The "back-door" system
Since its inception in 1928 the championship had been played on a straight knock-out basis. If any team was defeated at any stage of the provincial or All-Ireland competitions it meant automatic elimination. This system was deemed the fairest as the All-Ireland champions would always be the team who won all of their games. There were some problems with this system. Over the years Galway had become the only credible hurling team in Connacht, thus giving them an automatic pass into the All-Ireland semi-finals every year. Similarly in Ulster there were many problems as hurling was much weaker and confined to a small few counties in the north-east of the province.
In 1995 the Hurling Development Committee began investigating a way of improving hurling in general and revamping the senior and minor championships. Their proposals involved allowing the defeated Munster and Leinster finalists to re-enter the All-Ireland championship. While the two provincial final winners would automatically qualify for the All-Ireland semi-finals the two defeated provincial teams would join Galway and the Ulster champions in two play-off games or "quarter-finals". The two winners from these two games would then qualify for the semi-finals where they would be drawn against the Leinster and Munster champions. Repeat games would be avoided in the All-Ireland semi-final stage.
At the start of 1996 these proposals looked unlikely of being introduced, however, a whistle-stop tour undertaken by the committee's secretary Frank Murphy and Pat Daly, the GAA's Games Development Officer, had changed the position. In April 1996 the committee's proposals were accepted at the GAA's annual congress. Most counties supported the new proposals and motion 15 (a) was passed with more than a two-thirds majority.
The 2005 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 119th staging of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county hurling tournament, since its establishment in 1887. The draw for the provincial fixtures took place on 17 October 2004. The championship began on 15 May 2005 and ended on 11 September 2005.
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1997 was the 111th staging of Ireland's premier hurling competition. Clare won the championship, beating Tipperary 0-20 to 2-13 in the final at Croke Park, Dublin.
The 2000 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 114th staging of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county hurling tournament. The draw for the 2000 fixtures took place on 14 November 1999. The championship began on 6 May 2000 and ended on 10 September 2000.
The 1988 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 102nd staging of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county hurling tournament. The championship began on 22 May 1988 and ended on 4 September 1988.
The 1948 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 62nd staging of the All-Ireland hurling championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1887. The championship began on 16 May 1948 and ended on 5 September 1948.
The 1900 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 14th staging of the All-Ireland hurling championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1887. The championship began on 12 May 1901 and ended on 26 October 1902.
The 2009 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 123rd staging of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county hurling tournament. The draw for the 2000 fixtures took place on 8 October 2008. The championship began on 30 May 2009 and ended on 6 September 2009.
This page details statistics of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.
The 1964 All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship was the inaugural staging of the All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship. The championship began on 29 March 1964 and ended on 4 October 1964.
The 2008 All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship was the 78th staging of the All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1928. The championship began on 29 March 2008 and ended on 7 September 2008.
The 2002 All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship was the 72nd staging of the All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship. The championship began on 14 April 2002 and ended on 8 September 2002.
The 2014 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 127th staging of the All-Ireland championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1887. The draw for the 2014 fixtures took place on 3 October 2013. The championship began on 27 April 2014 and ended on 7 September 2014.
The 2013 All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship was the 83rd staging of the All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1928. The championship began on 11 April 2013 and ended on 8 September 2013.
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship qualifiers are a single-elimination series of qualifying games held concurrently with the Leinster and Munster championships to determine the last two remaining participants of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. Eleven teams, effectively every team that does not qualify for the respective provincial deciders, participate in the qualifiers.
The 2015 All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship was the 52nd staging of the All-Ireland championship for since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1964. The draws for the various 2015 fixtures took place in October 2014. The championship began on 27 May 2015 and ended on 12 September 2015.
The 2018 All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship was the 55th and last staging of the All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1964. The championship began on 7 May 2018 and ended on 26 August 2018.
The 2018 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 131st staging of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1887. It is the first tier of senior inter-county championship hurling.
The 2018 All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship was the 88th staging of the All-Ireland minor hurling championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1928. It is the primary inter-county hurling competition for boys aged between fifteen and seventeen. The championship began on 12 May 2018 and ended on 19 August 2018.
The 2019 All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship was the 89th staging of the All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1928. The championship began on 27 April 2019 and ended on 18 August 2019.
The 2020 All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship was the 90th staging of the All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1928. The championship was due to take place between April and August 2020, however, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games, new provincial draws and formats were adopted. The championship eventually began on 17 October 2020, however, it was confirmed four days later that the championship was once again being suspended. The championship ended on 10 July 2021.
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Henry Shefflin (5-20)