The 2013 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 127th edition of the GAA's premier inter-county Gaelic football tournament, played between 31 counties of Ireland (excluding Kilkenny), London and New York. The 2013 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final was contested by Dublin and Mayo at Croke Park on 22 September 2013, with Dublin winning by 2:12 to Mayo's 1:14.As It Happened: Dublin secure Sam Maguire RTÉ Sport, 2013-09-22.
Several historic events of note occurred in the 2013 Championship. London won a Connacht Championship game for the first time in 36 years by defeating the Sligo side in the first round of the Connacht Senior Football Championship. They went on to reach the Connacht Final which they lost to Mayo, before progressing to play at Croke Park in a Round 4 All-Ireland Qualifier at which point they exited after the longest Championship run in their history.
Hawk-Eye was introduced for Championship matches at Croke Park and was first used to confirm that Offaly substitute Peter Cunningham's attempted point had gone wide 10 minutes into the second half of a game against Kildare. 2013 also brought the first Friday night game in the history of the Championship – a first round qualifier between Carlow and Laois.
The game of the Championship was the second All-Ireland semi-final, contested by Dublin and Kerry. The game featured six goals, three of which were scored by Kerry in the first half, two of these in the first eleven minutes of the game. Dublin also scored three goals, one in the first half and two in the second half, the second half goals coming in the final moments, to send them through to an All-Ireland final against Mayo, despite having been behind for much of the game. Many people hailed it as the greatest game of the modern era.
Teams A total of 33 teams contested the championship. These included 31 teams from Ireland, as well as London and New York. As in previous years, Kilkenny decided not to field a team.
Format The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship of 2013 was run on a provincial basis as usual. It was a knockout tournament with pairings drawn at random in the respective provinces – there were no seeds.
Each match was played as a single leg. If a match was drawn there was a replay. If that match ended in a draw a period of extra time was played; however, if both sides were still level at the end of extra time another replay would have taken place.
Connacht Championship Quarter-finals: (3 matches) These were three matches between six of the Connacht teams drawn first. The three winning teams advanced to the semi-finals, while the three losing teams entered the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Semi-finals: (2 matches) The winners of the three quarter-final games joined the other two Connacht teams to make up the semi-final pairings. The two winning teams advanced to the final, while the two losing teams entered the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Final: (1 match) The winners of the two semi-finals contested this game. The winning team advanced to the All-Ireland quarter-final, while the losing team entered the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Leinster Championship Preliminary Round: (3 matches) These were three matches between six of the Leinster teams drawn first. The three winning teams advanced to the quarter-finals, while the three losing teams entered the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Quarter-finals: (4 matches) The winners of the three preliminary round games joined the other five Leinster teams to make up four quarter-final pairings. The four winning teams advanced to the semi-finals, while the four losing teams entered the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Semi-finals: (two matches) The four winners of the quarter-finals made up the semi-final pairings. The two winning teams advanced to the final, while the two losing teams entered the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Final: (one match) The winners of the two semi-finals contested this game. The winning team advanced to the All-Ireland quarter-final, while the losing team entered the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Munster Championship Quarter-finals: (two matches) These were two matches between four of the Munster teams drawn first. The two winning teams advanced to the semi-finals, while the two losing teams entered the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Semi-finals (two matches): The winners of the two quarter-final games joined the other two Munster teams to make up the semi-final pairings. The two winning teams advanced to the final, while the two losing teams entered the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Final (one match): The winners of the two semi-finals contested this game. The winning team advanced to the All-Ireland quarter-final, while the losing team entered the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Ulster Championship Preliminary Round: (1 match) This was a lone match between two of the Ulster teams drawn first. The winning team advanced to the quarter-finals, while the losing team entered the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Quarter-finals: (4 matches) The winners of the lone preliminary round game joined the other seven Ulster teams to make up four quarter-final pairings. The four winning teams advanced to the semi-finals, while the four losing teams entered the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Semi-finals: (2 matches) The four winners of the quarter-finals made up the semi-final pairings. The two winning teams advanced to the final, while the two losing teams entered the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Final: (1 match) The winners of the two semi-finals contested this game. The winning team advanced to the All-Ireland quarter-final, while the losing team entered the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Qualifiers The qualifiers gave teams defeated in the provincial championships another chance at winning the All-Ireland title.
Round 1 (8 matches): the sixteen teams who failed to reach a provincial semi-final entered the qualifiers at this stage (New York do not compete). An open draw was made to determine the eight match pairings.
Round 2 (8 matches): the eight teams who failed to progress from their provincial semi-finals entered the qualifiers at this stage. They were paired with the eight winners from round 1 of the qualifiers. An open draw was made to determine the eight match pairings.
Round 3 (4 matches): the eight teams from round 2 of the qualifiers were paired against each other. An open draw was made to determine the four match pairings.
Round 4 (4 matches): the four teams who lost their provincial finals entered the qualifiers at this stage. They were paired with the four winners from round 3 of the qualifiers. An open draw was made to determine the four match pairings. The four winners advanced to the All-Ireland quarter-finals.
All-Ireland Series Quarter-finals: (4 matches) the four teams from round 4 of the qualifiers were paired against the four provincial winners. An open draw was made to determine the four match pairings. The four winning teams advanced to the semi-finals, while the two losing teams were eliminated from the championship.
Semi-finals: (2 matches) The four winners of the quarter-finals make up the semi-final pairings. The two winning teams advanced to the final, while the two losing teams were eliminated from the championship.
Final: (1 match) The winners of the two semi-finals contested this game.
Provincial championships
Connacht Senior Football Championship
Leinster Senior Football Championship
Munster Senior Football Championship
Ulster Senior Football Championship
All-Ireland qualifiers
Round 1 The first round consisted of all teams that failed to reach their respective provincial semi-finals. The following 16 teams entered the first round of the qualifiers.
Connacht (2) Galway Sligo
Leinster (7) Carlow Laois Longford Louth Offaly Westmeath Wicklow
Munster (2) Limerick Tipperary
Ulster (5) Antrim Armagh Derry Fermanagh Tyrone
The draw for the first round took place on Monday 17 June. It was aired on RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland.
Round 2 The second round saw the addition of teams beaten in the provincial semi-finals. The teams added were;
Connacht Leitrim Roscommon
Leinster Kildare Wexford
Munster Clare Waterford
Ulster Cavan Down
The draw for the second round took place on Monday 1 July, and was broadcast on TV3's Ireland AM.
Round 3 The third round saw the teams that had made it through Round 2 play against each other. The draw for the third-round games took place on Monday 15 July and, as with the Round 1 draw, was aired on RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland.
Round 4 The fourth round was contested by all the teams that made it through the third round and the beaten finalists of each provincial championship. The beaten finalists were;
Connacht London
Leinster Meath
Munster Cork
Ulster Donegal
The draw for Round 4 took place on Monday 15 July along as with the Round 3 draw, with the teams in Round 3 knowing who they would face if they progressed.
All-Ireland The draw for the quarter-finals took place live draw on RTÉ Radio 1 on Saturday 27 July, immediately after the last of the Round 4 Qualifiers concluded.
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Stadia and locations Team Location Stadium Stadium capacity Antrim Belfast Casement Park Armagh Armagh Athletic Grounds Carlow Carlow Dr Cullen Park Cavan Cavan Kingspan Breffni Park Clare Ennis Cusack Park Cork Cork Páirc Uí Chaoimh Derry Derry Celtic Park Donegal Ballybofey MacCumhaill Park Down Newry Páirc Esler Dublin Dublin Parnell Park Fermanagh Enniskillen Brewster Park Galway Galway Pearse Stadium Kerry Killarney Fitzgerald Stadium Kildare Newbridge St Conleth's Park Laois Portlaoise O'Moore Park Leitrim Carrick-on-Shannon Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada Limerick Limerick Gaelic Grounds London Ruislip Emerald GAA Grounds Longford Longford Pearse Park Louth Drogheda Drogheda Park Mayo Castlebar MacHale Park Meath Navan Páirc Tailteann Monaghan Clones St Tiernach's Park New York Kingsbridge, Bronx Gaelic Park Offaly Tullamore O'Connor Park Roscommon Roscommon Dr Hyde Park Sligo Sligo Markievicz Park Tipperary Thurles Semple Stadium Tyrone Omagh Healy Park Waterford Waterford Walsh Park Westmeath Mullingar Cusack Park Wexford Wexford Wexford Park Wicklow Aughrim Aughrim County Ground
Referees Ahead of the 2013 Championship, one referee was dropped for his incompetence: Michael Collins, the 2001 All-Ireland final referee, of Cork. Syl Doyle of Wexford had also chosen to step away the previous January. Their replacements were David Gough (Meath), who had refereed the 2013 All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship final, and Fergal Kelly (Longford).
Pádraig Hughes of Armagh remained injured after running into Eamonn Doherty and collapsing during live play in the NFL Division 1 clash between Donegal and Dublin in Ballybofey. Ciarán Brannigan of Down took the place of Hughes until his return to fitness.
2013 Championship referees' panel
Ciarán Brannigan (Down) Barry Cassidy (Derry) David Coldrick (Meath) Maurice Deegan (Laois)
Marty Duffy (Sligo) Michael Duffy (Sligo) Derek Fahy (Longford) David Gough (Meath)
Rory Hickey (Clare) Martin Higgins (Fermanagh) Fergal Kelly (Longford) Eddie Kinsella (Laois)
Conor Lane (Cork) Joe McQuillan (Cavan) Pádraig O'Sullivan (Kerry) Cormac Reilly (Meath)
All-Ireland final referee In place of Pádraig Hughes (Armagh) until Hughes returned from injury
Statistics
All scores correct as of 23 September 2013
Scoring
First goal of the championship: Rob Lowe for Leitrim against New York (Connacht quarter-final) Widest winning margin: 27 points Armagh 8–13 – 0–10 Leitrim (qualifier round 2) Most goals in a match: 8 Armagh 8–13 – 0–10 Leitrim (qualifier round 2) Most points in a match: 42 Derry 0-20 – 1-22 Cavan (qualifier round 3) Most goals by one team in a match: 8 Armagh 8–13 – 0–10 Leitrim (qualifier round 2) Highest aggregate score: 47 points Armagh 8–13 – 0–10 Leitrim (qualifier round 2)