The 2022 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final was the 135th final of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in Gaelic football, the culmination of the 2022 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. The match was played at Croke Park in Dublin on 24 July 2022. This was the earliest in the year that the final has ever taken place.
Munster champions Kerry took on Connacht champions Galway. It was the eighth time the teams had met in the final; Galway won the first encounter in a final replay in 1938.
Kerry won the final by a margin of four points, on a scoreline of 0–20 to 0–16 to claim their 38th title.
The final was played before a capacity attendance of 82,300 people. An average of 862,000 people watched the game, with a peak figure of 1.09 million as the match reached its climax. The game received a 75% audience share.
The game was televised nationally on RTÉ2 as part of The Sunday Game live programme, presented by Joanne Cantwell from the Croke Park studio, with analysis from Ciarán Whelan, Seán Cavanagh and Pat Spillane. Match commentary was provided by Darragh Maloney, assisted by Kevin McStay. This was Spillane's last appearance as a pundit on The Sunday Game after three decades, having decided to retire at the end of the 2022 GAA season. The game was also televised internationally by Sky Sports, this being their final GAA broadcast after announcing a mutual agreement to end their broadcast partnership in October.
Background
Kerry entered the game as the most successful Gaelic football team in the history of the competition, having previously won 37 since the competition's inception in 1887. They were aiming to win their first All-Ireland since 2014 and an unprecedented 38th All-Ireland title. Galway were the third most successful team, having won nine.
Galway's qualification for the final was the first time since 2010 that a team other than Donegal, Dublin, Mayo or Tyrone made the final.
It was Galway's first All-Ireland final since winning in 2001. Galway aimed to win a tenth All-Ireland; this would make them only the third county to reach double figures in the all-time rankings.
The two counties have met in the final on seven previous occasions, with Galway winning three of these (1938, 1964, 1965) and Kerry winning four (1940, 1941, 1959, 2000).
Kerry were priced at odds of 1/3 to win the match, with Galway at 10/3 and the draw at 8/1. Pundits from outside the counties involved, such as Colm O'Rourke, tipped Kerry to win.
Paths to the final
Galway
Kerry
Pre-match
Galway International Arts Festival and Galway City Council arranged to screen the final in a large tent in Galway, with tickets being free of charge.
Demand for tickets for the final was extremely high. Kerry made tickets available for a post-match party at a Dublin nightclub. The scramble for coaches and trains was also unmatched. A special extra Iarnród Éireann train for the final was sold out in minutes, reflecting the huge demand for train transport to and from the game.
The Athlone Railway Bridge was lit up in maroon and white colours in a show of support for the Galway footballers.
On 13 July, Tyrone's Sean Hurson was named as referee for the final, his first All-Ireland SFC final.
Immediately prior to the match, the Kerry team that won the 1997 All-Ireland Final, along with the Dublin and Meath teams that won the 1995 and 1996 All-Ireland Finals were presented to the crowd.
Match
Summary
Prior to the game, Kerry were the favourites to win. Galway had the first score of the encounter, a '45 by Shane Walsh in the 5th minute. Three minutes later, Galway had the first goal chance of the day but Johnny Heaney's effort was partially blocked by Kerry's Stephen O'Brien, and the ball went over the bar. Kerry's opening point arrived a minute later, David Clifford putting over after calling for the mark in front of goals.
Kerry were surprisingly poor in the first half. Often stripped of possession when they took the ball into the tackle, facing a heavily-manned Galway defence, they were unable to create any goal chances or much in the way of flowing moves. Galway, as the underdogs, played dominantly throughout the opening 35 minutes, scoring seven points to take a one-point lead in at half-time, 0–8 to 0–7, resulting in a rousing rendition of "The Fields of Athenry" ringing out around Croke Park. Shooting into the Hill goal, Galway continued to be far more economical in attack. At six apiece, corner-back Jack Glynn side-stepped a tackle, darted into traffic, somehow extricated himself before clipping over a point.