Derry Senior Football Championship Explained

Currentlyrunning:	2023 Derry Senior Football Championship
Derry Senior Football Championship
First:	1907
Sponsors:	O'Neills
Trophy:	John McLaughlin Cup
Irish:	Craobh Sinsear Peile Dhoire
Current:	Glen(3rd)
Most:	Bellaghy
Mostordinal:	21

The Derry Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by the top sixteen Derry GAA clubs. The winners receive the John McLaughlin Cup and qualify to represent Derry in the Ulster Senior Club Football Championship.

Glen are the title holders (2023) and have now won three in a row champions defeating Magherafelt in the Final to win their third title on the 29th of October 2023.

History

Bellaghy have won the competition more than any other club with 21 titles. Bellaghy's Tom Scullion has more senior football championship medals than anyone in Derry, winning 12 medals between 1956 and 1971.

Bellaghy and Slaughtneil are the only teams to have won four consecutive titles. As well as the four-in-a-row, Bellaghy have also won three consecutive titles on two other separate occasions. Ballinderry have also won three consecutive titles on two separate occasions.

Format

Current format

In 2016, the championship reverted to its traditional knock-out format. All fixtures are determined by open-draw and are played at neutral venues. The majority of games are played at Owenbeg, near Dungiven. The final is usually played at Celtic Park, Derry.

Historical formats

Before 1958, three regional tournaments were played to determine the Derry Senior Football Championship finalists - the South Derry Senior Football Championship, the North Derry Senior Football Championship and the Derry City Senior Football Championship. Of the three winners, one received a bye to the final (in alternating years) and the other two played a semi-final to determine who qualified for the Derry Senior Football Championship final.

From 1958 to 2006 the championship took the form of an open-draw knock-out.

From 2007 to 2008 the championship was altered to include a round-robin group stage with the 16 teams divided into four groups. Each club in a group played each other once with the top two in each group advancing to the quarter-finals. From the quarter-finals onwards the competition was knock-out.

In 2009 a "backdoor" system was introduced -

• The 16 clubs all played in the first round.
• In the second round winners section the eight winning teams from round one played against each other with the four winners going straight into the quarter-finals. In the second round losers section the eight beaten teams from round one played against each other.
• In round three (also referred to as the quarter-final qualifiers) the four beaten teams from the round two winners section played the four winning teams from the round two losers section.
• In the quarter-finals the four teams who won their first two matches in rounds one and two played the four winners of round three.
• The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final were knock-out.

Trophies

The cup for the winners of the Derry Senior Football Championship is named after John McLaughlin, a former leading official in Derry GAA. He was a native of Inishowen in County Donegal, having been born in Fahan. He was for a long time chairman of the North Derry Board and he was elected chairman of the County Board in about 1943 or 1944 in succession to Paddy Larkin, a post he held until his death in 1961. The County Board decided to purchase a new cup and present it to the winners of the Senior Championship in the following year. In 1989 the cup was replaced, but it is still called the John McLaughlin Cup.

• Since 1988 the player who has scored the most in that year's championship is presented with a trophy.
• Since 1989 the man of the match in the final is also presented with a trophy.

Finals listed by year

	Ulster Finalists
	Also won the Ulster Competition in the same season
	Also won the Ulster and All-Ireland Competitions in the same season

Year	Winner	Score	Runners-up	Score	Match report (final)	Venue	Referee	Man of the match	Winning captain	Championship top scorer
1907	Éire Óg, Derry					Unknown
1908	No competition
1909	No competition
1910	No competition
1911	No competition
1912	No competition
1913	No competition
1914	Clann Chonail	1-04	Emmetts	1-02		Celtic Park
1915	No competition
1916	Sarsfield's					Celtic Park
1917	St Patrick's	beat	Glenkeen			Celtic Park
1918	Emmet's					Celtic Park
1919	No competition
1920	No competition
1921	Derry Guilds	2-01	St Patrick's	0-02		Brandywell
1922	No competition
1923	No competition
1924	No competition
1925	No competition
1926	No competition
1927	Ballinderry	0-03	Glenullin	0-08	(Abandoned)	Magherafelt	J McKenna
1928	Glenullin
1929	No competition
1930	Buncrana	2-04	St Patrick's	0-05
1931	Burt	2-04	Wolfe Tones	0-01		Brandywell			John Kavanagh
1932	No competition
1933	No competition
1934	Ballinascreen				NO FINAL
1935	Ballinascreen				NO FINAL
1936	An Lúb	beat	Park
1937	Newbridge	beat	St Patrick's			Brandywell
1938	Lavey	1-03	Pearses	0-03		Dungiven
1939	Magherafelt	5-07	Dungiven	1-02		Ballinascreen	George Nash
1940	Newbridge	beat	Glenullin
1941	Ballinascreen	2-05	O'Connor's Limavady	1-01
1942	Magherafelt	w/o	Glenullin			Dungiven	Paddy Larkin
1943	Lavey	3-07	Faughanvale	0-03		Magherafelt
1944	Lavey	1-05	Mitchels	0-00		Celtic Park
1945	Newbridge	3-06	Dungiven	0-03		Claudy Green
1946	Magherafelt	7-07	Dolans	2-06		Celtic Park	Tommy Farran
1947	Dungiven	2-08	Lavey	2-03		Magherafelt
1948	Newbridge	1-06	Dungiven	0-07		Claudy Green
1949	Magherafelt	2-08	Eoghan Ruadh	0-06		Celtic Park	Harry Owens
1950	Newbridge	3-06	Dungiven	0-06		Ballinascreen
1951	Dungiven	4-03	Bellaghy	1-09		Cashel Green
1952	Éire Óg, Derry	1-02	Desertmartin	1-00		Celtic Park
1953	Desertmartin	4-09	Ballerin	0-02		Magherafelt
1954	Lavey	1-10	Banagher	1-05		Dungiven			Colm Mulholland
1955	Newbridge	2-09	Dolans	1-04		Celtic Park
1956	Bellaghy	2-09	Drum	1-01		Magherafelt
1957	Ballerin	3-08	Ballymaguigan	2-06		Dungiven	Barry McFadden
1958	Bellaghy	3-06	Ballymaguigan	0-07		Ballinascreen			Peter Kearney
1959	Bellaghy	3-04	Desertmartin	1-03		Ballinascreen			Peter Kearney
1960	Bellaghy	1-05	Dungiven	2-01		Ballinascreen			Gerry McCann
1961	Bellaghy	w/o	Ballymaguigan						Gerry McCann
1962	Ballymaguigan	2-100-06	Castledawson	1-05 1-03*		Magherafelt	Jim McGuigan / Jim Lynn		Denis McKeever
1963	Bellaghy	2-12	Newbridge	2-08		Magherafelt	Jim McGuigan		Tom Scullion
1964	Bellaghy	2-09	Ballerin	0-10		Magherafelt	Barry McFadden		Tom Scullion
1965	Bellaghy	3-11	Ballerin	0-10		Dungiven	Barry McFadden		Tom Scullion
1966	Newbridge	2-10	Dungiven	0-03		Magherafelt			Mickey Gribben
1967	Newbridge	0-11	Magherafelt	1-07		Ballinascreen			Brian Devlin
1968	Bellaghy	2-03	Newbridge	0-07		Magherafelt			Tom Scullion
1969	Bellaghy	1-09	Slaughtneil	0-08		Magherafelt			Tom Quinn
1970	Newbridge	3-08	Bellaghy	0-13		Magherafelt			Patsy McLarnon
1971	Bellaghy	2-12	Lavey	0-05		Magherafelt			Larry Diamond
1972	Bellaghy	0-14	Ballerin	1-08		Dungiven	Tom McFeely		Larry Diamond
1973	Ballinascreen	2-14	Bellaghy	1-10		Magherafelt	Dermot Mullan		^[1] Tommy McKenna
1974	Ballinderry	1-04	Banagher	1-03		Ballerin	Willie Harkin		Sean McGuckin
1975	Bellaghy	1-091-05	Magherafelt	0-03 0-08*		Ballinascreen	Patsy Mulholland		Frankie O'Loane
1976	Ballerin	0-09	Dungiven	0-03		Magherafelt	Murty Higgins		Eamon Moloney
1977	Lavey	1-18	Ballinderry Shamrocks	0-07		Magherafelt	Seamus Mullan		Niall Hurley
1978	Magherafelt	1-04	Banagher	1-03		Swatragh	Louis Downey		Gerry O'Loughlin
1979	Bellaghy	0-141-05	Magherafelt	0-03 0-08*		Ballinascreen	Bobby Mullan		Hugh McGoldrick
1980	Ballinderry	0-070-11	Lavey	0-041-08*		Magherafelt / Ballinascreen	Patsy Mulholland		Sean McIvor
1981	Ballinderry	0-07	Banagher	0-05		Ballerin	Murty Higgins		Pat McGuckin
1982	Ballinderry	0-07	Dungiven	0-05		Swatragh	Patsy Mulholland		Dessie Rocks
1983	Dungiven	1-04	Magherafelt	1-03		Ballinascreen	Sean Bradley		Colm McGuigan
1984	Dungiven	0-09	Castledawson	0-08		Greenlough	Murty Higgins		Plunkett Murphy
1985	Glenullin	1-09	Ballinderry Shamrocks	1-05		Ballinascreen	John Diamond		Dermot McNicholl
1986	Bellaghy	3-05	Ballinderry	1-06		Ballinascreen	Anthony O'Neill		Tommy Doherty
1987	Dungiven				NO FINAL				Liam McElhinney
1988	Lavey	0-11	Newbridge	0-06		Glen	Kevin Cassidy		Henry Downey	Hugh Martin McGurk (1-19)
1989	Newbridge	3-04	Castledawson	0-09		Ballinascreen	Billy McKeever	Liam Devlin	Damian Barton	Fergal Kearney (1-14)
1990	Lavey	3-14	Ballinascreen	1-07		Magherafelt	F. Connolly	Brian McCormick	Johnny McGurk	Eamonn Burns (0-24)
1991	Dungiven	3-05	Newbridge	0-04		Ballinascreen	Noel McGurk	Shane Heavern	Plunkett Murphy	Damian Cassidy (4-6)
1992	Lavey	2-06	Ballinascreen	0-09		Bellaghy	Owen Roe O'Neill	Seamus Downey	Anthony Scullion	Éamonn Burns (2-17)
1993	Lavey	3-05	Swatragh	0-08		Glenullin	Matt Armstrong	Colm McGurk	Anthony Scullion	Anthony Tohill (2-26)
1994	Bellaghy	2-10	Ballinascreen	0-08		Swatragh	Phonsey Guyler	Damian Cassidy	Danny Quinn	Karl Diamond (0-24)
1995	Ballinderry	1-08	Bellaghy	0-08		Glen	Anthony O'Neill	Gerard Cassidy & Adrian McGuckin	Raymond Bell	Karl Diamond (1-18)
1996	Bellaghy	2-11	Dungiven	0-07	The Irish News	Celtic Park	PJ Cassidy	David O'Neill	Gareth Doherty	Éamonn Burns (2-24)
1997	Dungiven	2-09	Castledawson	0-09		Celtic Park	Dessie Kearney	Joe Brolly	Emmett McKeever	Joe Brolly (1-25)
1998	Bellaghy	1-13	Lavey	2-04		Celtic Park	Anthony O'Neill	Gavin Diamond	Kevin O'Neill	Gavin Diamond (1-21)
1999	Bellaghy	1-11	Ballinderry	0-11		Ballinascreen	Dessie Kearney	Damian Cassidy	Karl Diamond	Gerard Cassidy (3-22)
2000	Bellaghy	0-09	Ballinderry	0-08		Ballinascreen	Aidan McAlynn	Gareth Doherty	Ciaran McNally	Seanie McGuckin (2-28)
2001	Ballinderry	1-09	Bellaghy	0-11		Ballinascreen	Declan O'Connor	Gerard Cassidy	Adrian McGuckin	Gerard Cassidy & Gavin Diamond (1-26)
2002	Ballinderry	1-11	An Lúb	0-06		Celtic Park		Conleith Gilligan	Gerard Cassidy	Gerard Cassidy (0-26)
2003	An Lúb	0-11	Ballinderry	0-07		Celtic Park		Padraig O'Kane	Johnny McBride	Jim Kelly (1-15)
2004	Slaughtneil	1-08	Bellaghy	0-09		Glen	T O'Kane	Padrig Kelly	Shane Kelly	Jim Kelly (3-12)
2005	Bellaghy	2-07	An Lúb	1-06		Celtic Park	S McGuigan	Joe Diver	Joe Cassidy	Joe Cassidy (0-21)
2006	Ballinderry	2-11	An Lúb	0-09		Celtic Park	JJ Cleary	Conleith Gilligan	Conleith Gilligan	Conleith Gilligan & Paddy Bradley (0-18)
2007	Glenullin	0-101-09	Bellaghy	1-061-09*		Celtic ParkCeltic Park	B TolandD O'Connor	Gerard O'Kane	Paddy Bradley	Conleith Gilligan (1-26)
2008	Ballinderry	0-10	Slaughtneil	0-08	BBC Sport Irish Independent	Celtic Park	B Toland	Raymond Wilkinson	Enda Muldoon	Paul Bradley
2009	An Lúb	1-08	Dungiven	0-10		Celtic Park	B Toland	Joe O'Kane	Joe O'Kane	Cathal Grieve
2010	Eoghan Rua, Coleraine	2-11	Ballinderry	0-15		Celtic Park	B Cassidy	Declan Mullan	Richard Carey	Cailen O'Boyle
2011	Ballinderry	2-05	Kilrea	0-06	BBC Sport,	Celtic Park	D Loughrey	Martin Harney	Kevin McGuckin	James Kielt
2012	Ballinderry	1-10	Slaughtneil	0-10	^[2]	Celtic Park	S Hamill	Enda Muldoon	Ryan Scott	Christopher Bradley
2013	Ballinderry	3-10	Ballinascreen	2-07	^[3]	Celtic Park	B Cassidy	Coilin Devlin	Conor Nevin	Benny Heron
2014	Slaughtneil	1-08		Ballinderry	0-09	^[4]	Celtic Park	A Campbell	Patsy Bradley	Francis McEldowney
2015	Slaughtneil	1-07	Eoghan Rua, Coleraine	0-09	^[5]	Celtic Park	D O'Neill	Paul Bradley	Francis McEldowney
2016		2-11	An Lúb	0-06	^[6]	Celtic Park	Benny Quinn	Padraig Cassidy	Francis McEldowney	Shane McGuigan (2-15)
		4-12	Ballinascreen	1-11	^[7]	Celtic Park	Dan Mullan	Shane McGuigan	Patsy Bradley	Shane McGuigan (3-15)
		1-12	Lavey	0-12	^[8] Highlights	Celtic Park	Damien Harkin	Liam McGoldrick	Colm McGoldrick	Colm McGoldrick
	Magherafelt	0-12	Glen	0-11	^[9] BBC^[10] Derry Now	Celtic Park	JJ Cleary	Emmett McGuckin	Danny Heavron	Shane Heavron (0-20)
		0-11	Magherafelt	1-04	BBC ^[11]	Bellaghy	Barry Cassidy	Chrissy McKaigue	Karl McKaigue / Shane McGuigan	Shane McGuigan (4-47)
	Glen	1-13		0-07	BBC ^[12]	Celtic Park	S Curran	Ciaran McFaul	Conor Carville	Shane McGuigan
2022	Glen	1-12		0-07	RTE ^[13]	Celtic Park	G Hegarty		Conor Carville	Shane McGuigan
2023	Glen	1-13	Magherafelt	0-07		Celtic Park	Benny Quinn		Conor Carville

Notes:

• 1907 - Éire Óg club is now defunct.
• 1938 - Pearse's was a Derry City club, now defunct.
• 1944 - Mitchel's was a Derry City club, now defunct.

Wins listed by club

	Club	Wins	Years won
align=center	1	align=center	Bellaghy	align=center	21	1956 1958 1959 1960 1961 1963 1964 1965 1968 1969 1971 1972 1975 1979 1986 1994 1996 1998 1999 2000 2005
align=center	2	align=center	Ballinderry	align=center	13	1927, 1974, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1995 2001, 2002, 2006, 2008 2011, 2012, 2013
align=center	3	align=center	Newbridge	align=center	10	1937 1940 1945 1948 1950 1955 1966 1967 1970 1989
align=center	4	align=center	Lavey	align=center	9	1938, 1943, 1944, 1954, 1977, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993
align=center	5	align=center	Dungiven	align=center	7	1947 1951 1983 1984 1987 1991 1997
6	align=center	Magherafelt	6	1939, 1942, 1946, 1949, 1978, 2019
align=center	Slaughtneil	2004, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020
8	align=center	Ballinascreen	align=center	4	1934, 1935, 1941, 1973
9	Glen	3	2021, 2022, 2023
	Glenullin		1928, 1985, 2007
	align=center		An Lúb	1936, 2003, 2009
12	Ballerin	2	1957, 1976
	Eoghan Rua, Coleraine		2010, 2018
	Éire Óg		1907, 1952
15	align=center	Ballymaguigan	1	1962
Desertmartin	1953
align=center	Clan Chonail	1914
align=center	Sarsfield’s*	1916
align=center	St Patrick’s	1917
align=center	Emmett’s	1918
align=center	Derry Guilds	1921
align=center	Buncrana	1930
align=center	Burt	1931

Notes:

• 1914 Clan Chonail are a Donegal team.
• 1916 Sarsfield's are now defunct. They were a Derry City club, a fore-runner to the modern-day Doire Colmcille club.
• 1930 Buncrana are a Donegal team.
• 1931 Burt are a Donegal team.

See also

• Derry club football competitions

External links

• Official Derry GAA website
• Derry at Hogan Stand
• Derry at ClubGAA
• County Derry Post / Derry Now

Notes and References

1. Web site: Gunning for glory.
2. News: Derry SFC final: Devlin's goal sinks Slaughtneil . 22 October 2012 . . 22 October 2012.
3. News: Ballinderry repeat hat-trick . 7 October 2013 . . 7 October 2013.
4. Web site: Last-gasp Bradley goal secures title for Slaughtneil. 20 October 2014 . . 20 October 2014.
5. News: Derry SFC final: Slaughtneil do the 'double double' . 5 October 2015 . . 4 October 2015.
6. Web site: Derry SFC final: Slaughtneil ease to 'treble treble' . 18 October 2016 . . 17 October 2016.
7. Web site: Derry SFC final: Slaughtneil complete four in-a-row in style . 25 September 2017 . . 24 September 2017.
8. News: Coleraine overcome Lavey in Derry. BBC Sport.
9. News: Magherafelt win first title since 1978. BBC Sport.
10. Web site: Glory days as Magherafelt land the ultimate prize.
11. News: Slaughtneil regain Derry football title. BBC Sport.
12. News: Watch: Glen defeat champions Slaughtneil to lift first Derry SFC title. BBC Sport.
13. Web site: Glen ease past Slaughtneil in battle of Derry titans . RTE.ie . 26 October 2022 . 23 October 2022.