2006 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final

The 2006 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was the 119th All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 2006 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland.

2006 All-Ireland Football Championship final

Event	2006 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
Kerry Mayo 4-15 (27) 3-5 (14)
Date	17 September 2006
Venue	Croke Park, Dublin
Referee	Brian Crowe (Cavan)[1][2]
Attendance	82,289
← 2005 2007 →

Kerry won by 13 points, the widest winning margin in an All-Ireland final since 1978.^{[citation needed]}

Mayo were hoping to bridge a gap that stretched back to their All-Ireland football title winning team of 1951.^[3] They failed yet again, having lost to Kerry in 2004 and 1997, Meath in 1996 and Cork in 1989.^[4]

Mayo were 2–4 down with no score after 13 minutes, the Kerry total of 4–15 was the highest in a final since Dublin's 5–12 total against Armagh in the 1977 final; in 2022, Martin Breheny listed it among "five of the worst" All-Ireland SFC finals since 1972, commenting: "Kerry's awesome scoring power against a weak Mayo defence robbed the final of a competitive edge, the basic requirement to make a game entertaining".^[5]

Match details

Kerry	4–15 – 3–05	Mayo
C Cooper, K Donaghy, D O'Sullivan 1-2 each, E Brosnan 1-1, M F Russell, A O'Mahony 0-2 each, S Moynihan, P Galvin, S O'Sullivan 0-1 each,	Report	K O'Neill 2-0, P Harte 1-0, C Mortimer 0-3, B J Padden, C McDonald 0-1 each

17 September 2006

15:30 (IST)

Final

Croke Park, Dublin

Attendance: 82,289

Referee: Brian Crowe (Cavan)

Kerry

Mayo

Kerry Green and Yellow Shirts/White shorts/Green Socks	4–15 – 3–5 (final score after 70 minutes)	Mayo Green and Red shirts/White shorts/Red socks
Manager: Jack O'Connor Team: Diarmuid Murphy (GK) Marc Ó Sé Michael McCarthy Tom O'Sullivan Tomás Ó Sé Séamus Moynihan (0-1) Aidan O'Mahony (0-2) Darragh Ó Sé Tommy Griffin Seán O'Sullivan (0-01) Declan O'Sullivan (1-2) (Capt.) Paul Galvin (0-1) Colm Cooper (1-2) Kieran Donaghy (1-2) Mike Frank Russell (0-2) Substitutes: Eoin Brosnan (1-1) Darran O'Sullivan Bryan Sheehan (0-1) Éamonn Fitzmaurice B. Guiney	Half-time: 3-08 - 3-02 Competition: All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (Final) Date: 15.30 BST Sunday, 17 September 2006 Venue: Croke Park, Dublin Attendance: 82,289 Referee: Brian Crowe (Cavan) Match rules: 70 minutes. Replay if scores still level. Maximum of 5 substitutions.	Manager: Mickey Moran Team: David Clarke (GK) Dermot Geraghty David Heaney Keith Higgins Aidan Higgins James Nallen Peadar Gardiner Ronan McGarrity Pat Harte (1-0) Billy Joe Padden (0-1) Ger Brady Alan Dillon Kevin O'Neill (2-0) Conor Mortimer (0-3) Ciarán McDonald (0-1) Substitutes: David Brady Trevor Mortimer Barry Moran Aidan Kilcoyne Andy Moran

References

1. Moran, Seán (2 September 2006). "Cavan's Brian Crowe will referee the All-Ireland football final between Kerry and Mayo in a fortnight's time". The Irish Times.
2. Moynihan, Michael (2 September 2006). "All-Ireland football final referee named". Irish Examiner.
3. McGee, Eugene (6 February 2006). "First signs that Mayo might be set to turn back the clock". Irish Independent. Retrieved 6 February 2006.
4. "All-Ireland final match-tracker". RTÉ. 17 September 2006. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
5. Breheny, Martin (9 August 2022). "Five of the worst All-Ireland football finals since 1972". Irish Independent.