2017 All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship
The 2017 All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship was the 44th edition of the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association's premier inter-county Ladies' Gaelic Football tournament. It is known for sponsorship reasons as the TG4 All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship. As well as live games on TG4, this season was the first to see live-streaming of championship games via YouTube. Format. Provincial Championships Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster each organise their provincial championship. Each province determines the format for deciding their champions and it may be league, group, knock-out, double -elimination, etc. or a combination. For clarity, the format is explained in the provincial sections below. Qualifiers All teams except the provincial champions enter the All-Ireland qualifiers. The final four winners from the qualifiers re-enter the All-Ireland championship at the quarter-final stage. All matches are knock-out. All-Ireland The four provincial champions play the four winners from the qualifiers in the All-Ireland quarter-finals with the winners progressing to the semi-finals. The final is normally played on the fourth Sunday in September. All matches are knock-out. Hawkeye This was the first year  that Hawkeye was used in Ladies Gaelic Football but was limited to televised matches. Provincial Championships. Connacht Championship. Connacht Format. As only two teams enter, a knock-out final is played. Leinster Championship. Leinster Format. Three of the four Leinster teams (Kildare, Laois and Westmeath) compete in an initial group stage. Each team plays all the other teams once in three rounds. The group winner advances to the final. The group runner-up plays Dublin in the semi-final. Munster Championship. Munster Format. The three Munster teams (Cork, Kerry and Waterford) compete in an initial group stage. The top two  teams advance to the final. Ulster Championship. Ulster Format. Four teams compete in two semi-finals and a final. All matches are knockout. Qualifiers. Qualifiers Format. All the teams except the provincial champions enter the qualifiers. All matches are knock-out. A preliminary round is held to reduce the number of teams to eight who then play four matches. The four winners play the four provincial champions in the All-Ireland quarter-finals. All-Ireland. All-Ireland Quarter-Finals. The four provincial champions play the four remaining teams from the qualifiers.