The 2021 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was a Gaelic football match played at Croke Park in Dublin on 11 September 2021 between Mayo and Tyrone, the culmination of the 2021 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. It was the 134th final of that sport's primary competition, the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. It was originally scheduled for 28 August but had to be postponed by two weeks when the Tyrone–Kerry semi-final was postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
Ulster champion Tyrone took on Connacht champion Mayo, in what was a first ever meeting between the teams at this stage of the competition, with the Ulster champion winning a 4th title after a 2–14 to 0–15 win. Mayo lost their 11th consecutive final since 1989 (a time when Tyrone had yet to win 1), including a sixth decider in 9 years, with this latest defeat on an identical scoreline to 2020 (when Mayo lost to Dublin), still enough for Tyrone to overtake Mayo on the all-time honours list. Yet this latest defeat was the last of the cursed finals, and Tyrone remained ahead of Mayo for only 5 years.
The game was televised nationally on RTÉ2 as part of The Saturday Game live programme, presented by Joanne Cantwell from the outdoor COVID-19 pandemic-proofed studio at Croke Park, with analysis from Kevin McStay, Seán Cavanagh and Pat Spillane. Match commentary was provided by Ger Canning, assisted by Tomás Ó Sé. The game was also televised internationally by Sky Sports.
Background were aiming to win their fourth title and first All-Ireland since 1951. Since then, they had lost ten finals (1989, 1996, 1997, 2004, 2006, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2020). appeared in their seventh final, winning on three occasions in 2003, 2005 and 2008. This final was the fifth to be contested by county teams from Connacht and Ulster, the other finals were 1925 (Galway beat Cavan), 1943 (Roscommon beat Cavan), 1948 (Cavan beat Mayo) and 2012 (Donegal beat Mayo).
Paths to the final Mayo
Tyrone
Pre-match Cavan's Joe McQuillan was the referee for the final. He was previously in charge of finals in 2011, 2013, and 2017.
Meath played Tyrone in the All-Ireland Minor Football Championship final which took place on 28 August, two weeks before the senior final. Meath won the game on a 1–12 to 1–11 scoreline.
Unlike 2020, President Michael D. Higgins attended the final, with no official greeting of the players due to COVID-19.
Match Summary In front of a crowd of 41,150 fans (reduced to 50% capacity due to COVID-19), the match began with Mayo's Aidan O'Shea claiming the throw-in and giving a direct ball into Tommy Conroy who kicked the opening score at 16 seconds. Mayo, being the slight favourites, led by 0–02 to Tyrone's 0–01 by the sixth minute.
At half time, the score was at 0–10 – 0–08, with Tyrone leading by two points. The second half saw Tyrone score two goals from substitute Cathal McShane and Darren McCurry. Mayo were not able to avail of three other goal scoring opportunities, including a penalty missed by Ryan O'Donoghue.
Mayo went on to have Matthew Ruane red-carded after an altercation with Tyrone midfielder Conn Kilpatrick. The victory was first and foremost a tribute to the Ulster champions' defending as a team. For Mayo, this latest defeat came on an identical scoreline to 2020 and meant the team had lost one third of the total number of All-Ireland SFC finals played since 1989.
Details
GK 1 Niall Morgan CB 2 Michael McKernan FB 3 Ronan McNamee CB 4 Pádraig Hampsey (c) WB 5 Frank Burns HB 6 Peter Harte WB 7 Kieran McGeary MF 8 Brian Kennedy MF 9 Conn Kilpatrick WF 10 Conor Meyler HF 11 Michael O'Neill WF 12 Niall Sludden CF 13 Darren McCurry FF 14 Mattie Donnelly CF 15 Conor McKenna Substitutes:GK 16 Lorcan Quinn FW 17 Mark Bradley FW 18 Darragh Canavan DF 19 Paul Donaghy FW 20 Niall Kelly MF 21 Tiernan McCann FW 22 Ben McDonnell DF 23 Hugh Pat McGeary DF 24 Cathal McShane FW 25 Jonathan Munroe FW 26 Conor Shields Manager:Feargal Logan & Brian Dooher GK 1 Rob Hennelly CB 2 Pádraig O'Hora FB 3 Lee Keegan CB 4 Michael Plunkett WB 5 Paddy Durcan HB 6 Stephen Coen WB 19 Oisín Mullin MF 8 Matthew Ruane MF 9 Conor Loftus WF 10 Diarmuid O'Connor HF 11 Aidan O'Shea (c) WF 12 Bryan Walsh CF 13 Kevin McLoughlin FF 14 Tommy Conroy CF 15 Ryan O'Donoghue Substitutes:GK 16 Rory Byrne DF 7 Enda Hession FW 17 Brendan Harrison FW 18 Colm Boyle FW 20 Rory Brickenden MF 21 Jordan Flynn FW 22 Conor O'Shea DF 23 James Durcan DF 24 Darren Coen FW 25 Aidan Orme FW 26 James Carr Manager:James Horan Man of the Match: Darren McCurry
Post-match Mayo's curse at All-Ireland finals continued with the county losing 11 consecutive finals, now having lost a third of all All-Ireland football finals played since 1989, with this latest defeat on an identical scoreline to 2020, when Mayo lost to Dublin. Pat Spillane, referring to Mayo's long losing streak in All-Ireland SFC finals, quoted Samuel Beckett on television afterwards.
Mayo players Aidan O'Shea and Lee Keegan broke an unwanted record of most All-Ireland football final appearances without winning (6), with the duo losing 6 finals in 9 years (2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2021).
Conor McKenna became the fourth former AFL player to win the Sam Maguire Cup.
Brian Dooher became the fifth manager to win an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship after earlier captaining his county to victory in the same competition (and the first since Páidí Ó Sé in 1997).
See also 1918 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final, also postponed due to an outbreak of infectious disease 1956 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final, also postponed due to an outbreak of infectious disease
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