Leinster Under-20 Football Championship

The Leinster GAA Football Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Leinster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county football competition for male players between the ages of 17 and 20 in the province of Leinster. The championship was contested as the Leinster Under-21 Championship between 1964 and 2016 before changing to an under-20 age category from 2018. It is sponsored by EirGrid.

The final, currently held in July, serves as the culmination of a series of games played during a five to six-week period, and the results determine which team receives the Flood Cup. The championship has usually been played on a straight knockout basis whereby once a team loses they are eliminated from the championship.

The Leinster Championship is an integral part of the wider GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship. The winners of the Leinster final, like their counterparts in the other three provinces, advance to the semi-final stage of the All-Ireland series of games.

Eleven teams currently participate in the Leinster Championship, with Kilkenny remaining the only county not to field a team. The title has been won at least once by eight teams, with seven of these winning the title more than once.

Current format

Overview

The Leinster Championship is a single elimination tournament. Each team is afforded only one defeat before being eliminated from the championship. Pairings for matches are drawn at random and there is currently no seeding. Each match is played as a single leg. If a match is drawn there is a period of extra time, however, if both sides are still level at the end of extra time a replay takes place and so on until a winner is found.

Progression

Qualification for subsequent competitions

The Leinster Championship winners gain automatic entry to the semi-final stage of the All-Ireland Championship. Unlike, the hurling counterpart, there is no "back-door" for the runners-up.

Managers

Managers in the Leinster Championship 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. The manager is assisted by a team of two or three selectors and an extensive backroom team consisting of various coaches. The under-20 team manager also works closely with the senior team manager due to an overlap of players on both teams. 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.

Roll of honour

List of finals

Records and statistics

Final

Team

*Most titles: 16:
** Dublin (1974, 1975, 1980, 1984, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020)
*Most consecutive title wins: 4:
**Dublin (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017)
*Most appearances in a final: 23:
**Dublin (1974, 1975, 1986, 1980, 1984, 1992, 1993, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)
*Most appearances in a final without winning: 7:
**Longford (1966, 1981, 1982, 2003, 2006, 2011, 2013)

Teams

By decade

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

* 1960s: 3 for Kildare (1965–66-67)
* 1970s: 4 for Offaly (1971-73-77-79)
* 1980s: 2 each for Dublin (1980–84), Laois (1982–87), Meath (1985–89) and Offaly (1986–89)
* 1990s: 5 for Meath (1990-91-93-96-97)
* 2000s: 4 for Dublin (2002-03-05-09)
* 2010s: 7 for Dublin (2010-12-14-15-16-17-19)

Gaps

Top three longest gaps between successive championship titles:
* 26 years: Offaly (1995-2021)
* 23 years: Meath (2001-2024)
* 18 years: Dublin (1984-2002)

References

{{Leinster Council

4
Leinster
1964 establishments in Ireland
Recurring sporting events established in 1964