The 2012 Down Senior Football Championship was the 104th official edition of Down GAA's premier Gaelic Football tournament for senior clubs in County Down. 16 teams competed with the winner representing Down in the Ulster Senior Club Football Championship.
Following the conclusion of the 2011 competition, it was voted to change the format of the competition for the first time. From the 2013 edition, a group stage was to be introduced, and 2012 served as a transition season. Initially intended for just one season, the 2012 competition used a double elimination format for the opening two rounds of the championship, with the winners and early round losers rejoining at the quarter final stage. The group stage lasted just two seasons, and Down permanently adopted the double elimination format from 2015 onwards.
St Mary's Burren were the holders after defeating Clonduff in the 2011 final.
Round 1 The 16 participating teams were placed into an open draw. Winning sides move to Round 2A while losing sides go into Round 2B.
Round 2 Round 2A Round 2A will feature the eight winning sides from Round 1, with an open draw to determine the fixtures. The winning sides progress directly to the Quarter Final, with the losing sides moving into Round 3.
Round 2B Round 2B sees the eight losing sides from Round 1 compete for a place in Round 3. The losing sides from this round will be eliminated from the competition.
Round 3 Round 3 is a supplementary round for teams to have a second chance at reaching the Quarter Final. This round features teams that have lost once so far in this year's Championship, either winning in Round 1 and losing in Round 2A, or losing in Round 1 but winning their Round 2B fixture. Losing sides in this round are eliminated from this year's competition.
This round is seeded, meaning in each fixture a Round 2A losing side will face a Round 2B winning side.
Quarter Final The Quarter Final sees the two brackets rejoin, with the earlier Round 2A winners facing a Round 3 winner for a Semi Final spot.
Semi Final The Semi Final will see the four winning sides face off for a place in this year's final. This round is an open draw from the four Quarter Final winners.
Final The final was played between the two Semi Final winners, and took place at Páirc Esler, Newry.
References
External links Down GAA