2011 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final

2011 All-Ireland Football Championship final
Event2011 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
Dublin Kerry
1–12
(15)		 1–11
(14)
Date18 September 2011
VenueCroke Park, Dublin
Man of the MatchKevin Nolan
RefereeJoe McQuillan (Cavan)
Attendance82,300[1]
WeatherSunny/Overcast
15 °C (59 °F)[2]
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The 2011 All-Ireland Football Championship final was the 124th event of its kind. It was the culmination of Gaelic football's premier competition, the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, and was played between Kerry and Dublin on 18 September 2011 at Croke Park, Dublin.

Dublin were victorious by a single point, achieving their first All-Ireland Senior Football Championship title since 1995. This was the first Kerry–Dublin final since 1985. History was made as the winning point was scored by a goalkeeper, Stephen Cluxton of Dublin, the first time this had ever happened in the final.[1] Cluxton's point gave the title to Dublin as, with the teams level, the match would have had to be replayed at a later date had it ended with both teams on the same score.[3] RTÉ called it "one of the most gripping Sam Maguire Cup deciders of the modern era" and the BBC said it was a "dramatic comeback victory."[1][3]

Going into the 2011 Championship Cork were the defending champions after defeating Down in the 2010 final.[4] However, Cork were eliminated in the quarter-finals in 2011 by Mayo.[5] On 30 August 2011, Joe McQuillan was confirmed as the referee for the senior final. This was his first time to referee an All Ireland Senior Football final.[6] Ahead of the game, Irish politicians Leo Varadkar and Aodhán Ó Ríordáin were censured by officials for flying unauthorised flags from their car windows in public. The flags favoured the Dublin team.[7] After the game, Dublin captain Bryan Cullen was offered the role of coaching Leinster Rugby's academy players.[8]

The 2011 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final attracted an audience share of almost 75 per cent, with three quarters of the available audience watching the final from beginning to end. This compared with an audience share of just over 65 per cent who watched the shock Ireland victory over Australia at the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand the previous day.[9] In 2018, Martin Breheny listed this as the twelfth greatest All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final.[10]

  1. ^ a b c "Cluxton the hero as Dublin win All-Ireland". RTÉ Sport. 18 September 2011. Archived from the original on 23 September 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  2. ^ Met Eireann: Monthly Summaries - September 2011
  3. ^ a b "All-Ireland Football Final: Dublin 1–12 1–11 Kerry" Archived 19 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine. BBC Sport. 18 September 2011.
  4. ^ "Cork are crowned All-Ireland champions". RTÉ Sport. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 19 September 2010. Archived from the original on 20 September 2010. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  5. ^ "Mayo 1–13 Cork 2-06". RTÉ Sport. 31 July 2011. Archived from the original on 4 December 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
  6. ^ "McQuillan to referee football final". RTÉ Sport. 30 August 2011. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  7. ^ Sheahan, Fionnan (15 September 2011). "'True blue' Varadkar gets red card as Dáil officials flag problem". Irish Independent.
  8. ^ "'The GAA are not in a position to offer him a job'". Irish Independent. 22 September 2011.
  9. ^ Glennon, Micil (19 September 2011). "GAA and rugby coverage attracts huge numbers". RTÉ Sport. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. Archived from the original on 23 September 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
  10. ^ Breheny, Martin. "Martin Breheny's Greatest All-Ireland Finals". Irish Independent. 1 September 2018, p. 16–17.