Football Championship
Current season or competition:
2024 All-Ireland Junior Football Championship
IrishCraobh Sóisear Peile na hÉireann
CodeGaelic Football
Founded1912
RegionIreland (GAA)
No. of teams4
Title holders New York (2nd title)
First winner Tipperary (1912)
Most titles Kerry (20 titles)

The All-Ireland Junior Football Championship is a GAA competition involving four Junior Gaelic football inter-county teams.

Prior to a change in competition structure in 2021, the competition was previously for all Junior Gaelic football inter-county teams in Ireland. In this previous format, the definition of what constituted a Junior player differed from county to county. In some, the junior team was the second team after the senior team. This meant that any players who had not played with the senior team could play with the junior team. In others, such as Cork and Kerry, players could only be chosen from clubs that played in junior or intermediate grades. These counties could not choose players from senior clubs, even if they were not on the senior county team. When a team won this championship, it had to pick a new team for the following year. No player could thus be on a winning team for two successive years. Ulster did not participate in the Junior Championship for a period, Cavan the 2014 champions represented Leinster in the absence of an Ulster competition.[1][2]

Kerry are the most successful county in the competition's history, having lifted the title on twenty occasions. Kerry are current winners winning five in a row All Irelands. The 2008 championship was won by Dublin for the first time since 1960.[3] Sligo defeated Kerry in 2010 to win their first title since 1935.[4]

The current holders are New York, defeating Kilkenny by 0-13 to 1-09 in the 2023 final.

  1. ^ "Cavan beat Scotland in Scotland to reach Junior All-Ireland final". Archived from the original on 17 August 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  2. ^ "Hayes on the double as Cavan clinch first All-Ireland junior title for 87 years". Archived from the original on 25 August 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  3. ^ HILL 16
  4. ^ RTE report Archived 2010-08-22 at the Wayback Machine