The Connacht GAA Football Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Connacht Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Connacht Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county football competition for male players between the ages of 17 and 20 in the province of Connacht. The championship was contested as the Connacht Under-21 Championship between 1964 and 2016 before changing to an under-20 age category from 2018. It is sponsored by EirGrid.

The final, currently held in March, serves as the culmination of a series of games played during a three-week period, and the results determine which team receives the J. J. Fahy Cup. The championship has always been played on a straight knockout basis whereby once a team loses they are eliminated from the championship.

The Connacht Championship is an integral part of the wider GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship. The winners of the Connacht final, like their counterparts in the other three provinces, advance to the semi-final stage of the All-Ireland series of games.

Five teams currently participate in the Connacht Championship. Galway are the most successful Connacht county with 6 All Ireland titles at the grade. Mayo have 26 titles Connacht, followed by Galway with 21 titles. The title has been won at least once by all five teams, with four of them winning the title more than once.

Current format Overview

The Connacht Championship is a single elimination tournament. Each team is afforded only one defeat before being eliminated from the championship. Pairings for matches are drawn at random and there is currently no seeding. Each match is played as a single leg. If a match is drawn there is a period of extra time, however, if both sides are still level at the end of extra time a replay takes place and so on until a winner is found.

Progression Teams entering in this roundTeams advancing from previous roundQuarter-final(2 teams)2 teams drawn at randomSemi-finals(4 teams)3 teams who receive a bye at random 1 winner from the quarter-finalFinal(2 teams) 2 winners from the semi-finals

Qualification for subsequent competitions

The Connacht Championship winners gain automatic entry to the semi-final stage of the All-Ireland Championship.

Managers

Managers in the Connacht Championship are involved in the day-to-day running of the team, including the training, team selection, and sourcing of players from the club championships. Their influence varies from county-to-county and is related to the individual county boards. The manager is assisted by a team of two or three selectors and an extensive backroom team consisting of various coaches. The under-20 team manager also works closely with the senior team manager due to an overlap of players on both teams. Prior to the development of the concept of a manager in the 1970s, teams were usually managed by a team of selectors with one member acting as chairman.

+ Winning managers (2003-present)ManagerTeamWinsWinning years Pat HolmesMayo32006, 2007, 2008 Noel ConnellyMayo3 John MaughanMayo22003, 2004 Nigel DineenRoscommon22012, 2014 Mike SolanMayo22016, 2018 Peter FordGalway12005 Michael CollinsMayo12009 Jimmy JacquinRoscommon12010 Alan MulhollandGalway12011 Alan FlynnGalway12013 Mark DowdRoscommon12015 Gerry FahyGalway12017 Pádraic JoyceGalway12019 Donal Ó FáthartaGalway12020 Liam TullyRoscommon12021Dessie SloyanSligo12022 Paul HenrySligo12023 Noel DunningRoscommon12024 Peadar GardinerMayo12025 Cian SmithRoscommon12026

Roll of honour # County Titles Runners-up Years won Years Runners-up 1 Mayo 26 13 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2016, 2018, 2025 1964, 1965, 1966, 1981, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2026 2 Galway 21 15 1964, 1965, 1972, 1979, 1981, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2020 1969, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1991, 1997, 2003, 2006, 2015, 2023, 2024 3 Roscommon 12 21 1966, 1969, 1978, 1982, 1999, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2021, 2024, 2026 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1977, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1993, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2025, 4 Sligo 2 9 2022, 2023 1979, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2017 Leitrim 2 4 1977, 1991 1986, 1990, 1998, 2014

List of finals Year Winners Runners-up County Score County Score2026Roscommon5-16 (AET)Mayo2-22 (AET) 2025 Mayo2-17 Roscommon4-08 2024 Roscommon 3–13 Galway 0–17 2023 Sligo 0-14 Galway 0-13 2022 Sligo 4-04 Mayo 1-12 2021 Roscommon 2-11 Mayo 1-07 2020 Galway 4-15 Roscommon 0-05 2019 Galway 0-16 Mayo 0-10 2018 Mayo 3-16 Roscommon 1-06 2017 Galway 3-20 Sligo 2-14 2016 Mayo 1-11 Roscommon 1-10 2015 Roscommon 3-14 Galway 3-11 2014 Roscommon 0–19 Leitrim 1-03 2013 Galway 1–17 Roscommon 2–11 2012 Roscommon 1–13 Sligo 0-08 2011 Galway 1–10 Roscommon 0-04 2010 Roscommon 1-06 Sligo 0-04 2009 Mayo 3–14 Sligo 1-08 2008 Mayo 1–14 Roscommon 0–14 2007 Mayo 1–22 Roscommon 1-08 2006 Mayo 0–15 Galway 1-05 2005 Galway 1–13 Mayo 0-04 2004 Mayo 0–16 Roscommon 0–13 2003 Mayo 1-09 Galway 0–11 2002 Galway 1-09 Mayo 1-08 2001 Mayo 0–15 Sligo 0-07 2000 Galway 1–12 Mayo 0–12 1999 Roscommon 1–12 Sligo 0-09 1998 Galway 0–13 Leitrim 1-07 1997 Mayo 0-07 Galway 0-06 1996 Galway 0–12 Mayo 0-05 1995 Mayo 1–10, 1–16 (R) Sligo 1–10, 3–04 (R) 1994 Mayo 0–12 Sligo 0-06 1993 Galway 0–14 Roscommon 0-09 1992 Galway 1–10 Mayo 0–12 1991 Leitrim 1-07 Galway 0-09 1990 Galway 0-09 Leitrim 0-05 1989 Galway 1–13 Roscommon 0-03 1988 Galway 0–10 Roscommon 0-06 1987 Galway 1–10 Roscommon 0–10 1986 Mayo 0–12 Leitrim 0-05 1985 Mayo 2-06 Galway 0-07 1984 Mayo 2-07 Galway 2-04 1983 Mayo 1–19 Roscommon 1-06 1982 Roscommon 1–10 Galway 0-05 1981 Galway 0-09 Mayo 0-08 1980 Mayo 4–11 Galway 1-05 1979 Galway 0–12 Sligo 0-09 1978 Roscommon 3-09 Galway 2–11 1977 Leitrim 1-03 Roscommon 0-05 1976 Mayo 1-08 Galway 0-02 1975 Mayo 2–10 Galway 0-09 1974 Mayo 1–12 Roscommon 0-09 1973 Mayo 1-07 Galway 0-05 1972 Galway 0–16 Roscommon 0-05 1971 Mayo 5–10 Roscommon 0-08 1970 Mayo 0–14 Roscommon 1–10 1969 Roscommon 1-09, 1–10 (R, AET) Galway 0–12, 2–03 (R, AET) 1968 Mayo 1–13 Roscommon 2-03 1967 Mayo 3–11 Roscommon 2-08 1966 Roscommon 1–15 Mayo 0-09 1965 Galway 3-09 Mayo 1–13 1964 Galway 3-06 Mayo 3-05

Records and statistics Final

Team

Most titles: 26: Mayo (1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2016, 2018, 2025) Most consecutive title wins: 4: Mayo (1973, 1974, 1975, 1976) Mayo (1983, 1984, 1985, 1986) Mayo (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) Most appearances in a final: 35: Galway (1964, 1965, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020) Most appearances in a final without winning: 9: Sligo (1979, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2017)

Teams By decade

The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Connacht Championship titles, is as follows:

1960s: 2 each for Galway (1964-65), Roscommon (1966-69) and Mayo (1967-68) 1970s: 6 for Mayo (1970-71-73-74-75-76) 1980s: 5 for Mayo (1980-83-84-85-86) 1990s: 5 for Galway (1990-92-93-96-98) 2000s: 7 for Mayo (2001-03-04-06-07-08-09) 2010s: 4 each for Roscommon (2010-12-14-15) and Galway (2011-13-17-19)

Gaps

Top three longest gaps between successive championship titles: 17 years: Roscommon (1982-1999) 14 years: Leitrim (1977-1991) 11 years: Roscommon (1999-2010)

References

Sources History of Connacht GAA (2002) Roll of Honour on gaainfo.com