The 2003 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 117th staging of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county Gaelic football tournament. The championship began on 4 May 2003 and ended on 28 September 2003.
Armagh entered the championship as the defending champions.
On 28 September 2003, Tyrone won the championship following a 0–12 to 0–9 defeat of Armagh in the All-Ireland final. This was their first All-Ireland title.
Tyrone's Peter Canavan was the championship's top scorer with 1–48. Armagh forward Steven McDonnell was the choice for the Vodafone Footballer of the Year award.
Format The provincial championships in Munster, Leinster, Ulster and Connacht were run as usual on a "knock-out" basis. These provincial games were then followed by the "Qualifier" system: Round 1 of the qualifiers included all the counties (except New York) that did not qualify for the Provincial Semi-finals. An open draw was made to give eight pairings. Round 2 consisted of the eight defeated teams in the Provincial Semi-finals playing against the eight winners from Round 1. A draw was made to determine the eight pairings. Round 3 consisted of the eight winners from Round 2. Another open draw was made to determine the four pairings. Round 4 consisted of the four winners from Round 3 playing against the beaten Provincial finalists. A draw was made to determine the pairings.
The All-Ireland Quarter-finals: Each of the four Provincial Champions played one of the four winners from Round 4. The All-Ireland Semi-finals were played on a Provincial rota basis, initially determined by the Central Council. If a Provincial Championship winning team was defeated in its Quarter-final, the team that defeated it took its place in the semi-final.
Provincial championships
Connacht Senior Football Championship
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Munster Senior Football Championship
Quarter-finals
Semi-final
Final
Ulster Senior Football Championship
Preliminary round
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Finals
Leinster Senior Football Championship
First round
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Qualifiers
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
All-Ireland The provincial champions and the winners of round 4 contested the quarter-finals. The quarter final matches would be between a provincial champion and a round 4 winner.
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Championship statistics
Top scorers
Overall Rank Player County Tally Total Matches Average1Peter CanavanTyrone1–485186.372Frankie DolanRoscommon1–384166.83Adrian SweeneyDonegal0–414185.124Steven McDonnellArmagh5–254085.00Declan BrowneTipperary2–3440410.006Oisín McConvilleArmagh2–333984.877Muiris GavinLimerick0–272746.758Brian McDonaldLaois2–192564.16Paul FinlayMonaghan0–252546.25Colm QuinnOffaly0–252555.00
Single game
Rank Player County Tally Total Opposition1Steven McDonnellArmagh3–413LimerickFrankie DolanRoscommon0–1313Kildare3Declan BrowneTipperary1–912CarlowFrankie DolanRoscommon0–1212Kildare5Declan BrowneTipperary0–1111WaterfordPeter CanavanTyrone0–1111Down7Dessie DolanWestmeath1–710MeathOisín McConvilleArmagh1–710Waterford9Ciaran McManusOffaly3–09LondonMark StanfieldLouth2–39WicklowJ. P. RooneyLouth2–39WicklowDara Ó CinnéideKerry1–69LimerickPaddy BradleyDerry1–69TyronePeter CanavanTyrone1–69DownMuiris GavinLimerick0–99CorkKevin MaddenAntrim0–99ArmaghDeclan BrowneTipperary0–99DonegalMuiris GavinLimerick0–99Armagh
Miscellaneous
Limerick beat Cork for the first time since 1965. The first Munster championship meeting between Limerick and Clare since 1988. Laois won their first Leinster title in 57 years for the first time since 1981 neither Dublin or Meath reached the Leinster final. Tyrone won their first All Ireland title marketing a historic 6th breakthrough of Ulster counties hitting the "Roll of Honor" after Cavan 1933, 1935, 1947, 1948, 1952, Down 1960, 1961, 1968, 1991, 1994 Donegal in 1992, Derry in 1993 & Armagh in 2002 Dublin lost in the third round qualifiers; as of 2024 this is the only time since qualifiers were introduced in 2001 that Dublin did not reach the quarter-final stage or better.
References