The Sligo county football team ( ) represents Sligo in men's Gaelic football and is governed by Sligo GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the Connacht Senior Football Championship and the National Football League.
Sligo's home ground is Markievicz Park, Sligo. The team's managers are Dessie Sloyan and Eamonn O'Hara.
The team last won the Connacht Senior Championship in 2007, but has never won the All-Ireland Senior Championship or the National League.
According to Martin Breheny, Sligo routinely has a ranking within the bottom sixteen of county football teams.
<sup>INJ</sup> Player has had an injury which has affected recent involvement with the county team.<br> <sup>RET</sup> Player has since retired from the county team.<br> <sup>WD</sup> Player has since withdrawn from the county team due to a non-injury issue.
Sligo's team colours are black and white. Sligo's jerseys have alternated between black and white over the years. In the 1990s, Sligo opted for predominantly white shirts with black shorts, with exceptions in 1995 and 1996 when they wore an all-black strip. and after a win over Kildare decided to make the all-black kit its first choice.
Sligo's crest features Benbulbin in the background, one of the iconic landmarks of County Sligo.
Clifford Electrical is a former shirt sponsor.
Abbvie has been Sligo's shirt sponsor since the 2016 season, succeeding Radisson.
Due to its much smaller population than both County Galway and County Mayo, the two dominant forces in the province of Connacht, and competition from professional League of Ireland soccer team Sligo Rovers in the county's capital town. The county football team has never been able release itself from the shackles inherent in the provincial championship format. It has won the Connacht Senior Football Championship (SFC) on only three occasions, with about 50 years between each win. These championships came in 1928, 1975 and 2007.
Sligo has never appeared in an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) final. The 1922 championship is the closest it has come, defeating Roscommon, Mayo and Galway to win the Connacht title, and beating Tipperary in the subsequent All-Ireland semi-final that followed. However an objection from Galway on what is described as "a flimsy technicality" led to the Connacht decider being brought to a replay, which Sligo lost. Sligo met the same fate in the inaugural National Football League campaign of 1926, beating Laois to reach the final, only for Laois to object on the grounds of a Sligo player's name being misspelled; Sligo lost the replay. This gives Sligo the unique position of having qualified for an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final and a National Football League final, without ever having contested either.
In 1954, Sligo reached the Connacht SFC final against Galway, only for an equalising goal in the final minute to be disallowed. In 1962, Sligo reached the Connacht SFC final against Roscommon, and led for much of the match only to be blighted by a sudden string of injuries, miss a 50 while two points ahead in the final minute, and then gift soon-to-be All-Ireland SFC finalists Roscommon a goal in what is regarded as "one of the great football tragedies in Connacht". In 1965, Sligo reached the Connacht SFC final against Galway and gained a seven-point lead, only for one of its players to be "mysteriously sent to the full-forward spot", causing "the entire team [to lose] momentum" and the match.
The county Vocational Schools team reached two All-Ireland finals in 1962 and 1963, losing both to Dublin City.
In 1975, Sligo won the Connacht SFC for the first time since 1928.
Following the 2001 introduction to the All-Ireland SFC of a qualifier system for teams eliminated from its provincial championship, Sligo â despite historically having a poor record â has had some modest, though noteworthy, success. The revised format, together with a prolonged period of competing in Division 1 of the National Football League, helped bring about an upward turn in the county team's fortunes. In 2002, having narrowly lost the Connacht SFC final to Galway (the defending All-Ireland SFC champions), Sligo went on to defeat Tyrone at Croke Park, turning over a seven-point deficit in the process. A similar comeback against the eventual All-Ireland champions Armagh two weeks later led to a replay, but Sligo's run was halted when it had claims for a penalty in injury time of the second game turned down.
On 8 July 2007, Sligo claimed the Connacht SFC for the first time since 1975 with a one-point victory over Galway.
Tommy Jordan, who had led Crossmolina Deel Rovers to the 2001 All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship, took over as manager. The following year the county was trashed by Mayo while trying to retain its Connacht title and ended up in the Tommy Murphy Cup, after a league campaign that had brought relegation to Division 4. Because Sligo had been relegated, the GAA forced the reigning Connacht champions to participate in the Tommy Murphy Cup instead of the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers when it had exited the provincial championship; the county's exit to London in that competition after many players (including the county's most prominent, Eamonn O'Hara) declined to participate, was swiftly followed by Jordan's resignation. O'Hara said he was embarrassed by the team's rapid decline into mediocrity.
On 27 June 2010, Sligo hosted Galway and led 1âÂÂ8 to 0âÂÂ2 at halftime but were shocked by an undeserved draw, ending 1âÂÂ10 each. The replay saw Sligo defeat the Tribesmen by a scoreline of 1âÂÂ14 to 0âÂÂ16 to advance to the Connacht SFC final. Once there, after all their hard work and continued misfortune, Roscommon defeated Sligo by a scoreline of 0âÂÂ14 to 0âÂÂ13.
Sligo football descended to a new depth on 26 May 2013 when London dumped the county out of the Connacht SFC proper, this time, in its first game. The scoreline was 1âÂÂ12 to 0âÂÂ14. This was London's first victory in the Connacht SFC since 1977. Lorcan Mulvey scored the vital London goal.
Sligo did not participate in the 2020 championship, granting Galway a direct route to the 2020 Connacht SFC final due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games. Paul Taylor walked away as manager days after the county withdrew from the 2020 Connacht SFC (and 2020 All-Ireland SFC) due to its inability to field a team.
Tony McEntee was announced as Taylor's successor. McEntee had been a runner-up for the Antrim vacancy, which he lost to Enda McGinley.
Sligo had a one-sided home defeat to Mayo in the 2021 Connacht SFC quarter-final, but then defeated New York in the 2022 Connacht SFC, a fixture that was returning for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. Sligo advanced, losing the subsequent Connacht SFC semi-final to Roscommon. Sligo then participated in the inaugural Tailteann Cup. The team defeated London in Round 1 on a scoreline of Sligo 3âÂÂ15, London 2âÂÂ16 (after extra-time). Sligo advanced to a quarter-final (Northern Section) game at Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada against local rival Leitrim. The final scoreline was Leitrim 2âÂÂ16, Sligo 1âÂÂ19 (after extra-time), with Sligo winning the game on penalties. The team then met Cavan in the semi-final at Croke Park. Cavan defeated Sligo by a scoreline of 0âÂÂ20 to 1âÂÂ14.
In 2023 Sligo had an impressive league campaign securing promotion with 6 wins from 7 in Division 4. They capped off the league with a 2-10 to 0-14 victory in the Division 4 final in Croke Park to secure Sligo's second Division 4 title. In the Connacht championship Sligo accounted comfortably for London and New York (conquerors of Leitrim) securing a place in the Connacht final and in the Sam Maguire series. Unfortunately Sligo could not regain the Nestor cup falling to Galway 0-12 to 2-20. In the All Ireland series a creditable draw with Kildare was followed by defeats to Roscommon and Dublin which ended the season.
Sligo consolidated their position in Division 3 in 2024 finishing 4th. Leitrim were defeated in the Connacht Championship quarter final and following an outstanding display Sligo - who were never behind til the death - were unlucky to be pipped by a late Galway goal in the semi final. Another Tailteann Cup odyssey followed culminating in agonising defeat to Down after extra time in the Croke Park semi final on a scoreline of 2-15 to 1-20.
McEntee quit his role as manager following Sligo's June quarter-final exit from the 2025 Tailteann Cup to Fermanagh.
Sligo has four All Stars, as of 2010. Each All Star was won by a different player, each representing a different club.
1971: Mickey Kearins (St Pat's)<br> 1974: Barnes Murphy (St Mary's)<br> 2002: Eamonn O'Hara (Tourlestrane)<br> 2010: Charlie Harrison (St John's)<br>