All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship

All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship
Founded1974
Country Ireland
 England
Level on pyramid2
Promotion toAll-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
Most championshipsLondon (5 titles)
WebsiteOfficial GAA site

The All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship was a second tier Hurling championship competition held annually between 1974 and 2004 for the so-called 'weaker' hurling teams in Ireland and organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is contested by those county teams knocked out in the first round of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship and the winner is awarded the championship.

The series of games began every year immediately after the completion of the National Hurling League with the All-Ireland final being played in June or July, initially in Croke Park, Dublin but later in provincial venues around the country and in Britain. The championship was abolished in 2004 and these teams now play in the Joe McDonagh Cup which is the successor competition to the championship.

The title was won by 11 different teams, 6 of which won the title more than once. The all-time record-holders are London, who won the competition 5 times. The history of the championship was bookended by victories for Kildare, winners of the first title in 1974 and the last in 2004.

History

Creation

Following ongoing one-sided matches in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship between counties of differing standards, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) began considering the addition of a tournament for so-called weaker senior counties who were usually eliminated in the early stages of their respective provincial championship. The GAA found broad support for the introduction of a second-tier championship and canvassed options for its potential structure and future inclusion within the annual calendar.[1] The championship was branded the Senior B championship and its inaugural season was 1974.

Second and third-tier competitions have already been incorporated in hurling for several years, such as the Intermediate and Junior championships.

Development

The championship remained knockout but the number of participating teams increased.

Team changes

12 county teams have participated in at least one edition of the championship.

Championship moments

  • New York 4-16 - 0-13 Derry (1996): New York became the first American side to win the championship.

Format

The championship was open to all hurling teams who did not take part in the proper All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. It was a knock-out competition whereby once a team lost they were eliminated from the championship.

Teams

2004 Championship

The championship was suspended after the completion of the 2004 All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship. Three counties competed in 2004:

County Location Stadium Province Position in 2003Championship Championship Titles Last Championship Title
Kildare Newbridge St Conleth's Park Leinster 4 2004
Mayo Castlebar MacHale Park Connacht 0
Wicklow Aughrim Aughrim County Ground Leinster Champions 1 2003

List of All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship counties

Team Total years First year in championship Most recent year in championship Championship titles Last championship title Position in 2023 championship Best Senior B finish Current championship Lvl
Antrim 1974
Carlow 1974
Down 1974
Hertfordshire 1974
Kerry 1974
Kildare 1974
Laois 1976
London 1975
Meath 1974
Roscommon 1975
Westmeath 1974
Wicklow 1974

Team appearances (1974-1977)

# Team No. Years in championship
1 Antrim 4 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977
Carlow 4 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977
3 Kerry 3 1974, 1975, 1976
Down 3 1974, 1975, 1977
Meath 3 1974, 1975, 1977
Wicklow 3 1974, 1975, 1977
Roscommon 3 1975, 1976, 1977
London 3 1975, 1976, 1977
9 Westmeath 2 1974, 1975
Laois 2 1976, 1977
11 Hertfordshire 1 1974
Kildare 1 1974

Qualification for subsequent competitions

Qualification for the All-Ireland Championship

The Senior B winners qualify back into the subsequent All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship at the preliminary quarter-final stage. The Senior B champions plays a provincial winner at this stage.

All-Ireland record of Senior B teams

Season County Round Opponent Score
1996 New York Quarter-finals Galway 4-22 - 0-08
2004 No All-Ireland path for Senior B champions

Roll of Honour

Performances in the All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship by county
County Title(s) Runners-Up Years won Years runner-up
London 5 16 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1995 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994
Kildare 4 1 1974, 1980, 1989, 2004 1990
Antrim 3 1 1978, 1981, 1982 1974
Kerry 3 0 1976, 1983, 1986 -
Westmeath 3 0 1975, 1984, 1991 -
Laois 3 0 1977, 1979, 2002 -
Wicklow 1 2 2003 1995, 2002
Carlow 1 1 1992 1987
Meath 1 1 1993 1985
Roscommon 1 1 1994 2003
New York 1 0 1996 -
Down 0 1 - 1988
Derry 0 1 - 1996
Mayo 0 1 - 2004
Performances in the All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship by province
Province Title(s) Runners-Up Total
Leinster 13 5 18
Britain 5 16 21
Ulster 3 3 6
Munster 3 0 3
Connacht 1 2 3
North America 1 0 1

List of finals

Year Date Winners Runners-up Venue Winning margin
County Score County Score
2005- Counties compete in the Christy Ring Cup
2004 24 July Kildare 3-14 Mayo 3-07 Croke Park 7
2003 Wicklow 4-16 Roscommon 2-13 Croke Park 9
2002 Laois 2-20 Wicklow 2-07 Semple Stadium 13
1997-2001 No championship
1996 New York 4-16 Derry 0-13 15
1995 London 2-07 Wicklow 0-08 O'Moore Park 5
1994 Roscommon 1-10 London 1-09 McGovern Park 1
1993 Meath 2-16 London 1-16 3
1992 Carlow 2-15 London 3-10 2
1991 Westmeath 2-12 London 2-06 6
1990 London 1-15 Kildare 5-02 1
1989 Kildare 2-06 London 1-07 2
1988 London 2-06 Down 1-07 2
1987 London 0-20 Carlow 1-15 2
1986 Kerry 3-10 London 1-09 7
1985 London 1-09 Meath 1-06 3
1984 Westmeath 4-10 London 1-16 3
1983 Kerry 2-08 London 1-07 4
1982 Antrim 2-16 London 2-14 2
1981 Antrim 3-17 London 3-14 3
1980 Kildare 2-20 London 2-14 6
1979 Laois 1-20 London 0-17 6
1978 Antrim 1-16 London 3-07 3
1977 Laois 3-21 London 2-09 15
1976 Kerry 0-15 London 1-10 2
1975 22 June Westmeath 3-23 London 2-07 Croke Park 19
1974 23 June Kildare 1-26 Antrim 3-13 Croke Park 7

Team records and statistics

Team results

Legend

  • 1st – Champions
  • 2nd – Runners-up
  • SF/QF/PR – Semi-finals/Quarter-finals/Preliminary round

For each year, the number of counties (in brackets) are shown.

Team 1974 (9) 1975 (9) 1976 (6) 1977 (8) 1978 (5) 1979 (8) Total
Antrim 2nd SF HF HF 1st SF 6
Carlow FR QF SF FR 4
Down FR QF SF HF 4
Hertfordshire SF 1
Kerry FR HF 1st SF 4
Kildare 1st HF 2
Laois QF 1st 1st 3
London 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 5
Meath QF SF FR SF 4
Roscommon QF SF FR SF QF 5
Westmeath SF 1st QF 3
Wicklow FR QF SF QF 4

Teams

County Wins Most recent win
Antrim 3 1982
Carlow 1 1992
Kerry 3 1986
Kildare 4 2004
Laois 3 2002
London 5 1995
Meath 1 1993
New York 1 1996
Roscommon 1 1994
Westmeath 3 1991
Wicklow 1 2003

Performances by province

Province Title(s) Runners-Up Last Title (Year) Biggest Contributor (Titles
Leinster 13 5 Kildare (2004) Kildare (4)
Britain 5 16 London (1995) London (5)
Ulster 3 3 Antrim (1982) Antrim (3)
Munster 3 0 Kerry (1986) Kerry (3)
Connacht 1 2 Roscommon (1994) Roscommon (1)
North America 1 0 New York (1996) New York (1)

See also

References

  1. ^ "Second Tier Championship format to be discussed in January". gaa.ie. 24 November 2018.