Waterford Senior Hurling Championship

The Waterford Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the JJ Kavanagh & Sons Senior Hurling Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Waterford County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1897 for the top hurling teams in the county of Waterford in Ireland.

The series of games are played during the spring, summer and autumn months with the county final currently being played at Walsh Park in October. Initially played as a knock-out competition, the championship currently features a group stage followed by a knock-out stage. The Waterford County Championship is an integral part of the wider Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship. The winners of the Waterford county final join the champions of the other hurling counties to contest the provincial championship. Twelve teams currently participate in the Waterford County Championship. The title has been won at least once by 23 different teams. The all-time record-holders are Mount Sion, who have won a total of 35 titles. Ballygunner are the title-holders after defeating Passage by 1–23 to 0–09 in the 2020 championship final.

Current format
Group stage: The 12 teams are divided into four groups of three. Each team plays each other once. The top team in each group advance to the quarter final stage and are seeded. The second placed teams from each group are drawn against third placed teams in each group in a preliminary quarter final. The winners advance to the quarter finals whilst the losers are summoned to relegation semi-finals and finals, with one team being relegated to the premier intermediate grade.

Preliminary quarter-finals: 8 teams contest this round. The 4 winning teams advance to the Quarter-finals. The 4 losing teams advance to the relegation play-offs.

Relegation play-off: 4 teams contest this round. The losing team are relegated to the Waterford Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship.

Quarter-finals: 8 teams contest this round. The 4 winning teams advance to the Semi-finals. The 4 losing teams are eliminated from the championship.

Semi-finals: 4 teams contest this round. The 2 winning teams advance to the Semi-finals. The 2 losing teams are eliminated from the championship.

Final: The final is contested by the two semi-final winners.

2024 teams
The following 12 teams will contest the 2024 Waterford Senior Hurling Championship:

Managers
Managers in the Waterford Championship are involved in the day-to-day running of the team, including the training, team selection, and sourcing of players. Their influence varies from club-to-club and is related to the individual club committees. The manager is assisted by a team of two or three selectors and a backroom team consisting of various coaches.

By decade
The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Waterford Senior Hurling Championship titles, is as follows:


 * 1890s: 1 each for Ballytruckle (1897) and Ballydurn (1899)
 * 1900s: 4 for Clonea (1902-03-05-07)
 * 1910s: 3 each for T. F. Meaghers (1910-11-12) and Ferrybank (1915-16-19)
 * 1920s: 3 each for Dungarvan (1920-23-26) and Erin's Own (1927-28-29)
 * 1930s: 6 for Erin's Own (1930-31-32-33-34-35)
 * 1940s: 5 for Mount Sion (1940-43-45-48-49)
 * 1950s: 8 for Mount Sion (1951-53-54-55-56-57-58-59)
 * 1960s: 6 for Mount Sion (1960-61-63-64-65-69)
 * 1970s: 5 for Portlaw (1970-71-73-76-77)
 * 1980s: 4 for Mount Sion (1981-83-86-88)
 * 1990s: 5 for Ballygunner (1992-95-96-97-99)
 * 2000s: 5 for Mount Sion (2000-02-03-04-06)
 * 2010s: 7 for Ballygunner (2011-14-15-16-17-18-19)
 * 2020s: 4 for Ballygunner (2020-21-22-23)

Gaps
Top five longest gaps between successive championship titles:


 * 66 years: Lismore (1925-1991)
 * 45 years: Clonea (1907-1952)
 * 44 years: Tallow (1936-1980)
 * 33 years: Portlaw (1937-1970)
 * 20 years: Ballyduff Upper (1987-2007)