The 2016 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 130th edition of the GAA's premier inter-county gaelic football tournament since its establishment in 1887.

33 teams took part. 31 of the 32 Counties of Ireland participated, with Kilkenny, as in previous years, declining to take part. London and New York again competed.

The winning team, Dublin (who defeated Mayo by a single point after a replay), received the Sam Maguire Cup. It was the first time Dublin, as defending champions, had retained the trophy since the 1977 final.

Format

Provincial Championships format Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster each organise a provincial championship. All provincial matches are knock-out. All teams eliminated from their provincial championships with the exception of New York, for logistical reasons, enter the All-Ireland qualifiers.

Qualifiers format Twenty eight of the twenty nine teams beaten in the provincial championships enter the All-Ireland qualifiers, which are knockout. The sixteen teams eliminated before their provincial semi-finals play eight matches in round 1, with the winners of these games playing the eight beaten provincial semi-finalists in round 2. The eight winning teams from round 2 play-off against each other in round 3, with the four winning teams facing the four beaten provincial finalists in round 4 to complete the double-elimination format. Further details of the format are included with each qualifier round listed below.

All-Ireland format The four provincial champions play the four winners of round 4 of the qualifiers in the quarter-finals. Two semi-finals and a final follow. All matches are knock-out. Any game that ends in a draw is replayed. If a replay ends in a draw, extra time is played.

Changes from 2015 championship Referees were instructed to add on 20 seconds for the introduction of a substitute and 20 seconds for each instance of a goalkeeper or defender going upfield for a placed ball attempt. Previously there was no specific provision for these two events which led to instances of deliberate time-wasting by teams who were leading. 30 seconds were also to be added each time the Hawk-Eye score detection system was utilised.

Provincial championships

Connacht Senior Football Championship

Leinster Senior Football Championship

Munster Senior Football Championship

Ulster Senior Football Championship

All-Ireland Series

Qualifiers

A and B teams An A and B system for the qualifier draws was introduced in 2014 and was retained. The teams were designated as A or B depending on which half of their provincial championships they played in. Although some teams receive byes in the early provincial rounds, their position in the round in which they entered the competition was usually determined by the provincial draw, resulting in most teams being designated as A or B randomly. For example, each of the four provinces had two semi-finals – one between two teams designated A and one between two teams designated B. The beaten semi-finalists in each province were always one A team and one B team.

In all qualifier rounds A teams played A teams and B teams played B teams. Usually the A teams played their provincial games before the B teams, which allowed the A qualifier games to be scheduled a week before the B qualifier games.

Round 1 In the first round of the qualifiers sixteen of the seventeen teams beaten in the preliminary rounds or quarter-finals of the provincial championships competed. New York did not enter the qualifiers. Four A teams played four A teams, while four B teams played four B teams. The round 1 draw was unrestricted − if two teams had played each other in a provincial match they could be drawn to meet again, with the winner of the provincial match receiving home advantage. The eight round 1 winners played the eight beaten provincial semi-finalists in round 2 of the qualifiers.

The following teams were entered into round 1.

Leitrim London

Carlow Laois Louth Wicklow Longford Offaly Wexford

Waterford Limerick

Armagh Derry Antrim Down Fermanagh

*During the match Laois made seven substitutions, one more than the permitted six. On 21 June 2016 the CCCC declared the match void and scheduled a replay for 2 July.

Round 2 In the second round of the qualifiers the eight winning teams from Round 1A and Round 1B played the eight beaten provincial semi-finalists. The round 2 draw was unrestricted − if two teams had played each other in a provincial match they could be drawn to meet again, with the winner of the provincial match receiving home advantage. The eight winners of these matches played each other in Round 3.

The following teams took part in this round –

Carlow Derry Laois Leitrim

Cavan Clare Meath Sligo

Fermanagh Limerick Longford Offaly

Cork Kildare Mayo Monaghan

Round 3 In the third round of the qualifiers winning teams from round 2A played against winning teams from round 2A, while winning teams from round 2B played against winning teams from round 2B. Round 3 rules did not allow two teams that had played each other in a provincial match to meet again. The four winners of these matches played the four beaten provincial finalists in Round 4.

The following teams took part in this round –

Cavan Clare Derry Sligo

Cork Kildare Longford Mayo

Round 4 In the fourth round of the qualifiers, the four winning teams of Round 3A and Round 3B played the four beaten provincial finalists. Round 4 rules did not allow two teams that had played each other in a provincial match to meet again if such a pairing could be avoided. The four winners of these matches played the provincial champions in the All-Ireland Quarter-finals.

The following teams took part in this round –

Clare Derry

Roscommon Tipperary

Cork Mayo

Donegal Westmeath

Quarter-finals The four provincial champions played the winners from Round 4 of the qualifiers. Draw rules – 1) Two teams who met in a provincial final could not meet again 2) If one of the provincial champions had already met one of the qualifiers in an earlier match then those two teams could not be drawn together if such a pairing could be avoided.

Semi-finals There was no draw for the semi-finals as the fixtures were pre-determined on a three yearly rotation. This rotation ensured that a province's champions played the champions of all the other provinces once every three years in the semi-finals if they each won their quarter-finals and prevented two provincial champions meeting in the semi-finals in successive years. If a qualifier team defeated a provincial winner in a quarter-final, the qualifier team took that provincial winner's place in the semi-final.

Final

Final Replay

Stadia and locations

Antrim Armagh Carlow Cavan Clare Corrigan Park Athletic Grounds Dr Cullen Park Breffni Park Cusack Park Belfast Armagh Carlow Cavan Ennis Capacity: 5,500 Capacity: 19,500 Capacity: 21,000 Capacity: 32,000 Capacity: 14,864 Cork Derry Donegal Down Dublin Páirc Uí Chaoimh Celtic Park MacCumhaill Park Páirc Esler Croke Park Cork Derry Ballybofey Newry Dublin Capacity: 43,550 Capacity: 22,000 Capacity: 18,000 Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 82,500 Fermanagh Galway Kerry Kildare Laois Brewster Park Pearse Stadium Fitzgerald Stadium St Conleth's Park O'Moore Park Enniskillen Galway Killarney Newbridge Portlaoise Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 26,197 Capacity: 43,180 Capacity: 6,200 Capacity: 27,000 Leitrim Limerick London Longford Louth Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada Gaelic Grounds Emerald GAA Grounds Pearse Park Drogheda Park Carrick-on-Shannon Limerick Ruislip Longford Drogheda Capacity: 9,331 Capacity: 49,866 Capacity: 5,000 Capacity: 10,000 Capacity: 7,000 Mayo Meath Monaghan New York Offaly MacHale Park Páirc Tailteann St Tiernach's Park Gaelic Park O'Connor Park Castlebar Navan Clones New York City Tullamore Capacity: 42,000 Capacity: 10,000 Capacity: 36,000 Capacity: 2,000 Capacity: 20,000 Roscommon Sligo Tipperary Tyrone Waterford Dr Hyde Park Markievicz Park Semple Stadium Healy Park Walsh Park Roscommon Sligo Thurles Omagh Waterford Capacity: 18,500 Capacity: 18,558 Capacity: 53,500 Capacity: 26,500 Capacity: 17,000 Westmeath Wexford Wicklow Cusack Park (Mullingar) Wexford Park Aughrim County Ground Mullingar Wexford Aughrim Capacity: 11,000 Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 10,000

Referees Panel As announced in April 2016:

This was a first year in the SFC for Noel Mooney (Cavan).

+Championship PanelNameCountyClubMatches refereedBRANAGAN, CiaránDownCASSIDY, BarryDerryBellaghyCOLDRICK, DavidMeathBlackhall GaelsDEEGAN, MauriceLaoisStradballyDUFFY, MartinSligoKilgassGOUGH, DavidMeathSlaneHICKEY, RoryClareHUGHES, PádraigArmaghHURSON, SeanTyroneGalbally PearsesKELLY, FergalLongfordKINSELLA, EddieLaoisCourtwoodLANE, ConorCorkBanteerMCQUILLAN, JoeCavanKill ShamrocksMOONEY, NoelCavanNEILAN, PaddyRoscommonSt Faithleach'sNOLAN, AnnthonyWicklowO'MAHONEY, DerekTipperaryO'SULLIVAN, PadraigKerry

Linesman Panel (newly created) James Bermingham (Cork) Niall Cullen (Fermanagh) Liam Devenney (Mayo) Jerome Henry (Mayo) John Hickey (Carlow) Shaun McLaughlin (Donegal) Martin McNally (Monaghan) Cormac Reilly (Meath)

Statistics All scores correct as of 1 October 2016

Top scorer overall Rank Player CountyTally Total Matches Average 1Dean Rock Dublin1–58 61 7 8.7 2Cillian O'Connor Mayo2–44 50 8 6.3 3Michael Quinlivan Tipperary2–27 33 6 5.5 4Patrick McBrearty Donegal0–29 29 6 4.8Tomás Corrigan Fermanagh0–29 29 4 7.2 6Conor McManus Monaghan1–24 27 4 6.8Kevin O'Halloran Tipperary1–24 27 5 5.4 8David Tubridy Clare2–20 26 6 4.3Ciarán Murtagh Roscommon3–17 26 6 4.3 10John Heslin Westmeath0–25 25 4 6.2 11Eoin Cleary Clare0–24 24 6 4James Kielt Derry1–21 24 5 4.8 13Nigel Dunne Offaly1–20 23 3 7.7 14Mark Lynch Derry1–19 22 4 5.5 15Robbie Smyth Longford2–14 20 4 5

Top scorer in a single game Rank Player CountyTally Total Opposition 1Donal O'Hare Down 2-09 15 Longford 2Dean Rock Dublin 1–10 13 Laois 3Dean Rock Dublin 0–12 12 KerryJames Kielt Derry 1-09 12 Louth 5Patrick McBrearty Donegal 0–11 11 Cork 6Dean Rock Dublin 0–10 10 MeathJohn Heslin Westmeath 0–10 10 MayoRyan Burns Louth 1-07 10 CarlowNigel Dunne Offaly 1-07 10 KildarePeter Harte Tyrone 2-04 10 Cavan 11Dean Rock Dublin 0-09 9 MayoCillian O'Connor Mayo 0-09 9 DublinTomás Corrigan Fermanagh 0-09 9 AntrimTomás Corrigan Fermanagh 0-09 9 WexfordDonal Kingston Laois 1-06 9 WicklowPaul Cunningham Wicklow 1-06 9 CarlowPaul Geaney Kerry 2-03 9 Tipperary

Miscellaneous Tipperary beat Cork for the first time since 1944. Kerry were the first team since Cork (1987–1990) to win a 4th Munster title in a row. In the old system All Ireland series we would have had a Galway vs Tyrone All Ireland semi-final. The All-Ireland final ends in a draw and goes to a replay for the first time since 2000.

Scoring events Widest winning margin: 19 Monaghan 2–22 – 0–9 Down (Ulster SFC quarter-final) Most goals in a match: 7 Tyrone 5–18 – 2–17 Cavan (Ulster SFC semi-final replay) Most points in a match: 41 Down 3–17 – 2–24 Longford (Round 1B qualifier – A.E.T.) Most goals by one team in a match: 5 Tyrone 5–18 – 2–17 Cavan (Ulster SFC semi-final replay) Highest aggregate score: 56 points Down 3–17 – 2–24 Longford (Round 1B qualifier – A.E.T.) Tyrone 5–18 – 2–17 Cavan (Ulster SFC semi-final replay) Lowest aggregate score: 17 points Wexford 0-08 – 0-09 Kildare (Leinster SFC quarter-final)

Broadcast rights RTÉ, the national broadcaster in Ireland, provided the majority of the live television coverage of the championship in the third year of a deal running from 2014 until 2016. A number of matches were also broadcast by Sky Sports, with Sky having exclusive rights to some games.

Live broadcast matches The broadcast schedule for matches shown live on television in Ireland follows –