1978 Cork Senior Football Championship Explained

1978 Cork Senior Football Championship
Dates:9 April – 17 September 1978
Teams:20
Champions: Nemo Rangers
Count:5
Champions Captain:Brian Murphy
Runners-Up: St Michael's
Matches:35
Goals:99
Points:545
Top Scorer: Dinny Allen (2-36)
Previous Year:1977
Previous Tournament:1977 Cork Senior Football Championship
Next Year:1979
Next Tournament:1979 Cork Senior Football Championship

The 1978 Cork Senior Football Championship was the 90th staging of the Cork Senior Football Championship since its establishment by the Cork County Board in 1887. The championship began on 9 April 1978 and ended on 17 September 1978. It was the first championship to use a group stage format followed by a knockout phase.

Nemo Rangers entered the championship as the defending champions.

On 17 September 1978, Nemo Rangers won the championship following a 1-09 to 1-03 defeat of St Michael's in the final.[1] This was their fifth championship title overall and their second title in succession. It was the first time that two teams had qualified for the final having earlier lost a match. St. Michael's became the first team since Fermoy in 1944 to lose three finals in-a-row.

Dinny Allen was the championship's top scorer with 2-36.

Format change

Since its inception in 1887 the championship had been played on a straight knock-out basis. If any team was defeated at any stage it meant automatic elimination. This system was deemed the fairest as the county champions would always be the team who won all of their games. There were some problems with this system and a special committee was established to examine the standard of competing teams. At the County Convention on 5 February 1978, delegates voted by 138 to 83 in favour of changing the format of the championship. The new format incorporated a group stage involving four different divisions followed by a knockout stage.

Team changes

To Championship

Promoted from the Cork Intermediate Football Championship

From Championship

Declined to field a team

Results

Division 1

Table

width=20width=150 style="text-align:left;"Teamwidth=20width=20width=20width=20width=40width=40width=20width=20
1 St. Finbarr's 44007-302-33128
2 Nemo Rangers 430111-453-21486
3 St Michael's 42028-306-3244
4 St. Nicholas' 41033-2514-30-382
5 UCC 40046-2510-39-260
Green background The top-placed team qualified for the semi-final stage of the championship proper.
Yellow background The second and third-placed teams qualified for the quarter-final stage of the championship proper.

Results

Division 2

Table

width=20width=150 style="text-align:left;"Teamwidth=20width=20width=20width=20width=30width=30width=20width=20
1 Clonakilty 32016-284-23114
2 Millstreet 32014-314-2654
3 Bishopstown 32013-243-26-24
4 Dohenys 30035-139-31-300
Yellow background The first and second-placed teams qualified for the quarter-final stage of the championship proper.

Playoff

Division 3

Table

width=20width=150 style="text-align:left;"Teamwidth=20width=20width=20width=20width=30width=30width=20width=20
1 Naomh Abán 33004-292-17186
2 Glanworth 32016-254-2654
3 Bantry Blues 31025-275-2072
4 Na Piarsaigh 30035-139-31-300
Yellow background The first-placed team qualified for the quarter-final stage of the championship proper.

Results

Final

Championship statistics

Top scorers

Overall
RankPlayerClubTallyTotalMatchesAverage
1Dinny AllenNemo Rangers2-364276.00
2Tim KenneallyMillstreet1-232655.20
3Tom CashmanSt. Michael's2-121872.57

Miscellaneous

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The History Of Nemo Rangers Hurling And Football Club 1922-2000. Nemo Rangers GAA website. 10 April 2019.