| Dates: | 6 May – 23 September 2001 |
| Teams: | 32 |
| Year: | 2001 |
| Team: | Galway |
| Titles: | 9th |
| Team2: | Meath |
| Topscorer: | Pádraic Joyce (3-45) |
| Munster: | Kerry |
| Leinster: | Meath |
| Ulster: | Tyrone |
| Connacht: | Roscommon |
| Matches: | 63 |
| Totalpoints: | 1490 (23.65 per game) |
| Totalgoals: | 122 (1.94 per game) |
| Next: | 2002 |
The 2001 Bank of Ireland All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 115th staging of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county Gaelic football tournament. The championship began on 6 May 2001 and ended on 23 September 2001.
The format of the championship saw the biggest change in over 100 years with the introduction of the All-Ireland qualifiers. This system saw teams who were defeated in the provincial championships enter a secondary championship and the chance to qualify for the All-Ireland series. The Leinster Championship abandoned its group stage and returned to a straight knockout system. London declined to field a team in the championship due to an outbreak of foot and mouth disease. There were initially scheduled to host Mayo at Ruislip on the last Sunday of May but Connacht council decided to post phone the fixture a fortnight before the game was to take place.
Kerry entered the championship as the defending champions, however, they were defeated by Meath in the All-Ireland semi-final.[1]
On 23 September 2001, Galway won the championship following an 0–17 to 0–8 defeat of Meath in the All-Ireland final. This was their ninth All-Ireland title and their first in three championship seasons. Galway also became the first county to win the All Ireland by coming through the Qualifiers after losing the Connacht Semi-final to Roscommon, they beat Wicklow, Armagh and Cork in the Qualifiers where they again met Roscommon in the All Ireland Quarter-final. This time they got revenge by beating them. Beating Derry in the All Ireland Semi-final and Meath in the final to claim their ninth All Ireland Title.
Galway's Pádraic Joyce was the championship's top scorer with 3-45. He was also named as the Texaco Footballer of the Year, while Declan Meehan was chosen as the All Stars Footballer of the Year.
The provincial championships in Munster, Leinster, Ulster and Connacht ran as usual on a "knock-out" basis. But for the first time, these provincial games were then followed by the "Qualifier" system:
The Leinster football championship reverts to normal just 1 Round pre to Quarter-finals.
In 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 were determined on a provincial rota basis, initially determined by the Central Council. If a Provincial Championship winning team was defeated in its Quarter-final, the team that defeats it took its place in the semi-final.
Due to an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the UK, London took no part in the Connacht Senior Football Championship in 2001. The Connacht Council decided to cancel their home Quarter-final game against Mayo.[2]
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Preliminary round
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
First round
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
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.
Three of the quarter-finals involved teams who had previously met in their respective provinces. The exception was Dublin v Kerry, which in itself was exceptional in that it was held at Semple Stadium in Thurles.[3]
See main article: article and 2001 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final.
| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Matches | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pádraic Joyce | Galway | 3-45 | 54 | 8 | 6.75 |
| 2 | Ger Heavin | Westmeath | 2-32 | 38 | 8 | 4.75 |
| 3 | Joe Fallon | Westmeath | 0-29 | 29 | 8 | 3.67 |
| 4 | Ollie Murphy | Meath | 4-15 | 27 | 7 | 3.85 |
| Dara Ó Cinnéide | Kerry | 1-24 | 27 | 6 | 4.50 | |
| 6 | Johnny Crowley | Kerry | 3-15 | 24 | 6 | 4.00 |
| Trevor Giles | Meath | 1-21 | 24 | 7 | 3.43 | |
| 8 | Rory Gallagher | Fermanagh | 0-23 | 23 | 4 | 5.75 |
| 9 | Dessie Sloyan | Sligo | 1-19 | 22 | 4 | 5.50 |
| Pádraig Brennan | Kildare | 0-22 | 22 | 4 | 5.50 |
| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pádraic Joyce | Galway | 3-03 | 12 | Leitrim |
| 2 | Leigh O'Brien | Wexford | 0-11 | 11 | Westmeath |
| 3 | Pádraic Joyce | Galway | 0-10 | 10 | Meath |
| 4 | Dara Ó Cinnéide | Kerry | 0-09 | 9 | Cork |
| 5 | Gerry Lohan | Roscommon | 2-02 | 8 | Mayo |
| Fionán Murray | Cork | 2-02 | 8 | Waterford | |
| Ollie Murphy | Meath | 2-02 | 8 | Westmeath | |
| Johnny Crowley | Kerry | 2-02 | 8 | Dublin | |
| Pádraig Davis | Longford | 1-05 | 8 | Dublin | |
| Stephen Maguire | Fermanagh | 1-05 | 8 | Donegal | |
| Pádraig Davis | Longford | 1-05 | 8 | Louth | |
| Ger Heavin | Westmeath | 1-05 | 8 | Meath | |
| Trevor Giles | Meath | 1-05 | 8 | Kildare | |
| Keith Byrne | Wicklow | 1-05 | 8 | Longford | |
| Brendan Devenney | Donegal | 1-05 | 8 | Kildare | |
| Colin Corkery | Cork | 0-08 | 8 | Kerry | |
| Paddy Logan | Antrim | 0-08 | 8 | Derry | |
| Rory Gallagher | Fermanagh | 0-08 | 8 | Monaghan | |
| Pádraig Brennan | Kildare | 0-08 | 8 | Carlow | |
| Paddy Logan | Antrim | 0-08 | 8 | Leitrim | |
| Joe Fallon | Westmeath | 0-08 | 8 | Wexford | |
| Ger Heavin | Westmeath | 0-08 | 8 | Limerick | |
| Dessie Sloyan | Sligo | 0-08 | 8 | Kildare |