1972 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1972 was the 85th staging of Ireland's premier hurling knock-out competition. Kilkenny won the championship, beating Cork 3–24 to 5–11 in the final at Croke Park, Dublin.

Format

Overview

The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1972 was run on a provincial basis as usual. It was a knockout tournament with pairings drawn at random in the respective provinces – there were no seeds.
Each match was played as a single leg. If a match was drawn there was a replay. If that match ended in a draw a period of extra time was played, however, if both sides were still level at the end of extra time another replay had to take place.

The Championship

Munster Championship
Quarter-final: This was a single match between the first two teams drawn from the province of Munster.
Semi-finals: The winner of the lone quarter-final joined the other three Munster teams to make up the semi-final pairings.
Final: The winner of the two semi-finals contested this game.
Leinster Championship
First Round: This was a single match between two of the 'weaker' teams drawn from the province of Leinster.
Quarter-finals: The winner of the first round game joined three other Leinster teams to make up the quarter-final pairings.
Semi-finals: The winners of the two quarter-finals joined Kilkenny and Wexford, who received a bye to this stage, to make up the semi-final pairings.
Final: The winner of the two semi-finals contested this game.
All-Ireland Championship
Quarter-final: This was a single match between Antrim and Galway, two teams who faced no competition in their respective provinces.
Semi-finals: The winner of the lone quarter-final joined London and the Munster and Leinster champions to make up the quarter-final pairings. The provincial champions were drawn in opposite semi-finals.
Final: The winner of the two semi-finals contested this game.

Championship statistics

Scoring

Widest winning margin: 27 points
*Kilkenny 5–28 : 3–7 Galway
Most goals in a match: 12
*Kilkenny 6–13 : 6–13 Wexford
Most points in a match: 35
*Kilkenny 3–24 : 5–11 Cork
*Kilkenny 5–28 : 3–7 Galway
Most goals by one team in a match: 7
*Galway 7–16 : 4–7 Antrim
*Cork 7–20 : 1–12 London
Most goals scored by a losing team: 5
*Cork 5–11 : 3–24 Kilkenny
Most points scored by a losing team: 14
*Wexford 1–14 : 3–16 Kilkenny

Player facts

Debutantes

The following players made their début in the 1972 championship:

Player	Team	Date	Opposition	Game
Frank Norberg	Cork	May 22	Waterford	Munster semi-final

Retirees

The following players played their last game in the 1972 championship:

Player	Team	Date	Opposition	Game	Début
Frank Norberg	Cork	September 5	Kilkenny	All-Ireland final	1972

Stadia

The following stadia were used during the championship:

County	Stadium
Antrim	Ballycastle GAA Field
Clare	Cusack Park
Cork	Cork Athletic Grounds
Dublin	Croke Park
Kilkenny	Nowlan Park
Laois	O'Moore Park
Limerick	Gaelic Grounds
Tipperary	Semple Stadium