The 1997 Bank of Ireland All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 111th staging of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county Gaelic football tournament. The championship began on 11 May 1997 and ended on 28 September 1997.
Meath entered the championship as the defending champions; however, they were defeated by Offaly in the Leinster final.
On 28 September 1997 Kerry, the most successful county in Gaelic football history, claimed their 31st All-Ireland title – and their first since 1986 – with a 0–13 to 1–7 victory over Mayo.
This year also saw Ulster's most successful county, Cavan, win their first provincial title since 1969.
Munster Championship format change A new 2 year system was introduced in Munster meaning that Kerry, Cork & Clare would have straight access to the Munster semi-finals for Limerick, Tipperary & Waterford would play in a Preliminary Round and the bye team in a lone Quarter final involved.
Fixtures and results
Munster Senior Football Championship
Preliminary round
Quarter-final
Semi-finals
Final
Leinster Senior Football Championship
First round
Second round
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Connacht Senior Football Championship
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Ulster Senior Football Championship
Preliminary round
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
Semi-finals
Final
Championship statistics
Top scorers
Overall Rank Player County Tally Total Matches Average1Maurice FitzgeraldKerry0–282847.002Maurice SheridanMayo0–272755.20David ReynoldsOffaly0–272755.204Declan DarcyLeitrim2–1925212.505Trevor GilesMeath2–182454.806Joe BrollyDerry3–142345.757Vinny ClaffeyOffaly2–152173.00Ronan CarolanCavan1–182154.259Peter BradyOffaly2–142072.83Pádraig GravenKildare0–202045.00
Single game
Rank Player County Tally Total Opposition1Declan DarcyLeitrim2–1117London2Trevor GilesMeath2–814Kildare3Raymond GallagherFermanagh1–710CavanRonan CarolanCavan1–710Fermanagh5Niall FinneganGalway0–99MayoMaurice FitzgeraldKerry0–99Mayo7Vinny ClaffeyOffaly1–58MeathBrendan CumminsTipperary0–88LimerickGer KeaneClare0–88CorkJim ByrneWexford0–88WestmeathPádraig GravenKildare0–88LaoisMaurice SheridanMayo0–88GalwayPaul TaylorSligo0–88RoscommonDeclan DarcyLeitrim0–88MayoOisín McConvilleArmagh0–88Tyrone
Miscellaneous
On 11 May 1997, O'Kennedy Park, New Ross hosted its 1st game for 53 years it was the drawn game between Wexford vs Westmeath. Clare record their first win over Cork since 1941. Cavan win their first Ulster title since 1969 and last until 2020. Offaly won their first Leinster title since 1982. All Ireland semi-final Mayo vs Offaly was the first championship meeting between them. Kerry end their longest drought as All Ireland Champions of 11 years.