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The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship is the premier inter-county football tournament of the Gaelic Athletic Association or the GAA. The tournament was established in 1887 and this year’s All-Ireland SFC is the 132nd edition of the popular and iconic football tournament.
How Is The Tournament Played?
The tournament is contested by the top inter-county teams in Ireland. Each of the 32 counties in Ireland play in their respective Gaelic games with counties playing for their Provincincial Championships, namely Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster. These provincial championships take place during the months of May and June with the winner of the four championship games moving forward to the All-Ireland Super 8, a round robin stage to the All-Ireland Championship.
The teams that don’t win the Provincial title get a second opportunity to advance via “the backdoor” through the All-Ireland Qualifiers. Teams play four rounds in the months of June and July with the four winners of the Qualifiers joining the four Provincial champions in the Super 8. The 8 teams are grouped in to two and then play in group stage matches during the months of July and August. The winners of each group will face the runners-up of the opposite group with the winners disputing the All-Ireland Finals in August with the winner hoisting the Sam Maguire Cup. The final for this year’s All-Ireland SFC is slated for September 1, 2019. Read our post on how to bet on gaelic football.
Last year, Dublin won the 2018 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, winning their fourth All-Ireland championship in a row, joining Wexford and Kerry (two times) as the only teams to accomplish the feat. Should Dublin go on to win the title again this year, they will become the first team to win five consecutive senior football championships.
Here are the complete odds to win the 2019 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. Odds taken from bet365 as of 4/10/19:
| Teams | Odds |
|---|---|
| Dublin | -150 |
| Kerry | +400 |
| Mayo | +800 |
| Tyrone | +1000 |
| Galway | +1400 |
| Donegal | +2000 |
| Monaghan | +2200 |
| Kildare | +8000 |
| Cork | +10000 |
| Roscommon | +12500 |
| Meath | +12500 |
| Armagh | +17500 |
| Cavan | +20000 |
| Tipperary | +20000 |
| Down | +40000 |
The Favorites
Dublin has won the Ireland Senior Football Championship a total of 28 times. Although Kerry has more titles, Dublin has won the All-Ireland championship a total of six times since 2010. Last year, Dublin defeated Tyrone by six points to win the 130th Ireland Senior Football Championship. The squad has also won the National Football League a total of 13 times, including last year and 2013-2016. Again, only Kerry has won more National Football League titles with 20. Dublin sent seven players to the All-Star team last year, twice more than the next county.
Kerry has won the Ireland Senior Football Championship a total of 37 times, the National League 20 times and has been in the All-Ireland Finals in a total of 59 occasions. While most of these achievement happened during the 1970’s and 1980’s, Kerry has kept itself among Ireland’s elites. The team suffered a downfall late in the 20th century but they came back strong in 1997. For sure, they weren’t as dominant as in the past but that’s mainly due to improved competition.
The last time Kerry won the title was in 2014 but with a new manager in Peter Keane who is a three-time winner in the Minors of the All-Ireland, Kerry is poised to take its place back on top of the All-Ireland SFC. With 2018 PxC All-Star award winner David Clifford and young star Gavin White, there is no question that Kerry is an excellent pick with the plus money.
Mayo has been playing very well too and is also having an outstanding year. Like Kerry, this team underwent several changes and hired a new manager in James Horan. Despite playing in the finals in three out of the last six years, Mayo is still waiting to finally hoist the Sam Maguire Cup. This year though, Mayo already has wins over Kerry and Tyrone. The hopes are high for Mayo as they look to end a 70-year title drought.
Tyrone has won the All-Ireland three times in the 2000’s and have played great seasons recently. They made the Finals last year, losing to Dublin . But their efforts left to seven nominations at the PwC Awards. Colm Cavanagh has been awarded as All-Star in 2017 and 2018 while Padraig Hampsey won his first All-Star award last year. Tyrone’s not having a great season so far but after an impressive performance against Dublin, they aren’t to be counted out yet.
Who Wins?
No question that Dublin, being the four-time defending champion are the favorites to win a historic fifth title. But as we mentioned earlier, Kerry provides great value at plus money given how well they have been playing so far under new management. I like Dublin to repeat, yet again but Kerry at +400 certainly cannot be overlooked especially with how they have improved.
So yes, taking betting value into consideration, I’m placing my money on Kerry to win the 2019 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.
