1975 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1975 was the 89th staging of Ireland's premier hurling knock-out competition. Kilkenny won the championship, beating Galway 2–22 to 2–10 in the final at Croke Park, Dublin.

Rule change

As a result of a decision taken at the Gaelic Athletic Association's annual congress the previous year, as of 1975 all provincial finals, All-Ireland semi-finals and the All-Ireland final itself were reduced to 70 minutes playing time. Prior to this all championship matches were eighty minutes in duration for the past 5 years.

The championship

Format

Munster Championship
First round: This is a single match between the first two teams drawn from the province of Munster. One team is eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the semi-finals.
Semi-finals: The winner of the first round joins the other three Munster teams to make up the semi-final pairings. Two teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the final.
Final: The winner of the two semi-finals contest this game. One team is eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the All-Ireland semi-final.
Leinster Championship
First round: These are two matches between the first four teams drawn from the province of Leinster. Two teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the semi-finals.
Semi-finals: The winners of the two first round games join the other two Leinster teams to make up the semi-final pairings. Two teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the final.
Final: The winners of the two semi-finals contest this game. One team is eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the All-Ireland semi-final.
All-Ireland Championship
Quarter-final: This is a single match between Galway and the winners of the All-Ireland 'B' championship. One team is eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the semi-final.
Semi-final: This is a single match between the Munster champions and the winners of the quarter-final. One team is eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the final.
Final: The winners of the semi-final and the Leinster champions contest this game.

Provincial championships

[Leinster Senior Hurling Championship]

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[Munster Senior Hurling Championship]

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Championship statistics

Miscellaneous

All championship games were reduced from eighty to seventy minutes.
The All-Ireland semi-final saw Galway defeat Cork for the very first time in the history of the championship. It was also Cork's first-ever defeat in an All-Ireland semi-final.
The All-Ireland final between Galway and Kilkenny was the first time that these two sides met at this stage of the championship.
It was revealed after the All-Ireland final that Kilkenny's Liam 'Chunky' O'Brien had two teeth extracted on the day before the final and had to call a doctor to his home at 1 a.m. on the Sunday morning to stop a gum haemorrhage.

Player facts

Debutantes

The following players made their début in the 1975 championship:

Player	Team	Date	Opposition	Game
Dinny Allen	Cork	June 8	Waterford	Munster quarter-final
Jimmy Barry-Murphy	Cork	June 8	Waterford	Munster quarter-final