2008 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship


The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2008 was the 122nd since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1887. The first matches of the season were played on 25 May 2008, and the championship ended on 7 September 2008. Kilkenny went into the 2008 championship as defending champions, having won their thirtieth All-Ireland title the previous year.
The championship culminated with the All-Ireland final, held at Croke Park, Dublin. The match was contested by Kilkenny and Waterford. It was their first meeting in the final since 1963. Kilkenny won the game by 3-30 to 1-13. It was their third All-Ireland title in succession and a record thirty-first for the county. Kilkenny overtook Cork with the most All Ireland Titles. A position which they have not lost since.

Format

The format of the 2008 championship was slightly different from previous formats:
12 counties participated in Tier 1 of the 2008 Championship. These teams were as follows:
Provincial Championships
The Leinster and Munster championships were played as usual. The Leinster and Munster champions advanced directly to the All-Ireland semi-finals.
All-Ireland Qualifiers
Phase 1: This was a single match between Antrim and Galway.
Phase 2: The winner of the phase 1 game played the team eliminated in the first round of the Leinster Championship. The loser of the phase 1 game played the team eliminated in the first round of the Munster Championship.
Phase 3: This phase consisted of two knock-out games between the beaten provincial semi-finalists in Leinster and Munster. Teams from the same province could not meet in these games.
Phase 4: The winners from phase 2 played the winners from phase 3 in a knock-out format.
All-Ireland Series
Quarter-finals: The defeated Munster and Leinster finalists played the winners of the qualifier phase 4 games.
Semi-finals: The Munster and Leinster champions played the winners of the quarter-finals.
Promotion/Relegation
The losing teams from the qualifier phase 2 games played off. The loser of this game played a promotion/relegation play-off against the winners of the Christy Ring Cup.

Team facts

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship

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Munster Senior Hurling Championship


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Ulster Senior Hurling Championship

2008 marked the first time in decades that all nine Ulster counties competed in the Ulster championship.
Due to the historical strength of Antrim and the relative strength of Down, and more recently Derry and Armagh, a system of seeding was used to prevent one-sided matches. The success of the format was indicated by two 'underdog' victories, for Monaghan over Donegal, and London over Armagh, and a number of close matches. However, Antrim retained the trophy beating Down in the final.
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Qualifiers


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Relegation Play-offs

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All-Ireland Series

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Championship statistics

Scoring

Debutantes

The following players made their début in the 2008 championship:
PlayerTeamDateOppositionGame
James BurkeDublinMay 25WestmeathLeinster quarter-final
Niall CorcoranDublinMay 25WestmeathLeinster quarter-final
Noel CostelloLaoisMay 25OffalyLeinster quarter-final
Joe DooleyLaoisMay 25OffalyLeinster quarter-final
Ger HealionOffalyMay 25LaoisLeinster quarter-final
Eoin HolohanLaoisMay 25OffalyLeinster quarter-final
Niall HolmesLaoisMay 25OffalyLeinster quarter-final
Diarmuid HoranOffalyMay 25LaoisLeinster quarter-final
Simon LambertDublinMay 25WestmeathLeinster quarter-final
Conor MahonOffalyMay 25LaoisLeinster quarter-final
Enda BarrettClareJune 1WaterfordMunster quarter-final
Mark FlahertyClareJune 1WaterfordMunster quarter-final
Richie FoleyWaterfordJune 1ClareMunster quarter-final
Gary HurneyWaterfordJune 1ClareMunster quarter-final
Tadhg KeoghClareJune 1WaterfordMunster quarter-final
Séamus CallananTipperaryJune 8CorkMunster semi-final
Brian CorryCorkJune 8TipperaryMunster semi-final
Pat KerwickTipperaryJune 8CorkMunster semi-final
Conor O'BrienTipperaryJune 8CorkMunster semi-final
Paudie O'SullivanCorkJune 8TipperaryMunster semi-final
Stephen BanvilleWexfordJune 14DublinLeinster semi-final
Tommy DwyerWexfordJune 14DublinLeinster semi-final
Colm FarrellWexfordJune 14DublinLeinster semi-final
Peter KellyDublinJune 14WexfordLeinster semi-final
Brendan O'LearyWexfordJune 14DublinLeinster semi-final
David RedmondWexfordJune 14DublinLeinster semi-final
Paul RyanDublinJune 14WexfordLeinster semi-final
James TonksWexfordJune 14DublinLeinster semi-final
Richie HoganKilkennyJune 15OffalyLeinster semi-final
T.J. ReidKilkennyJune 15OffalyLeinster semi-final
Paudie O'DwyerLimerickJune 22ClareMunster semi-final
Joe CanningGalwayJune 28AntrimAll-Ireland qualifier
Cyril DonnellanGalwayJune 28AntrimAll-Ireland qualifier
James SkehillGalwayJune 28AntrimAll-Ireland qualifier
Patrick BerginDublinJuly 12CorkAll-Ireland qualifier
Jamie NagleWaterfordJuly 21OffalyAll-Ireland qualifier
Paddy StapletonTipperaryAugust 17WaterfordAll-Ireland semi-final

Retirees

The following players played their last game in the 2008 championship:
PlayerTeamDateOppositionGameDébut
Colin LynchClareJuly 27CorkAll-Ireland quarter-final1997
Frank LohanClareJuly 27CorkAll-Ireland quarter-final1995
Joe DeaneCorkAugust 10KilkennyAll-Ireland semi-final1996
Brian MurphyCorkAugust 10KilkennyAll-Ireland semi-final2004
Diarmuid O'SullivanCorkAugust 10KilkennyAll-Ireland semi-final1997
Éamonn CorcoranTipperaryAugust 17WaterfordAll-Ireland semi-final1999
Dave BennettWaterfordSeptember 7KilkennyAll-Ireland final1997
Tom FeeneyWaterfordSeptember 7KilkennyAll-Ireland final1995
Paul FlynnWaterfordSeptember 7KilkennyAll-Ireland final1993
James McGarryKilkennySeptember 7WaterfordAll-Ireland final1999

Top scorers

Season

Single game

Clean sheets

RankGoalkeeperCountyClean sheets
1P.J. Ryan Kilkenny4

Monthly awards

Annual awards

Vodafone Hurler of the Year

The Vodafone Hurler of the Year award for 2008 was won by Eoin Larkin of Kilkenny.
The shortlist for the Vodafone Hurler of the Year award, in alphabetical order, was as follows:
The Vodafone Young Hurler of the Year award for 2008 was won by Joe Canning of Galway.
The shortlist for the Vodafone Young Hurler of the Year award, in alphabetical order, was as follows:
The Opel GPA Hurler of the Year award for 2008 was won by Eoin Larkin of Kilkenny.
The shortlist for the Opel GPA Hurler of the Year award, in alphabetical order, was as follows:
The following managerial changes took place during and immediately after the championship.
TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyReplaced byDate of appointmentPosition
WaterfordJustin McCarthyResigned5 June 2008Davy FitzGerald9 June 2008Defeated in Munster quarter-final
LaoisDamien FoxResigned24 June 2008Niall Rigney24 June 2008Defeated in Leinster quarter-final
LimerickRichie BennisNot reappointed12 August 2008Justin McCarthy7 October 2008Defeated in All-Ireland qualifiers
DublinTommy NaughtonResigned14 September 2008Anthony Daly23 November 2008Defeated in All-Ireland qualifiers
GalwayJohn MeylerResigned7 October 2008Colm Bonnar11 November 2008Defeated in All-Ireland quarter-final
GalwayGer LoughnaneNot reappointed13 October 2008John McIntyre18 November 2008Defeated in All-Ireland qualifiers

Stadia

The following stadia were used during the championship:
CountyStadiumCapacity
DublinCroke Park82,300
TipperarySemple Stadium55,000
LimerickGaelic Grounds50,000
CorkPáirc Uí Chaoimh43,500
GalwayPearse Stadium34,000
AntrimCasement Park32,600
KilkennyNowlan Park30,000
MeathPáirc Tailteann30,000
LaoisO'Moore Park27,000
CarlowDr. Cullen Park21,000
WaterfordWalsh Park17,000