2025 Down Senior Football Championship

Last updated

2025 Down Senior Football Championship
Tournament details
County Down
Province Ulster
Year2025
TrophyFrank O'Hare Cup
SponsorMorgan Fuels
Teams16
Defending champions Colours of Sligo.svg Kilcoo
Qualify for 2025 Ulster Club SFC
  2024
2026  

The 2025 Down Senior Football Championship is the 117th official edition of Down GAA's premier Gaelic football tournament for senior clubs in County Down. 16 teams compete, with the winning team representing Down in the Ulster Senior Club Football Championship. The tournament operates a double elimination format for the opening two rounds of the championship, with the winners and early round losers rejoining at the quarter-final stage.

Contents

Kilcoo came into the competition as the defending champion. [1]

Rule Changes

As part of a radical overhaul to Gaelic football, there were seven new or amended core rules introduced at the beginning of the 2025 season, which were new to this year's competition. [2] These rules were:

A new rule was also introduced where any dissent by a player on an opposing free kick would see the free kick moved forward by 50m.

Team changes

The following teams have changed division since the 2024 championship season.

Participating teams

The following teams take part in the 2025 edition of the Down Senior Football Championship. [3]

Division OneDivision TwoDivision Three
Colours of Donegal GAA.svg Ballyholland HarpsQuarter Final Colours of Galway.svg Bredagh Round 3 Colours of Offaly.svg Liatroim Fontenoys Round 2B
Colours of London.svg Burren Semi Final Colours of Kerry GAA.svg Bryansford Round 2B
Colours of Wexford.svg Carryduff Semi Final Colours of Castlewellan GAC.jpg Castlewellan Round 3
Colours of Antrim.svg Clonduff Semi Final Colours of Galway.svg Drumgath Round 3
Colours of Sligo.svg Kilcoo Semi Final Colours of Kilkenny.svg GlennQuarter Final
Colours of Laois.svg Loughinisland Quarter Final
Colours of Dublin.svg Mayobridge Round 2B
Colours of London.svg RGU Downpatrick Round 3
Colours of Tipperary GAA.svg SaulRound 2B
Colours of Laois.svg Warrenpoint Quarter Final

Bold denotes a team still active in the competition

Round 1

The 16 participating teams were placed into an open draw. The winning teams advance to Round 2A, while losing sides proceed to Round 2B.

21 August 2025Round 1Glenn Colours of Kilkenny.svg 1–210–19
(a.e.t.)
Colours of Donegal GAA.svg Ballyholland Harps Burren  
19:15 IST (UTC+1)Venue: St Mary's Park
Referee: Darren O Hare


22 August 2025Round 1 Castlewellan Colours of Castlewellan GAC.jpg 0–051–26 Colours of London.svg Burren Mayobridge  
19:00 IST (UTC+1)Venue: St Patrick's Park
Referee: Mark Turley


22 August 2025Round 1 Loughinisland Colours of Laois.svg 2–141–12 Colours of London.svg RGU Downpatrick Annacloy  
19:00 IST (UTC+1)Venue: Aoibh na Ceanna
Referee: Paul Faloon


23 August 2025Round 1Saul Colours of Tipperary GAA.svg 0–080–19 Colours of Wexford.svg Carryduff Downpatrick  
15:00 IST (UTC+1)Venue: Páirc Tomás Ruséil
Referee: Brian Higgins


23 August 2025Round 1 Clonduff Colours of Antrim.svg 0–271–12 Colours of Offaly.svg Liatroim Fontenoys Castlewellan  
17:30 IST (UTC+1)Venue: St Malachy's Park
Referee: Colm Gribben


24 August 2025Round 1 Mayobridge Colours of Dublin.svg 1–100–14 Colours of Galway.svg Drumgath Hilltown  
15:30 IST (UTC+1)Venue: Clonduff Park
Referee: Brendan Rice


24 August 2025Round 1 Warrenpoint Colours of Laois.svg 0–170–11 Colours of Galway.svg Bredagh Kilcoo  
18:00 IST (UTC+1)Venue: Páirc Eoghan Rua
Referee: Conor Curran


25 August 2025Round 1 Kilcoo Colours of Sligo.svg 0–221–08 Colours of Kerry GAA.svg Bryansford Liatroim  
19:30 IST (UTC+1)Venue: Fontenoy Park
Referee: Ronan Barry


Round 2

Round 2A

Round 2A features the eight winning teams from Round 1, with an open draw to determine the fixtures. The winning teams progress directly to the quarter-finals, with the losing teams proceeding to Round 3.

4 September 2025Round 2A Warrenpoint Colours of Laois.svg 1–151–12 Colours of Galway.svg Drumgath Burren  
19:15 IST (UTC+1)Venue: St Mary's Park
Referee: Kevin Mc Grath


5 September 2025Round 2A Carryduff Colours of Wexford.svg 3–170–12 Colours of Kilkenny.svg Glenn Liatroim  
19:15 IST (UTC+1)Venue: Fontenoy Park
Referee: Colm Gribben


7 September 2025Round 2A Loughinisland Colours of Laois.svg 1–120–23 Colours of London.svg Burren Hilltown  
18:00 IST (UTC+1)Venue: Clonduff Park
Referee: Ronan Barry


8 September 2025Round 2A Clonduff Colours of Antrim.svg 0–140–18 Colours of Sligo.svg Kilcoo Newry  
19:15 IST (UTC+1)Venue: Páirc Esler
Referee: Jake Magill


Round 2B

Round 2B sees the eight losing teams from Round 1 compete for a place in Round 3. The losing teams from this round will be eliminated from the competition.

6 September 2025Round 2B RGU Downpatrick Colours of London.svg 4–141–15 Colours of Dublin.svg Mayobridge Castlewellan  
15:30 IST (UTC+1)Venue: St Malachy's Park
Referee: Mark Turley


6 September 2025Round 2BBallyholland Harps Colours of Donegal GAA.svg 0–171–13 Colours of Tipperary GAA.svg Saul Newcastle  
18:00 IST (UTC+1)Venue: St Patrick's Park
Referee: Paul Faloon


7 September 2025Round 2B Bredagh Colours of Galway.svg 3–142–15
(a.e.t.)
Colours of Offaly.svg Liatroim Fontenoys Downpatrick  
14:00 IST (UTC+1)Venue: Páirc Tomás Ruséil
Referee: Gavin Finnegan


7 September 2025Round 2B Castlewellan Colours of Castlewellan GAC.jpg 0–171–13 Colours of Kerry GAA.svg Bryansford Kilcoo  
16:00 IST (UTC+1)Venue: Páirc Eoghan Rua
Referee: Brian Higgins


Relegation Semi-finals

The 4 losers of Round 2B play each other in the Relegation Semi-finals. The 2 winners will secure their Senior status for 2026, while the 2 losers will face-off in the Relegation Final.

20 September 2025Relegation Play-Off Semi-final Mayobridge Colours of Dublin.svg 0–200–15 Colours of Kerry GAA.svg Bryansford Kilkeel  
15:00 IST (UTC+1)Venue: An Ríocht GAC
Referee: Gavin Finnegan


20 September 2025Relegation Play-Off Semi-finalSaul Colours of Tipperary GAA.svg 4–141–08 Colours of Offaly.svg Liatroim Fontenoys Drumnaquoile 
15:00 IST (UTC+1)Venue: Pairc Naomh Eoin
Referee: Mark Turley


Relegation Final

The winner of the Relegation Final will maintain their Senior status into 2026, while the loser will be relegated to the 2026 Down I.F.C.

4 October 2025Relegation Play-Off Final Bryansford Colours of Kerry GAA.svg v Colours of Offaly.svg Liatroim Fontenoys Castlewellan  
15:00 IST (UTC+1)Venue: St Malachy's Park


Round 3

Round 3 is a supplementary round for teams to have a second chance at reaching the quarter-finals. This round features teams that have lost once so far in this year's competition, either winning in Round 1 and losing in Round 2A, or losing in Round 1 but winning their Round 2B fixture. The losing teams in this round are eliminated from this year's competition.

This round is seeded, meaning that in each fixture a Round 2A losing team will face a Round 2B winning team.

12 September 2025Round 3 Loughinisland Colours of Laois.svg 0–161–12 Colours of Galway.svg Bredagh Liatroim  
19:15 IST (UTC+1)Venue: Fontenoy Park
Referee: Colm Gribben


14 September 2025Round 3Glenn Colours of Kilkenny.svg 1–140–11 Colours of Castlewellan GAC.jpg Castlewellan Atticall  
15:00 IST (UTC+1)Venue: Holy Cross Park
Referee: Kevin Mc Grath


15 September 2025 [a] Round 3 Clonduff Colours of Antrim.svg 2–212–15 Colours of London.svg RGU Downpatrick Newry  
19:30 IST (UTC+1)Venue: Páirc Esler
Referee: Brendan Rice


15 September 2025Round 3 Drumgath Colours of Galway.svg 2–091–15 Colours of Donegal GAA.svg Ballyholland Harps Burren  
19:30 IST (UTC+1)Venue: St Mary's Park
Referee: Brian Higgins


aGame was originally scheduled for 14 September in St John's, Drumnaquoile, but was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals see the two brackets rejoin, with the earlier Round 2A winners facing a Round 3 winner for a semi-final spot.

20 September 2025Quarter-final Kilcoo Colours of Sligo.svg 1–232–18 Colours of Laois.svg Loughinisland Downpatrick  
17:00 IST (UTC+1)Venue: Páirc Tomás Ruséil
Referee: Conor Curran


21 September 2025Quarter-final Carryduff Colours of Wexford.svg 3–161–09 Colours of Donegal GAA.svg Ballyholland Harps Castlewellan  
15:30 IST (UTC+1)Venue: St Malachy's Park
Referee: Kevin Mc Grath


21 September 2025Quarter-final Warrenpoint Colours of Laois.svg 3–080–10 Colours of Antrim.svg Clonduff Burren  
18:00 IST (UTC+1)Venue: St Mary's Park
Referee: Brian Higgins


22 September 2025Quarter-final Burren Colours of London.svg 4–160–11 Colours of Kilkenny.svg Glenn Newry  
19:30 IST (UTC+1)Venue: Páirc Esler
Referee: Colm Gribben


Semi-finals

The semi-finals will see the four winning sides face off for a place in this year's final. This round is an open draw from the four quarter-final winners.

3 October 2025Semi-final Burren Colours of London.svg v Colours of Wexford.svg Carryduff Newry  
19:30 IST (UTC+1)Venue: Páirc Esler


5 October 2025Semi-final Kilcoo Colours of Sligo.svg v Colours of Antrim.svg Clonduff Newry  
18:00 IST (UTC+1)Venue: Páirc Esler


Final

The final will be played between the two semi-final winning teams, and will take place at Páirc Esler, Newry.

19 October 2025Finalv Newry  
Venue: Páirc Esler


References

  1. "Kilcoo ease past Burren to reign supreme in Down again". RTÉ Sport . 13 October 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  2. "Football Review Committee Rule Enhancements explainer". GAA.ie . 23 January 2025. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  3. "2025 Down GAA Senior Football Championship". downgaa.net. 1 March 2025. Retrieved 28 August 2025.