1978 All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship

The 1978 All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship was the 15th staging of the All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1964.

1978 All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship

Championship details
All-Ireland Champions
Winning team	Roscommon (2nd win)
Captain	Séamus Hayden
All-Ireland Finalists
Losing team	Kerry
Provincial Champions
Munster	Kerry
Leinster	Offaly
Ulster	Down
Connacht	Roscommon

Kerry entered the championship as defending champions in search of a record-breaking fourth successive All-Ireland title.

On 15 October 1978, Roscommon won the championship following a 1-9 to 1-8 defeat of Kerry in the All-Ireland final. This was their second All-Ireland title overall and their first in 12 championship seasons.

Results

Leinster Under-21 Football Championship

23 July

Final

Louth	2-08 - 2-07	Offaly
Lennon 1-1, Jimmy McDonnell 0-4, Kelleher 1-0, Judge 0-1, Johnny McDonnell 0-1, Matthews 0-1		J. Dunne 1-3, L. Dunne 1-1, Fitzgerald 0-2, Owens 0-1

Croke Park, Dublin

Referee: Paul Kelly (Dublin)

GK 1 Mal Clarke (Oliver Plunketts) RCB 2 Paul Matthews (Newtown Blues) FB 3 Séamus Haughey (Dundalk Young Irelands) LCB 4 Brendan Byrne (St Mochta's) (c) RHB 5 Gary O'Callaghan (Clan na Gael) CHB 6 Benny McArdle (Dundalk Gaels) LHB 7 Pat Lynch (Dreadnots) MF 8 Michael McCabe (Dundalk Young Irelands) MF 9 Larry Goodman (Dundalk Young Irelands) RHF 10 Eugene Judge (Newtown Blues) CHF 11 Jimmy McDonnell (Geraldines) LHF 12 Seán Reid (Mattock Rangers) RCF 13 Pat Lennon (Kilkerley Emmets) FF 14 Denis Kelleher (Dreadnots) LCF 15 Johnny McDonnell (St Fechin's) Substitutes: 16 Aidan Wiseman (Clan na Gael) for McCabe

GK 1 Pat Coyne RCB 2 Noel O'Dea FB 3 Ollie Minnock LCB 4 Pat Grady RHB 5 Pat Dolan CHB 6 Gerry Carroll LHB 7 Ger Higgins MF 8 Tomás O'Connor MF 9 Johnny Mooney RHF 10 Jimmy Dunne CHF 11 Vincent Henry LHF 12 Tom Fitzpatrick RCF 13 Liam Dunne FF 14 Matt Connor LCF 15 Mickey White Substitutes: 16 Danny Owens for White 17 Martin Dunne for Dolan 18 Brendan Lowry for Fitzgerald

All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship

Semi-finals

Roscommon v Down

10 September 1978 Semi-final

Roscommon

0-08 - 0-07

Down

Dr. Hyde Park, Roscommon

Louth v Kerry

1 October 1978 Semi-final

Louth

0-14 - 2-10

Kerry

Gaelic Grounds, Drogheda

Final

Roscommon v Kerry

15 October 1978 Final

Roscommon

1-09 - 1-08

Kerry

Dr. Hyde Park, Roscommon

Statistics

Miscellaneous

• The All-Ireland semi-final between Kerry and Louth was originally fixed for 27 August 1978, however, Kerry disclosed to the GAA authorities that they would not be fielding a team as several of their players were also involved with the senior team in the All-Ireland final. Louth were declared the winners of that tie and were given a place in the All-Ireland final, however, an appeal by Kerry saw the game refixed. The refixture ended in dramatic circumstances as the score appeared to be level at the end of normal time, however, the referee later stated that Kerry had won by two points.