The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship 2005, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2005 Bank of Ireland All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the premier Gaelic football competition in 2005. It consisted of 33 teams and began on Saturday 7 May 2005. Few surprises came during the championship with the dominance of the Ulster teams evident once again. Gaelic football's "Big Three" of this era - Armagh, Kerry, Tyrone - all progressed to the semi-finals. The Championship concluded on Sunday 25 September 2005 when Tyrone defeated Kerry, who were playing in their second consecutive All-Ireland Final, by a scoreline of 1-16 to 2-10. Tyrone had to play ten games in order to win the Championship - more than any other team before or since.
Format
Since the introduction of the so-called "back-door" system a few years ago, a number of changes have taken place in the championship format. In 2005 the following system was used. The provincial championships in Munster, Leinster, Ulster and Connacht ran as usual on a "knock-out" basis. These provincial games were then followed by the "Qualifier" system:
Round 1 of the qualifiers included all the counties that did not qualify for the Provincial Semi-Finals. An open draw was made to give eight pairings.
Round 2 consisted of the eight defeated teams in the Provincial Semi-Finals playing against the eight winners from Round 1. A draw was made to determine the eight pairings.
Round 3 Consisted of the 8 winners from Round 2 playing each other in an open draw format.
Round 4 consisted of each of the four teams defeated in the Provincial Finals shall playing against the four winners from Round 3. A draw was made to determine the four pairings.
The All-Ireland Quarter-Finals: Each of the four Provincial Champions played one of the four winners from Round 4. The All-Ireland Semi-Finals shall be on a Provincial rots basis, initially determined by the Central Council. If a Provincial Championship winning team is defeated in its Quarter-Final, the team that defeats it shall take its place in the Semi-Final.
The losers of the Preliminary round matches and quarter final matches of each provincial championship started the qualifier.
Round 1
Round 2
The winners of round 1 were joined by the semi final losers of each provincial championship. The matches would be between a round 2 winner and a provincial championship semi final loser.
Round 3
The winners of round 2 contest as the matches from here were lowered to four. Matches were open.
Round 4
The winners of round 3 were joined by the losers of each provincial championship final. The matches would be between a round 3 winner and the loser of a provincial championship final.
All-Ireland series
The provincial champions and the winners of round 4 contested the quarter finals. The quarter final matches would be between a provincial champion and a round 4 winner.
