Tailteann Cup

Creation Following ongoing one-sided matches in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship between counties of differing standards, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) began considering the addition of a tournament for those counties that were eliminated in the early stages of their respective provincial championship. At a national conference in November 2018, the GAA found broad support for the introduction of this championship and canvassed options for its potential structure and future inclusion within the annual calendar. One year later at a specially convened congress, 76% of delegates formally approved of the second-tier tournament. The tournament was named the Tailteann Cup in February 2020, and it was intended it would hold its inaugural season that year. However, its introduction was ultimately delayed until 2022, due the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games over that period. Alternative championship competitions, such as the Christy Ring Cup and Nicky Rackard Cup, had been incorporated into hurling for several years, later joined by the Joe McDonagh Cup from 2018 onwards. Format history 2022 The first Tailteann Cup was a knockout tournament whereby once a team was defeated they were eliminated from the championship. The pairings were drawn by location. Each match was played as a single leg. 2023–2025 The Tailteann Cup emulated the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship format which includes a group stage and a knockout stage. 2026- Alongside the All-Ireland SFC, the Tailteann Cup moved to a double-elimination format from 2026 onwards. Tailteann Cup moments • Westmeath 2-14 - 1-13 Cavan (1 July 2022): Westmeath won the inaugural Tailteann Cup, defeating Cavan in Croke Park. • Down 8-16 - 2-12 Laois (25 June 2023): This semi-final meeting was the biggest ever Tailteann Cup winning margin in the competition's history. ==Format==

(in red jerseys) take on Laois during the 2024 final Up to 17 teams compete in the cup. The teams are drawn from the bottom 16 rankings from that season's National Football League, plus New York. However, if a team in this position qualifies for the final of its provincial championship, that team continues to compete in the same year's All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and does not compete in the Tailteann Cup. The teams that compete in the Tailteann Cup play a first round against each other, with winners and losers moving into two separate brackets afterwards, followed by semi-finals and the final. The Winners of the four Quarter Final pairings qualify for the semi-finals, with pairings decided via an open draw. The final of the Tailteann Cup is currently scheduled three weeks before the All-Ireland Football Final, and is staged at Croke Park in Dublin. For the inaugural 2022 Tailteann Cup, the format was altered to a straight-knockout competition with Round 1 and the Quarter Finals organised on a geographical basis with Northern and Southern Sections. From 2023 to 2025, there are scheduled to be no North/South sections. Unlike the contest for the Sam Maguire Cup, London and New York are permitted to meet each other in the contest for the Tailteann Cup. Tailteann Cup knockout stage Round 1 (16 teams remaining) The sixteen teams who did not qualify for the All-Ireland series are drawn at random into eight ties. The first team chosen receives home-field advantage. Round 2A (Eight teams) Winners of the Round 1 ties play each other in this round, with fixtures chosen by open draw and the first team chosen playing at home. Three winners progress to the quarter-finals and one team moves to the preliminary quarter-final. Round 2B (Eight teams) Losers of the Round 1 ties play each other in this round. Winners progress to Round 3 and losers are eliminated. Round 3 (Eight teams) Losers of Round 2A ties play winners of Round 2B ties in this round. Home advantage is determined by a separate draw from the draw for fixtures and rematches from Round One are avoided where possible. Winners progress to the quarter-finals and losers are eliminated. Preliminary quarter-final (Two teams) One Round 2A winner (selected at random) plays New York in this round. The Round 2A winner is guaranteed home advantage unless that team is London, in which case the game will be moved to a neutral site in Ireland. Quarter-finals (Eight teams remaining) Winners from Round 2A and the preliminary quarter-final are seeded and play a Round 3 winner, with rematches avoided where possible. Round 2A/PQF winners receive home advantage unless they are New York, who will play at a neutral site in Ireland should they advance. Semi-finals (Four teams remaining) The winners of the quarter-finals make up the semi-final pairings. Rematches from either provincial championships or earlier in the Tailteann Cup are avoided where possible. Games are played at neutral venues determined by the Competition Committee. Two teams are eliminated at this stage while the winners advance to the final. Final The two winners of the semi-finals contest this game. Winning team are declared Tailteann Cup champions. ==Teams==

2026 teams Seventeen teams compete in the 2026 Tailteann Cup. ==Venues==

Cup venues Group stage, preliminary quarter-finals and quarter-finals Fixtures in the three group stage rounds of the cup are played at the home ground of one of the two teams. Each team is guaranteed at least one home game. Semi-finals and final The Tailteann Cup semi-finals and final are played at Croke Park. 2023 venues ==Managers==

Winning managers ==List of finals==

Performances by county team Performances by province ==Team records and statistics==

Team results Legend • – Champion • – Runner-up • – Semi-finalist • – Preliminary Round/Round 1/Group Stage/Preliminary Quarter-final/Quarter-final • AI – All-Ireland Senior Football Championship For each year, the number of teams in each championship (in brackets) are shown. Seasons in Tailteann Cup The number of years that each county team has played in the Tailteann Cup (between 2022 and 2025). A total of 20 county teams have competed in at least one season of the Tailteann Cup. The county teams in bold participated in the 2025 Tailteann Cup. Debut of county teams All-time table Legend After 2025 Tailteann Cup By decade The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Tailteann Cup titles, is as follows: • 2020s: 1 each for Westmeath (2022), Meath (2023), Down (2024) and Kildare (2025). Match records • Most matches played • 18, Laois • Most wins • 11, Down • Most losses • 9, Longford, Waterford, Tipperary, London • Most draws • 3, Laois Other records Finishing positions • Most championships • 1, Westmeath (2022) • 1, Meath (2023) • 1, Down (2024) • 1, Kildare (2025) • Most second-place finishes • 1, Cavan (2022) • 1, Down (2023) • 1, Laois (2024) • 1, Limerick (2025) • Most semi-final finishes • 2, Sligo (2022, 2024) • 2, Antrim (2023, 2024) • Most quarter-final finishes • 2, Carlow (2022, 2023) • 2, Fermanagh (2022, 2024) • 2, Limerick (2023, 2024) • 2, Wexford (2024, 2025) • Most preliminary quarter-final finishes • 3, New York (2023, 2024), 2025) • Most group stage finishes • 3, Waterford (2023, 2024, 2025) Unbeaten sides • Teams that have won the Tailteann Cup unbeaten: • Westmeath had 4 wins in 2022. • Meath had 6 wins in 2023. • Down had 6 wins in 2024. • Kildare had 6 wins in 2025. Beaten sides On five occasions a team was defeated twice, but remained in the knockout championship: • Longford (2023) were beaten by Carlow and Limerick, but still qualified for the knockout stage. • Tipperary (2024) were beaten by Sligo and Antrim, but still qualified for the knockout stage. • Wicklow (2024) were beaten by Fermanagh and Laois, but still qualified for the knockout stage. • London (2024) were beaten by Down and Limerick, but still qualified for the knockout stage. • Antrim (2025) were beaten by Westmeath and Limerick, but still qualified for the knockout stage. Final success rate Three teams have been victorious on each occasion they have appeared in the final: • Westmeath (2022) • Meath (2023) • Kildare (2025) On the opposite end of the scale, three teams have lost on each occasion they have appeared in the final: • Cavan (2022) • Laois (2024) • Limerick (2025) Consecutive participations • 5, Antrim (2022–2026) • 5, Carlow (2022–2026) • 5, Fermanagh (2022–2026) • 5, Laois (2022–2026) • 5, Leitrim (2022–2026) • 5, London (2022–2026) • 5, Longford (2022–2026) • 5, New York (2022–2026) • 5, Offaly (2022–2026) • 5, Tipperary (2022–2026) • 5, Waterford (2022–2026) • 5, Wexford (2022–2026) • 5, Wicklow (2022–2026) 13 counties have the record number of consecutive participations in the Tailteann Cup, taking part in the all five editions of the competition. Winning other trophies Although not an officially recognised achievement, no teams have ever achieved the distinction of winning the Tailteann Cup and their respective Division in the National Football League. Biggest wins • The most one sided finals: • 5 points – 2023: Meath 2–13 - 0–14 Down • 4 points – 2022: Westmeath 2–14 - 1–13 Cavan • The most one sided matches: • 22 points – 2024: Waterford 0–6 - 5–15 Kildare • 22 points – 2023: Down 8–16 - 2–12 Laois • 20 points – 2024: Kildare 3–25 - 1–11 Longford • 18 points – 2023: Tipperary 0–6 - 2–18 Down • 17 points – 2023: Meath 2–23 - 0–12 Wexford • 17 points – 2024: Sligo 2–20 - 0–9 London • 17 points – 2024: London 0–10 - 1–24 Down • 16 points – 2024: Tipperary 1–12 - 3–22 Sligo • 15 points – 2022: Offaly 3–17 - 0–11 New York Scoring Events • Most goals in a match: • 10 – 2023: Down 8–16 - 2–12 Laois • Most points in a match: • 38 – 2022: Westmeath 3–22 - 2–16 Offaly • Most goals by one team in a match: • 8 – 2023: Down 8–16 - 2–12 Laois • Most points by one team in a match: • 25 – 2023: Cavan 2–25 - 2–9 Offaly • 25 – 2024: Kildare 3–25 - 1–11 Longford • Highest aggregate score: • 58 points – 2023: Down 8–16 - 2-12 Laois • Lowest aggregate score: • 21 points – 2024: Laois 0–11 - 0–10 Wicklow Successful defending Defending champions are promoted to the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in the following year, and a number of teams maintained that status in the year beyond that. These are: • Westmeath 1 attempts out of 1 (2024) • Meath 1 attempts out of 1 (2025) Gaps • Longest gap between successive cup titles: • 0 years: N/A • Longest gap between successive Tailteann Cup final appearances: • 1 year: Down (2023–2024) • Longest gap between successive championship appearances • 3 years: Westmeath (2022–2025) Active gaps • Longest active gap since last title: • 3 years: Westmeath (2022–) • Longest active gaps since last cup final appearance: • 3 years: Westmeath (2022–), Cavan (2022–) • Longest active gap since last cup appearance • 2 years: Cavan (2023–), Meath (2023–) Provinces • To date, the Tailteann Cup final has not involved two teams from the same province. • The province providing the highest number of different winning teams is Leinster, with three: • Meath • Westmeath • Kildare • Province success rates (of counties that have ever competed in the competition) • Leinster 33% (3 out of 9 counties) • Connacht 0% (0 out of 2 counties) • Munster 0% (0 out of 3 counties) • Ulster 25% (1 out of 4 counties) Tailteann Cup final pairings Longest undefeated run The record for the longest unbeaten run stands at 6 games held by Westmeath (2022–2025), Meath (2023–), Down (2024–) and Kildare (2025–) Miscellaneous • Best finish by a debuting team • Champions: Westmeath (2022), Meath (2023) • Highest winning record • 100%, Meath (6 wins in 6 matches) • Lowest winning record • 0%, New York (0 wins in 4 matches) • Most played match • 2, Antrim vs Leitrim (2022, 2023) • 2, Cavan vs Down (2022, 2023) • 2, Down vs Meath (2023 (2x)) • 2, Offaly vs Wexford (2022, 2023) • 2, Down vs Laois (2023, 2024) == Individual records ==

Top scorer Overall Final Player of the Year Team of the Year Players with more than one appearance • Seán Carrabine (2022, 2024; Sligo) • Evan Lyons (2022, 2024; Sligo) • Pierce Laverty (2023, 2024; Down) • Odhran Murdock (2023, 2024; Down) • Sam McCartan (2022, 2025; Westmeath) • D Kirwan (2024, 2025; Kildare) 2022 • Aidan Devaney (Sligo) • Jack Smith (Westmeath) • Kevin Maguire (Westmeath) • Evan Lyons (Sligo) • Jason McLoughlin (Cavan) • Ronan Wallace (Westmeath) • Killian Clarke (Cavan) • Sam McCartan (Westmeath) • Seán Carrabine (Sligo) • Gearóid McKiernan (Cavan) • Ronan O'TooleFOTY (Westmeath) • Anton Sullivan (Offaly) • Gerard Smith (Cavan) • John Heslin (Westmeath) • Keith Beirne (Leitrim) Reference: Tailteann Cup Team of the Year 2022 2023 • Seán Brennan (Meath) • Adam O'Neill (Meath) • Pierce Laverty (Down) • Padraig Faulkner (Cavan) • Donal Keogan (Meath) • Padraic Harnan (Meath) • Danny Magill (Down) • Odhran Murdock (Down) • Conor Gray (Meath) • Jack Flynn (Meath) • Ross Dunphy (Carlow) • Liam Kerr (Down) • Jordan Morris (Meath) • Mathew CostelloFOTY (Meath) • Ruairí McCann (Antrim) Reference: Tailteann Cup Team of the Year 2023 2024 • Killian Roche (Laois) • Pierce Laverty (Down) • Ryan McEvoy (Down) • Kavan Keenan (Antrim) • Daniel Guinness (Down) • Brian Byrne (Laois) • Evan Lyons (Sligo) • Emmet Rigter (Limerick) • Odhran Murdock (Down) • Mark Barry (Laois) • Darragh Kirwan (Kildare) • Seán Carrabine (Sligo) • Niall Murphy (Sligo) • Evan O'Carroll (Laois) • Pat HavernFOTY (Down) Reference: Tailteann Cup Team of the Year 2024 2025 • Josh Ryan (Limerick) • Harry O'Neill (Kildare) • Lee Cullen (Fermanagh) • Malachy Stone (Wicklow) • James McGrath (Kildare) • Iain Corbett (Limerick) • Sam McCartan (Westmeath) • Dean Healy (Wicklow) • Kevin Feely (Kildare) • James Naughton (Limerick) • Alex BeirneFOTY (Kildare) • Danny Neville (Limerick) • Luke Loughlin (Westmeath) • Darragh Kirwan (Kildare) • Sean Nolan (Wexford) Reference: Tailteann Cup Team of the Year 2025 ==See also==