The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship is the biggest thing you can win in Gaelic Football.  It is an annual competition and it has a series of games.  Kerry have won the most All-Ireland's in football winning 37 in total and they are the reigning champions beating Donegal in the 2014 final back in September (they won their first title in 1903).  The tournament has taken place since 1887 just 3 years after the GAA was founded.  It is contested by the top inter-county football teams in Ireland.  An inter-county football team is when all of the best players from the county come together to contest the championship and the Allianz National league which is a competition at the start of the year but it is nothing in comparison to championship football.  To play for your county team is a huge honour and it is very hard to get on these teams.  The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship has been contested every year since it started except 1888.  The ALL-Ireland final is contested usually on the third or fourth Sunday during the month of September.  The winners receive the Sam Maguire Cup.  The first team to win the All-Ireland was Limerick.  Kilkennny are the only one of the 32 counties in Ireland who do not compete in Championship however they have won the most Hurling All-Ireland's (winning 35) and are very much considered a hurling county.  London and New York compete in the Connacht Championship.  To get to the All-Ireland finals you first have to play in your provincial championship.  There are four provincial championships which are  Munster, Leinster, Connacht and Ulster.  Some are easier to win than others however.  1892 was the first year inter-county teams were introduced to the championship.  In 2001 the All-Ireland qualifiers (or "the back door") were introduced.   That same year Galway won the All-Ireland coming through the new back door system.  This system gave teams a second chance and to go on and win the All-Ireland. The qualifiers take place in June and July.   The teams who are knocked out of their provincial championship play the other teams who were knocked out, so there are 29 teams altogether that have to face the qualifiers. It also provided weaker inter-county teams a chance to play in Croke Park.  If you are defeated in the qualifiers you are knocked out of the All-Ireland championship and your season is over.  If you fail to reach the semi-finals of your provincial championship you are sent to round 1 of the qualifiers, there are 16 teams in Round 1 of the qualifiers.  There are 8 games and the winners progress to round 2 of the qualifiers.  The eight teams who progressed to round 2 then have to face the 8 teams who lose the semi-finals of their provincial championship and the winning 8 teams from these games progress to round 3 of the qualifiers.  These 8 teams (who won their games in round 2)  are divided into four individual match-ups.  The 4 teams that win progress to round 4 where they face the losers of each province's championship final.  These 8 teams are divided into four individual match-ups again and the winners march on to the All-Ireland series where all the games are (usually) played in Croke Park, Dublin.  For the All-Ireland quarter finals the four teams that win their provincial championship face the four teams who progressed from round 4 of the qualifiers.  The winners qualify for the All-Ireland semi-finals where the winning four teams from the quarter finals match-up. The two winners then go on to contest the big one, The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.  The winner of this game recieve the Sam Mcguire cup and are crowned All-Ireland champions.

Croke Park - The Home Of The GAA

Croke Park is a GAA stadium located in Dublin.  The site has been used mainly for Gaelic Games for a long time .  Croke Park holds a capacity of 82,300 people which is pretty impressive.  The pitch is viewed as one of the best in the world.  Games that have been held in croke park include Gaelic games, Soccer, International Rules and Rugby.  The pitch hosts nearly 90 games per year and also holds tournaments for underage footballers.  It also hosts concerts a few times per year.  The pitch is nearly twice the size of a soccer pitch at 15000m squared.  The view from almost every part of the stadium is top class.  Croke Park consists of the Hogan stand, the Cusack stand, the Davin stand, Hill 16 and the Nally.  There is no smoking permitted in Croke Park except in designated areas.  The pitch sizes are GAA 144m x 86m., Soccer 140m x 70m and Rugby 100m x 70m and the 10m behind each goalpost.  The GAA purchased the stadium in 1913 and in 1922 the Hogan Stand was purchased after the GAA received a €10000 grant from the Irish government.  The Hogan Stand was named after Michael Hogan the Tipperary player who died on Bloody Sunday which was a day of violence in Dublin during the Irish war of independence where 31 people were killed.  In 1934 the GAA decided to build the Cusack stand which was then opened in 1938.  By 1949 the Canal End was developed which was a terrace with an estimated capacity of about 12000 people.  IN 1952 the Nally Stand was built onto the Hogan Stand and Long stand which was on the Jones Road side of the stadium.  In 1959 a new developed Hogan stand was opened and had a seating capacity of an estimated 16000 people.  This new Hogan stand replaced the old Hogan Stand and Long stand.  This now meant that the capacity of Croke Park was 82000 people (23000 seats and room for 62000 people standing).  Two years later 90556 people attended the 1961 All-Ireland Football Final between Down and Offaly which is a record that still stands today.  All throughout the 1970's and 1980's areas were downsized in capacity for safety reasons and the new stadium capacity was 60000 people, much less than it was before.  The need to develop the stadium was clear and by 1987 Hill 16 was redeveloped but that still was not enough, so by 1991 plans for redeveloping the facility in full were underway with the provision of identical facilities on three sides of the ground.  1n 1993 the Cusack Stand was replaced with one of the most modern stands in the world but it was still called the Cusack stand.  The replacement of the Canal end terrace with the Davin stand was finished by the year 2000, and the new Hogan stand opened in 2003.  To complete the job in 2005 the Nally Terrace was opened and Hill 16 was redeveloped.  Croke Park is a fantastic stadium.

What is Gaelic Football?

Gaelic football is a field game and is part of an organisation called the GAA which was founded on November 1st, 1884.  Galeic Football is played on a pitch which can be up to 145m long and 90m wide. The goalposts have a crossbar and two uprights (like rugby goalposts but the crossbar is lower around the same size as a soccer goalpost).  There are two teams which consist of 15 players and they line out like this:
The ball used is a round O'Neills slightly smaller than a soccer ball but heavier at the same time.  The ball is carried in the hands and you are only permitted to carry it for four steps before you either hop the ball, solo the ball (drop the ball onto your foot and kick it back into your hands), kick the ball (either off your hands or on the ground but off the hands is what is used almost all the time), hand pass the ball ( a striking motion with the hand or fist) and you cannot throw the ball.  You cannot bounce or hop the ball twice in a row but you can solo as many times in a row as you want.  To score a point you have to put the ball over the bar with a handpass or using your foot.  To score a goal which is worth 3 points you have to use your foot or fist the ball while it is in the air into the net past the goalkeeper.  To pick up the ball you must put your toe under the ball and grab it (you don't have to do this if it is bouncing), however this rule does not apply in ladies football and they are left pick the ball up directly.  If the ball goes out over the sideline it results in a sideline kick.  If the ball goes out over the endline after it was last touched the attacking team last it results in a kick out ( a kick on the ground off a cone or kicking tee by the keeper from the 13 metre line) or if the ball was last touched by the defending team it will result in a "45" which is a free from the defenders 45 metre line which has to be kicked off the ground (without a cone or tee) and it is taken perpendicular to where the ball went out over the line.  If a foul is comitted a free kick will result which can be taken from the ground (without a cone or tee) or from the hands without the opponent impeding, if the player argues with the referee, impedes the player taking the free,kicks or throws the ball away, or does not give the ball back the referee can then bring the free 13m forward.  To disposses a player in Gaelic football you can block his kick with your hands (not your legs),  slap the ball out of his  hands, jostling the opponent, or intercepting a pass.  It is illegal howeverto trip, punch, push, pull, hold, drag or rugby tackle another player.  A game of Gaelic football lasts 70 minutes ( each half is 35 minutes).  The team with the highest score at the end of the match wins.  There is one referee two linesmen, and four umpires (two at each goals) who decide whether the ball goes over the bar, if it is a goal, if it is wide or if it is a 45.  Gaelic football is part of an organisation called the GAA which has a number of sports and they are : Gaelic football, hurling, rounders, camogie and handball but hurling and gaelic football are the main sports.  It is an amateur association and is recogniosed and celebrated as one of the world's greatest amateur associations.  The players are volunteers and most coaches throughout the country are also volunteers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjvUld0shh8