Senior Football Championship

The first reference to Longford in Senior Football Championship was in June 1896 when fixtures for 1896 Leinster SFC are published showing Longford vs Kilkenny. However there is no record of the match taking place. Longford is next listed in fixtures versus Westmeath in 1897 Leinster SFC in July 1898, but again no record of any match taking place. The first recorded inter-county game involving Longford took place when Longford (represented by Longford Shamrocks) played Louth (represented by Drogheda Emmets) in the delayed 1896 Croke Cup competition in Oldcastle on 14th February 1897. Louth won by 2-8 to 0-3. The Croke Cup was a knockout competition which took place from 1896 to 1915.

Longford’s first game in Leinster SFC was on 22nd November 1903 vs Wexford at Jones’ Road. This was the first Leinster SFC to feature all 12 Leinster counties with Longford being the last to affiliate. The fixture was originally for both Football and Hurling and then became Hurling only. However around 10 days prior to the game, Longford advised they could not field in Hurling and requested that the fixture be Football instead. The change was made and Wexford won by 2-12 to 0-2. The following year Longford competed again in Leinster SFC on 31st July 1904, losing to Westmeath by 0-7 to 0-5. Thereafter Longford competed intermittently in Leinster Junior Football Championship (pitched against Westmeath every year) until Leinster Junior Championship was discontinued from 1917 to 1920. Longford then played in Leinster SFC from 1917 to 1920 before reverting back to the re-organised Leinster JFC from 1922 to 1924, winning the Leinster JFC title in 1924 (awarded after an objection) and was promoted to Leinster SFC from 1925 to 1930, though also competed in Leinster JFC too in many of those years. Longford returned exclusively to Leinster JFC from 1931 to 1937, and won the Leinster JFC and All-Ireland JFC titles in 1937, thus gaining promotion to Leinster SFC from 1938, and has competed in Leinster SFC every year since and also in Leinster JFC intermittently from then until 2019. Longford won the Leinster JFC title in 1953 while also competing in Leinster SFC competition. Longford won the Leinster SFC once, in 1968.

Longford qualified for the All-Ireland SFC (knockout stage) just once, in 1968, losing to Kerry in the All-Ireland semi final having won the Leinster SFC title for the first (and thus far only) time in 1968. Longford participates in the Leinster SFC annually. From 1990 to 2000 Longford also participated in All-Ireland ‘B’ SFC, which was the GAA’s first attempt at a tier 2 Championship. This was scrapped in 2001 and replaced by the All-Ireland Qualifier series to give teams eliminated in the early stages of the Provincial Championship a chance to gain entry to the All-Ireland Championship via a back door route. Longford competed in the All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers every year from 2001 to 2019. The GAA attempted another tier 2 Championship via the Tommy Murphy Cup from 2004 to 2008, for teams eliminated from the early stages of the All-Ireland Qualifier series. Longford participated in the Tommy Murphy Cup just once (in 2005) and won two games, before losing to Wexford in the Semi Final. As with the All-Ireland ‘B’ Championship, this competition failed to take root and was eventually scrapped.

Longford currently competes in Leinster SFC and Tailteann Cup competitions. Participation in the Senior ‘A’ Championship (Sam Maguire Cup) is limited to the 8 teams who reach the Provincial finals and next 7 highest ranked teams in that seasons National Football League and previous years Tailteann Cup winner.

All-Ireland Senior Football ‘A’ Championship is the sports premier Gaelic Football Championship. Longford qualified for the knockout stages of the All-Ireland SFC once, as Leinster Champions in 1968. Longford lost to Kerry in the All-Ireland SFC semi-final on 4th August 1968. The Sam Maguire Cup is the prize for the All-Ireland SFC winner, and since 2022 this competition is exclusively top 16 teams.

Longford 2-11
Kerry 2-13

The game was played in Croke Park in front of an attendance of 34,052 and was refereed by Mick Loftus from Mayo (later GAA President from 1985 to 1988). The game was feted by the national media as an enthralling spectacle. The Longford team was: John Heneghan, Seamus Flynn, Larry Gillen, Pat Barden, Brendan Barden, John Donlon, J.P Reilly, Mickey Reilly, Tom Mulvihill (1-2), Jackie Devine (1-4), Jimmy Hannify (0-2), Vincent Daly (Captain), Pat Burke, Mick Hopkins (0-3), Seán Donnelly. Subs: Mickey Burns for Pat Burke; Brendan Gilmore for John Donlon. [📷 Match Report]

All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers ran from 2001-2019 and was a back-door route back into the All-Ireland Senior ‘A’ Championship at the Quarter Final stage for teams who lost early rounds of their Provincial Championship. The Qualifiers consisted of four rounds of games, each a straight knockout, with winners of Round 4 contesting the All-Ireland Senior ‘A’ Championship Quarter Finals against the various provincial champions. Quarter Final matches were between a Provincial champion and Qualifier Round 4 winner.

Longford competed in All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers from their inaugural year in 2001 until 2019, and fared significantly better in this competition than in Leinster SFC. Longford played 37 games against 23 different counties in Qualifiers, registering 18 wins and 19 losses and reaching the 3rd round four times and the 4th round once. No Qualifiers were played in 2020 or 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, while structural changes to All-Ireland Championship from 2022 meant that teams have to finish the League season in Divisions 1 or 2 in order to participate in All-Ireland Qualifiers from that point. Longford’s best run in the Qualifiers was in 2004, advancing to the 4th round (last 16), losing out to the eventual All-Ireland champions Kerry on a very memorable day in Killarney. The Qualifiers were not played in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19 restrictions, and were discontinued when a new structure for AISFC was introduced in 2022.

Longford has played 163 games in Leinster SFC, Won 50 (31%), Drew 14 (9%) and Lost 99 (60%).

Leinster SFC is one of four provincial championships (Leinster, Connacht, Munster, Ulster) which feeds the All-Ireland Senior ‘A’ Championship series. Leinster Senior Football Championship began on 3rd June 1888 with Dublin beating Kildare in the inaugural game with 8 counties competed in that first Leinster SFC competition. Longford did not appear in fixtures for Leinster SFC until 1896 and did not play a game in Leinster SFC until November 22nd 1903. Statistically Leinster SFC not been a happy hunting ground for Longford teams, with only 1 title in 50 wins from 161 games between 1902 and 2023 seasons, and only 2 Leinster semi-final appearances in the 50 years leading up to 2023 (1988 & 2018). Longford won the Leinster SFC title once in 1968, reached the Leinster Final twice (1965 & 1968) and reached the Semi Final stage 11 times (1928, 1944, 1952, 1954, 1959, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1988 & 2018). Longford’s most frequent opponent in Leinster SFC is Westmeath with 27 meetings, Offaly is next with 20 meetings and Dublin is third with 19 meetings. Since 2022 the Leinster SFC winner and runner-up qualify to compete in the group stage of that years All-Ireland Senior ‘A’ Championship.

Longford’s biggest winning margins in the Leinster SFC came against Kilkenny (+25) in 1976, Wicklow (+16) in 1972 and Kildare (+12) in 1952, while the biggest defeats include Dublin (-27) in 2015, Dublin (-26) in 1960, Dublin (-24) in 1976 and Meath (-22) in 2021.

In terms of winning runs in Leinster, Longford’s longest is three games, achieved in both 1965 (including reaching the Leinster Final) and 1968 (including winning the Leinster title). In terms of losing streaks, Longford’s longest is eight games stretching from the Quarter Final loss to Meath in 1990 until the streak was broken by a draw with Wexford in 1998 which was followed by a win in the replay which was the first Leinster Championship win in 8 seasons. Longford played 36 games in Leinster SFC between 2000 and 2022 – Won 10, drew 3 and lost 23. John ‘Speedy’ McCormack was Leinster SFC top scorer in the 1988 Leinster Championship campaign, scoring 1-21.

All-Ireland ‘B’ Championship was an optional Tier 2 competition for teams eliminated from the early stages of their Provincial Senior Football ‘A’ Championship. It was the original attempt at 2nd tier Football Championship. Longford competed from 1990 to 2000, reaching and losing the final three times. Longford played 23 games against 10 different counties from 1990 to 2000, Won 10, Drew 2 and Lost 11, and reached the final in 1991, 1995 & 1996. The 1996 final went to a replay following a controversial injury time free awarded to Fermanagh. In 1995 the competition moved from its usual Autumn slot to the Summer instead, leading to Fermanagh, Sligo, Antrim and Clare pulling out of the competition due to players otherwise engaged in club competition, and reducing that years competition to a farce with only 6 teams taking part. That decision was soon reversed with competition returning to the Autumn slot from 1996, seeing an increase to 12 teams involved that year. By 1999 only eight counties competed in the competition. In 2000 Longford conceded their round 1 game to Wicklow with management unable to field a strong enough side due to injuries and players missing due to ongoing club commitments. This first attempt at a secondary championship was defined by very poor attendances, lacklustre public support, obscure dates/times/venues for games, and a distinct lack of marketing or prestige throughout.

All-Ireland ‘B’ Championship winners were:

1990: Leitrim (beat Sligo)
1991: Clare (beat Longford AET)
1992: Wicklow (beat Antrim)
1993: Laois (beat Sligo)
1994: Carlow (beat Westmeath)
1995: Tipperary (beat Longford)
1996: Fermanagh (beat Longford in replay)
1997: Louth (beat Clare)
1998: Monaghan (beat Fermanagh)
1999: Antrim (beat Fermanagh)
2000: Fermanagh (beat Wicklow)

Note 1: 1993 All-Ireland ‘B’ Final played in Pearse Park.

Note 2: In 1998 the Monaghan v Longford 1st round tie in Castleblaney was the first competitive inter-county GAA match played under floodlights. Monaghan won 2-11 to 1-11 and the Longford team that day was: Gavin Tonra, Cathal Conefrey, John Keegan, Ollie Reilly, Shane Carroll, Ciaran Keogh, Thomas Donohoe, Aidan Keogh, Terry Drake, David Blessington, Peter Lynch, Paul Barden, Dessie Barry, Enda Barden, Willie Skelly. Subs Used: Alan Sheridan for Willie Skelly and Maurice O’Connor for Ollie Reilly.

• 1896 Leinster SFC vs Kilkenny fixed for June 1896 – Not played.
• 1897 Leinster SFC vs Westmeath fixed for July 1898 – Not played.
• 1903 Leinster SFC vs Wexford likely the delayed 1902 SFC.
• 1904 Leinster SFC vs Westmeath likely the delayed 1902 SFC.
• 1905-1916 Longford competed in JFC competition only.
• 1917-1920 Longford competed in SFC competition only.
• Leinster JFC competition was suspended from 1917-1920.
• 1917 result in LL is 2-1 to 4-5, in National media is 2-2 to 4-5.
• 1921 Longford did not compete in Leinster SFC or JFC.
• 1922-1924 Longford competed in JFC competition only.
• 1925-1930 Longford competed in SFC & JFC competitions.
• 1931-1937 Longford competed in JFC competition only.
• From 1938 Longford competed in SFC & JFC competition.
• Longford has competed in Leinster SFC competition since 1938.
• 2000 Leinster SFC had round-robin sub-group with Wicklow qualifying to progress.

Sources: All inter-county match and player records used on this website were researched by our team using newspaper records, and are not taken from any existing databases or datasets. Where gaps exist in past newspaper records, other published records from the era or related to the era are consulted to try and bridge any gaps.