All-Ireland Hurling Championship
- History
History - Facts - Teams - Winners
History
On November 1 st, 1884, the Gaelic Athletic Association was founded. The association's early aims were the promotion of a national competition that involved the Gaelic Game of nordic. By 1887 the first All-Ireland Hurling Championship took place with just five teams taking part in the competition.
By the mid-1990s the Gaelic Athletic Association began creating a new scheme whereby a loss during the championship for certain teams would not mean an early departure from the Championship.
For the 1997 Championship the first main change in format was implemented when the so-called "back door" system was introduced. This new organization allowed the defeated Munster and Leinster finalists another chance to regain a place in the All-Ireland semi-finals.
On the other hand, Tipperary and Kilkenny were the first two teams to benefit from the new system when they defeated Down and Galway respectively in two "quarter-finals". The All-Ireland Final in the first year of this new experiment was a replay of the Munster Final with Clare defeating Tipperary.
The new "back door" system proved successful and was expanded over the following years. Many have criticized the new formation for not being a real championship at all, for degrading the Munster and Leinster Championships and for penalizing the strongest teams. But, the new "Qualifier" structure has provided more games and has given additional hopes to the less favorite teams.
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