The Connacht Senior Football Championship, known simply as the Connacht Championship and shortened to Connacht SFC, is an annual Gaelic football competition for the senior county teams of Connacht GAA. All of the county teams of Connacht participate in the championship, as well as London and New York. The winning team receives the Nestor Cup.[1]
The Connacht SFC is run on a knock-out basis through which teams are eliminated from the competition. A series of games are played during the summer months and the final is played in June or July. The winner and runner-up progresses directly to the All-Ireland SFC Group Stage. Before 2020, all losing teams progressed to the All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers, while, prior to 2001, the All-Ireland SFC was a straight knock-out format, which meant all losing teams were eliminated after a single defeat.
Galway are the three-time title holder, having defeated Mayo by 0–16 to 0–15 in the 2024 final.[2]
Galway are Connacht's most successful county, with 50 Connacht SFC titles and 9 All-Ireland SFC titles. Mayo are next, with 47 Connacht SFC titles and 3 All-Ireland SFC titles. Roscommon have won the Connacht SFC title 24 times, most recently in 2019, as well having won 2 All-Ireland SFC titles. Apart from those three, no other team competing in Connacht has won an All-Ireland SFC title.
Sligo have won the Nestor Cup three times, most recently in 2007. Leitrim have won the competition twice, most recently in 1994.
London have competed in the Connacht SFC since 1975, while New York joined in 1999. In this time London have managed three victories: one in 1977 and two in 2013, against Sligo and Leitrim.[3][4][5] New York recorded their first, and, so far, only, victory in the championship over Leitrim in 2023.[6]
The competing counties play for the JJ Nestor Cup, which is presented to the winning captain on Connacht Final Day.
Seven counties will compete in the 2025 Connacht Senior Football Championship: the five counties in the Irish province of Connacht and the two foreign-based teams of London and New York.
The following teams have competed in the Connacht SFC for at least one season.
Legend
For each year, the number of competing teams is shown (in brackets).
* = Rescheduled for 2025, after being postponed in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games are Roscommon v London and Galway v New York, for their first fixtures since 2015.
+ = Rescheduled for 2026, after being absent in 2021 for the same reason are Mayo v London and Roscommon v New York, for their first fixtures since 2016 (in rotation).
In 2027, Sligo v New York, Leitrim v London are lined up. In 2028, Sligo v London, Leitrim v New York if London and New York don't win before that in 2029 Galway v London and Mayo v New York like in 2024.
Mayo (1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910)
Galway (1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960) Mayo (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015) Mayo (1929, 1930, 1931, 1932) Mayo (1948, 1949, 1950, 1951) Galway (1963, 1964, 1965, 1966)
Roscommon (1977, 1978, 1979, 1980) Mayo (1935, 1936, 1937) Galway (1940, 1941, 1942) Galway (1982, 1983, 1984) Galway (2022, 2023, 2024) Mayo (1915, 1916) Mayo (1920, 1921) Mayo (1923, 1924) Galway (1925, 1926) Galway (1933, 1934) Roscommon (1943, 1944) Roscommon (1946, 1947) Roscommon (1952, 1953) Roscommon (1961, 1962) Galway (1970, 1971) Galway (1973, 1974) Galway (1986, 1987) Mayo (1988, 1989) Roscommon (1990, 1991) Mayo (1992, 1993) Mayo (1996, 1997) Galway (2002, 2003) Mayo (2020, 2021) Galway (1900, 1902, 1911, 1913, 1917, 1919, 1922, 1938, 1945, 1954, 1968, 1976, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2008, 2016, 2018) Mayo (1901, 1904, 1918, 1939, 1955, 1967, 1969, 1981, 1985, 1999, 2004, 2006, 2009) Roscommon (1892, 1903, 1905, 1912, 1914, 1972, 2001, 2010, 2017, 2019)
Sligo (1928, 1975, 2007)
Leitrim (1927, 1994)The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Connacht SFC titles, is as follows:
Mayo (1901, 1904, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909) Mayo (1910, 1915, 1916, 1918) and Galway (1911, 1913, 1917, 1919) Mayo (1920, 1921, 1923, 1924, 1929) Mayo (1930, 1931, 1932, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1939) Mayo (1940, 1941, 1942, 1945) and Roscommon (1943, 1944, 1946, 1947) Galway (1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959) Galway (1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968) Galway (1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1976) Galway (1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987) Mayo (1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1999) Galway (2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008) Mayo (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015) Galway (2022, 2023, 2024)No county teamss have appeared in the final, being victorious on all occasions.
On the opposite end of the scale, one team has appeared in the final, losing on each occasion:
London (2013)Managers in the Connacht SFC are involved in the day-to-day running of the team, including the training, team selection, and sourcing of players from the club championships. Their influence varies from county-to-county and is related to the individual county boards. From 2018, all inter-county head coaches must be Award 2 qualified. The manager is assisted by a team of two or three selectors and an extensive backroom team consisting of various coaches. Prior to the development of the concept of a manager in the 1970s, teams were usually managed by a team of selectors with one member acting as chairman.