Football Championship

The first reference to Longford in Championship competition 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 as the only affiliated club in the county in 1897) 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 in the delayed 1902 Leinster SFC competition (the 1902 Leinster Championship started in 1902 and ended in 1904). 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 played again in Leinster SFC on 31st July 1904 in the delayed 1903 Leinster SFC competition, losing to Westmeath by 0-7 to 0-5. Thereafter Longford competed in the Leinster Junior Football Championship (pitched against Westmeath every year, and not being able to field in some years) until that Junior competition was discontinued from 1917 to 1920. Longford 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). 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. Longford won the Leinster JFC title again 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.

From 2022, Longford competes in Leinster SFC and Tailteann Cup competitions. If Longford fails to reach the Leinster SFC Final or finishes the League in Divisions 3 or 4, they compete in the Tailteann Cup which is a new Tier 2 Championship launched in 2022. Participation in the All-Ireland Championship (aka Sam Maguire Cup) is therefore limited to the top 16 teams in the country consisting of the 8 teams who reach the Provincial Finals and the next highest 8 teams from Divisions 1 and 2 of National Football League.

Longford has played 161 games in Leinster SFC, Won 50 (31%), Drew 14 (9%) and Lost 97 (60%).

Leinster SFC is one of four provincial championships within the All-Ireland SFC competition. It 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.

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. Longford footballer Jimmy Hannify (Fr. Manning Gaels) was joint top scorer in the 1970 Leinster SFC with 1-21, while Longford’s John ‘Speedy’ McCormack (Killoe Young Emmets) was top scorer in the 1988 Leinster SFC with 1-21.

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.

All-Ireland Qualifiers were introduced in 2001 to provide more championship games for team who lost early rounds of their provincial Championship (i.e. Leinster SFC), enabling them to qualify for re-entry into All-Ireland SFC at the Quarter Final stage. The Qualifiers consisted of 4 rounds of games, each a straight knockout, with winners of Round 4 contesting the All-Ireland SFC quarter finals against the various provincial champions. Those quarter final matches would be between a provincial champion and a Qualifier Round 4 winner.

Longford competed in All-Ireland 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.

Longford qualified for the All-Ireland SFC (knockout) stage once, losing to Kerry in the All Ireland semi-final on 4th August 1968.

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 Dr. Mick Loftus from Mayo, who would go on to serve as President of the GAA from 1985 to 1988. The game (which was lauded as an enthralling spectacle) included 8 wides and 18 frees for Longford while Kerry had 13 wides and 9 frees. The Longford team that day was: J. Heneghan, S. Flynn, L. Gillen, P. Barden, B. Barden, J. Donlon, J.P Reilly, M. Reilly, T. Mulvihill, J. Devine, J. Hannify, V. Daly (Captain), P. Burke, M. Hopkins, S. Donnelly. Subs: M. Burns for Burke, B. Gilmore for Donlon. Longford scorers included Jackie Devine 1-4, Tom Mulvihill 1-2, Mick Hopkins 0-3 & Jimmy Hannify 0-2. [Match Report]

Longford competed in the All-Ireland ‘B’ SFC 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 reaching the decider 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. That decision was soon reversed with competition returning to Sep-Oct period from 1996. In 1999 only eight counties entered 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 tier 2 Championship ended in a shambles, and was defined for much of its history by poor attendances, lackluster support from the public, obscure dates/times/venues for games, and a distinct lack of marketing or prestige throughout.

The All-Ireland ‘B’ Championship winners down the years 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)

History Makers: The Monaghan v Longford 1st round tie in 1998 All-Ireland B Championship in Castleblaney was the first ever inter-county GAA match played under floodlights. Monaghan won 2-11 to 1-11 and the Longford team that day was: C Conefrey, J Keegan, O Reilly; S Carroll, C Keogh, T Donoghue; A Keogh, T Drake; D Blessington, P Lynch, P Barden; D Barry, E Barden, W Skelly. Subs: A Sheridan for W Skelly, M O’Connor for O Reilly.

– 1896 Leinster SFC vs Kilkenny fixed for June 1896 – No record.
– 1897 Leinster SFC vs Westmeath fixed for July 1898 – No record.
– 1902 Leinster SFC vs Wexford was played on 22nd November 1903.
– 1903 Leinster SFC vs Westmeath was played on 31st July 1904.
– 1905 to 1916 Longford competed in Junior Championship only.
– 1917 to 1920 Longford competed in Senior Championship only.
– 1921 Longford not permitted to compete in Leinster Championship.
– 1922 to 1924 Longford competed in Junior Championship only.
– 1925 to 1930 Longford competed in Senior & Junior Championships.
– 1931 to 1937 Longford competed in Junior Championship only.
– Longford has competed in Leinster Senior Championship since 1938.
– 2000 Leinster SFC had round-robin sub-group with Wicklow qualifying to progress.