0 – Times Donegal and Kerry have played each other outside Croke Park in championship football. There have only been three previous meetings, resulting in one win for each side and one draw. Donegal won the first ever encounter on the way to the 2012 All-Ireland, Kerry got revenge in the final two years later and the sides drew a Super 8s game in 2019.
1 – This is Brendan Cawley’s first All-Ireland final as referee. He will be the first Kildare man to referee a final since Mick Monahan took charge of the 2005 decider between Tyrone and Kerry.
2 – Players who have appeared in every Donegal v Kerry encounter. The men in question are Michael Murphy and Patrick McBrearty. Murphy has played every minute.
3 – Players involved who have previously been man of the match in an All-Ireland final. Michael Murphy was the 2012 recipient, followed by Paul Murphy in 2014 and David Clifford in 2022.
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3 – Sets of brothers potentially involved. The Cliffords will start for Kerry, who also have Dylan and Conor Geaney in their panel. Niall and Shane O’Donnell are the brothers in the Donegal squad. The 2021 final between Mayo and Tyrone remains the only one this century not to feature a set of brothers on the pitch at the same time at any stage (Aidan O’Shea played for Mayo in that game but his brother Conor was an unused sub).
8 – All-Ireland football finals for Jack O’Connor as Kerry manager. He overtakes Seán Boylan and Kevin Heffernan, who both guided teams to seven deciders (excluding replays). Only Mick O’Dwyer (10 finals with Kerry and one with Kildare) is ahead of him now.
8 – Different counties have made it to the final in the past five seasons. You have to go back to the late 1950s and early 1960s for the last time there was a stretch of eight different counties in the final in such a small space of time.
10 – Goalless games in the 2025 championship. That’s down from 13 last year. There have been five goalless finals this century – the last one was in 2022 when Kerry beat Galway by 0-20 to 0-16.
10 – Different clubs represented in the Donegal team. St Eunan’s have three players on the starting 15, while St Nauls, Naomh Chonaill and Killybegs have two each.
10 – Different clubs represented in the Kerry team. Five clubs have two players each.
13 – Points needed by Michael Murphy to draw level with Colm Cooper in second place on the all-time scoring charts. Murphy currently stands on 9-312 (339 points), having scored 0-44 in the championship so far this season, passing Conor McManus and Dean Rock in the process. David Clifford (22-213, or 279) is chasing them all down at a ferocious clip – four points in the final will lift him past Johnny Doyle and into sixth on the all-time list. Cillian O’Connor’s record tally of 34-367 (469) is still a mile off in the distance.
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15 – Years since two teams met in the final having already lost at least one game. The last time it happened was 2010, when Cork beat Down after both of them were beaten in their province.
28 – Points by which David Clifford leads the scoring charts for the 2025 championship. Clifford has scored 8-53 in his eight matches this summer, 5-13 ahead of Galway’s Rob Finnerty. Presuming Sean O’Shea doesn’t outscore him by 31 points, it will be Clifford’s first time finishing the championship as leading scorer.
87 – Championship appearances for Michael Murphy. Playing in the final will move him on to 88, drawing him level with Marc Ó Sé and Tomás Ó Sé, with only Seán Cavanagh (89), Aidan O’Shea (96) and Stephen Cluxton (128) ahead of him.
