The Leinster GAA Football Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Leinster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county football competition for male players between the ages of 17 and 20 in the province of Leinster. The championship was contested as the Leinster Under-21 Championship between 1964 and 2016 before changing to an under-20 age category from 2018. It is sponsored by EirGrid.

The final, currently held in July, serves as the culmination of a series of games played during a five to six-week period, and the results determine which team receives the Flood Cup. The championship has usually been played on a straight knockout basis whereby once a team loses they are eliminated from the championship.

The Leinster Championship is an integral part of the wider GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship. The winners of the Leinster final, like their counterparts in the other three provinces, advance to the semi-final stage of the All-Ireland series of games.

Eleven teams currently participate in the Leinster Championship, with Kilkenny remaining the only county not to field a team. The title has been won at least once by eight teams, with seven of these winning the title more than once.

Current format Overview

The Leinster Championship is a single elimination tournament. Each team is afforded only one defeat before being eliminated from the championship. Pairings for matches are drawn at random and there is currently no seeding. Each match is played as a single leg. If a match is drawn there is a period of extra time, however, if both sides are still level at the end of extra time a replay takes place and so on until a winner is found.

Progression Teams entering in this roundTeams advancing from previous roundFirst round(6 teams)6 teams drawn at randomQuarter-finals(8 teams)5 teams who receive a bye at random 3 winners from the first roundSemi-finals(4 teams) 5 winners from the quarter-finalsFinal(2 teams) 2 winners from the semi-finals

Qualification for subsequent competitions

The Leinster Championship winners gain automatic entry to the semi-final stage of the All-Ireland Championship. Unlike, the hurling counterpart, there is no "back-door" for the runners-up.

Managers

Managers in the Leinster Championship are involved in the day-to-day running of the team, including the training, team selection, and sourcing of players from the club championships. Their influence varies from county-to-county and is related to the individual county boards. The manager is assisted by a team of two or three selectors and an extensive backroom team consisting of various coaches. The under-20 team manager also works closely with the senior team manager due to an overlap of players on both teams. Prior to the development of the concept of a manager in the 1970s, teams were usually managed by a team of selectors with one member acting as chairman.

+ Winning managers (1970–present)ManagerTeamWinsWinning years Dessie FarrellDublin42014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Jim GavinDublin32009, 2010, 2012 Frank LynchLouth31970, 1978, 1981 Luke DempseyWestmeath21999, 2000 Paddy CanningDublin22002, 2005 Seán DempseyLaois22006, 2007 Tom GrayDublin22019, 2020 Brian FlanaganKildare22022, 2023 Paul KennyMeath12001 Tommy LyonsDublin12003 Peadar Mac CanannKildare12004 Glenn RyanKildare12008 Kevin KehoeWexford12011 Kieran McGeeneyKildare12013 Davy BurkeKildare12018 Declan KellyOffaly 12021 Cathal O'BricMeath12024 Fergal ReelLouth12025

Roll of honour #CountyTitlesRunners-upYears wonYears runners-up 1 Dublin 16 10 1974, 1975, 1980, 1984, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020 1976, 1992, 1993, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023 2 Kildare 14 8 1965, 1966, 1967, 1972, 1976, 1983, 1992, 2004, 2008, 2013, 2018, 2022, 2023, 2026 1973, 1977, 1980, 1985, 1989, 2005, 2015, 2016 3 Meath 9 6 1985, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2024 1971, 1987, 1994, 2000, 2014, 2025 Offaly 9 7 1968, 1971, 1973, 1977, 1979, 1986, 1988, 1995, 2021 1964, 1965, 1970, 1972, 1978, 2007, 2017 5 Laois 8 6 1964, 1969, 1982, 1987, 1994, 1998, 2006, 2007 1975, 1986, 1999, 2009, 2019, 2020 6 Louth 4 4 1970, 1978, 1981, 2025 1979, 1983, 1996, 2012, 2024, 2026 7 Westmeath 2 3 1999, 2000 1995, 1997, 2010 8 Wexford 1 4 2011 1968, 1974, 1988, 2008 9 Longford0 7 - 1966, 1981, 1982, 2003, 2006, 2011, 2013 Wicklow0 5 - 1967, 1969, 1990, 1991, 2002 Carlow0 1 - 1984

List of finals Year Winner Score Opponent Score Winning Captain 2026 Kildare0-23 Louth1-18Ben Ryan/Colm Moran 2025 Louth2-19 Meath1-15Seán Callaghan 2024 Meath 3-13 Louth 0-12 Liam Kelly 2023 Kildare 0-16 aet Dublin 0-13 Harry O'Neill/Shane Farrell 2022 Kildare 0-17 Dublin 0-15 Aaron Browne 2021 Offaly 0-15 Dublin 3-03 Kieran Dolan 2020 Dublin 0-18 Laois 0-08 Rory Dwyer 2019 Dublin 4-18 Laois 0-17 James Doran 2018 Kildare 1-15 Dublin 0-10 Aaron Masterson 2017 Dublin 2-14 Offaly 0-08 Con O'Callaghan/Cillian O'Shea 2016 Dublin 2-14 Kildare 0-17 Andrew Foley/Eoin Murchan 2015 Dublin 3-10 Kildare 1-12 David Byrne 2014 Dublin 0-15 Meath 0-10 Jack McCaffrey 2013 Kildare 1-12 Longford 0-12 Tommy Moolick 2012 Dublin 1-16 Louth 0-08 Kevin O'Brien 2011 Wexford 1-09 Longford 0-11 James Breen 2010 Dublin 1-12 Westmeath 0-09 Jonny Cooper 2009 Dublin 0-12 Laois 0-09 Cian O'Sullivan 2008 Kildare 0-10 Wexford 0-06 Gary White 2007 Laois 0-13 Offaly 1-07 Cahir Healy 2006 Laois 0-09 Longford 0-07 Peter McNulty 2005 Dublin 0-13 Kildare 0-11 Bryan Cullen 2004 Kildare 1-10 Dublin 0-12 Andrew McLoughlin 2003 Dublin 3-13 Longford 1-06 Alan Brogan 2002 Dublin 1-17 Wicklow 2-04 Barry Cahill 2001 Meath 0-10 Dublin 0-05 David Gallagher 2000 Westmeath 0-07 Meath 0-06 Dessie Dolan 1999 Westmeath 1-09 Laois 0-10 Aidan Canning 1998 Laois 1-13 Dublin 1-07 Ian Fitzgerald 1997 Meath 1-11 Westmeath 0-07 Darren Fay 1996 Meath 1-08 Louth 0-08 Trevor Giles 1995 Offaly 0-14 Westmeath 0-08 Mel Keenaghan 1994 Laois 1-17 Meath 1-13 Hugh Emerson 1993 Meath 2-11 Dublin 2-09 Tommy Hanley 1992 Kildare 2-12 Dublin 0-09 Eric Dockery 1991 Meath 0-09 Wicklow 1-05 Peadar McCaffrey 1990 Meath 1-14 Wicklow 0-06 John Brady 1989 Meath 2-05 Kildare 0-09 Barry Ferguson 1988 Offaly 2-07 Wexford 2-05 Garrett O'Brien 1987 Laois 1-12 Meath 1-08 John Bolton 1986 Offaly 1-10 Laois 0-09 Brendan Flynn 1985 Meath 2-07 Kildare 0-12 Robbie O'Malley 1984 Dublin 0-09 Carlow 1-05 Eamon Heery 1983 Kildare 1-13 Louth 1-08 Kevin Nolan 1982 Laois 2-11 Longford 0-03 Michael Drennan 1981 Louth 2-08 Longford 0-06 Pat McConnon 1980 Dublin 0-10 Kildare 0-08 Mick Loftus 1979 Offaly 4-14 Louth 5-04 Brendan Lowry 1978 Louth 2-08 Offaly 2-07 Brendan Byrne 1977 Offaly 0-12 Kildare 0-04 Charlie Conroy 1976 Kildare 1-12 Dublin 0-09 Brendan Whelan 1975 Dublin 0-12 Laois 1-06 Tony Fayne 1974 Dublin 1-10 Wexford 0-08 1973 Offaly 3-08 Kildare 3-06 Charlie Quinn 1972 Kildare 2-09 (R) Offaly 0-06 (R) Denis Dalton 1971 Offaly 1-09 Meath 0-11 Liam Hanlon 1970 Louth 2-13 Offaly 3-09 Terry Lennon 1969 Laois 2-07 Wicklow 2-06 Tim Clancy 1968 Offaly 2-13 Wexford 0-07 Eugene Mulligan 1967 Kildare 3-11 Wicklow 0-04 Pat Mangan 1966 Kildare 4-14 Longford 2-05 Pat Dunny 1965 Kildare 1-11 Offaly 0-10 Pat Dunny 1964 Laois 1-08 Offaly 0-08 Jim Leonard

Records and statistics Final

Team

Most titles: 16: Dublin (1974, 1975, 1980, 1984, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020) Most consecutive title wins: 4: Dublin (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017) Most appearances in a final: 23: Dublin (1974, 1975, 1986, 1980, 1984, 1992, 1993, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020) Most appearances in a final without winning: 7: Longford (1966, 1981, 1982, 2003, 2006, 2011, 2013)

Teams By decade

The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Leinster Championship titles, is as follows:

1960s: 3 for Kildare (1965–66-67) 1970s: 4 for Offaly (1971-73-77-79) 1980s: 2 each for Dublin (1980–84), Laois (1982–87), Meath (1985–89) and Offaly (1986–89) 1990s: 5 for Meath (1990-91-93-96-97) 2000s: 4 for Dublin (2002-03-05-09) 2010s: 7 for Dublin (2010-12-14-15-16-17-19)

Gaps

Top three longest gaps between successive championship titles: 26 years: Offaly (1995-2021) 23 years: Meath (2001-2024) 18 years: Dublin (1984-2002)

References