Cork Senior A Football Championship

Cork Senior A Football Championship
Current season or competition: 2024 Cork Senior A Football Championship
Irish	Craobh Peile Sinsearach A Chorcaí
Code	Gaelic football
Founded	2020;4 years ago (2020)
Region	Cork (GAA)
Trophy	Kevin McTernan Cup
No. of teams	12
Title holders	Newcestown (1st title)
Most titles	Various teams (1 titles)
Sponsors	McCarthy Insurance Group
Official website	Cork GAA

The Cork Senior A Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as McCarthy Insurance Group Cork County Senior A Football Championship and abbreviated to the Cork SAFC) is an annual club Gaelic football competition organised by the Cork County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association from 2020 for the second tier senior Gaelic football teams in the county of Cork in Ireland.

In its current format, the Cork Senior A Championship begins in early autumn. The 12 participating club teams are divided into three groups of four teams and play each other in a round-robin system. The three group winners and the three runners-up proceed to the knockout phase that culminates with the final match at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

Newcestown are the title holders after beating Dohenys by 0-13 to 0-08 in the 2023 final. ^[1]

History

Development

On 26 March 2019, three championship proposals were circulated to Cork club delegates after an expensive review process of the entire Cork championship system. A core element running through all three proposals, put together by the Cork GAA games workgroup, was that there be a group stage of 12 teams, as well as straight relegation and promotion. ^[2] On 2 April 2019, a majority of 136 club delegates voted for Option A which provided for one round of games played in April and two more in August – all with inter-county players available. ^[3] The decision meant that, for the first time since 1887, the top tier of Cork football was split in two into the Cork Premier Senior Championship and the Cork Senior A Championship.

Beginnings

The inaugural championship was scheduled to begin in April 2020, however, it was postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic in Ireland. ^[4] When the championship resumed, time constraints led to a revision of the format, with the play-offs for the second best and third best third placed teams being abolished. The knockout stage was further reduced, with the two best-ranking teams from the group stage receiving byes to the semi-finals and the other four qualifying teams contesting two lone quarter-finals. The very first match eventually took place on 24 July 2020, with Bandon claiming a 1-12 to 0-06 victory over Clyda Rovers. Bandon's Mark O'Regan scored the very first championship point before later scoring the championship's very first goal. ^[5]

Regular format

Group stage

The 12 teams are divided into three groups of four. Over the course of the group stage, which features one game in April and two games in August, each team plays once against the others in the group, resulting in each team being guaranteed at least three games. Two points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. The teams are ranked in the group stage table by points gained, then scoring difference and then their head-to-head record. The top two teams in each group qualify for the knock-out stage.

Knockout stage

Play-off: The second best and third best third placed teams from the group stage play off for last quarter-final place.

Quarter-finals: The play-off winner and the seven top-ranking teams from the group stage contest this round. The four winners from these four games advance to the semi-finals.

Semi-finals: The four quarter-final winners contest this round. The two winners from these four games advance to the semi-finals.

Final: The two semi-final winners contest the final. The winning team are declared champions.

Promotion and relegation

At the end of the championship, the winning team is automatically promoted to the Cork Premier Senior Championship for the following season. The three bottom-placed teams from the group stage take part in a series of play-offs, with the losing team being relegated to the Cork Premier Intermediate Championship.

Teams

2024 Teams

Team	Location	Division	Colours	Position in 2023	In championship since	Championship titles (PSFC)	Last championship title (PSFC)
Béal Átha'n Ghaorthaidh	Ballingeary	Muskerry	Black and red	Quarter-finals	2020	0	—
Bishopstown	Bishopstown	Seandun	Maroon and white	Group stage	2021	0	—
Carrigaline	Carrigaline	Carrigdhoun	Blue and yellow	Group stage (Cork PSFC)	2024	0	—
Cill Na Martra	Kilnamartyra	Muskerry	Blue and white	Champions (Cork PIFC)	2024	0	—
Clyda Rovers	Mourne Abbey	Avondhu	Black and yellow	Group stage	2020	0	—
Dohenys	Dunmanway	Carbery	Green and white	Runners-up	2020	1	1897
Fermoy	Fermoy	Avondhu	Black and yellow	Group stage	2020	7	1945
Kanturk	Kanturk	Duhallow	Green and white	Quarter-finals	2023	0	—
Kiskeam	Kiskeam	Duhallow	Black and white	Group stage	2020	0	—
Knocknagree	Knocknagree	Duhallow	Blue and white	Semi-finals	2021	0	—
Newmarket	Newmarket	Duhallow	Red and black	Semi-finals	2022	0	—
O'Donovan Rossa	Skibbereen	Carbery	Red and white	Group stage	2020	1	1992

Sponsorship

In July 2020, Bon Secours Hospital were unveiled as the title sponsor of the Cork Senior A Championship. ^[6] McCarthy Insurance Group became the new title sponsor in December 2023. ^[7]

Trophy and medals

The Kevin McTernan Cup is the current prize for winning the championship. It was donated in June 2021 to honour Kevin McTernan who served as a St Finbarr's player and selector. ^[8] Daniel Goulding of Éire Óg was the first recipient of the cup when it was presented to him after the 2020 final.

Traditionally, at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, the victory presentation takes place at a special rostrum in the main grandstand. The cup is decorated with ribbons in the colours of the winning team. During the game the cup actually has both teams' sets of ribbons attached and the runners-up ribbons are removed before the presentation. The winning captain accepts the cup on behalf of his team before giving a short speech. Individual members of the winning team then have an opportunity to come to the rostrum to lift the cup, which is held by the winning team until the following year's final.

In accordance with GAA rules, the County Board awards a set of gold medals to the championship winners. The medals depict a stylised version of the Cork GAA crest.

List of finals

Year	Winners		Runners-up		Winning captain(s)	Venue	#
	Club	Score	Club	Score
2024
2023	Newcestown	0-13	Dohenys	0-08	Luke Meade	Páirc Uí Chaoimh	[9]
2022	St. Michael's	2-07	Knocknagree	0-06	Seán Keating Tom Lenihan	Páirc Uí Chaoimh	[10]
2021	Mallow	2-12	St. Michael's	0-15	Eoin Stanton	Páirc Uí Chaoimh	[11]
2020	Éire Óg	2-13	Mallow	1-07	Daniel Goulding	Páirc Uí Chaoimh	[12]

Roll of honour

By club

#	Team	Titles	Runners-up	Years won	Years runners-up
1	Mallow	1	1	2021	2020
	St. Michael's	1	1	2022	2021
	Éire Óg	1	0	2020	—
	Newcestown	1	0	2023	—
5	Knocknagree	0	1	—	2022
	Dohenys	0	1	—	2023

By Division

Division	Titles	Runners-Up	Total
Avondhu	1	1	2
Carbery	1	1	2
Seandun	1	1	2
Muskerry	1	0	1
Duhallow	0	1	1
Beara	0	0	0
Carrigdhoun	0	0	0
Imokilly	0	0	0

Records and statistics

Top scorers

All time

As of match played 20 August 2023.

Rank	Player	Club	Tally	Total	Matches	Average
1	Ben Seartan	Béal Átha'n Ghaorthaidh	4-57	69	15	4.60
2	Kevin Davis	O'Donovan Rossa	1-65	68	12	5.66
3	Mark Buckley	Dohenys	4-50	62	14	4.42
4	Fintan O'Connor	Knocknagree	4-37	49	10	4.90
5	Arthur Coakley	Bantry Blues	2-35	41	8	5.12
6	Daniel Goulding	Éire Óg	2-34	40	6	6.66
7	Adam Hennessy	St. Michael's	5-24	39	13	3.00
	Barry Collins	Bandon	2-33	39	9	4.33
9	Seán O'Sullivan	Kiskeam	1-35	38	11	3.45
10	Keith White	Dohenys	1-33	36	14	2.57

By year

Year	Top scorer	Team	Score	Total
2020	Daniel Goulding	Éire Óg	2-34	40
2021	Mark Buckley	Dohenys	1-24	27
2022	Kevin Davis	O'Donovan Rossa	0-31	31
2023	David Buckley	Newcestown	0-37	37

In a single game

Year	Top scorer	Team	Score	Total
2020	Daniel Goulding	Éire Óg	2-07	13
2021	Mark Buckley	Dohenys	0-10	10
2022	Ryan O'Keeffe	Newmarket	4-03	15
2023	Anthony O'Connor	Knocknagree	1-08	11

In finals

Final	Top scorer	Team	Score	Total
2020	Joe Cooper	Éire Óg	1-02	5
	Dylan Foley	Éire Óg
2021	Tadhg Deasy	St. Michael's	0-08	8
2022	Adam Hennessy	St. Michael's	2-01	7
2023	David Buckley	Newcestown	0-09	9

See also

• Cork Premier Senior Football Championship

References

1. "Double delight for Newcestown after landing the SAFC title following victory over Dohenys". Echo Live. 11 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
2. Cormican, Eoghan (26 March 2019). "Here's a breakdown of the proposals to restructure the Cork county championships". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
3. "Cork clubs vote down radical restructuring proposals". RTÉ Sport. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
4. "Cork GAA Statement 18/03/2020". Cork GAA website. 18 March 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
5. Moynihan, Michael (24 July 2020). "Classy Sugrue the difference as Bandon overcome Clyda Rovers". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
6. O'Connor, Colm (21 July 2020). "Bon Secours Hospital Cork to sponsor football championships". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
7. Cormican, Eoghan (14 December 2023). "Castlehaven drawn with Clonakilty and Carbery Rangers for second successive year". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
8. Woods, Mark (19 June 2021). "Barrs great Kevin McTernan will be honoured when Mallow face Éire Óg". The Echo. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
9. Cormican, Eoghan (11 November 2023). "Newcestown's fairytale gets a fitting finish as Buckley devours Dohenys to seal double". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
10. "St Michael's finally land county title with Adam Hennessy firing two goals past Knocknagree". Echo Live. 30 October 2022. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
11. Hurley, Denis (28 November 2021). "SAFC: Seán Hayes on target at death to give Mallow victory over St Michael's". Echo Live. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
12. "County champions: Éire Óg carve out their own place in football history". The Echo. 19 June 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021.