1972 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1972 was the 85th staging of Ireland's premier hurling knock-out competition. Kilkenny won the championship, beating Cork 3-24 to 5-11 in the final at Croke Park, Dublin.

Overview
The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1972 was run on a provincial basis as usual. It was a knockout tournament with pairings drawn at random in the respective provinces - there were no seeds.

Each match was played as a single leg. If a match was drawn there was a replay. If that match ended in a draw a period of extra time was played, however, if both sides were still level at the end of extra time another replay had to take place.

The Championship
Munster Championship

Quarter-final: (1 match) This was a single match between the first two teams drawn from the province of Munster.

Semi-finals: (2 matches) The winner of the lone quarter-final joined the other three Munster teams to make up the semi-final pairings.

Final: (1 match) The winner of the two semi-finals contested this game.

Leinster Championship

First Round: (1 match) This was a single match between two of the 'weaker' teams drawn from the province of Leinster.

Quarter-finals: (2 matches) The winner of the first round game joined three other Leinster teams to make up the quarter-final pairings.

Semi-finals: (2 matches) The winners of the two quarter-finals joined Kilkenny and Wexford, who received a bye to this stage, to make up the semi-final pairings.

Final: (1 match) The winner of the two semi-finals contested this game.

All-Ireland Championship

Quarter-final: (1 match) This was a single match between Antrim and Galway, two teams who faced no competition in their respective provinces.

Semi-finals: (2 matches) The winner of the lone quarter-final joined London and the Munster and Leinster champions to make up the quarter-final pairings. The provincial champions were drawn in opposite semi-finals.

Final: (1 match) The winner of the two semi-finals contested this game.

Scoring

 * Widest winning margin: 27 points
 * Kilkenny 5-28 : 3-7 Galway (All-Ireland semi-final)
 * Most goals in a match: 12
 * Kilkenny 6-13 : 6-13 Wexford (Leinster final)
 * Most points in a match: 35
 * Kilkenny 3-24 : 5-11 Cork (All-Ireland final)
 * Kilkenny 5-28 : 3-7 Galway (All-Ireland semi-final)
 * Most goals by one team in a match: 7
 * Galway 7-16 : 4-7 Antrim (All-Ireland quarter-final)
 * Cork 7-20 : 1-12 London (All-Ireland semi-final)
 * Most goals scored by a losing team: 5
 * Cork 5-11 : 3-24 Kilkenny (All-Ireland final)
 * Most points scored by a losing team: 14
 * Wexford 1-14 : 3-16 Kilkenny (Leinster final)

Debutantes
The following players made their début in the 1972 championship:

Retirees
The following players played their last game in the 1972 championship:

Stadia
The following stadia were used during the championship: