The Tommy Murphy Cup was a Gaelic football competition, featuring senior county teams eliminated from the early stages of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and also Kilkenny when not fielding a team in the main All-Ireland. The series of games, organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association, were played during the summer months with the final being played in August at Croke Park. The Cup was named after Tommy Murphy, a footballer from County Laois who was, appropriately for the competition, the only member of the Team of the Millennium from a county which had not won an All-Ireland.

Later changes to the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship meant that the 2008 Tommy Murphy Cup featured the eight lowest-ranking teams in National Football League, unless the teams reached the final of their respective provincial championships. Antrim beat holders Wicklow in the final. The cup was cancelled after the 2008 tournament.

Format
The Tommy Murphy Cup is a single elimination tournament. Each team is afforded only one defeat before being eliminated from the championship. Pairings for matches are drawn at random and there is currently no seeding. Each match is played as a single leg. If a match is drawn there is a period of extra time, however, if both sides are still level at the end of extra time a replay takes place and so on until a winner is found.

Teams

Debut of counties

List of Tommy Murphy Cup counties

Seasons in Tommy Murphy Cup 
The number of years that each county has played in the Tommy Murphy Cup between 2004 and 2008. A total of 18 counties have competed in at least one season of the Tommy Murphy Cup. Antrim and London have participated in the most championships. The counties in bold participated in the 2008 Tommy Murphy Cup.

List of Finals

Roll of honour

Team records and statistics

Team results

Legend 

  – Champions
  – Runners-up
  – Semi-Final
  – Quarter-finals/Preliminary Round
 AI – All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

For each year, the number of teams in each championship (in brackets) are shown.

Semi-final appearances

All time table 
Legend

Other records

Finishing positions 

 Most championships
 1,  Clare (2004)
 1,  Tipperary (2005)
 1,  Louth (2006)
 1,  Wicklow (2007)
 1,  Antrim (2008)

 Most second-place finishes
 1,  Sligo (2004)
 1,  Wexford (2005)
 1,  Leitrim (2006)
 1,  Antrim (2007)
 1,  Wicklow (2008)

 Most semi-final finishes
 2,  Antrim (2004, 2006)

 Most quarter-final finishes
 4,  London (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007)

 Most preliminary round finishes
 4,  Kilkenny (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008)

Unbeaten sides 

 All 5 teams have won the Tommy Murphy Cup unbeaten: 
  Clare had 3 wins in 2004.
  Tipperary had 4 wins in 2005.
  Louth had 4 wins in 2006.
  Wicklow had 3 wins in 2007.
  Antrim had 3 wins in 2008.

Beaten sides 
The knockout format of the cup has resulted in 0 'back-door' Tommy Murphy Cup champions.

Final success rate 
Only 3 counties have appeared in the final, being victorious on all occasions:

  Clare (2004)
  Tipperary (2005)
  Louth (2006)

On the opposite end of the scale, only 3 counties has appeared in the final, losing on each occasion:

  Sligo (2004)
  Wexford (2005)
  Leitrim (2006)

Consecutive participations 

 5,  Antrim (2004–2008)
 5,  London (2004–2008)

Antrim and London have the record number of consecutive participations in the Tommy Murphy Cup, taking part in all 5 seasons.

Winning other trophies 
Although not an officially recognised achievement, one team has achieved the distinction of winning the Tommy Murphy Cup and their respective Division in the National Football League:

  Louth in 2006 (Division 2).

Biggest wins 

 The most one sided finals:
 9 points – 2006: Louth 3-14 - 1-11 Leitrim
 The most one sided matches:
 38 points – 2007: Kilkenny 1-00 - 3-32 Antrim

Scoring Events 

 Most goals in a match:
 00 – 0000: 000 vs 000
 Most points in a match:
 00 – 0000: 000 vs 000
 Most goals by one team in a match:
 00 – 0000: 000 vs 000
 Most points by one team in a match:
 00 – 0000: 000 vs 000
 Highest aggregate score:
 00 points – 0000: 000 vs 000
 Lowest aggregate score:
 00 points – 0000: 000 vs 000

Successful defending 
Some defending champions have a chance to retain their title. None have achieved this. These are:

  Tipperary on 0 attempts out of 1 (2006)
  Wicklow on 0 attempts out of 1 (2008)

Gaps 

 Longest gaps between successive Tommy Murphy Cup final appearances:
 1 year:  Antrim (2007–2008)
 1 year:  Wicklow (2007–2008)
 Longest gap between successive championship appearances
 4 years:  Sligo (2004–2008)

Provinces 

 The Tommy Murphy Cup final has never involved two teams from the same province.
 The province providing the highest number of different winning teams is Leinster and Munster, with 2:
 Leinster:  Louth and  Wicklow
 Munster:  Clare and  Tipperary

Longest undefeated run 
The record for the longest unbeaten run stands at 00 games held by 000 (0000–0000).

Miscellaneous 

 Best finish by a debuting team
 Champions,  Clare (2004)
 Best finish by a debuting team (after 2004)
 Champions,  Tipperary (2005)
 Highest winning record
 80%,  Louth (4 wins in 5 matches)
 Lowest winning record
 0%,  Kilkenny (0 wins in 4 matches)
 0%,  Monaghan (0 wins in 1 match)
 0%,  Offaly (0 wins in 1 match)
 Most played match
 00, 000 vs 000 (0000)

See also
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
All-Ireland Senior B Football Championship
Tailteann Cup

References

 
2004 establishments in Ireland
Defunct Gaelic football competitions
Gaelic football cup competitions
Senior inter-county Gaelic football competitions