2017 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
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| Championship details | |
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| Dates | 7 May – 17 September 2017 |
| Teams | 33 |
| All-Ireland Champions | |
| Provincial Champions | |
| Championship statistics | |
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← 2016 2018 → | |
The 2017 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship will be the 130th edition of the GAA's premier inter-county gaelic football tournament since its establishment in 1887.
33 teams will take part. 31 of the 32 Counties of Ireland will participate, with Kilkenny, as in previous years, declining to take part. London and New York will again compete.[1]
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 exeception of New York, for logistical reasons, enter the All-Ireland qualifiers.[2][3][4][5]
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.[6]
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 2016
On 1 January 2016 the 'mark' will be introduced. It is defined as -
When a player catches the ball cleanly from a kick-out without it touching the ground, on or past the 45m line nearest the kick out point, he shall be awarded a ‘mark’ by the referee. The player awarded a ‘mark’ shall have the options of (a) taking a free kick or (b) playing on immediately.
Provincial Championships
Connacht Senior Football Championship
- Starts 7 May 2017 New York v Sligo
| Preliminary Round | Quarter-Finals | Semi-Finals | Connacht Final | |||||||||||||||
 New York |
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 Sligo |
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 Mayo |
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 Galway |
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 London |
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 Leitrim |
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 Roscommon |
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Leinster Senior Football Championship
| Preliminary Round | Quarter-Finals | Semi-Finals | Leinster Final | |||||||||||||||
 Louth |
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| Wicklow |
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| Meath |
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 Laois |
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| Longford |
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 Kildare |
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 Carlow |
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 Wexford |
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 Dublin |
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 Offaly |
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| Westmeath |
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Munster Senior Football Championship
| Quarter-Finals | Semi-Finals | Munster Final | |||||||||||
| Limerick |
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 Clare |
LIM/ CLA |
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| Kerry |
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COR/ WAT |
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| Cork |
Tipperary |
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| Waterford |
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The Munster championship differs from the other provincial championships with regard to which teams are designated A or B in the qualifiers -
- the loser of Cork v Waterford goes into the A qualifiers while the loser of Limerick v Clare goes into the B qualifiers
- the winner of Cork v Waterford join Tipperary on the B side of the draw and the winner of Limerick v Clare joins Kerry on the A side of the draw.
Ulster Senior Football Championship
| Preliminary Round | Quarter-Finals | Semi-Finals | Ulster Final | |||||||||||||||
| Derry |
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 Tyrone |
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| Donegal |
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 Antrim |
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 Down |
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 Armagh |
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| Cavan |
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| Monaghan |
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| Fermanagh |
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All-Ireland Qualifiers
A and B Teams
An A and B system for the qualifier draws was introduced in 2014 and has been retained. The teams are designated as A or B depending on which half of their provincial championships they play in. Although some teams receive byes in the early provincial rounds, their position in the round in which they enter the competition is usually determined by the provincial draw, resulting in most teams being designated as A or B randomly. For example, each of the four provinces has two semi-finals - one between two teams designated A and one between two teams designated B. The beaten semi-finalists in each province will always be one A team and one B team.
In all qualifier rounds A teams play A teams and B teams play B teams. Usually the A teams play their provincial games before the B teams which allows 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 compete. New York does not enter the qualifiers. Four A teams play four A teams and four B teams play four B teams. The round 1 draw is unrestricted − if two teams have played each other in a provincial match they can be drawn to meet again with the winner of the provincial match receiving home advantage. The eight round 1 winners play the eight beaten provincial semi-finalists in round 2 of the qualifiers.
The following teams were entered into round 1.
Round 2
In the second round of the qualifiers the eight winning teams from Round 1A and Round 1B play the eight beaten provincial semi-finalists. The round 2 draw is unrestricted − if two teams have played each other in a provincial match they can be drawn to meet again with the winner of the provincial match receiving home advantage. The eight winners of these matches play each other in Round 3.
The following teams take part in this round -
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Round 3
In the third round of the qualifiers winning teams from round 2A play against winning teams from round 2A and winning teams from round 2B play against winning teams from round 2B. Round 3 rules do not allow two teams that have played each other in a provincial match to meet again. The four winners of these matches play the four beaten provincial finalists in Round 4.
The following teams take part in this round -
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Round 4
In the fourth round of the qualifiers, the four winning teams of Round 3A and Round 3B play the four beaten provincial finalists. Round 4 rules do not allow two teams that have played each other in a provincial match to meet again if such a pairing can be avoided. The four winners of these matches play the provincial champions in the All-Ireland Quarter-Finals.
The following teams take part in this round -
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All-Ireland
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| Jul/Aug, Croke Park | ||||||||||
| Connacht Champion |
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| Aug, Croke Park | ||||||||||
| Round 4 Winner | ||||||||||
| 1/4 Final Winner | ||||||||||
| Jul/Aug, Croke Park | ||||||||||
| 1/4 Final Winner | ||||||||||
| Munster Champion |
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| 17 September, Croke Park | ||||||||||
| Round 4 Winner | ||||||||||
| Jul/Aug, Croke Park | ||||||||||
| Ulster Champion |
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| Aug, Croke Park | ||||||||||
| Round 4 Winner | ||||||||||
| 1/4 Final Winner | ||||||||||
| Jul/Aug, Croke Park | ||||||||||
| 1/4 Final Winner | ||||||||||
| Leinster Champion |
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| Round 4 Winner | ||||||||||
All-Ireland Quarter-Finals
The four provincial champions play the winners from Round 4 of the qualifiers. Draw rules - 1) Two teams who met in a provincial final cannot meet again 2) If one of the provincial champions has already met one of the qualifiers in an earlier match then those two teams cannot be drawn together if such a pairing can be avoided.
All-Ireland Semi-Finals
There is no draw for the semi-finals as the fixtures are pre-determined on a three yearly rotation. This rotation ensures that a provinces's champions play the champions of all the other provinces once every three years in the semi-finals if they each win their quarter-finals and prevents two provincial champions meeting in the semi-finals in successive years. If a qualifier team beats a provincial winner in a quarter-final, the qualifier team takes that provincial winner's place in the semi-final.