Armagh county football team

The Armagh county football team represents Armagh GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association, in the Gaelic sport of football. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the Ulster Senior Football Championship and the National Football League.

Armagh's home ground is the Athletic Grounds, Armagh. The team's manager is Kieran McGeeney.

The team last won the Ulster Senior Championship in 2008, the All-Ireland Senior Championship in 2002 and the National League in 2005.

Colours and crest
Armagh's county colours are orange and white. Originally they wore black and amber striped shirts until 1926 when Dominican nuns from Omeath, in County Louth knitted the team a pair of orange and white kits ahead of a Junior clash with Dublin which they have kept since. However, the team wore a predominantly black strip against Kerry in the 2024 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final.

Kit evolution
Armagh launched a new kit in November 2022.

Team sponsorship
The Armagh County Board negotiated a number of new sponsorship deals in 2012, including telecommunications company Rainbow Communications as principal jersey sponsor, and Simply Fruit for the minor team. Previously, the county's main sponsor had been Morgan Fuels, but that 17-year relationship ended somewhat acrimoniously in 2012.

History
Armagh was the second team to win the Ulster Senior Football Championship, doing so in 1890. In the early years of the GAA, a club that won its county championship went on to represent the county and would also wear the county colours. Armagh Harps represented Armagh in the Ulster final, beating Tyrone (Cookstown's Owen Roes), but losing to All-Ireland Champions Cork (Midleton) in the All-Ireland SFC semi-final.

Despite early success at provincial level, national success at junior and minor level and All-Ireland final appearances in 1953 and 1977, it took until 2002 for Armagh to win their first and only All-Ireland Senior Football Championship under manager Joe Kernan. The county won the All-Ireland Minor Football Championship (MFC), in 1949 and again in 2009, but lost the 1957 All-Ireland Minor Football Championship final to Meath.

Joe Kernan scored two goals in the 1977 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final.

Joe Kernan's Golden Era: 2002–06
Joe Kernan is widely regarded as Armagh's most successful manager having won one League title, four Ulster SFCs and one All-Ireland SFC.

Appearing in the county's third All-Ireland SFC decider and having lost the previous two, the team was the first from Ulster to win an All-Ireland SFC since Down won the 1994 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final. Kerry had a four-point lead at half-time.

According to Eamonn Sweeney, "especially during their final years, Joe Kernan's Armagh came to epitomise a style of play with the emphasis on the physical, the kind of football which prompts machismo devotees in the media to break out phrases like 'grimly compelling' and 'ratcheting up the physical intensity.'"

Kernan–McGeeney interim: 2007–14
Peter McDonnell was appointed Armagh managed for the 2007–2009 seasons. During his time as Armagh manager, McDonnell won one Ulster SFC. After a disappointing 2009 campaign which resulted in Armagh being defeated by Tyrone, Peter McDonnell stepped down as Armagh manager.

Paddy O'Rourke, from the neighbouring county of Down, replaced McDonnell as Armagh manager between 2010 and 2012. During this time O'Rourke won the National Football League Division 2 title.

Paul Grimley replaced O'Rourke as Armagh manager for the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Grimley resigned following a one-point defeat to Donegal in the 2014 All-Ireland SFC quarter-final.

Kieran McGeeney era: 2015–
In August 2014, Kieran McGeeney took over as manager for an initial five-year term.

In his first season in charge, McGeeney secured promotion to Division 2 of the National Football League, after beating Fermanagh in the final. In his first Ulster SFC game as manager, Donegal defeated Armagh on a scoreline of 0–8 to 2-11. The championship continued via the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers, with Armagh beating Wicklow then losing to Galway in Round 2.

The 2016 NFL campaign ended with Armagh's relegation to Division 3. Cavan knocked Armagh out of the 2016 Ulster SFC. Laois defeated Armagh in a Round 1 All-Ireland SFC qualifier.

The 2017 NFL campaign ended with Tipperary beating Armagh in the last game, this caused Armagh to miss promotion back to Division 2. Down knocked Armagh out of the 2017 Ulster SFC. Armagh had All-Ireland SFc qualifier wins over Fermanagh, Westmeath, Tipperary and Kildare. Then, Armagh lost to rival Tyrone in the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final.

The 2018 NFL campaign ended with promotion to Division 2. Armagh lost to Fermanagh in the 2018 Ulster SFC quarter-final. Armagh defeated Westmeath, Sligo and Clare in All-Ireland SFC qualifiers, but was unable to overcome 2018 Connacht SFC finalists Roscommon.

The 2019 NFL campaign ended with Armagh securing its Division 2 status. Armagh's 2019 Ulster SFC had an important note, for (at last), McGeeney won an Ulster SFC as Armagh manager, a quarter-final against neighbour Down. In the quarter-final Cavan and Armagh drew, but Armagh lost the replay. Armagh then won an All-Ireland SFC qualifier against Monaghan, but, in Round 3, lost to Mayo by 1 point. In August 2019, McGeeney was given a two-year extension to his term as manager.

Despite being the favourite, Armagh struggled to overcome Derry in a "gruelling" 2020 Ulster SFC quarter-final. The county then exited the Ulster SFC once more, this time after a "poor" showing in its semi-final, ten points down at half-time (Armagh only managed two points in the entire half) and twelve points the difference at the end. No All-Ireland SFC qualifiers occurred due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games. Thus ended Armagh's season.

As the pandemic continued to tear its way through the land, leaving no home unaffected, the 2021 NFL campaign was reduced. Armagh played in Division 1 North. Armagh won the first game, against Monaghan, at Brewster Park. Armagh then played Tyrone, losing by five points on a score of 2-15 to 2-10 and having to use five of their seven subs in the first half. Armagh drew with Donegal in the next match, then faced Roscommon in a relegation play-off, which Armagh won to secure its Division 1 status. In the 2021 Ulster SFC, Armagh dealt with Antrim, but then lost to Monaghan, with Monaghan posting a score of 4-17. In August 2021, the Armagh County Board triggered the one-year option to retain McGeeney as manager for the 2022 season.

That 2022 season proved memorable, as it had Armagh playing Galway in a 2022 All-Ireland SFC quarter-final at Croke Park. Tiernan Kelly and the eye-gouging incident in that one caused uproar. Colm O'Rourke described Armagh as the "common denominator" after two other brawls earlier in 2022, making this the team's third involvement of the year. Joe Brolly condemned Armagh (like O'Rourke, he referred to Armagh's previous over the season): "They are out of control and it is only a matter of time before someone gets very seriously injured. This was deliberate goading, deliberate assaults during the course of the game, way beyond what is acceptable. I invite the GAA to look at all the camera footage. They should be asking RTÉ for all of the camera footage, because a lot was missed yesterday. It's not good enough… There is, unfortunately, a culture within this Armagh squad and it's difficult to know if it is encouraged, but it is certainly being tolerated. This is the third time this season. And the most disappointing thing about (Sunday's) game is the number of occasions when you could clearly see an Armagh player setting out to injure an opponent… The eye-gouger, no doubt, will get 12 months as a minimum… Possibly longer than that. It is a scandal to see that in our games, deeply depressing. That is the third riot on the pitch that there has been associated with [Armagh's] games and it is not a coincidence."

Current management team

 * Appointed in August 2014, given two-year extension with one-year extra option in August 2019, given further extension in 2023, some additions noted.


 * Manager: Kieran McGeeney
 * Assistant manager: Ciarán McKeever
 * Assistant manager until end of 2020 season: Jim McCorry
 * Goalkeeping coach: Ciaran McKinney
 * Others in backroom team: Kieran Donaghy (from December 2020) Conleith Gilligan
 * Strength and conditioning coach: Julia O'Neill

Current panel
Team as per Armagh vs Kerry in the 2024 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Semi-Final, 13th July 2024

Managerial history

 * The era of the two Brians: 1995–2001


 * Joe Kernan's Golden Era: 2002–2006


 * Peter McDonnell: 2007–2009


 * Paddy O'Rourke: 2010–2012


 * Paul Grimley: 2013–2014


 * Kieran McGeeney: 2015–present

Records

 * Stevie McDonnell is the team's top scorer in National Football League history, finishing his career with 33–282 (381) in that competition.

Competitive record
The following teams won national titles.

Honours

 * Official honours, with additions noted.

National

 * All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
 * Winners (1): 2002
 * Runners-up (3): 1953, 1977, 2003
 * National Football League
 * Winners (1): 2005
 * Runners-up (3): 1982–83, 1984–85, 1993–94
 * All-Ireland Junior Football Championship
 * Winners (1): 1926
 * All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship
 * Winners (1): 2004
 * All-Ireland Minor Football Championship
 * Winners (2): 1949, 2009

Provincial

 * Ulster Senior Football Championship
 * Winners (14): 1890, 1903, 1950, 1953, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008
 * Runners-up (21): 1891, 1901–02, 1904, 1912, 1917, 1920, 1927, 1928, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1938, 1939, 1949, 1954, 1961, 1981, 1984, 1987, 1990, 2023
 * Ulster Under-21 Football Championship
 * Winners (2): 1998, 2004, 2007
 * Ulster Minor Football Championship
 * Winners (11): 1930, 1949, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1961, 1968, 1992, 1994, 2005, 2009
 * Ulster Junior Football Championship
 * Winners (6): 1925, 1926, 1935, 1948, 1951, 1985
 * Dr McKenna Cup
 * Winners (9): 1929, 1931, 1938, 1939, 1949, 1950, 1986, 1990, 1994
 * Dr Lagan Cup
 * Winners (3): 1954, 1955, 1956