1981 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final

1981 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final

Event	1981 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
Kerry Offaly 1–12 (15) 0–8 (8)
Date	20 September 1981
Venue	Croke Park, Dublin
Referee	Paddy Collins (Westmeath)
Attendance	61,489
← 1980 1982 →

The 1981 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was the 94th All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1981 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland.

This was one of the 13 consecutive All-Ireland SFC finals contested by either Dublin or Kerry between 1974 and 1986, a period when one of either team always contested the decider. ^[1]

Match

Summary

Kerry completed a four-in-a-row with a brilliant Jack O'Shea goal. ^[2]

It was the second of five All-Ireland SFC titles won by Kerry in the 1980s. ^[3]

Details

20 September 1981 Final	Kerry	1–12 – 0–8	Offaly	Croke Park, Dublin Attendance: 61,489 Referee: Paddy Collins (Westmeath)
	M Sheehy 0–5, J O'Shea 1–0, D Moran 0–2, T Doyle 0–1, J Egan 0–1, P Ó Sé 0–1, S Walsh 0–1, G Power 0–1		M Connor 0–4, S Lowry 0–2, T O'Connor 0–1, B Lowry 0–1

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Kerry

Offaly

Kerry

• 1 C. Nelligan
• 2 J. Deenihan (c)
• 3 J. O'Keeffe
• 4 P. Lynch
• 5 P. Ó Sé
• 6 T. Kennelly
• 7 M. Spillane
• 8 S. Walsh
• 9 J. O'Shea
• 10 G. Power
• 11 D. Moran
• 12 T. Doyle
• 13 M. Sheehy
• 14 E. Liston
• 15 J. Egan

Subs used

P. Spillane for J. Egan

G. O'Keeffe for M. Spillane

Subs not used

18 T. Spillane

19 P. Sheahan

20 B. O'Sullivan

21 P. O'Mahony

Manager

M. O'Dwyer

Offaly

• 1 M. Furlong
• 2 M. Fitzgerald
• 3 L. O'Connor
• 4 C. Conroy
• 5 P. Fitzgerald
• 6 R. Connor (c)
• 7 L. Currams
• 8 T. O'Connor
• 9 P. Dunne
• 10 V. Henry
• 11 G. Carroll
• 12 A. O'Halloran
• 13 M. Connor
• 14 S. Lowry
• 15 B. Lowry

Subs used

24 J. Mooney for T. Connor

21 J. Moran for V. Henry

Subs not used

16 D. Wynne

17 O. Minnock

18 S. Darby

19 M. Wright

20 T. Fitzpatrick

22 J. Guinan

23 M. Lowry

Manager

E. McGee

References

1. Crowe, Dermot (30 March 2025). "Marching on together". Sunday Independent . From 1974 to 1986, every final had Kerry or Dublin in it and in six of those they were the final pairing. They shared every All-Ireland going in that time save for Offaly's famous heist of 1982.
2. High Ball magazine, issue #6, 1998.
3. "Kerry on honour roll". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. 14 September 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2009.