2016 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

The 2016 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 130th edition of the GAA's premier inter-county gaelic football tournament since its establishment in 1887.
33 teams took part. 31 of the 32 Counties of Ireland participated, with Kilkenny, as in previous years, declining to take part. London and New York again competed.
The winning team, Dublin, received the Sam Maguire Cup. It was the first time Dublin, as defending champions, had retained the trophy since the 1977 final.

Format

Provincial Championships format

Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster each organise a provincial championship. All provincial matches are knock-out. All teams eliminated from their provincial championships with the exception of New York, for logistical reasons, enter the All-Ireland qualifiers.

Qualifiers format

Twenty eight of the twenty nine teams beaten in the provincial championships enter the All-Ireland qualifiers, which are knockout. The sixteen teams eliminated before their provincial semi-finals play eight matches in round 1, with the winners of these games playing the eight beaten provincial semi-finalists in round 2. The eight winning teams from round 2 play-off against each other in round 3, with the four winning teams facing the four beaten provincial finalists in round 4 to complete the double-elimination format. Further details of the format are included with each qualifier round listed below.

All-Ireland format

The four provincial champions play the four winners of round 4 of the qualifiers in the quarter-finals. Two semi-finals and a final follow. All matches are knock-out. Any game that ends in a draw is replayed. If a replay ends in a draw, extra time is played.

Changes from 2015 championship

Referees were instructed to add on 20 seconds for the introduction of a substitute and 20 seconds for each instance of a goalkeeper or defender going upfield for a placed ball attempt. Previously there was no specific provision for these two events which led to instances of deliberate time-wasting by teams who were leading. 30 seconds were also to be added each time the Hawk-Eye score detection system was utilised.

Provincial championships

Munster Senior Football Championship

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All-Ireland Series

Qualifiers

A and B teams

An A and B system for the qualifier draws was introduced in 2014 and was retained. The teams were designated as A or B depending on which half of their provincial championships they played in. Although some teams receive byes in the early provincial rounds, their position in the round in which they entered the competition was usually determined by the provincial draw, resulting in most teams being designated as A or B randomly. For example, each of the four provinces had two semi-finals – one between two teams designated A and one between two teams designated B. The beaten semi-finalists in each province were always one A team and one B team.
In all qualifier rounds A teams played A teams and B teams played B teams. Usually the A teams played their provincial games before the B teams, which allowed the A qualifier games to be scheduled a week before the B qualifier games.

Round 1

In the first round of the qualifiers sixteen of the seventeen teams beaten in the preliminary rounds or quarter-finals of the provincial championships competed. New York did not enter the qualifiers. Four A teams played four A teams, while four B teams played four B teams. The round 1 draw was unrestricted − if two teams had played each other in a provincial match they could be drawn to meet again, with the winner of the provincial match receiving home advantage. The eight round 1 winners played the eight beaten provincial semi-finalists in round 2 of the qualifiers.
The following teams were entered into round 1.
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Leitrim '

London '
;
Carlow '

Laois '

Louth '

Wicklow '

Longford '

Offaly '

Wexford '
;
Waterford '

Limerick '
;
Armagh '

Derry '

Antrim '

Down '

Fermanagh '
*During the match Laois made seven substitutions, one more than the permitted six. On 21 June 2016 the CCCC declared the match void and scheduled a replay for 2 July.
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Round 2

In the second round of the qualifiers the eight winning teams from Round 1A and Round 1B played the eight beaten provincial semi-finalists. The round 2 draw was unrestricted − if two teams had played each other in a provincial match they could be drawn to meet again, with the winner of the provincial match receiving home advantage. The eight winners of these matches played each other in Round 3.
The following teams took part in this round –
Carlow

Derry

Laois

Leitrim
Cavan

Clare

Meath

Sligo
Fermanagh

Limerick

Longford

Offaly
Cork

Kildare

Mayo

Monaghan
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Round 3

In the third round of the qualifiers winning teams from round 2A played against winning teams from round 2A, while winning teams from round 2B played against winning teams from round 2B. Round 3 rules did not allow two teams that had played each other in a provincial match to meet again. The four winners of these matches played the four beaten provincial finalists in Round 4.
The following teams took part in this round –
Cavan

Clare

Derry

Sligo
Cork

Kildare

Longford

Mayo
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Round 4

In the fourth round of the qualifiers, the four winning teams of Round 3A and Round 3B played the four beaten provincial finalists. Round 4 rules did not allow two teams that had played each other in a provincial match to meet again if such a pairing could be avoided. The four winners of these matches played the provincial champions in the All-Ireland Quarter-finals.
The following teams took part in this round –
Clare

Derry
Roscommon

Tipperary
Cork

Mayo
Donegal

Westmeath

Quarter-finals

The four provincial champions played the winners from Round 4 of the qualifiers. Draw rules – 1) Two teams who met in a provincial final could not meet again 2) If one of the provincial champions had already met one of the qualifiers in an earlier match then those two teams could not be drawn together if such a pairing could be avoided.

Semi-finals

There was no draw for the semi-finals as the fixtures were pre-determined on a three yearly rotation. This rotation ensured that a province's champions played the champions of all the other provinces once every three years in the semi-finals if they each won their quarter-finals and prevented two provincial champions meeting in the semi-finals in successive years. If a qualifier team defeated a provincial winner in a quarter-final, the qualifier team took that provincial winner's place in the semi-final.

Referees Panel

;Linesman Panel :

James Bermingham
Niall Cullen
Liam Devenney
Jerome Henry
John Hickey
Shaun McLaughlin
Martin McNally
Cormac Reilly

Stadia and locations

Antrim	Armagh	Carlow	Cavan	Clare
Corrigan Park	Athletic Grounds	Dr Cullen Park	Breffni Park	Cusack Park
Belfast	Armagh	Carlow	Cavan	Ennis
Capacity: 5,500	Capacity: 19,500	Capacity: 21,000	Capacity: 32,000	Capacity: 14,864

Cork	Derry	Donegal	Down	Dublin
Páirc Uí Chaoimh	Celtic Park	MacCumhaill Park	Páirc Esler	Croke Park
Cork	Derry	Ballybofey	Newry	Dublin
Capacity: 43,550	Capacity: 22,000	Capacity: 18,000	Capacity: 20,000	Capacity: 82,500

Fermanagh	Galway	Kerry	Kildare	Laois
Brewster Park	Pearse Stadium	Fitzgerald Stadium	St Conleth's Park	O'Moore Park
Enniskillen	Galway	Killarney	Newbridge	Portlaoise
Capacity: 20,000	Capacity: 26,197	Capacity: 43,180	Capacity: 6,200	Capacity: 27,000

Leitrim	Limerick	London	Longford	Louth
Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada	Gaelic Grounds	Emerald GAA Grounds	Pearse Park	Drogheda Park
Carrick-on-Shannon	Limerick	Ruislip	Longford	Drogheda
Capacity: 9,331	Capacity: 49,866	Capacity: 5,000	Capacity: 10,000	Capacity: 7,000

Mayo	Meath	Monaghan	New York	Offaly
MacHale Park	Páirc Tailteann	St Tiernach's Park	Gaelic Park	O'Connor Park
Castlebar	Navan	Clones	New York City	Tullamore
Capacity: 42,000	Capacity: 10,000	Capacity: 36,000	Capacity: 2,000	Capacity: 20,000

Roscommon	Sligo	Tipperary	Tyrone	Waterford
Dr Hyde Park	Markievicz Park	Semple Stadium	Healy Park	Walsh Park
Roscommon	Sligo	Thurles	Omagh	Waterford
Capacity: 18,500	Capacity: 18,558	Capacity: 53,500	Capacity: 26,500	Capacity: 17,000

Westmeath	Wexford	Wicklow	-	-
Cusack Park (Mullingar)	Wexford Park	Aughrim County Ground	-	-
Mullingar	Wexford	Aughrim	-	-
Capacity: 11,000	Capacity: 20,000	Capacity: 10,000	-	-
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Statistics

All scores correct as of 1 October 2016

Miscellaneous

Tipperary beat Cork for the first time since 1944.
Kerry were the first team since Cork to win a 4th Munster title in a row.
In the old system All Ireland series we would have had a Galway vs Tyrone All Ireland semi-final.
The All-Ireland final ends in a draw and goes to a replay for the first time since 2000.

Scoring events

Widest winning margin: 19

Monaghan 2–22 – 0–9 Down

Most goals in a match: 7

Tyrone 5–18 – 2–17 Cavan

Most points in a match: 41

Down 3–17 – 2–24 Longford

Most goals by one team in a match: 5

Tyrone 5–18 – 2–17 Cavan

Highest aggregate score: 56 points

Down 3–17 – 2–24 Longford
Tyrone 5–18 – 2–17 Cavan

Lowest aggregate score: 17 points

Wexford 0-08 – 0-09 Kildare

Broadcast rights

RTÉ, the national broadcaster in Ireland, provided the majority of the live television coverage of the championship in the third year of a deal running from 2014 until 2016. A number of matches were also broadcast by Sky Sports, with Sky having exclusive rights to some games.

Live broadcast matches

The broadcast schedule for matches shown live on television in Ireland follows –

Awards

;The Sunday Game Team of the Year
The Sunday Game team of the year was picked on 1 October, the night of the final replay. Dublin's Brian Fenton was named as The Sunday Game player of the year.

1. Stephen Cluxton
2. Brendan Harrison
3. Jonny Cooper
4. Philly McMahon
5. Lee Keegan
6. Colm Boyle
7. Patrick Durcan
8. Brian Fenton
9. Mattie Donnelly
10. Kevin McLoughlin
11. Diarmuid Connolly
12. Ciarán Kilkenny
13. Paul Geaney
14. Michael Quinlivan
15. Dean Rock

;All Star Team of the Year
The All Star football team was announced on 3 November.

1. David Clarke
2. Brendan Harrison
3. Jonny Cooper
4. Philly McMahon
5. Lee Keegan
6. Colm Boyle
7. Ryan McHugh
8. Brian Fenton
9. Mattie Donnelly
10. Peter Harte
11. Diarmuid Connolly
12. Ciarán Kilkenny
13. Dean Rock
14. Michael Quinlivan
15. Paul Geaney