Ulster Minor Club Football Championship

The Ulster Minor Club Football Championship (Irish: Comórtas Pheil Mhionúr Chumann Uladh), often referred to as the St. Paul's Tournament,^[2] an annual Gaelic football tournament organised and hosted by the St Paul's club in Belfast. It is played between the Minor championship winners from each of the nine counties of Ulster. The competition has a straight knock-out format. It was first held in 1982 and the winners are awarded the Jimmy McConville Cup.^[3]

Ulster Minor Club Football Championship
Irish	Comórtas Pheil Mhionúr Chumann Uladh[1]
Code	Gaelic football
Founded	1982; 42 years ago (1982)
Region	Ulster, Ireland (GAA)
Trophy	Jim McConville Cup
Title holders	Four Masters (1st title)
Most titles	Ballinderry & Glen (4 titles)
Sponsors	FonaCAB Belfast

While unofficial, it is regarded as the Ulster Club Championship for club minor teams.^[2] The competition begins in late November or early December with the final taking place in January, typically on New Year's Day (e.g. the 2017 final took place on 1 January 2018).

Derry clubs have won the competition eighteen times, more than any other county. Ballinderry and Glen are the most successful clubs, having both won the competition four times, with Glen's four titles being won consecutively. The current champions are Four Masters from Donegal.

List of finals

List of Ulster Minor Club Football Championship finals

Year	Winners		Score	Runners-up		Winning captain	Man of the match	Ref
	Club	County		Club	County
1982	St Paul's	Antrim	2–9 – 2–4	Scotstown	Monaghan	Fergus Donnelly
1983	Saul	Down	1–15 – 0–9	Lisnaskea Emmetts	Fermanagh	Eddie Harney
1984	Killybegs	Donegal	4–9 – 3–5	St Paul's	Antrim
1985	Killybegs	Donegal	2–5 – 0–8	Patrick Sarsfields	Antrim
1986	St Paul's	Antrim	5–9 – 0–8	Enniskillen Gaels	Fermanagh	Gerard Kelly
1987	Killeavy	Armagh	2–9 – 0–6	Enniskillen Gaels	Fermanagh	Shane O'Neill
1988	Enniskillen Gaels	Fermanagh	1–9 – 1–9 (aet)	Maghery	Armagh	Simon Bradley
			2–6 – 1–5 (R)
1989	Dungannon	Tyrone	1–08 – 1–07	St Paul's	Antrim
1990	Dungiven	Derry	1–10 – 1–09	Aodh Ruadh	Donegal
1991	Bellaghy	Derry	2–06 – 1–07	Cavan Gaels	Cavan	Karl Diamond
1992	Aodh Ruadh	Donegal	4–08 – 1–06	Clan na Gael	Armagh
1993	Loup	Derry	1–11 – 1–06	St Eunan's	Donegal
1994	Bellaghy	Derry	7–05 – 2–05	Dungannon	Tyrone
1995	Loup	Derry		Clontibret O'Neills	Monaghan	Johnny McBride
1996	Ballinderry	Derry	0–14 – 0–07	Killeavy	Armagh		Gerard Cassidy
1997	Ballinderry	Derry	2–07 – 1–04	Eglish	Tyrone			[4]
1998	Slaughtneil	Derry	1–09 – 1–08	Ardboe	Tyrone	Niall Convery	Kevin O'Neill	[5]
1999	Cavan Gaels	Cavan	3–09 – 2–07	Slaughtneil	Derry	Dominic Reilly	Richard Graham
2000	Pearse Óg	Armagh	1–12 – 0–14	Cavan Gaels	Cavan
2001	Ballinderry	Derry	3–07 – 1–09	Clontibret O'Neills	Monaghan	Thomas Maynes	Thomas Maynes	[6]
2002	Clontibret O'Neills	Monaghan	2–14 – 0–4	Armagh Harps	Armagh	Jonathan McGuigan	Paul McGuigan	[7]
2003	Armagh Harps	Armagh	1–11 – 0–7	Carrickmacross Emmets	Monaghan	Joe Quigley	Ciaran Clifford
2004	Rostrevor	Down	2–7 – 1–8	Kilrea	Derry
2005	Errigal Ciarán	Tyrone	1–13 – 1–11	Killybegs	Donegal	Barry Canavan	Ronan McRory	[8]
2006	Coalisland	Tyrone	1–14 – 2–10	Cavan Gaels	Cavan	Brian Toner Stephen McNally	Brian Toner
2007	Kilrea	Derry	2–9 – 0–9	Errigal Ciarán	Tyrone	James Kielt		[9]
2008	Ballinderry	Derry	2–8 – 2–7	Scotstown	Monaghan	Gavin McGeehan	Ryan Scullion	[10]
2009	Omagh St Enda's	Tyrone	0–12 – 0–11	Kilcoo	Down	Barry Tierney	Conan Grugan	[11]
2010	Lámh Dhearg	Antrim	0–9 – 0–8	Magherafelt	Derry	Declan Stranney	Declan Stranney	[12]
2011	Glen	Derry	4–12 – 0–6	Armagh Harps	Armagh	Emmett Bradley	Emmett Bradley	[13]
2012	Glen	Derry	4–7 – 1–7	Killeavy	Armagh	Ciaran McFaul	Ryan Dougan	[14]
2013	Glen	Derry	0–10 – 1–2	Silverbridge	Armagh	Stevie O'Hara	Paul Gunning	[15]
2014	Glen	Derry	1–17 – 2–8 (aet)	Southern Gaels	Cavan	Cathal Mulholland	Danny Tallon	[16]
2015	Crossmaglen Rangers	Armagh	4–12 – 1–6	St Eunan's	Donegal	Michael McCabe	Oisín O'Neill	[17]
2016	Burren	Down	4–8 – 3–5	Kilrea	Derry	Conor Cox Darragh Murdock	Conor Cox	[18]
2017	Enniskillen Gaels	Fermanagh	1–6 – 0–6	Ballinascreen	Derry	Eoin Beacom	Eoin Beacom	[19]
2018	Bellaghy	Derry	6–11 – 0–8	Crossmaglen Rangers	Armagh	Paul Cassidy	Kealan Friel	[20]
2019	Lavey	Derry	0–9 – 0–8	Termon	Donegal	Cormac Collins	Enda Downey	[21]
2020	Competition cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021
2022	Dungiven	Derry	2–7 – 1–8	Four Masters	Donegal	Eoin Higgins Odhran Murphy	Dara McGonigle	[22]
2023	Four Masters	Donegal	1–10 – 2–4	Cavan Gaels	Cavan	Callum McCrea	Conor McCahill	[23]

Performances by county

Performances in the Ulster Minor Club Football Championship by county

County	Titles	Runners-up	Years won	Years runners-up
Derry	18	5	1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2022	1999, 2004, 2010, 2016, 2017
Armagh	4	8	1987, 2000, 2003, 2015	1988, 1992, 1996, 2002, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2018
Donegal	4	6	1984, 1985, 1992, 2023	1990, 1993, 2005, 2015, 2019, 2022
Tyrone	4	4	1989, 2005, 2006, 2009	1994, 1997, 1998, 2007
Antrim	3	3	1982, 1986, 2010	1984, 1985, 1989
Down	3	1	1983, 2004, 2016	2009
Fermanagh	2	3	1988, 2017	1983, 1986, 1987
Cavan	1	5	1999	1991, 2000, 2006, 2014, 2023
Monaghan	1	5	2002	1982, 1995, 2001, 2003, 2008

Performances by club

Performances in the Ulster Minor Club Football Championship by club

Club	Titles	Runners-up	Years won	Years runners-up
Ballinderry	4	0	1996, 1997, 2001, 2008	—
Glen	4	0	2011, 2012, 2013, 2014	—
Bellaghy	3	0	1991, 1994, 2018	—
St Paul's	2	2	1982, 1986	1984, 1989
Enniskillen Gaels	2	2	1988, 2017	1986, 1987
Killybegs	2	1	1984, 1985	2005
Dungiven	2	0	1990, 2022	—
Loup	2	0	1993, 1995	—
Cavan Gaels	1	4	1999	1991, 2000, 2006, 2023
Killeavy	1	2	1987	1996, 2012
Clontibret O'Neills	1	2	2002	1995, 2001
Armagh Harps	1	2	2003	2002, 2011
Kilrea	1	2	2007	2004, 2016
Dungannon	1	1	1989	1994
Aodh Ruadh	1	1	1992	1990
Slaughtneil	1	1	1998	1999
Errigal Ciarán	1	1	2005	2007
Crossmaglen Rangers	1	1	2015	2018
Four Masters	1	1	2023	2022
Saul	1	0	1983	—
Pearse Óg	1	0	2000	—
Rostrevor	1	0	2004	—
Coalisland	1	0	2006	—
Omagh St Enda's	1	0	2009	—
Lámh Dhearg	1	0	2010	—
Burren	1	0	2016	—
Lavey	1	0	2019	—
Scotstown	0	2	—	1982, 2008
St Eunan's	0	2	—	1993, 2015
Lisnaskea Emmetts	0	1	—	1983
Patrick Sarsfields	0	1	—	1985
Maghery	0	1	—	1988
Clan na Gael	0	1	—	1992
Eglish	0	1	—	1997
Ardboe	0	1	—	1998
Carrickmacross Emmets	0	1	—	2003
Kilcoo	0	1	—	2009
Magherafelt	0	1	—	2010
Silverbridge	0	1	—	2013
Southern Gaels	0	1	—	2014
Ballinascreen	0	1	—	2017
Termon	0	1	—	2019

See also

• Ulster Senior Club Football Championship

References

1. 2008 Northern Bank Ulster Minor Club Football Tournament Final Programme. 1 January 2009. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
2. Rodgers, Alan (31 October 2008). "St Paul's minor tournament set to get underway". Gaelic Life. p. 3.
3. "Stair / History (St. Paul's)". Official St. Paul's website. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
4. Hawkins, Thomas (2 January 2018). "In The Irish News Jan 2 1998: Ballinderry Shamrocks still minor football kings of Ulster". The Irish News. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
5. "Irish News Past Papers - Jan 2 1999: Slaughtneil score a slender victory over battling Ardboe". The Irish News. 2 January 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
6. McAuley, Mark (13 January 2002). "Three steps to heaven". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
7. Campbell, John (2 January 2003). "GAA: Clontibret knock Harps out of tune". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
8. "Errigal Ciaran win minor decider". BBC Sport. 1 January 2006. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
9. "Kilrea are Ulster minor club champions". Hogan Stand. 4 January 2008. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
10. "Scullion seals it for battling Ballinderry". Irish Independent. 2 January 2009. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
11. "Ulster glory for Omagh minors". Hogan Stand. 28 January 2010. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
12. "Matt finish gets the party started for Lamh Dhearg". Belfast Telegraph. 24 January 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
13. Campbell, John (2 January 2012). "Poor Harps hammered as Watty claim minor crown". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
14. "Watty Graham's justify odds as they see off Killeavy". Belfast Telegraph. 3 January 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
15. Martin, John (2 January 2014). "Golden Grahams: Watty Grahams 0-10 - 1-2 Silverbridge". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
16. McGee, Tony (2 January 2015). "Golden teens from Watty Graham's savour final success". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
17. McGee, Tony (2 January 2016). "Crossmaglen reign supreme in Ulster minor tournament". The Irish News. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
18. Campbell, John (2 January 2017). "The future looks bright for Burren after classy Ulster Minor success". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
19. Campbell, John (2 January 2018). "Enniskillen Gaels make up for past disappointments with long-awaited Ulster title". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
20. Martin, John (2 January 2019). "Brilliant Bellaghy are crowned Ulster minor club champions". The Irish News. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
21. O'Kane, Cahair (2 January 2020). "Lavey's bloodline suggests first Ulster minor title is only the start". The Irish News. Archived from the original on 30 December 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
22. O'Kane, Cahair (2 January 2023). "Dungiven back among the big dogs". The Irish News. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
23. Loughran, Neil (1 January 2024). "Four Masters start new year on front foot after burying memories of 2023 heartache with final victory over Cavan Gaels". The Irish News. Retrieved 1 January 2024.