2005 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship 2005, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2005 Bank of Ireland All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the premier Gaelic football competition in 2005. It consisted of 33 teams and began on Saturday 7 May 2005. Few surprises came during the championship with the dominance of the Ulster teams evident once again. Gaelic football's "Big Three" of this era - Armagh, Kerry, Tyrone - all progressed to the semi-finals.

The Championship concluded on Sunday 25 September 2005 when Tyrone defeated Kerry, who were playing in their second consecutive All-Ireland Final, by a scoreline of 1-16 to 2-10. Tyrone had to play ten games (including three replays) in order to win the Championship - more than any other team before or since.

Format

Since the introduction of the so-called "back-door" system a few years ago, a number of changes have taken place in the championship format. In 2005 the following system was used.

The provincial championships in Munster, Leinster, Ulster and Connacht ran as usual on a "knock-out" basis. These provincial games were then followed by the "Qualifier" system:

• Round 1 of the qualifiers included all the counties that did not qualify for the Provincial Semi-finals. An open draw was made to give eight pairings.
• Round 2 consisted of the eight defeated teams in the Provincial Semi-finals playing against the eight winners from Round 1. A draw was made to determine the eight pairings.
• Round 3 Consisted of the 8 winners from Round 2 playing each other in an open draw format.
• Round 4 consisted of each of the four teams defeated in the Provincial Finals shall playing against the four winners from Round 3. A draw was made to determine the four pairings.

The All-Ireland Quarter-finals: Each of the four Provincial Champions played one of the four winners from Round 4. The All-Ireland Semi-finals shall be on a Provincial rots basis, initially determined by the Central Council. If a Provincial Championship winning team is defeated in its Quarter-final, the team that defeats it shall take its place in the semi-final.

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

All-Ireland qualifiers

The losers of the Preliminary round matches and quarter final matches of each provincial championship started the qualifier.

Round 2

The winners of round 1 were joined by the semi-final losers of each provincial championship. The matches would be between a round 2 winner and a provincial championship semi final loser.

Round 3

The winners of round 2 contest as the matches from here were lowered to four. Matches were open.

Round 4

The winners of round 3 were joined by the losers of each provincial championship final. The matches would be between a round 3 winner and the loser of a provincial championship final.

All-Ireland

The provincial champions and the winners of round 4 contested the quarter-finals. The quarter final matches would be between a provincial champion and a round 4 winner.

---

---

---

---

---

Championship statistics

Miscellaneous

• For the first time since 1992 Kildare vs Westmeath in the Leinster championship.
• Dublin played Laois in the Leinster final for the first time 1985.
• In the old system there would have been Kerry vs Galway and Dublin vs Armagh All Ireland semi-finals.

Top scorers

Season

Player	County	Scores	Total
Stephen O'Neill	Tyrone	5-49	64
Paddy Bradley	Derry	2-29	35
Colm Cooper	Kerry	4-22	34
Steven McDonnell	Armagh	4-21	33
Tomás Quinn	Dublin	1-29	32
Ross Munnelly	Laois	1-24	27
Hugh McElroy	Monaghan	3-17	26
Owen Mulligan	Tyrone	2-20	26

Single game

Player	Tally	Opposition
Paddy Bradley (Derry)	1-10	Monaghan
Stephen O'Neill (Tyrone)	2-06	Monaghan
Hugh McElroy (Monaghan)	1-09	London
Niall Curran (Waterford)	1-08	Clare
Colm Cooper (Kerry)	2-05	Limerick