1997 Kerry Senior Football Championship

1997 Kerry Senior Football Championship
Dates	24 July - 2 November 1997
Teams	16
Sponsor	Allied Irish Bank
Champions	East Kerry (5th title); John Crowley (captain)
Runners-up	Laune Rangers; Tommy Byrne (captain)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	20
Goals scored	27 (1.35 per match)
Points scored	420 (21 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Paud O'Donoghue (1-32)
← 1996 (Previous)	(Next) 1998 →

The 1997 Kerry Senior Football Championship was the 97th staging of the Kerry Senior Football Championship since its establishment by the Kerry County Board in 1889.^[1] The draw for the opening round fixtures took place on 27 February 1997. The championship ran from 24 July to 2 November 1997.

Laune Rangers entered the championship as the defending champions.^[2]^[3]

The final was played on 2 November 1997 at Austin Stack Park in Tralee, between East Kerry and Laune Rangers, in what was their first ever meeting in the final. East Kerry won the match by 1-11 to 0-08 to claim their fifth championship title overall and a first title in 27 years.^[4]^[5]

East Kerry's Paud O'Donoghue was the championship's top scorer with 1-32.

Results

Round 1

24 July 1997 Round 1	St. Kieran's	0-12 - 0-10	John Mitchels	Austin Stack Park
	S McElligott 0-3, D Dennehy 0-2, R O'Rahilly 0-2, G O'Keeffe 0-2, J McGlynn 0-1, P Dennehy 0-1, S O'Connor 0-1.		A Moynihan 0-3, F O'Brien 0-3, G Dennehy 0-2, N Healy 0-1, J Fitzgerald 0-1.

25 July 1997 Round 1	Kerins O'Rahilly's	1-08 - 0-11	South Kerry	Austin Stack Park
	M Fitzgerald 1-1, S Wallace 0-2, V Murphy 0-2, T McCarthy 0-1, P O'Connor 0-1, G O'Brien 0-1.		J O'Shea 0-4, M Fitzgerald 0-3, B O'Connor 0-1, K Dwyer 0-1, J Quirke 0-1, D Lynch 0-1.

25 July 1997 Round 1	Austin Stacks	0-16 - 0-06	Feale Rangers	Austin Stack Park
	D Aherne 0-7, E Moynihan 0-5, D McEvoy 0-2, P Laide 0-1, K Kelleher 0-1.		E Fitzmaurice 0-3, E Galvin 0-1, A O'Brien 0-1, M Kelleher 0-1.

26 July 1997 Round 1	East Kerry	1-11 - 2-08	St. Brendan's	FitzGerald Stadium
	J Murphy 1-2, P O'Donoghue 0-4, J Crowley 0-2, S Óg O'Leary 0-1, M O'Donoghue 0-1, D Daly 0-1.		T O'Connell 0-5, P Healy 1-0, B Clifford 1-0, E Ferris 0-1, L Harty 0-1, J Murphy 0-1.

26 July 1997 Round 1	Shannon Rangers	1-10 - 0-13	Killarney Legion	FitzGerald Stadium
	J Kennedy 1-5, M O'Connor 0-2, E Hennessy 0-1, S McGinley 0-1, T Foley 0-1.		C O'Grady 0-6, J McGillycuddy 0-2, D Culloty 0-2, D O'Donoghue 0-1, B McCullagh 0-1, S Culloty 0-1.

27 July 1997 Round 1	Kenmare	1-11 - 2-15	Laune Rangers	Kenmare Grounds
	K Moriarty 0-5, C McSwiney 1-1, B O'Neill 0-4, T Harrington 0-1.		P O'Sullivan 0-7, B O'Shea 1-1, T Byrne 1-0, G Murphy 0-3, P Griffin 0-2, B Gannon 0-1, L Hassett 0-1.

27 July 1997 Round 1	Dr. Crokes	1-07 - 2-09	Mid Kerry	FitzGerald Stadium
	P O'Brien 1-0, R Neher 0-3, D Cooper 0-2, P O'Shea 0-2.		G McGrath 2-0, I Twiss 0-6, Martin Burke 0-2, Mike Burke 0-1.

27 July 1997 Round 1	Castleisland Desmonds	0-08 - 1-11	West Kerry	Castleisland Grounds
	K Lynch 0-4, J Brennan 0-3, S Curtin 0-1.		D Ó Cinnéide 0-6, A Mac Gearailt 1-2, C Geaney 0-1, S Geaney 0-1, M Moynihan 0-1.

1 August 1997 Round 1 replay	East Kerry	0-15 - 0-09	St. Brendan's	Austin Stack Park
	Donoghue 0-10, D Daly 0-1, S Óg O'Leary 0-1, J Crowley 0-1, S Moynihan 0-1, T O'Sullivan 0-1.		T O'Connell 0-5, L Harty 0-1, A Murphy 0-1, E Ferris 0-1, B Clifford 0-1.

1 August 1997 Round 1 replay	Shannon Rangers	1-14 - 0-07	Killarney Legion	Stack Park
	T Foley 1-2, J Kennedy 0-5, L Weir 0-4, O Horgan 0-1, D O'Connor 0-1, K Boyle 0-1.		C O'Grady 0-3, S Culloty 0-2, D Culloty 0-1, J Cronin 0-1.

1 August 1997 Round 1 replay	South Kerry	0-08 - 1-09	Kerins O'Rahilly's	Con Keating Park
	M Fitzgerald 0-4, K O'Dwyer 0-2, D Dwyer 0-1, J O'Shea 0-1.		O Molloy 1-1, M Fitzgerald 0-3, V Murphy 0-3, M O'Shea 0-1, C Sheehy 0-1.

Quarter-finals

30 August 1997 Quarter-final	Laune Rangers	1-17 - 2-12	St. Kieran's	FitzGerald Stadium
	P O'Sullivan 0-7, MF Russell 1-1, T Fleming 0-3, B O'Shea 0-2, L Hassett 0-2, B Gannon 0-1, J Sheehan 0-1,		L Brosnan 1-2, S McElligott 0-4, R O'Rahilly 0-4, P Dennehy 1-0, G O'Keeffe 0-2.

31 August 1997 Quarter-final	West Kerry	1-08 - 0-11	Mid Kerry	FitzGerald Stadium
	S Geaney 1-2, D Ó Cinnéide 0-3, A Mac Gearailt 0-1, JJ Corduff 0-1, B O'Driscoll 0-1.		I Twiss 0-6, K Foley 0-2, G McGrath 0-2, G O'Connor 0-1.

31 August 1997 Quarter-final	East Kerry	0-13 - 1-03	Shannon Rangers	Austin Stack Park
	P O'Donoghue 0-4, MD Cahill 0-3, J Murphy 0-2, J Crowley 0-2, S Moynihan 0-1, D Daly 0-1.		J O'Connell 1-1, T Foley 0-1, K Boyle 0-1.

7 September 1997 Quarter-final	Austin Stacks	0-15 - 2-05	Kerisn O'Rahilly's	Austin Stack Park
	D McEvoy 0-4, D Aherne 0-3, E Moynihan 0-3, P Laide 0-2, C Kennedy 0-2, W Kirby 0-1.		V Murphy 1-2, S Wallace 1-1, G O'Brien 0-2.

7 September 1997 Quarter-final replay	West Kerry	2-11 - 0-08	Mid Kerry	FitzGerald Stadium
	D Ó Cinnéide 1-2, R Mac Gearailt 1-0, B O'Driscoll 0-3, JJ Corduff 0-3, A Mac Gearailt 0-2, F Ashe 0-1.		I Twiss 0-2, G McGrath 0-2, Martin Burke 0-1, Mike Burke 0-1, C O'Shea 0-1, J Daly 0-1.

Semi-finals

5 October 1997 Semi-final	Laune Rangers	0-17 - 2-09	West Kerry	FitzGerald Stadium
	P O'Sullivan 0-6, G Murphy 0-4, T Fleming 0-3, S O'Sullivan 0-1, P Prendeville 0-1, P Griffin 0-1, M O'Connor 0-1.		S Geaney 2-0, D Ó Cinnéide 0-4, A Mac Gearailt 0-1, JJ Corduff 0-1, D Ó Sé 0-1, G O'Driscoll 0-1, R Mac Gearailt 0-1.

5 October 1997 Semi-final	East Kerry	0-12 - 0-11	Austin Stacks	FitzGerald Stadium
	MD Cahill 0-4, P O'Donoghue 0-4, J O'Sullivan 0-1, C O'Connor 0-1, M O'Donoghue 0-1, S Moynihan 0-1,.		E Moynihan 0-7, D Aherne 0-2, P Laide 0-1, C Kennedy 0-1.

Final

12 October 1997 Final	East Kerry	0-12 - 1-09	Laune Rangers	Austin Stack Park
	P O'Donoghue 0-6, D Daly 0-2, MD Cahill 0-1, C O'Connor 0-1, J Crowley 0-1, D Moynihan 0-1.		L Hassett 1-2, P O'Sullivan 0-3, T Fleming 0-2, M Hassett 0-1, MF Russell 0-1.

2 November 1997 Final replay	East Kerry	1-11 - 0-08	Laune Rangers	Austin Stack Park
	P O'Donoghue 1-4, J Murphy 0-4, D Moynihan 0-1, MD Cahill 0-1, J Crowley 0-1.		P O'Sullivan 0-3, MF Russell 0-2, P Griffin 0-1, A Hassett 0-1, M O'Connor 0-1.

Championship statistics

Top scorers

Overall

Rank	Player	Club	Tally	Total	Matches	Average
1	Paud O'Donoghue	East Kerry	1-32	35	6	5.83
2	Pa O'Sullivan	Laune Rangers	0-26	26	5	5.20
3	Dara Ó Cinnéide	West Kerry	1-15	18	4	4.50
4	Eoin Moynihan	Austin Stacks	0-15	15	3	5.00
5	Ian Twiss	Mid Kerry	0-14	14	3	4.66
6	John Kennedy	Shannon Rangers	1-10	13	3	4.33
7	Seán Geaney	West Kerry	3-03	12	4	3.00
7	Darren Aherne	Austin Stacks	0-12	12	3	4.00
9	Jerry Murphy	East Kerry	1-08	11	6	1.83
10	Gary McGrath	Mid Kerry	2-04	10	3	3.33
10	Tom O'Connell	Mid Kerry	0-10	10	2	5.00

In a single game

Rank	Player	Club	Tally	Total	Opposition
1	Paud O'Donoghue	East Kerry	0-10	10	St. Brendan's
2	John Kennedy	Shannon Rangers	1-05	8	Killarney Legion
3	Paud O'Donoghue	East Kerry	1-04	7	Laune Rangers
	Eoin Moynihan	Austin Stacks	0-07	7	East Kerry
	Darren Aherne	Austin Stacks	0-07	7	Feale Rangers
	Pa O'Sullivan	Laune Rangers	0-07	7	Kenmare
	Pa O'Sullivan	Laune Rangers	0-07	7	St. Kieran's
8	Gary McGrath	Mid Kerry	2-00	6	Dr. Crokes
	Seán Geaney	West Kerry	2-00	6	Laune Rangers
	Cathal O'Grady	Killarney Legion	0-06	6	Shannon Rangers
	Ian Twiss	Mid Kerry	0-06	6	Dr. Crokes
	Dara Ó Cinnéide	West Kerry	0-06	6	Castleisland Desmonds
	Ian Twiss	Mid Kerry	0-06	6	West Kerry
	Pa O'Sullivan	Laune Rangers	0-06	6	West Kerry
	Paud O'Donoghue	East Kerry	0-06	6	Laune Rangers

Miscellaneous

East Kerry win the title for the first time in 27 years.
The final goes to a replay for the first time since 1994.

References

^ "The beginning". Laune Rangers GAA website. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
^ "1996". Laune Rangers GAA website. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
^ "Laune Rangers '96 victory undoubtedly fed into Kerry ending All-Ireland famine in '97". The Kerryman. 17 March 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
^ "1997". Laune Rangers GAA website. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
^ "Four finals to remember". The Kerryman. 19 August 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2022.

[1] "The beginning". Laune Rangers GAA website. Retrieved 23 December 2022.

[2] "1996". Laune Rangers GAA website. Retrieved 23 December 2022.

[3] "Laune Rangers '96 victory undoubtedly fed into Kerry ending All-Ireland famine in '97". The Kerryman. 17 March 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2022.

[4] "1997". Laune Rangers GAA website. Retrieved 23 December 2022.

[5] "Four finals to remember". The Kerryman. 19 August 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2022.

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