The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship 2005, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2005 Bank of Ireland All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the premier Gaelic football competition in 2005. It consisted of 33 teams and began on Saturday 7 May 2005. Few surprises came during the championship with the dominance of the Ulster teams evident once again. Gaelic football's "Big Three" of this era - Armagh, Kerry, Tyrone - all progressed to the semi-finals.^[1][2]

Quick Facts Championship details, Dates ...

2005 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

Championship details
Dates	7 May – 25 September 2005
Teams	33
All-Ireland Champions
Winning team	Tyrone (2nd win)
Captain	Brian Dooher
Manager	Mickey Harte
All-Ireland Finalists
Losing team	Kerry
Captain	Declan O'Sullivan
Manager	Jack O'Connor
Provincial Champions
Munster	Kerry
Leinster	Dublin
Ulster	Armagh
Connacht	Galway
Championship statistics
No. matches played	65
Goals total	115 (1.77 per game)
Points total	1533 (23.58 per game)
Top Scorer	Stephen O'Neill (5-49)
Player of the Year	Stephen O'Neill
← 2004 2006 →

Close

The Championship concluded on Sunday 25 September 2005 when Tyrone defeated Kerry, who were playing in their second consecutive All-Ireland Final, by a scoreline of 1-16 to 2-10. Tyrone had to play ten games (including three replays) in order to win the Championship - more than any other team before or since.

Since the introduction of the so-called "back-door" system a few years ago, a number of changes have taken place in the championship format. In 2005 the following system was used.

The provincial championships in Munster, Leinster, Ulster and Connacht ran as usual on a "knock-out" basis. These provincial games were then followed by the "Qualifier" system:

• Round 1 of the qualifiers included all the counties that did not qualify for the Provincial Semi-finals. An open draw was made to give eight pairings.
• Round 2 consisted of the eight defeated teams in the Provincial Semi-finals playing against the eight winners from Round 1. A draw was made to determine the eight pairings.
• Round 3 Consisted of the 8 winners from Round 2 playing each other in an open draw format.
• Round 4 consisted of each of the four teams defeated in the Provincial Finals shall playing against the four winners from Round 3. A draw was made to determine the four pairings.

The All-Ireland Quarter-finals: Each of the four Provincial Champions played one of the four winners from Round 4. The All-Ireland Semi-finals shall be on a Provincial rots basis, initially determined by the Central Council. If a Provincial Championship winning team is defeated in its Quarter-final, the team that defeats it shall take its place in the semi-final.

The losers of the Preliminary round matches and quarter final matches of each provincial championship started the qualifier.

The provincial champions and the winners of round 4 contested the quarter-finals. The quarter final matches would be between a provincial champion and a round 4 winner.