1998 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Explained

Dates:3 May 1998 – 27 September 1998
Teams:32
Year:1998
Team:Galway
Titles:8th
Team2:Kildare
Munster:Kerry
Leinster:Kildare
Ulster:Derry
Connacht:Galway
Topscorer: Declan Browne (2-29)
Matches:36
Totalgoals:61 (1.69 per game)
Totalpoints:860 (23.89 per game)
Next:1999

The 1998 Bank of Ireland All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 112th edition of the GAA's premier Gaelic football competition. The championship began on 3 May 1998 and ended on 27 September 1998.

Galway's 1-14 to 1-10 victory over Kildare in the All-Ireland final meant that the Sam Maguire Cup returned to the county and the province of Connacht for the first time since 1966. This was Galway's eighth All-Ireland triumph in all. Kildare, managed by Mick O'Dwyer, had defeated the 1995 champions Dublin and the 1996 champions Meath to win their first Leinster title since 1956, before defeating the 1997 champions Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final.

Format

The Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connacht championships were conducted as straight knock-out competitions. The Munster football championship for the 2nd year running had Kerry, Cork and Clare as byes to the semi-finals while Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford played a lone-first-round game with the bye team in a lone quarter final. The winners of each provincial competition went on to play in the All Ireland semi-finals.

Results

Connacht Senior Football Championship

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Finals

Leinster Senior Football Championship

First round

Second round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Munster Senior Football Championship

First round

Quarter-final

Semi-finals

Final

Ulster Senior Football Championship

Preliminary round

Quarter-finals

Semi-final

Final

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

Semi-finals

Final

See main article: 1998 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final.

Championship statistics

Miscellaneous

Top scorers

Overall
RankPlayerCountyTallyTotalMatchesAverage
1Declan BrowneTipperary2-293548.75
2Eddie LohanRoscommon1-273047.50
3Pádraic JoyceGalway1-242764.50
4Pádraic GravenKildare1-202363.83
5Maurice FitzgeraldKerry1-182137.00
Niall FinneganGalway1-182163.50
7Ger HeavinWestmeath2-142036.66
8Dessie BarryLongford1-161936.33
9Paul TaylorSligo0-171735.66
10Pádraic DavisSligo0-161635.33
Jarlath FallonGalway0-161662.66
Single game
RankPlayerCountyTallyTotalOpposition
1Declan BrowneTipperary1-0710Clare
Maurice FitzgeraldKerry0-1010Tipperary
3Declan BrowneTipperary1-069Limerick
Eddie LohanRoscommon1-069Sligo
Dessie BarryLongford0-099Wexford
Declan BrowneTipperary0-099Waterford
7Ger HeavinWestmeath1-058Carlow
Declan DarcyDublin1-058Kildare
Ger HeavinWestmeath1-058Longford
Colin KellyLouth1-058Wicklow
Paul TaylorSligo0-088Roscommon
Eddie LohanRoscommon0-088Galway
Eddie LohanRoscommon0-088Galway
Pádraic DavisLongford0-088Wexford
Declan SmythMonaghan0-088Derry
Pádraic JoyceGalway0-088Derry

Roll of Honour