1991 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship


The 1991 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 105th staging of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county Gaelic football tournament. The championship began on 19 May 1991 and ended on 15 September 1991.
In the Munster semi-final Kerry ended Cork's 2 years as All Ireland champions.
Down defeated Meath in the final by a scoreline of 1–16 to 1–14. The Ulster county's victory was to be the start of four consecutive All-Ireland titles for the province. For Meath, it was their second consecutive defeat in a final, having lost to Cork in the 1990 final.
The Championship was noted for the tie between Dublin and Meath that took three replays to decide.

Results

[Connacht Senior Football Championship]

Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
'''Finals'''

[Leinster Senior Football Championship]

Note for the first time since 1975 there's a full, straightforward or proper open draw: top county teams such as Dublin, Meath or Offaly no longer get byes to the teams to the Quarter-finals.
Preliminary round
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
'''Final'''

[Munster Senior Football Championship]

In 1991, for the first time in years, the Munster Championship got rid of its seeded draw system and moved to an open draw. With the exception of Tipperary in 1935, Kerry or Cork had won every Munster title since 1923. The open draw was expected to weaken Kerry and Cork, and improve Clare, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford. Since 1947, Cork vs Kerry was the most common Munster final until 1990, but less common from then on.
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
'''Final'''

[Ulster Senior Football Championship]

Preliminary round
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
'''Final'''

[All-Ireland Senior Football Championship]

Semi-finals
'''Final'''

Championship statistics

Scoring

;Overall
RankPlayerCountyTallyTotalMatchesAverage
1Brian StaffordMeath4–6274107.40
2Ross CarrDown0–303065.00
3Maurice FitzgeraldKerry0–292947.25
4Derek DugganRoscommon1–252847.00
5Bernard FlynnMeath0–2727102.70

;Single game
RankPlayerCountyTallyTotalOpposition
1Maurice FitzgeraldKerry0–1212Limerick
2Derek DugganRoscommon1–811Meath
3Noel DurkinMayo3–110London
3Stefan WhiteLouth2–410Kildare
3Brian StaffordMeath0–1010Dublin
6Mick LawlorLaois2–39Louth
6Brian StaffordMeath1–69Dublin
6Brian StaffordMeath1–69Wicklow
6Brian StaffordMeath1–69Offaly
6Ross CarrDown0–99Derry
6Brian StaffordMeath0–99Roscommon
6Ross CarrDown0–99Derry

Miscellaneous

  • Seeding is abolished in the Leinster and Munster championships meaning an open draw in Leinster for the first time since 1974 or Munster for the first time in 40 years.
  • Fermanagh's 3–12 to 1–8 defeat of Antrim in the Ulster quarter-final is their first victory in the championship since 1983.
  • The 1991 championship became famous for the four-game saga between Meath and Dublin in the preliminary round of the Leinster Championship. The four games comprised three draws, with two still ending level even after extra time. Meath eventually triumphed by a single point. A combined total of just under 237,000 people attended the four games in what was a major windfall for the Leinster Council.
  • The Meath-Dublin saga was the first SFC tie since Carlow-Wexford to be played four times in one season.
  • While in the Quarter-final stage of the Leinster championship Meath played Wicklow twice and in the semi-final game between Laois and Louth also ended in a draw and went to replay making it the largest Leinster championship ever and was not equalled until 2000.
  • Limerick reached their first Munster final since 1965 but lost it to Kerry, since 1947 all Munster finals expect for Cork vs Clare 1949, Cork vs Waterford 1957, Kerry vs Waterford 1960 and Kerry vs Limerick in 1965 the rest were all Kerry vs Cork deciders.
  • Meath and Laois meet in the Leinster final for the first time since 1951.
  • Meath became the first side since Kildare to play 10 senior football championship matches in one season.
  • Down win the All Ireland final for the first time in 23 years and were first Ulster county since 1968 to win and also first not from Munster/Leinster of course.