Kerry

Kerry is the most successful team in football history, having won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) on 38 occasions and the National Football League 21 times. The team also holds a number of distinctive records in football championship history. It has contested 59 All-Ireland SFC finals, the next highest participator being Dublin with 36 appearances. Kerry's record in the All-Ireland SFC involves having played 30 of the 31 other counties, with only Kilkenny being the exception.

The traditional Irish game of caid, from which modern football developed, was especially popular in Kerry. The GAA was formed in 1884 and codified the modern rules of the game, which were soon adopted in Kerry clubs such as Laune Rangers. Despite this, the county team did not win an All-Ireland SFC in the nineteenth century. The 1903 title was the first won by Kerry, with the county defeating London in the final at a time when London was given a bye to that stage of the championship; Kerry's overall exceptional success in the game began in this period.^[]

The Kerry team of the 1970s and 1980s was considered to be the greatest in the history of football and its manager (Mick O'Dwyer) one of the greatest of all time. Of the twenty All-Ireland SFC finals held during those two decades, Kerry participated in twelve, with victory coming on nine occasions. During this time most other finals were won by Dublin, and there was a major rivalry between the two counties, especially during the 1970s and 1980s. In 1982, Kerry came within one minute of winning an unprecedented fifth consecutive All-Ireland SFC title, only for a late goal by Offaly's Séamus Darby to give the title to Offaly. This goal was voted third in a poll to find the Top 20 GAA Moments.

Towards the end of the 1980s, Kerry went into decline and did not appear in an All-Ireland SFC final for eleven years, between 1986 and 1997. The 1997 victory, however, marked the beginning of a revival for Kerry which spanned roughly the first decade of the 21st century. Of the fifteen All-Ireland SFC finals between 1997 and 2011, Kerry contested ten and won six, including five titles in the 2000s.

Kerry reached the 2002 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. Its opponent, Armagh, had lost its two previous appearances at this stage of the competition. Kerry led at half-time, but not at full-time, giving a first All-Ireland title to Armagh. Kerry later got rid of its manager Páidí Ó Sé, All-Ireland SFC winning manager in 1997 and 2000 and All-Ireland SFC winning player eight times between 1975 and 1986. Ó Sé fell ill and died some years later, at the age of 57.

Kerry reached the 2005 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. Its opponent, Tyrone, had lost two of its three previous appearances at this stage. Tyrone did not lose this one.

In 2006 and 2007, Kerry won consecutive All-Ireland SFC titles (the first team to do so since Cork in 1989 and 1990).

Kerry reached the 2008 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. Its opponent, Tyrone, defeated it once more. By reaching the same stage in 2009, Kerry became only the third team to reach six consecutive All-Ireland SFC finals (a feat last achieved by Dublin between 1974 and 1979).

Kerry quietly exited the 2010 and 2012 All-Ireland SFCs at the quarter-final stage, losing to Down and Donegal respectively, while Dublin defeated Kerry in dramatic fashion on the last kick in the 2011 final. Dublin were also responsible for their exit at the semi-final stage in 2013 in a closely contested classic match. Kerry won its 37th All-Ireland SFC title in 2014 against Donegal, winning by a margin of 2–09 to 0–12. This win was notable due to Kerry's fairly young squad and a belief that Kerry were becoming unable to produce the talent they once had, after pundit Joe Brolly had suggested as such. In the aftermath of the game, Kerry player Kieran Donaghy gave a famous interview in which he directly referenced Brolly's claim that the 'production line' in Kerry had stopped, with Donaghy speaking directly to the camera and asking 'Well, Joe Brolly, what do you think of that?'. The next year, Kerry again reached the All-Ireland SFC final, only this time to be comfortably beaten by Dublin, 0–12 to 0–9. The next two years saw Kerry bow out at the semi-final stage. In 2016, the team was narrowly defeated by Dublin in a thrilling encounter, while in 2017 the team was beaten by Mayo in a replay – its first championship defeat to Mayo in 21 years. Kerry crashed out of the 2018 championships at the group stages of the new Super Eights format. However, in 2019 Kerry reached their first All-Ireland SFC final for four years. The first match was drawn on a scoreline of 1–16 to 1–16, with the replay fixed for 14 September.

Kerry's 2009 title was also notable since it followed the return of Tadhg Kennelly. The son of Tim Kennelly, a five-time All-Ireland winner with Kerry, and a former talented underage player with the county, he had joined the AFL's Sydney Swans and become the first Irish player to win an AFL Premiership in 2005 (the Swans' first in 72 years). Following Tim's death later that year, he elected to return to Ireland and rejoin Kerry in 2009 in pursuit of winning an All-Ireland of his own playing for the county. After he succeeded and became the first player to have won an All-Ireland and an AFL Premiership, he returned to Australia and the Swans to finish his career.

Kerry reached the 2011 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, where its opponent was Dublin (appearing at this stage for the first time in 16 years). In what was a memorable ending to the game, Kerry conceded a free and Dublin goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton sent the ball over Kerry's bar to consign The Kingdom to defeat.

Kerry contested the 2019 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, attempting to prevent Dublin from achieving five consecutive titles (the record Offaly denied Kerry in 1982). Kerry, however, failed to stop Dublin from achieving the record. Kerry had also been the team to set the record going, after losing the 2015 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final to Dublin as well.

Shortly after winning the 2020 National Football League, Kerry's footballers were knocked out of the 2020 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship after a defeat by Cork.

Kerry won its 38th, and most recent, All-Ireland SFC title in 2022 against Galway, winning by a margin of 0–20 to 0–16.