The 2022 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) was the 136th edition of the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county Gaelic football tournament since its establishment in 1887.
Tyrone entered the competition as the defending champion, but lost to Derry in the Ulster Championship before being eliminated by Armagh in the All-Ireland Qualifiers.
Thirty three teams took part: all thirty two Irish counties except Kilkenny were joined by London and New York, both of whom were back in the competition for the first time since 2019, an absence caused by public health restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year, the championship split into a two-tier system for the first time, with the Tailteann Cup being the second-tier competition for those teams that did not qualify for the tier 1 Sam Maguire Cup competition. To qualify for the Sam Maguire competition, a county team needed to (a) reach their provincial final or (b) finish in Division 1 or 2 (after promotion and relegation were determined in the 2022 National Football League). This system was planned to only be used for the 2022 season, with it moving to exactly sixteen teams continuing in the Sam Maguire competition from 2023 onwards.
The draws for the provincial championships took place on 27 November 2021.
The final was played on 24 July 2022 at Croke Park in Dublin, between Galway and Kerry. Kerry won their 38th title after a 0–20 to 0–16 win against Galway.
Format
Provincial Championships format Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster each organise a provincial championship. All teams who lose a match in their provincial championship progress to either the All-Ireland qualifiers (tier 1) or the Tailteann Cup (tier 2). All provincial matches are knock-out.
Qualifiers format All counties in the competition play in their provincial championships. However, only the counties in National Football League Division 1 and Division 2 play in the All-Ireland Championship qualifiers after losing a game in their provincial championships. The counties in National Football League Division 3 and Division 4 (as they stand when the 2022 league concludes after the resulting promotion and relegation changes have been applied) do not progress into the All-Ireland series and instead enter the second-tier Tailteann Cup once they are knocked out of their provincial championship. The only exception to this is that all eight provincial finalists progress, regardless of their league division; the four provincial champions progress to the All-Ireland quarter-finals, while the four beaten provincial finalists will play off against the best four teams from the Qualifiers for a place in the quarter-finals.
Division 1 and 2 teams who are knocked out of their province without reaching the provincial final play off in the Qualifiers, on a straight knock-out basis. The four survivors play off with the four beaten provincial championship finalists, in a final qualifier round to complete the double-elimination format. The four winners of this final qualifier round join the four provincial champions in the All-Ireland quarter-finals.
All-Ireland format The four provincial champions play the four winners of the final round of the qualifiers in the quarter-finals. Two semi-finals and a final follow. All matches are knock-out.
Teams General Information Thirty three counties will compete in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship: seven teams in the Connacht Senior Football Championship, eleven teams in the Leinster Senior Football Championship, six teams in the Munster Senior Football Championship and nine teams in the Ulster Senior Football Championship. CountyLast Provincial TitleLast Championship TitlePosition in 2021 ChampionshipCurrent Championship Antrim1951 —Ulster Senior Football Championship Armagh20082002Ulster Senior Football Championship Carlow1944 —Leinster Senior Football Championship Cavan20201952Ulster Senior Football Championship Clare1992 —Munster Senior Football Championship Cork20122010Munster Senior Football Championship Derry19981993Ulster Senior Football Championship Donegal20192012Ulster Senior Football Championship Down19941994Ulster Senior Football Championship Dublin20212020Leinster Senior Football Championship Fermanagh — —Ulster Senior Football Championship Galway20182001Connacht Senior Football Championship Kerry20212014Munster Senior Football Championship Kildare20001928Leinster Senior Football Championship Laois2003 —Leinster Senior Football Championship Leitrim1994 —Connacht Senior Football Championship Limerick18961896Munster Senior Football Championship London — —Connacht Senior Football Championship Longford1968 —Leinster Senior Football Championship Louth19571957Leinster Senior Football Championship Mayo20211951Connacht Senior Football Championship Meath20101999Leinster Senior Football Championship Monaghan2015 —Ulster Senior Football Championship New York — —Connacht Senior Football Championship Offaly19971982Leinster Senior Football Championship Roscommon20191944Connacht Senior Football Championship Sligo2007 —Connacht Senior Football Championship Tipperary20201920Munster Senior Football Championship Tyrone20212021Ulster Senior Football Championship Waterford1898 —Munster Senior Football Championship Westmeath2004 —Leinster Senior Football Championship Wexford19451918Leinster Senior Football Championship Wicklow — —Leinster Senior Football Championship
Team allocation All-Ireland Senior Football ChampionshipEntry RoundCountiesAll-Ireland Quarter-finals Kerry (1st) Dublin (1st) Galway (1st) Derry (1st)Qualifiers Round 2 Limerick (2nd) Kildare (2nd) Roscommon (2nd) Donegal (2nd)Qualifiers Round 1 Armagh Cork Mayo Monaghan Clare Louth Tyrone MeathTailteann CupEntry Round CountiesQuarter-finals New YorkFirst round Antrim Down Leitrim Sligo Carlow Fermanagh London Tipperary Cavan Laois Longford WestmeathPreliminary round Offaly Waterford Wexford Wicklow
Provincial championships
Connacht Senior Football Championship
London and New York were withdrawn from the 2020 and 2021 Connacht championships due to international travel restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but both are back in the 2022 season.
The winning finalist advanced to the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals, while the losing finalist advanced to the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers.
Leinster Senior Football Championship
The winning finalist advanced to the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals, while the losing finalist advanced to the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers.
Munster Senior Football Championship
The winning finalist advanced to the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals, while the losing finalist advanced to the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers.
Ulster Senior Football Championship
The winning finalist advanced to the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals, while the losing finalist advanced to the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers.
Qualifiers
Round 1
Round 2 The four beaten provincial finalists played the four round 1 winners.
Quarter-finals The four provincial champions played the four winners of the qualifiers round 2.
Semi-finals There was no semi-final draw as the pairings were arranged by rota.
Final
Bracket
Incidents
Armagh–Galway brawl
Hawk-Eye malfunction The Hawk-Eye score detection system malfunctioned during the first half of the first All-Ireland SFC semi-final on 9 July between Derry and Galway, overruling an umpire who signalled that Shane Walsh's '45 into Hill 16 late in the half had gone over the bar. This meant that Galway entered the half-time break a point behind.
On Sky Sports at half-time, Jim McGuinness said: "It's a huge decision in the context of the game, and levelling the game up and Galway where they were, and to be back level at half time. I think the scoreboard should be level at half time, the reason I think that is because the technology got it wrong. The referee chalked it down as a point, the technology stepped in — it's not the other way around. the referee is well within his rights to say 'I got that right first time around, that's proven that it's right' and then to change the scoreboard. Otherwise, this game is going down to the wire, it feels that way and if it does go down to the wire, and that's what decides it, then we're in for major drama in the next couple of weeks". Over on RTÉ, Pat Spillane said: "It's an absolute joke. With our own two eyes, all of us here, that it went between the posts. It was most definitely a point. Hawk-Eye is available in a few grounds in Ireland, and they are getting huge money to get things right. A human error or not, that is scandalous. That is wrong". Lee Keegan added: "I can't even understand why they are calling Hawk-Eye. I don't see point in having it there if we can't get it right. As Pat rightly said, if that isn't rectified it is going to spoil the game."
A Conor Glass effort into the Davin End that Hawk-Eye ruled wide during the first half also came under scrutiny. "Conor Glass in the first-half... it looks like a point", Peter Canavan said on Sky Sports when the game had finished. Cora Staunton said on The Sunday Game the next evening: "When you look at that and get the behind the goals vision, that looks like it's a clear point, so yeah what happened yesterday with Hawk-Eye, it's not acceptable at that level. In an All-Ireland semi-final, you're training all year and something like that happens", while Oisín McConville said: "Even the Tailteann Cup game before it, it went to Hawk-Eye I think three times and you know, you question everything now. I mean all of the teams that have been beaten by a point, you question you know all along. Marty Clarke has also said that he thought had been a problem with Hawk-Eye and I think we all had accepted that that ball that's just marginally on the post, that that's over the bar. So it's not a correct science..."
The GAA issued a statement that evening confirming that Hawk-Eye would not be used during the second semi-final between Dublin and Kerry.
Galway GAA chairman Paul Bellew later stated that the team would not have returned to complete the second half of the game if Walsh's 45' had not been retrospectively awarded by the referee.
The GAA confirmed on 15 July that Hawk-Eye would return for the All-Ireland SHC final, following comprehensive testing and a full review of the score detection technology.
Glass, who expressed confusion after seeing Walsh's effort go over the bar only for it to be ruled out by Hawk-Eye, later said in an RTÉ Radio 1 interview: "I actually didn't realise (that the previous point was added on) until they went a point up after Shane Walsh's free kick five minutes into the second half... It wasn't communicated very well, either to the Derry staff or even the referee or GAA officials, that the point was added back on. The players didn't have a clue that it was."
Stadia and locations
+ Stadia County Location Stadium Capacity Antrim Belfast Corrigan Park Clare Ennis Cusack Park CorkCork Páirc Uí Rinn Páirc Uí Chaoimh Donegal Ballybofey MacCumhaill Park Dublin Drumcondra Croke Park Fermanagh Enniskillen Brewster Park Galway Galway Pearse Stadium Kerry Killarney Fitzgerald Stadium Mayo Castlebar McHale Park Meath Navan Pairc Tailteann Monaghan Clones St Tiernach's Park Offaly Tullamore O'Connor Park Tipperary Thurles Semple Stadium Waterford Dungarvan Fraher Field Westmeath Mullingar Cusack Park Wexford Wexford Wexford Park Wicklow Aughrim Aughrim
Referees panel Anthony Nolan was unavailable for the 2022 championship due to injury. Ciaran Branagan retired as he had turned 50 in 2021. Noel Mooney and Niall Cullen returned in their place. Maurice Deegan turned 50 in 2022 and retired at the end of this season.