1961 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final

Football match

Event

1961 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

Down	Offaly

3-6 (15)	2-8 (14)

Date

24 September 1961

Venue

Croke Park, Dublin

Referee

L Maguire (Cavan)

Attendance

90,556

← 1960

1962 →

The 1961 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was the 74th All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1961 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland. A crowd of 90,556 (a record at the old Croke Park) watched the match between Down and Offaly.^[1]

Match

The biggest crowd ever to attend Croke Park saw an explosive opening to the match - Offaly's Mick Casey and Peter Daly got goals to put them six points ahead with the match barely begun. Down recovered with three goals by half-time, and led by two points with minutes to go. Har Donnelly had a 21-yard free for Offaly, and took a point when a goal was really needed.^[2]

Legacy

This was Down's second appearance in an All-Ireland final, and their second win from two.^[3] It was the second of three All-Ireland football titles won by Down in the 1960s, which made them joint "team of the decade" with Galway who also won three.^[4]

References

^ Grant, Alistair (9 March 2009). "See U2 at Croker... for €25: World tour tipped to include thousands of cheap tickets". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 9 March 2009.
^ High Ball magazine, issue #6, 1998.
^ "Down fans travel to All-Ireland final". The News Letter. 19 September 2010. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
^ "Kerry on honour roll". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. 14 September 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2009.

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

Pre-1928

Seasons	1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927
Finals	1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927

Beginning of
Sam Maguire

Seasons	1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
Finals	1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

80-minute
experiment

Seasons	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974
Finals	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974

Post-experiment

Seasons	1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Finals	1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

Qualifiers and
quarter-finals era

Seasons	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Finals	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

Associated competitions

Provincial Championships
Tailteann Cup
Tommy Murphy Cup (formerly)
Minor Championship (final formerly held on same day)

Statistics and awards

v t e Down county football team matches
All-Ireland SFC finals	1960 1961 1968 1991 1994 2010
Ulster SFC finals	1940 1942 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1971 1973 1974 1975 1978 1981 1986 1991 1994 1996 1999 2003 2012 2017
Tailteann Cup finals	2023 2024

v t e Offaly county football team matches
All-Ireland SFC finals	1961 1969 1971 1972 1981 1982
Leinster SFC finals	1907 1945 1954 1960 1961 1962 1967 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1997 2006