East Cork Junior A Football Championship

The East Cork Junior A Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Michael O'Connor Motor Factors East Cork Junior A Football Championship) is an annual Gaelic football competition organised by the Imokilly Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1927 for junior Gaelic football teams in East Cork.

East Cork Junior A Football Championship
Code	Gaelic Football
Founded	1927; 97 years ago (1927)
Region	Imokilly (GAA)
Trophy	Jim Ryan Cup
No. of teams	12
Title holders	Castlemartyr (7th title)
Most titles	Glanmire (20 titles)
Sponsors	Michael O'Connor Motor Factors

The series of games begin in March, with the championship culminating with the final in the autumn. The championship includes a group stage and a knockout stage which guarantees at least 3 championship matches.

The East Cork Junior A Championship is an integral part of the wider Cork Junior A Football Championship. The winners of the East Cork championship join their counterparts from the other seven divisions to contest the county championship.

As of 2024, 12 clubs were participating in the East Cork Championship.^[1] The title has been won at least once by 17 different clubs. The all-time record-holders are Glanmire, who have won a total of 20 titles.

Castlemartyr are the title-holders, defeating Carrigtwohill by 1–10 to 0–12 in the 2024 championship final.

Format

Group stage

The 12 teams are divided into three groups of four. Over the course of the group stage, each team plays once against the others in the group, resulting in each team being guaranteed at least three games. Two points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. The teams are ranked in the group stage table by points gained, then scoring difference and then their head-to-head record. The top two teams in each group qualify for the knockout stage.

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals: Two lone quarter-finals featuring the four lowest-placed qualifying teams from the group stage. Two teams qualify for the next round.

Semi-finals: The two quarter-final winners and the top two highest-placed qualifying teams from the group stage contest this round. The two winners from these games advance to the final.

Final: The two semi-final winners contest the final. The winning team are declared champions.

Promotion and relegation

At the end of the championship, the winning team enters the Cork Junior A Football Championship. The winner of this is automatically promoted to the Cork Premier Junior Football Championship for the following season. The two worst-ranked teams from the group stage take part in a playoff, with the losing team being relegated to the East Cork Junior B Football Championship.

Teams

2024 teams

The 12 teams competing in the 2024 East Cork Junior A Football Championship are:

Team	Location	Colours	Position in 2024	In championship since	Championship Titles	Last Championship Title
							Aghada	Aghada	Green and white	Group stage		4	1989
Bride Rovers	Rathcormac	Green, white and gold	Relegated	?	3	2021
Carrignavar	Carrignavar	Green and red	Group stage	?	1	1975
Carrigtwohill	Carrigtwohill	Blue and yellow	Runners-up	?	3	2000
Castlemartyr	Castlemartyr	Red and white	Champions	?	7	2024
Cloyne	Cloyne	Red and black	Quarter-finals	?	6	2016
Dungourney	Dungourney	Green and gold	Group stage	2024	0	—
Erin's Own	Caherlag	Red and blue	Semi-finals	?	6	2019
Fr. O'Neill's	Ballymacoda	Red and green	Group stage	?	4	2015
Lisgoold	Lisgoold	Blue and yellow	Quarter-finals	?	1	2023
Midleton	Midleton	Black and white	Semi-finals	?	12	2020
Youghal	Youghal	Maroon, white and yellow	Relegation playoff winners	?	7	1999

List of finals

List of East Cork JAFC finals

Year	Winners		Runners-up		#
	Club	Score	Club	Score
2024	Castlemartyr	1-10	Carrigtwohill	0-12
2023	Lisgoold	2-09	Carrignavar	0-10
2022	Cobh	4-11	Castlemartyr	2-09
2021	Bride Rovers	3-09	Cobh	0-10
2020	Midleton				[2]
2019	Erin's Own				[2]
2018	Midleton				[2]
2017	Erin's Own				[2]
2016	Cloyne				[2]
2015	Fr. O'Neill's				[2]
2014	Glenbower Rovers				[2]
2013	Glenbower Rovers				[2]
2012	Glenbower Rovers				[2]
2011	Glenbower Rovers				[2]
2010	Cloyne				[2]

Roll of honour

By club

#	Club	Titles	Championship wins
1	Glanmire	20	1929, 1930, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1946, 1950, 1951, 1957, 1958, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1977
2	Midleton	12	1928, 1935, 1938, 1939, 1949, 1962, 1967, 1969, 1974, 1992, 2018, 2020
3	Cobh	10	1927, 1944, 1947, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1960, 1988, 2022
4	Youghal	7	1940, 1941, 1945, 1952, 1959, 1984, 1999[2]
	Glenville	7	1948, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1978, 1979, 1995
	Castlemartyr	7	1982, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 2024
7	Cloyne	6	1976, 2001, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2016
	Erin's Own	6	1994, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2017, 2019
9	Aghada	4	1980, 1981, 1983, 1989
	Fr. O'Neill's	4	1996, 1998, 2006, 2015
11	Carrigtwohill	3	1993, 1997, 2000
	Glenbower Rovers	4	2011, 2012, 2013, 2014[2]
	Bride Rovers	3	2004, 2007, 2021
14	Russell Rovers	1	1931
	Combined Services	1	1941
	19th Battalion	1	1942
	Carrignavar	1	1975
	Lisgoold	1	2023

See also

• East Cork Junior A Hurling Championship

References

1. "2023 final".
2. "Roll Of Honour - Junior A Football Winners". eastcorkgaa.com. Retrieved 5 November 2023.

External links

• East Cork GAA website