1981 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

Template:Template other The 1981 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 95th staging of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county Gaelic football tournament. The championship began on 10 May 1981 and ended on 20 September 1981.

Kerry entered the championship as the defending champions and were hoping to win a record-equalling fourth successive championship title.

On 20 September 1981, Kerry won the championship following a 1-12 to 0-8 defeat of Offaly in the All-Ireland final. This was their 27th All-Ireland title and their fourth championship in succession.

Offaly's Matt Connor was the championship's top scorer with 1-31. Kerry's Jack O'Shea was the choice for Texaco Footballer of the Year.

Munster Championship format change

The normal system of 2 Quarter-final's and 2 Semi-final's is back.

Results

Connacht Senior Football Championship

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Leinster Senior Football Championship

First round

Template:Football box collapsible    

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Munster Senior Football Championship

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Ulster Senior Football Championship

Preliminary round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

Semi-finals

Final

Championship statistics

Top scorers

Overall

Rank	Player	County	Tally	Total	Matches	Average
1	Matt Connor	Offaly	1-31	34	5	6.80
2	Mikey Sheehy	Kerry	1-22	25	4	6.25
3	Tom Prendergast	Laois	6-5	23	4	5.75
4	Eamonn McEneaney	Monaghan	1-17	20	3	6.66
5	Eoin Liston	Kerry	4-6	18	4	4.50

Single game

Rank	Player	County	Tally	Total	Opposition
1	Tom Prendergast	Laois	3-3	12	Kildare
	Eoin Liston	Kerry	3-3	12	Clare
3	Donal Donohoe	Cavan	2-5	11	Antrim
	Gay McManus	Galway	0-11	11	Leitrim
5	Kevin Dawe	Louth	2-4	10	Laois
	Eamonn McEneaney	Monaghan	1-7	10	Tyrone
7	Matt Connor	Offaly	0-9	9	Westmeath
8	Eamonn Whelan	Laois	2-2	8	Louth
	Matt Connor	Offaly	1-5	8	Wexford
	Mikey Sheehy	Kerry	1-5	8	Cork
	Eddie Mahon	Wexford	0-8	8	Offaly
	Anto McCaul	Dublin	0-8	8	Laois

Miscellaneous

• London after six years in the Connacht championship play their games this year on home ground at Ruislip.
• Mayo won their first Connacht title since 1969.
• Kerry become the third team in the history of the championship to win four All-Ireland titles in-a-row. They equalled the record set by Wexford (1915-1918) and Kerry (1929-1932). Lasted until Dublin winning six in a row (2015-2020).