1972 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Explained

Year:	1972
Dates:	7 May – 15 October 1972
Teams:	31
Connacht:	Roscommon
Munster:	Kerry
Leinster:	Offaly
Ulster:	Donegal
Matches:	34
Poty:	Willie Bryan
Team:	Offaly
Titles:	2nd
Captain:	Tony McTague
Team2:	Kerry
Captain2:	Tom Prendergast
Topscorer:	Tony McTague (0-36)
Previous:	1971
Next:	1973

The 1972 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 86th staging of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county Gaelic football tournament. The championship began on 7 May 1972 and ended on 15 October 1972.

Offaly entered the championship as the defending champions.

On 15 October 1972, Offaly won the championship following a 1-19 to 0-13 defeat of Kerry in the All-Ireland final replay.^[1] This was their second All-Ireland title.

Offaly's Tony McTague was the championship's top scorer with 0-36. Offaly's Willie Bryan was the choice for Texaco Footballer of the Year.

Results

Connacht Senior Football Championship

Quarter-final

Semi-finals

Final

Leinster Senior Football Championship

First round

Second round

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

Finals

See main article: article and 1972 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final.

Championship statistics

Miscellaneous

Omagh's pitch is named as Healy Park after Michael Healy.
On 14 May 1972, FitzGerald Park, Killmallock hosted its first game for 20 years the Munster Quarter-Final meeting of Limerick vs Waterford.
Tyrone qualify for the Ulster final for the first time since 1957.
Donegal become the 8th team to win the Ulster title when they claim their first provincial championship with a 2-13 to 1-11 defeat of Tyrone.
The All-Ireland semi-final meeting between Donegal and Offaly is the very first championship clash between the two teams. It is also Donegal's first championship match to be played at Croke Park, Dublin.
The All-Ireland final ends in a draw and goes to a replay for the first time since 1952.
Offaly win back-to-back All-Ireland titles for the first and only time in their history. Their 1-19 to 0-13 All-Ireland final replay victory remains Kerry's biggest ever defeat in a championship decider.

Scoring

Overall

Rank	Player	County	Tally	Total	Matches	Average
1	Tony McTague	Offaly	0-36	36	5	7.20
2	Joe Winston	Donegal	0-29	29	5	5.80
3	Mick O'Dwyer	Kerry	0-28	28	5	6.60
4	Mickey Freyne	Roscommon	2-17	23	5	4.60
5	Brendan Lynch	Kerry	1-16	19	5	3.80
6	Dermot Earley	Roscommon	2-12	18	5	3.60
7	Mick O'Connell	Kerry	0-17	17	5	3.40
8	Seán Cooney	Offaly	2-9	15	5	3.00
9	John Tobin	Galway	1-11	14	2	7.00
9	Liam Higgins	Kerry	1-11	14	5	2.80

Single game

Rank	Player	County	Tally	Total	Opposition
1	John Tobin	Galway	1-9	12	Roscommon
2	Mickey Whelan	Dublin	2-4	10	Westmeath
	Brendan Lynch	Kerry	1-7	10	Offaly
	Tony McTague	Offaly	0-10	10	Kerry
	Mick O'Dwyer	Kerry	0-10	10	Cork
	Joe Winston	Donegal	0-10	10	Cavan
7	Johnny Byrne	Louth	3-0	9	Longford
	Ray Cummins	Cork	0-9	9	Kerry
	Joe Winston	Donegal	0-9	9	Cavan
10	Johnny Kelly	Roscommon	2-2	8	Mayo
	Tom King	Carlow	0-8	8	Wexford
	Mick Fay	Meath	0-8	8	Longford
	Tony McTague	Offaly	0-8	8	Meath
	Mick O'Dwyer	Kerry	0-8	8	Roscommon

Notes and References

News: Offaly heroes of 1971 and 1972 to be honoured. Offaly GAA website. 29 October 2015. 7 October 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20160312144744/http://offaly.gaa.ie/offaly-news/offalyheroesof1971and1972tobehonoredonsundayathalftimeintullamorecourthotelseniorfootballfinal. 2016-03-12. dead.