GList: Regulars on the big day

Niall Gartland looks at the counties most accustomed to playing in All-Ireland SFC finals

1 Kerry (63 appearances)

ABSOLUTELY no surprises here. Kerry have featured on All-Ireland final day on 63 separate occasions, winning 39 titles.

They could well cross the 40-mark in a few months’ time. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Kerry football over the decades is their consistency at the very top level. They’ve won All-Ireland titles in every single decade since the turn of the 20th century – and the 2010s was the only decade where they failed to land multiple All-Ireland titles.

There’s a reason for that – the Dubs, who we turn to next.

2 Dublin (44 appearances)

DUBLIN won their first ever All-Ireland title at the fifth time of asking all the way back in the 1891 season. The game itself was played in February 1892 and it wasn’t exactly a scorefest – they overcame Cork by 2-1 to 1-1. For the record, it was staged at a place called Clonturk Park, which hosted eight All-Ireland finals a long, long time ago.

Our more elder readers will recall the great Dublin team of the 1970s stretching into the eighties, but their most sustained spell of dominance arrived in the last decade, where they won eight All-Ireland titles in 10 years, including an unprecedented six in-a-row. They landed their 31st title in 2023 when the likes of Jack McCaffrey and Paul Mannion returned for a final crack at it.

3 Galway (25 appearances)

THE Tribesmen have lost more than they have won on All-Ireland final day – nine wins and 15 defeats. They embarked on a historic three in-a-row between the years 1964-1966 and by any measure were an epochal group of footballers.

It’s worth noting that they only conceded one goal in six visits to Croke Park for All-Ireland semi-finals and finals. Another legendary crop of players arrived in the nineties spearheaded by manager John O’Mahony and players like Padraic Joyce, Ja Fallon, Michael Donnellan, Kevin Walsh and Sean Óg De Paor. In recent times they’ve been knocking on the door but defeats in the 2022 and 2024 finals still fester. Maybe this will be their year?

4 Cork (23 appearances)

IN the early days of the association, Cork were almost an ever-present in All-Ireland final day, but they lost a heap of finals surrounding their first ever win in 1890.

Their All-Ireland successes have been sporadic enough – seven in total including a back-to-back in 1989 and 1990. They had a fine team in the noughties and lost two showdowns to their old rivals Kerry before getting over the line in 2010 with a one-point victory over Down. Sometimes that team gets labelled with the ‘one of the worst All-Ireland champions’ tag which is unfair really – they were a committed, driven bunch of players who endured their fair share of heartache before reaching the promised land.

5 Mayo (18 appearances)

OH Mayo. 18 appearances in All-Ireland final day (not including a couple of replays) and only three victories.

The ‘curse’ and all that. Anyway, the Connacht side won Sam Maguire in 1950 and 1951 but since then it’s been a string of defeats. And they’ve lost in nearly every way imaginable –those hammerings at the hands of Kerry in 2004 and 2006 made for difficult viewing, then there was the epic battles with Jim Gavin’s Dublin, there was the behind-closed-doors defeat to the Dubs in 2020. They’re long-suffering but they’ll hopefully end their drought some day.

6 Meath (16 appearances)

MEATH have featured on All-Ireland final day in 16 different years though they aren’t the force of old and haven’t made it to the big day since they were handed a lesson by Galway in 2001.

Still, they have a very proud tradition: they won back-to-backs under the legendary Sean Boylan back in 1987 and 1988, and Boylan remained at the helm when a new generation of Royals got their hands on the Sam Maguire in 1996 and 1999.

7 Cavan (11 appearances)

CAVAN are the only other county to have reached the final of the All-Ireland SFC final on more than 10 occasions – though it has been a while.

All of their appearances came in the years 1933 to 1952, during which they won Sam five different times. They also won back-to-backs in 1947 and 1948 – their 1947 final win is particularly famous, overcoming Kerry at the Polo Grounds in New York.

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