2018 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
2018 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
The 132nd edition ran from 6 May to 2 September 2018. Thirty-three teams competed: 31 Irish counties (Kilkenny did not enter) plus London and New York.
Dublin were crowned All-Ireland champions for the 28th time, captained by Stephen Cluxton and managed by Jim Gavin. They defeated Tyrone in the final on 2 September 2018, with a score of Dublin 2-17 to Tyrone 0-14. The four provincial champions were Kerry (Munster), Dublin (Leinster), Donegal (Ulster) and Galway (Connacht).
Top scorer: Conor McManus (2-47). Player of the Year: Brian Fenton (Dublin). The Sunday Game Player of the Year was Ciarán Kilkenny (Dublin).
Format changes in 2018 introduced the All-Ireland Quarter-Final Group Stage, commonly known as the “Super 8s.” Eight remaining teams were split into two groups of four, with the top two from each group advancing to the semi-finals. The qualifiers kept their knockout format, offering a route to the quarter-final groups for teams eliminated in provincial championships.
The final was moved from 26 August to 2 September to avoid a clash with Pope Francis’s visit to Ireland. The championship drew mixed opinions, with some critics arguing the new format would keep the top teams in high-profile games while others would have less competitive football until late in the year.
TV coverage was provided mainly by RTÉ in Ireland, with Premier Sports and Sky Sports handling UK rights, and BBC Northern Ireland showing some games.
Awards and accolades: The Sunday Game Team of the Year was announced on 2 September, with Kilkenny named as the Sunday Game Player of the Year. The All-Star awards were revealed on 1 November and presented on 2 November, including notable picks like Brian Fenton (Dublin) and David Clifford (Kerry).
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 17:55 (CET).