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Connacht Senior Football Championship

The Connacht Senior Football Championship, known simply as the Connacht Championship and shortened to Connacht SFC, is an annual Gaelic football competition for the senior county teams of Connacht GAA. All of the county teams of Connacht participate in the championship, as well as London and New York. The winning team receives the Nestor Cup.

The Connacht SFC is run on a knock-out basis through which teams are eliminated from the competition. A series of games are played during the summer months and the final is played in June or July. The winner and runner-up progresses directly to the All-Ireland SFC Group Stage. Before 2020, all losing teams progressed to the All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers, while, prior to 2001, the All-Ireland SFC was a straight knock-out format, which meant all losing teams were eliminated after a single defeat.

Galway are the four-time title holder, having defeated Mayo by 1-17 to 1–15 in the 2025 final

History

Galway are Connacht's most successful county, with 51 Connacht SFC titles and 9 All-Ireland SFC titles. Mayo are next, with 47 Connacht SFC titles and 3 All-Ireland SFC titles. Roscommon have won the Connacht SFC title 24 times, most recently in 2019, as well having won 2 All-Ireland SFC titles. Apart from those three, no other team competing in Connacht has won an All-Ireland SFC title.

Sligo have won the Nestor Cup three times, most recently in 2007. Leitrim have won the competition twice, most recently in 1994.

London have competed in the Connacht SFC since 1975, while New York joined in 1999. In this time London have managed three victories: one in 1977 and two in 2013, against Sligo and Leitrim. New York recorded their first, and, so far, only, victory in the championship over Leitrim in 2023.

The competing counties play for the JJ Nestor Cup, which is presented to the winning captain on Connacht Final Day.

Connacht SFC moments

  • Leitrim 0–12 – 2–4 Mayo (24 July 1994):
  • Sligo 1–10 – 0–12 Galway (8 July 2007):
  • Mayo 5–11 – 0–10 London (21 July 2013):
  • New York 0–15 pen – 0–15 Leitrim (8 April 2023):

Teams

2026 Championship

Seven counties will compete in the 2026 Connacht Senior Football Championship: the five counties in the Irish province of Connacht and the two foreign-based teams of London and New York.

List of teams

The following teams have competed in the Connacht SFC for at least one season.

Personnel and kits

List of finals

Legend

List of Connacht SFC finals

Notes

  • 1888–1891: No Connacht representative in All-Ireland series
  • 1892: represented the province
  • 1893–1899: No Connacht representative in All-Ireland series
  • 1900: unopposed
  • 1902: unopposed
  • 1922: Objection – refixed
  • 1939: Game unfinished – awarded to
  • 1934: withdrew until 1941.
  • 1938: until 1940.
  • 1946: Objection and counter-objection – replay ordered
  • 1950: withdrew until 1952.
  • 1975: join the championship.
  • 1999: join the championship.
  • 2001: withdrew due to Foot and Mouth disease.
  • 2025-2017: Preliminary round for fixture originally a Quarter-final revert to in 2018.
  • 2020: withdrew for 1 year while and for 2 years due to COVID-19.

Team records and statistics

Roll of honour

Legend

  • – Connacht SFC winner or runner-up also won the All-Ireland SFC that year.

Performance by team

Performance by province

Team results

Legend

  • – Winner
  • – Runner-up
  • – Semi-finalist / Quarter-finalist / Preliminary round exit

For each year, the number of competing teams is shown (in brackets).

Winning teams

Most recent championship meetings

+ = Rescheduled for 2026, after being absent in 2021 due to COVID-19 are Mayo v London and Roscommon v New York, for their first fixtures since 2016 (in rotation). London and New York withdrew for 2 years during the outbreak and Sligo for 1 year.

In 2027, Sligo v New York, Leitrim v London are lined up. In 2028, Sligo v London, Leitrim v New York if London and New York don't win before that in 2029 Galway v London and Mayo v New York like in 2030 Roscommon vs London and Galway vs New York like in 2025.

Consecutive titles

Quintuple

  • (1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910)
  • (1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960)
  • (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015)

Quadruple

  • (1929, 1930, 1931, 1932)
  • (1948, 1949, 1950, 1951)
  • (1963, 1964, 1965, 1966)
  • (1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)
  • (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)

Treble

  • (1935, 1936, 1937)
  • (1940, 1941, 1942)
  • (1982, 1983, 1984)

Double

  • (1915, 1916)
  • (1920, 1921)
  • (1923, 1924)
  • (1925, 1926)
  • (1933, 1934)
  • (1943, 1944)
  • (1946, 1947)
  • (1952, 1953)
  • (1961, 1962)
  • (1970, 1971)
  • (1973, 1974)
  • (1986, 1987)
  • (1988, 1989)
  • (1990, 1991)
  • (1992, 1993)
  • (1996, 1997)
  • (2002, 2003)
  • (2020, 2021)

Single

  • (1900, 1902, 1911, 1913, 1917, 1919, 1922, 1938, 1945, 1954, 1968, 1976, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2008, 2016, 2018)
  • (1901, 1904, 1918, 1939, 1955, 1967, 1969, 1981, 1985, 1999, 2004, 2006, 2009)
  • (1892, 1903, 1905, 1912, 1914, 1972, 2001, 2010, 2017, 2019)
  • (1928, 1975, 2007)
  • (1927, 1994)

Titles by decade

The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Connacht SFC titles, is as follows:

  • 1900s: 6 for (1901, 1904, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909)
  • 1910s: 4 each for (1910, 1915, 1916, 1918) and (1911, 1913, 1917, 1919)
  • 1920s: 5 for (1920, 1921, 1923, 1924, 1929)
  • 1930s: 7 for (1930, 1931, 1932, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1939)
  • 1940s: 4 each for (1940, 1941, 1942, 1945) and (1943, 1944, 1946, 1947)
  • 1950s: 5 for (1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959)
  • 1960s: 6 for (1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968)
  • 1970s: 5 for (1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1976)
  • 1980s: 5 for (1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987)
  • 1990s: 5 for (1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1999)
  • 2000s: 5 for (2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008)
  • 2010s: 5 for (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015)
  • 2020s: 4 for (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)

Team debuts

Other records

Final success rate

No county teamss have appeared in the final, being victorious on all occasions.

On the opposite end of the scale, one team has appeared in the final, losing on each occasion:

  • (2013)

Gaps

  • Longest gaps between successive Connacht SFC titles:
  • 67 years: (1927–1994)
  • 47 years: (1928–1975)
  • 32 years: (1975–2007)
  • 29 years: (1914–1943)
  • 12 years: (1955–1967)
  • 12 years: (1969–1981)
  • 11 years: (1892–1903)
  • 10 years: (1962–1972)
  • 10 years: (1980–1990)
  • 10 years: (1991–2001)
  • Longest gaps between successive Connacht SFC finals:
  • 27 years: (1967–1994)
  • 22 years: (1927–1949)
  • 16 years: (1981–1997)
  • 15 years: (1932–1947)
  • 13 years: Leitrim (1914–1927)
  • 11 years: (1892–1903)
  • 10 years: (1931–1941)

Active gaps

  • Longest active gaps since a Connacht SFC title:
  • 31 years: (1994–)
  • 18 years: (2007–)
  • 6 years: (2019–)
  • 4 years: (2021–)
  • Longest active gap since a Connacht SFC final appearance:
  • 25 years: (2000–)
  • 12 years: (2013–)
  • 3 years: (2022–)
  • 2 years: (2023–)

Player records

Each team's most recent winning captain

Managers

Managers in the Connacht SFC are involved in the day-to-day running of the team, including the training, team selection, and sourcing of players from the club championships. Their influence varies from county-to-county and is related to the individual county boards. From 2018, all inter-county head coaches must be Award 2 qualified. The manager is assisted by a team of two or three selectors and an extensive backroom team consisting of various coaches. Prior to the development of the concept of a manager in the 1970s, teams were usually managed by a team of selectors with one member acting as chairman.

Winning managers (1983–2024)

Venues

Stadia and locations

See also

References