1980 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final

Gaelic football match

Football match

1980 All-Ireland Senior Football Final

Event

1980 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

Kerry	Roscommon

1–9 (12)	1–6 (9)

Date

21 September 1980

Venue

Croke Park, Dublin

Referee

Seamus Murray (Monaghan)^[1]

Attendance

63,854

← 1979

1981 →

The 1980 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final was the 93rd All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1980 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland.

Roscommon had beaten Armagh in their semi-final.^[2]

Roscommon went five points up early on, John 'Jigger' O'Connor getting a goal after 35 seconds. Mikey Sheehy pegged a goal back and in a very scrappy game, (64 frees) the more experienced Kerry team ran out three-point victors.^[3]

Towards the end of the first half, Kerry player Pat Spillane lay down injured and referee Seamus Murray tried to raise him from the ground. Commentator Michael O'Hehir also doubted the authenticity of Spillane's injury, in remarks that angered the Kerry County Board.^[1]

Kerry completed a three-in-a-row sequence of titles; Tom Cryan wrote in the Irish Independent: "The first half has to be one of the worst ever seen in an All-Ireland final", Donal Carroll wrote in the same publication: "The statistics are chillingly disturbing in the awarding of 64 frees — 41 to Kerry — and six bookings, three to each side – made an utter shambles of what should have been an interesting trial of strength"; in 2022, Martin Breheny listed it among "five of the worst" All-Ireland SFC finals since 1972.^[4]

This was the first of five All-Ireland football titles won by Kerry in the 1980s.^[5]

Match details

21 September 1980 Final	Kerry	1-9 – 1-6	Roscommon	Croke Park, Dublin Attendance: 63,854 Referee: Seamus Murray (Monaghan)

Kerry

Roscommon

References

^ ^a ^b "O Hehir criticised for Spillane comments". The Kerryman. 11 November 2010. Spillane went down injured before half-time and Seamus Murray, the Monaghan referee, was seen making several attempts to get Spillane off the turf.
^ Breheny, Martin (24 June 2010). "Death of Dermot Earley". Irish Independent. Retrieved 24 June 2010. Dermot Earley pictured with his son David after Roscommon beat Armagh in the 1980 All-Ireland football semi-final at Croke Park.
^ High Ball magazine, issue #6, 1998.
^ Breheny, Martin (9 August 2022). "Five of the worst All-Ireland football finals since 1972". Irish Independent.
^ "Kerry on honour roll". Irish Independent. 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

Kerry county football team matches

All-Ireland
SFC Finals

Pre-1928	1892 1903 1904 1905 1909 1910 1913 1914 1915 1923 1924 1926 1927
Post- Sam Maguire	1929 1930 1931 1932 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1944 1946 1947 1953 1954 1955 1959 1960 1962 1964 1965 1968 1969 1970 1972 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1984 1985 1986 1997 2000
Qualifiers and quarter-finals era	2002 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2011 2014 2015 2019 2022 2023