Leinster Under-20 Hurling Championship


The Leinster GAA Hurling All-Ireland Under-20 Championship known simply as the Leinster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association. It is the highest inter-county hurling competition for male players between the ages of 17 and 20 in the province of Leinster. The championship was contested as the Leinster Under-21 Championship between 1964 and 2018 before changing to an under-20 age category from 2019. It is sponsored by Bord Gáis Energy.
The series of games are played during the summer months with the Leinster final currently being played in July. The prize for the winning team is the Seán Robbins Cup. The championship has always been played on a straight knock-out basis whereby once a team loses they are eliminated from the series.
The Leinster Championship is an integral part of the wider All-Ireland Under-20 Hurling Championship. The winners and runners-up of the Leinster final, like their counterparts in the Munster Championship, advance to the semi-final stage of the All-Ireland series of games.
Eight teams currently participate in the Munster Championship. Kilkenny is the most successful team with 26 titles, followed by Wexford with 17 titles. The title has been won by six different teams, four of whom have won the title more than once.
Kilkenny are the current holders.

History

Creation

The Leinster Championship began in 1964 in response to a Congress motion put forward by the Kerry County Board for the introduction of a new championship grade. It was the fifth championship to be created after the senior, junior, minor and intermediate grades.

Beginnings

The inaugural Leinster Championship featured Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Louth, Offaly, Westmeath and Wexford. Louth and Westmeath contested the very first match on Sunday 29 March 1964. Wexford won the inaugural championship.

Team dominance

Since the beginning the championship has been dominated by Kilkenny and Wexford. They won all bar one of the available championship titles between 1964 and 1977 and have won a combined total of 42 championship titles. Kilkenny also have the distinction of being the only team to win four championships in-a-row, achieving this feat on two separate occasions.
Dublin were the only team beside Kilkenny and Wexford to win the championship, with their lone title being claimed in 1967. Offaly and Laois added their names to the roll of honour in 1978 and 1983 respectively, however, the rest of the century belonged to Kilkenny and Wexford once again.

Proposed changes

In 2008 a motion was brought before a special Congress in an effort to combat player burnout. It was proposed to merge the existing under-21 and minor championships to create a new Leinster Under-19 Hurling Championship based on the provincial system. This motion was defeated by 115 votes to 58.
A similar motion was later introduced in an effort to lower the age and create a new Leinster Under-20 Championship based on the provincial system, however, this motion was also defeated.

Age change

At the GAA Congress on 24 February 2018, the age limit of the championship was changed to twenty, following a successful motion by the Offaly County Board. In contrast to Gaelic football, under-20 hurlers are eligible to play both under-20 and senior hurling for their county.

Current format

Championship

The Leinster Championship is a knockout tournament with pairings drawn at random. Each match is played as a single leg. If a match is drawn there is a period of extra time, however, if the sides still remain level a replay is required.
There are nine teams in the Leinster Championship. The finalists from the previous year receive a bye to separate semi-finals. The four "weakest" teams contest two play-off rounds with the winner joining the other three teams in the championship proper at the quarter-final stage.

Qualification for the All-Ireland Championship

As of the 2018 championship qualification for the All-Ireland Championship has changed due to the introduction of a "back door" for defeated finalists. Both the champions and runners-up qualify for the All-Ireland semi-finals.

Teams

Non-Leinster teams

On 30 September 2017, 72% of delegates at GAA Special Congress voted in favour of allowing Galway into the Leinster Championship along with any Ulster teams – as of agreed by the Ulster and Leinster Councils.

Venues

History

Leinster Championship matches have always been played on a home and away basis whereby every second meeting between teams is played at the home venue of one of them. All of the current teams have home and away agreements, however, Antrim and Galway are not permitted to use their home grounds because they are outside the province of Leinster.

Attendances

Stadium attendances are a significant source of regular income for the Leinster Council and for the teams involved.

Final

The venue for the final also comes under the terms of the individual home and away agreements between the teams involved, however, on some occasions a neutral venue was used. The attendance at the 2017 Leinster final was 6,089.

Managers

in the Leinster Championship are involved in the day-to-day running of the team, including the training, team selection, and sourcing of players from the club championships. Their influence varies from county-to-county and is related to the individual county boards. The manager is assisted by a team of two or three selectors and an extensive backroom team consisting of various coaches. The under-20 team manager also works closely with the senior team manager due to an overlap of players on both teams. Prior to the development of the concept of a manager in the 1970s, teams were usually managed by a team of selectors with one member acting as chairman.
ManagerTeamWinsWinning years
J. J. DoyleWexford32013, 2014, 2015
Séamus MurphyWexford22001, 2002
Martin FogartyKilkenny22003, 2004
Adrian FinanKilkenny22005, 2006
Michael WalshKilkenny22008, 2009
Percy ClendennanOffaly12000
Seán LaneDublin12007
Richard StakelumDublin12010
John McEvoyDublin12011
Richie MulrooneyKilkenny12012
Joe FortuneDublin12016
Eddie BrennanKilkenny12017
Tony WardGalway12018
D. J. CareyKilkenny12019

Trophy and medals

At the end of the Leinster final, the winning team is presented with a trophy. The Seán Robbins Cup is held by the winning team until the following year's final. Traditionally, the presentation is made at a special rostrum in the stand where GAA and political dignitaries and special guests view the match.
The cup is decorated with ribbons in the colours of the winning team. During the game the cup actually has both teams' sets of ribbons attached and the runners-up ribbons are removed before the presentation. The winning captain accepts the cup on behalf of his team before giving a short speech. Individual members of the winning team then have an opportunity to come to the rostrum to lift the cup.
In accordance with GAA rules, the Leinster Council awards up to twenty-four gold medals to the winners of the Leinster final.

Sponsorship

Since 2003, the Leinster Championship has been sponsored. The sponsor has usually been able to determine the championship's sponsorship name.
PeriodSponsorName
1964–2002No main sponsorThe Leinster Championship
2003–2007 Erin FoodsThe Erin Leinster Under-21 Hurling Championship
2008–2018 Bord Gáis EnergyThe Bord Gáis Energy Munster GAA Hurling Under-21 Championship
2019- Bord Gáis EnergyThe Bord Gáis Energy Leinster GAA Hurling Under-20 Championship

Results

Summaries

All-Ireland champions
All-Ireland runners-up

YearWinnersScoreRunners-upScoreVenueWinning Captain
1964Wexford4-07Laois2-02Jim Berry
1965Wexford7-09Dublin1-05Willie O'Neill
1966Wexford7-10Laois2-08
1967Dublin2-10Offaly2-09
1968Kilkenny4-10Dublin5-04
1969Wexford3-16Kilkenny4-03
1970Wexford2-15Kilkenny5-04Liam Bennett
1971Wexford2-16Kilkenny2-09Martin Quigley
1972Dublin2-11Offaly0-15J. Kealy
1973Wexford2-13Offaly2-10
1974Kilkenny3-08Wexford1-05Ger Fennelly
1975Kilkenny3-14Wexford0-08Kevin Fennelly
1976Kilkenny3-21Wexford0-05
1977Kilkenny3-11Wexford1-10Micky Lyng
1978Offaly2-14Laois2-07
1979Wexford1-08 Kilkenny0-10
1980Kilkenny2-14Wexford2-09
1981Kilkenny6-11Wexford2-10
1982Kilkenny5-20Offaly2-06
1983Laois3-13Wexford4-08
1984Kilkenny0-18Wexford1-10Séamus Delahunty
1985Kilkenny4-18Wexford1-04
1986Wexford1-16 Offaly0-10
1987Wexford4-11Wexford0-05
1988Kilkenny3-13Offaly2-05Frankie Morgan
1989Offaly3-16Kilkenny3-09
1990Kilkenny2-09Laois1-10Jamesie Brennan
1991Offaly2-10Kilkenny0-12
1992Offaly1-15Kilkenny2-10
1993Kilkenny4-13Wexford2-07David Beirne
1994Kilkenny1-14Wexford0-15Philly Larkin
1995Kilkenny2-11Wexford1-12Peter Barry
1996Wexford2-15 Offaly2-05
1997Wexford2-13Offaly0-15
1998Kilkenny2-10Dublin0-12Dr. Cullen ParkPaul Hoyne
1999Kilkenny1-17Offaly1-06O'Moore ParkNoel Hickey
2000Offaly3-14Kilkenny2-14O'Moore Park
2001Wexford0-10Kilkenny1-05Wexford ParkNicky Lambert
2002Wexford1-15Dublin0-15O'Moore ParkDarren Stamp
2003Kilkenny0-12Dublin1-04Dr. Cullen ParkJackie Tyrrell
2004Kilkenny1-16Wexford2-03Wexford ParkJames "Cha" Fitzpatrick
2005Kilkenny0-17Dublin1-10Dr. Cullen ParkRichie Power
2006Kilkenny2-18Dublin2-10Nowlan ParkMichael Fennelly
2007Dublin2-18Offaly3-09Parnell ParkJohn McCaffrey
2008Kilkenny2-21Offaly2-09O'Connor ParkJames Dowling
2009Kilkenny2-20Dublin1-19Parnell ParkDavid Langton
2010Dublin2-15Wexford0-15Parnell ParkFinn McGarry
2011Dublin1-18Wexford0-11Wexford ParkLiam Rushe
2012Kilkenny4-24Laois1-13O'Moore ParkCillian Buckley
2013Wexford1-21Kilkenny0-21Wexford ParkLee Chin
2014Wexford1-20Dublin0-18Parnell ParkShane O'Gorman
2015Wexford4-17Kilkenny1-9Wexford ParkEoin Conroy
2016Dublin2-15Offaly1-10O'Connor Park
2017Kilkenny0-30Wexford1-14Nowlan ParkPat Lyng
2018Galway4-21Wexford2-26O'Moore Park
2019Kilkenny1-17Wexford0-18Wexford ParkEvan Shefflin

Performances by counties

No.TeamWinsYears wonLossesYears lost
1 Kilkenny261968, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2017, 2019101969, 1970, 1971, 1979, 1989, 1991, 1992, 2000, 2013, 2015
2 Wexford171964, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1979, 1986, 1987, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2013, 2014, 2015181974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2017, 2018, 2019
3 Dublin61967, 1972, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2016101965, 1968, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2014
4 Offaly51978, 1989, 1991, 1992, 2000131967, 1972, 1973, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2007, 2008, 2016
5 Laois1198351964, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2012
6 Galway120180

Records

Final

Team

By decade

The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of championship titles, is as follows:
Top five longest gaps between successive championship titles:

By year

YearTop scorerTeamScoreTotal
1995[Ollie O'ConnorKilkenny1-2023
1996John KellyOffaly2-1420
1996Damian CleereKilkenny2-1420
1997Emmet CarrollDublin4-0315
1998Tomás McGraneDublin1-2225
1999Henry ShefflinKilkenny3-0919
2000Conor GathOffaly1-1316
2001Brian McCormackLaois0-1717
2002Barry LambertWexford1-2528
2003Conal KeaneyDublin2-1723
2004James FitzpatrickKilkenny0-2020
2005Eoin LarkinKilkenny1-2629
2006Kevin O'ReillyDublin0-1414
2007Alan McCrabbeDublin2-2127
2008Colm CoughlanOffaly2-1824
2009Mark BerginKilkenny0-1414
2010Paudie KehoeCarlow1-1619
2010Mark BerginKilkenny1-1619
2011Kevin O'LoughlinDublin1-2124
2012Stephen MaherLaois0-2323
2013Stephen QuirkeOffaly2-1925
2014Paul WintersDublin0-2222
2015Conor McDonaldWexford2-2733
2016Emmet NolanOffaly4-1123
2017Killian DoyleWestmeath0-3030
2018Séamus CaseyWexford1-2730
2019Cathal KielyOffaly0-4444

In a single game

YearTop scorerTeamScoreTotal
2015Conor McDonaldWexford1-1013
2016Emmet NolanOffaly2-0713
2017Jack SheridanKildare2-0915
2018Chris NolanCarlow1-1114
2018Séamus CaseyWexford1-1114
2019Cathal KielyOffaly0-2020

In finals

FinalTop scorerTeamScoreTotal
1996Gary LaffanWexford1-058
1997Killian FarrellOffaly0-077
1998Henry ShefflinKilkenny1-047
1999Henry ShefflinKilkenny1-047
2000Kevin PowerKilkenny0-077
2001Barry LambertWexford0-044
2002Barry LambertWexford1-0811
2003Conal KeaneyDublin1-025
2004Richie PowerKilkenny1-036
2005Eoin LarkinKilkenny0-1010
2006David McCormackKilkenny1-058
2007Alan McCrabbeDublin0-099
2008Joe BerginOffaly2-017
2009Jonjo FarrellKilkenny2-028
2010Daire PlunkettDublin1-036
2010Shane TompkinsWexford0-066
2011Kevin O'LoughlinDublin0-088
2012Ger AylwardKilkenny2-0511
2013John PowerKilkenny0-099
2013Jack GuineyWexford0-099
2014Paul WintersDublin0-099
2015Conor McDonaldWexford1-1013
2016Seán TreacyDublin2-028
2017Richie LeahyKilkenny0-055
2017Alan MurphyKilkenny0-055
2017Joe ColemanWexford0-055
2018Séamus CaseyWexford1-1114
2019Ross BanvilleWexford0-077