Intriguing football championship quarter-final draw includes a renewal of two big rivalries

The GAA’s renewed fortunes with the football championship continued with Monday’s draw for next weekend’s All-Ireland quarter-finals. Two of this century’s biggest rivalries will be renewed at the weekend with all four matches taking place at Croke Park.

On Sunday, Dublin and Mayo lock horns again in the latter stages of the championship for an 11th time in 18 years, including two replays. It will, however, be their first encounter at the quarter-final stage, having played five semi-finals and three finals.

Mayo’s wins have all come in semi-finals, most recently in 2021 when they halted Dublin’s push for a seventh straight All-Ireland after extra-time.

Dublin’s defeats came under different managers, Paul Caffrey (2006), Pat Gilroy (2012) and Dessie Farrell (2021) but five-in-a-row manager Jim Gavin never lost a competitive match against Mayo, including seven championship matches.

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Dublin come into the weekend as Leinster champions and unbeaten in their group whereas Mayo recovered from a seemingly disastrous group defeat in Cork to launch a successful raid on last year’s All-Ireland finalists and Connacht champions, Galway.

On Saturday, Munster champions Kerry face Tyrone, bringing together the two most recent All-Ireland champions. They last met in the 2021 semi-final, which went to extra-time before Tyrone won 3-14 to 0-22, triggering the end for then Kerry manager Peter Keane after three years in charge. Keane had previously led Kerry to a win in the 2019 semi-final.

Incumbent Jack O’Connor breaks even with Tyrone, having lost the 2005 All-Ireland final to Mickey Harte’s team before levelling the record with a win in the 2012 qualifiers.

In the group stages, Kerry inflicted a heavy defeat on Harte’s current team Louth.

The other fixtures bring together Derry and Cork on Sunday for the first time since their All-Ireland final meeting 30 years ago, which saw the Ulster side win a first, and to date only, Sam Maguire. Derry are back-to-back Ulster champions, a feat they hadn’t completed since 1976.

Cork qualified from the group stages after springing a major surprise on Mayo and following it up last Saturday with another win, over Roscommon – the first time since the All-Ireland-winning campaign of 2010 that they have beaten two Division One counties in the same year.

On Saturday, an all-Ulster clash brings together Armagh and Monaghan. Their most recent meeting was in the Ulster semi-final of two years ago, won by Monaghan but they also have an All-Ireland history in the qualifiers.

This will be the fourth time the counties have played each other on the national stage, having first met in the inaugural year of the qualifiers, 2001, and also then in 2009 and 2019. Armagh have won two of these previous encounters.

Finally, details have also been announced for the All-Ireland minor final between Derry and Monaghan. The match is a rerun of the Ulster final, won by Derry on penalties. It will take place on Sunday week, July 7th, in Armagh. Monaghan reached the final with county’s first championship win at any grade over Kerry in the semi-final.

All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals

Saturday, July 1st

Kerry v Tyrone, Croke Park, 3.45pm (Streaming on GAAGO)

Armagh v Monaghan, Croke Park, 6pm (Streaming on GAAGO)

Sunday, July 2nd

Derry v Cork, Cork Park, 1.45pm (Live on RTÉ)

Dublin v Mayo, Croke Park, 4pm (Live on RTÉ)