The Leinster Senior Football Championship, known simply as the Leinster Championship and shortened to Leinster SFC, is an annual

inter-county Inter-county, is Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) List of Gaelic games terminology, terminology which refers to competitions or matches between County (Gaelic games), counties, as used in Gaelic games (differently from legal counties). The term c ...

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

competition organised by the Leinster Council of the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

(GAA). It is the highest inter-county Gaelic football competition in the

province of Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century No ...

, and has been contested every year since the 1888 championship. The final serves as the culmination of a series of games played during April and May, and the results determine which team receives the Delaney Cup. The championship has always been played on a

straight knockout A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

basis, whereby once a team loses they are eliminated from the championship. The Leinster SFC is an integral part of the wider

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) () is the premier inter-county competition in Gaelic football. County (Gaelic games), County teams compete against each other and the winner is declared All-Ireland Champions. Organised by the ...

. The winners of the Leinster SFC final, like their counterparts in

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

and

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

, are rewarded by advancing directly to the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals. Depending on results earlier in the season and elsewhere, some of the defeated teams may advance to the All-Ireland SFC, while other defeated teams play any further games they may have in the

Tailteann Cup The Tailteann Cup is a Gaelic football competition held annually since 2022 and organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is contested by those county teams, which, in the given year, have not otherwise qualified for the All-Ireland ...

. 11 teams currently participate in the Leinster SFC. One of the most successful team in Gaelic football, namely

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, play their provincial football in this competition, and have won the title on a record 63 occasions, while they have also claimed 30 All-Ireland SFC titles. The Leinster SFC title has been won at least once by 11 of the Leinster counties, eight of which have won the title more than once.

Wicklow Wicklow ( ; , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; ) is the county town of County Wicklow in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the east of Ireland, south of Dublin. According to the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had ...

are the only team never to have won the title, while three-time winner

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

no longer participate. Dublin have dominated the competition since its beginning.. Louth are the title holders, defeating Meath by 3–14 to 1–18 in the 2025 final.

History

Development

Following the foundation of the

in 1884, new rules for

and

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

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

1887 Events January * January 11 – Louis Pasteur's anti-rabies treatment is defended in the Académie Nationale de Médecine, by Dr. Joseph Grancher. * January 20 ** The United States Senate allows the United States Navy to lease Pearl Har ...

. 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 The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

had done much in the 1870s to promote the development of the

Football Association A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...

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. 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.

Beginnings

The inaugural Leinster Championship featured

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 10,302, making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. It is home to Kildare Cathedral, historically the site of an important abbey said to have been founded by Saint ...

Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town * Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia ** Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * Cou ...

Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

, Queen's County,

Wexford Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...

and

. 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 A pitch invasion (also known as field storming, rushing the field or rushing the court) occurs when a person or a crowd of people spectating a sporting event run onto the competition area, usually to celebrate or protest an incident, or somet ...

, 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 1–4 to 0–2 victory.

Team dominance

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 Events January * January 3 – The great telescope (with an objective lens of diameter) at Lick Observatory in California is first used. * January 12 – The Schoolhouse Blizzard hits Dakota Territory and the states of Montana, M ...

and

1895 Events January * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island (off French Guiana) on what is much later admitted to be a false charge of tr ...

. 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 Events January * January – Joseph Stalin travels to Vienna to research his ''Marxism and the National Question''. This means that, during this month, Stalin, Hitler, Trotsky and Tito are all living in the city. * January 3 &ndash ...

and

1918 The ceasefire that effectively ended the World War I, First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people wor ...

. Dublin remained the standard-bearers of the province, however, Kildare emerged as a new force, winning eight titles between

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (later Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off th ...

and

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

. Since winning their second ever title in

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

, 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 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

. A Dublin resurgence in the 1970s was followed by Meath's most successful era, winning eight titles between

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

and

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

under

Seán Boylan Seán Boylan (born 12 December 1949) is an Irish former Gaelic football manager from Dunboyne, County Meath. He retired from his position as manager of the senior Meath county team on the evening of 31 August 2005 after twenty-three years in ch ...

. In the 21st century Dublin set a new record of fourteen-in-a-row between

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. In 2025

won the title ending the long Dublin era.

Leinster SFC moments

* Meath 1–12 – 1–10 Louth (11 July

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

): Meath won the Leinster SFC final, due to a controversial late goal they scored. Many observers, particularly Louth supporters, believed that the goal should have been disallowed due to a foul. This incident led to debate regarding officiating standards and fair play. * Carlow 2–14 – 1–10 Kildare (27 May

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

): In a quarter-final clash, Carlow pulled off a notable upset by defeating Kildare. Carlow's victory surprised many, as Division 1 Kildare were the favorites going into the game against their Division 4 opponents. The result marked the rise of Carlow football.

Format

Overview

The Leinster Championship is a

single elimination tournament A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

. 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

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.

Progression

Qualification for subsequent competitions

* The winners and runners-up of the championship qualify to the

group stage. The remaining nine Leinster teams may also qualify to the all-Ireland group stage via the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

. Those who fail to do so qualify to the

. * Before the introduction of the qualifiers in 2001, the winners of the Leinster Championship went straight to the semi-final stage of the All-Ireland Championship, along with the winners of the

and

Championships.

Teams

2025 teams

Eleven counties competed in the

2025 Leinster Senior Football Championship The 2025 Leinster Senior Football Championship was the 2025 iteration of the annual Leinster Senior Football Championship organised by Leinster GAA. It was one of the four provincial competitions of the 2025 All-Ireland Senior Football Champion ...

Personnel and kits

Trophy and medals

At the end of the Leinster SFC final, the winning team is presented with a trophy. The Delaney Cup is held by the winning team until the following year's final. Traditionally, the presentation is made at a special rostrum in the Hogan Stand of

Croke Park Croke Park (, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and headquarters of the Gaelic At ...

, where GAA and political dignitaries and special guests view the match. The cup is decorated with ribbons in the colours of the winning team. During the game the cup actually has both teams' sets of ribbons attached and the runners-up ribbons are removed before the presentation. The winning captain accepts the cup on behalf of his team before giving a short speech. Individual members of the winning team and management then have an opportunity to come to the rostrum to lift the cup. The current cup was first presented after the 1953 final, however, it would be another 50 years before it was named the Delaney Cup. The Delaney brothers were a famous

family from

Portlaoise Portlaoise ( ), or Port Laoise (), is the county town of County Laois, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Midland Region, Ireland, South Midlands in the province of Leinster. Portlaoise was the fastest growing of the top 20 largest town ...

who lined out at club, county and provincial level. In accordance with GAA rules, the Leinster Council awards up to twenty-six gold medals to the winners of the Leinster SFC final.

List of finals

List of Leinster SFC finals

Matches

Match details of all Finals

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Team records and statistics

Roll of honour

Legend

* – Leinster SFC winner or runner-up also won the All-Ireland SFC that year.

Performance by team

Team progress: 2001–2019

Below is a record of each county's performance following the introduction of the qualifier system to the All-Ireland series in 2001. Before 2001 only the Leinster SFC title winner contested the All-Ireland SFC. Qualifiers did not occur from 2020–2021 due to the

impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games Impact may refer to: * Impact (mechanics), a large force or mechanical shock over a short period of time * Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US Science and technology * Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event * ...

. The qualifiers have since been replaced by a revamped All Ireland format made up of the 16 teams top teams and the Tailteann cup for the lower 16 teams.

Key

Post-COVID team results

Legend * – Winner * – Runner-up * – Semi-finalist / Quarter-finalist / Preliminary round exit For each year, the number of competing teams is shown (in brackets).

Most recent championship meetings

Titles by decade

The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Leinster SFC 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) * 2020s: 5 for Dublin (2020-21-22-23-24)

Other records

Gaps

* Longest gaps between successive Leinster SFC titles: ** 68 years: Louth (1957–2025) ** 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)

Active gaps

* Longest gaps since last Leinster SFC title: ** 114 years: Colours_of_Kilkenny

Kilkenny (1911–) ** 81 years: Colours_of_Carlow

Carlow (1944–) ** 80 years: Colours_of_Wexford

Wexford (1945–) ** 57 years: Longford (1968–) ** 28 years: Offaly (1997–) ** 25 years: Colours_of_Kildare

Kildare (2000–) ** 22 years: Colours_of_Laois

Laois (2003–) ** 21 years: Westmeath (2004–) ** 15 years: Meath (2010–) ** 1 year: Colours_of_Dublin

Dublin (2024–) ** 0 years: Louth (2025–) * Longest gaps since last Leinster SFC final appearance: ** 128 years: Wicklow (1897–) ** 103 years: Kilkenny (1922–) ** 81 years: Colours_of_Carlow

Carlow (1944–) ** 57 years: Longford (1968–) ** 19 years: Offaly (2006–) ** 14 years: Colours_of_Wexford

Wexford (2011–) ** 9 years: Westmeath (2016–) ** 7 years: Laois (2018–) ** 3 years: Colours_of_Kildare

Kildare (2022–) ** 1 year: Colours_of_Dublin

Dublin (2024–) ** 0 years: Louth (2025–) ** 0 years: Meath (2025–)

Longest undefeated run

Dublin - 43 matches (2011–2025): The record for the longest unbeaten run stands at 39 games held by Dublin. It began with a 1–16 to 0–11 win over on 5 June 2011. Dublin completed a provincial 10 in a row with a 3–21 to 0–9 win over on 21 November 2020. The streak is still running at 42 matches, after Dublin won the 2024 Leinster SFC title. In 2025

ended

spell in the Leinster championship semi-final.

Leinster SFC final pairings

Player records

Top scorers

All time

By year

Single game

Finals

Leinster SFC medal winners

Managers

Managers Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administr ...

in the Leinster SFC are involved in the day-to-day running of the team, including the training, team selection, and sourcing of players from the club championships. Their influence varies from county-to-county and is related to the individual county boards. From 2018, all inter-county head coaches must be Award 2 qualified. The manager is assisted by a team of two or three selectors and an extensive backroom team consisting of various coaches. Prior to the development of the concept of a manager in the 1970s, teams were usually managed by a team of selectors with one member acting as chairman.

Winning managers (1971–present)

Sponsorship

Since 1994, the Leinster SFC has been sponsored. The sponsor has usually been able to determine the championship's sponsorship name.

Venues

History

Leinster SFC 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

. The selection of Croke Park for the vast majority of

's games in recent years has also come in for criticism in the 2nd decade of the 21st century, as it offers a perceived advantage to play in what is effectively their "home" stadium. This has continued into the 2020s.

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road (Ireland), N3 road that links Dublin ( ...

took part in 1895 when the Connacht and Ulster championships were abolished between 1893 and 1899.

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

played

in the 1913 championship.

Attendances

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 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

. The 2006 final between Dublin and

Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in honour of Philip II of Spain ...

saw a record attendance of 81,754.

Current venues

References

Sources

Roll of Honour from Leinster GAA website
{{Leinster Council 1 3 1888 establishments in Ireland Recurring sporting events established in 1888

History

Development

Beginnings

Team dominance

Leinster SFC moments

Format

Overview

Progression

Qualification for subsequent competitions

Teams

2025 teams

Personnel and kits

Trophy and medals

List of finals

List of Leinster SFC finals

Matches

Match details of all Finals

Team records and statistics

Roll of honour

Legend

Performance by team

Team progress: 2001–2019

Key

Post-COVID team results

Most recent championship meetings

Titles by decade

Other records

Gaps

Active gaps

Longest undefeated run

Leinster SFC final pairings

Player records

Top scorers

All time

By year

Single game

Finals

Leinster SFC medal winners

Managers

Winning managers (1971–present)

Sponsorship

Venues

History

Attendances

Current venues

See also

References

Sources