2025 Kildare Senior Football Championship
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| County | Kildare |
| Province | Leinster |
| Year | 2025 |
| Trophy | Dermot Bourke Cup |
| Sponsor | Joe Mallon Motors |
| Date | 15 August 2025 - 19 October 2025 |
| Teams | 16 |
| Defending champions | Naas |
| Winners | |
| Champions | Athy (8th win) |
| Runners-up | |
| Runners-up | Naas |
| Manager | Philly McMahon |
| Promotion/Relegation | |
| Relegated team(s) | Confey |
| Other | |
| Matches played | 42 |
| Website | Kildare GAA |
The 2025 Kildare Senior Football Championship was the 132nd edition of the Kildare GAA's premier club Gaelic football tournament for senior graded teams in County Kildare, Ireland. The tournament consists of 16 teams with the winner going on to represent Kildare in the Leinster Senior Club Football Championship. The championship started with a preliminary round sorted by a random draw, followed by a group stage and finally a knockout stage.
Naas were the defending champions this year after they defeated Celbridge in the previous years final. This was Naas' 4th Senior Football Championship in a row.[1]
Caragh returned to the senior grade for the first time since 2001 after defeating Leixlip in the 2024 Kildare Intermediate Football Championship.[2]
On 19 October, Athy defeated Naas 1-17 to 0-18 in the final. This is Athy's 8th championship win and their first since 2020.[3]
Confey were defeated by Allenwood in the Relegation Play-off 1-16 to 0-13, meaning that they will play in the 2026 Kildare Intermediate Football Championship for the first time since 2011.[4]
Championship structure
The 2025 Senior Football Championship consisted of 16 teams drawn against each other in the preliminary round. The winners of the games were drawn into a 'winners' group, while the losers were drawn into a 'losers' group. These groups consist of 4 teams each. In the winners groups, the top two teams head straight into the quarter-finals while the 3rd placed team plays in a preliminary quarter-final. In the losers groups, the top placed team heads straight into the quarter-final, the 2nd placed team heads into a preliminary quarter-final, and the last placed team heads into a relegation play-off to retain their senior status.
Team changes
The following teams have changed division since the 2024 championship season.
To S.F.C.Promoted from 2024 I.F.C.
|
From S.F.C.Relegated to 2025 I.F.C. |
Participating teams
The 16 teams that participated in the 2025 competition were:
| Club | Location | 2024 Championship Position | 2025 Championship Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allenwood | Allenwood | Non-Qualifier | Relegation Finalist |
| Athy | Athy | Semi-Finalist | Champions |
| Caragh | Prosperous | 2024 I.F.C Champions | Quarter-Finalist |
| Carbury | Carbury | Non-Qualifier | Non-Qualifier |
| Celbridge | Celbridge | Runners-Up | Semi-Finalist |
| Clane | Clane | Quarter-Finalist | Quarter-Finalist |
| Clogherinkoe | Clogherinkoe | Preliminary Quarter-Finalist | Non-Qualifier |
| Confey | Leixlip | Non-Qualifier | Relegated to 2026 I.F.C |
| Eadestown | Eadestown | Preliminary Quarter-Finalist | Preliminary Quarter-Finalist |
| Johnstownbridge | Johnstownbridge | Quarter-Finalist | Quarter-Finalist |
| Kilcock | Kilcock | Relegation Finalist | Non-Qualifier |
| Maynooth | Maynooth | Non-Qualifier | Preliminary Quarter-Finalist |
| Moorefield | Newbridge | Quarter-Finalist | Quarter-Finalist |
| Naas | Naas | Champions | Runners-Up |
| Sarsfield | Newbridge | Semi-Finalist | Semi-Finalist |
| Raheens | Caragh | Quarter-Finalist | Non-Qualifier |
Preliminary round
All 16 teams were randomly drawn to play one of the other 16. The winners of these games headed into the 'winners' groups (Group A and B) while the losers were placed into the 'losers' group (Group C and D).
The draw for the preliminary round of the championship was made on 23 May 2025.[5]
| 7 August 2025 Preliminary Round 1 | Moorefield | 2-10 (16) – (20) 2-14 | Naas | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (HT: 0-5 - 0-5) | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | ||||
| Report | Referee: Niall Colgan
|
| 8 August 2025 Preliminary Round 2 | Athy | 1-20 (23) – (6) 0-6 | Eadestown | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (HT: 1-14 - 0-4) | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | ||||
| Report | Referee: Ken Doyle
|
| 8 August 2025 Preliminary Round 3 | Allenwood | 1-16 (19) – (20) 3-11 | Clogherinkoe | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (HT: 0-2 - 2-9) | Venue: Manguard Park | ||||
| Report | Referee: Billy O'Connell
|
| 9 August 2025 Preliminary Round 4 | Kilcock | 0-11 (11) – (29) 5-14 | Maynooth | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (HT: 0-4 - 2-8) | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | ||||
| Report | Referee: Fergal Barry
|
| 9 August 2025 Preliminary Round 5 | Celbridge | 0-14 (14) – (8) 0-8 | Clane | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (HT: 0-8 - 0-5) | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | ||||
| Report | Referee: Kieran Harris
|
| 10 August 2025 Preliminary Round 6 | Caragh | 1-15 (18) – (23) 2-17 | Raheens | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (HT: 0-9 - 0-7) | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | ||||
| Report | Referee: Paddy McDermott
|
| 10 August 2025 Preliminary Round 7 | Confey | 0-13 (13) – (16) 0-16 | Johnstownbridge | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue: Manguard Park | |||||
| Referee: Henry Barrett
|
| 10 August 2025 Preliminary Round 8 | Carbury | 0-13 (13) – (22) 2-16 | Sarsfield | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (HT: 0-6 - 0-10) | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | ||||
| Report | Referee: Alan Archbold
|
Group Stage
They were four groups called Group A, B, C and D. These groups were defined by the winners and losers of the preliminary round, with the winners being in Group A and B, and the losers being in Group C and D. In Group A and B, the top two teams headed straight into the quarter-finals while the 3rd placed team played in a preliminary quarter-final. In Group C and D, the 1st placed team headed straight into the quarter-finals with the second placed team playing a preliminary quarter-final. The last placed teams in Group C and D went to play a relegation play-off to determine which team got relegated.
The draw for the group stages of the championship was made on 10 August 2025.[6]
Group A
Advance to Quarter-Finals Advance to Preliminary Quarter-Final
| Team | Matches | Score | Pts | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | For | Against | Diff | ||
| Celbridge | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 52 | 40 | +12 | 5 |
| Athy | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 70 | 46 | +24 | 4 |
| Johnstownbridge | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 75 | 62 | +13 | 3 |
| Clogherinkoe | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 37 | 86 | -49 | 0 |
Round 1
| 15 August 2025 Round 1 | Athy | 1-25 (28) – (11) 0-11 | Clogherinkoe | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:45 | (HT: 1-13 - 0-8) | Venue: Manguard Park | |||
| Report | Referee: Brendan Cawley
|
| 16 August 2025 Round 1 | Johnstownbridge | 1-14 (17) – (17) 1-14 | Celbridge | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14:00 | (HT: 0-3 - 0-10) | Venue: Manguard Park | |||
| Report | Referee: Paddy McDermott
|
Round 2
| 23 August 2025 Round 2 | Celbridge | 1-13 (16) – (10) 0-10 | Athy | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14:00 | (HT: 1-8 - 0-5) | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | |||
| Report | Referee: Frank Delaney
|
| 24 August 2025 Round 2 | Clogherinkoe | 1-10 (13) – (39) 4-27 | Johnstownbridge | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15:45 | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | ||||
| Referee: Henry Barrett
|
Round 3
| 6 September 2025 Round 3 | Johnstownbridge | 1-16 (19) – (32) 3-23 | Athy | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15:30 | (HT: 0-2 - 2-16) | Venue: Manguard Park | |||
| Report | Referee: Billy O'Connell
|
| 6 September 2025 Round 3 | Clogherinkoe | 1-10 (13) – (19) 1-16 | Celbridge | Clane | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15:30 | (HT: 0-4 - 1-7) | ||||
| Report | Referee: Fergal Barry
|
Group B
Advance to Quarter-Finals Advance to Preliminary Quarter-Final
| Team | Matches | Score | Pts | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | For | Against | Diff | ||
| Sarsfield | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 75 | 35 | +40 | 6 |
| Naas | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 65 | 46 | +19 | 4 |
| Maynooth | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 50 | 64 | -14 | 2 |
| Raheens | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 33 | 78 | -45 | 0 |
Round 1
| 15 August 2025 Round 1 | Naas | 1-23 (26) – (19) 2-13 | Maynooth | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:45 | (HT: 0-13 - 1-6) | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | |||
| Report | Referee: Harry Barrett
|
| 17 August 2025 Round 1 | Sarsfield | 4-18 (30) – (13) 2-7 | Raheens | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15:45 | (HT: 1-6 - 1-5) | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | |||
| Report | Referee: Kieran Harris
|
Round 2
| 23 August 2025 Round 2 | Raheens | 0-8 (8) – (29) 3-20 | Naas | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17:45 | (HT: 0-5 - 0-10) | Venue: Manguard Park | |||
| Report | Referee: Fergus Devereux
|
| 24 August 2025 Round 2 | Maynooth | 1-9 (12) – (26) 2-20 | Sarsfield | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14:00 | (HT: 0-7 - 1-9) | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | |||
| Report | Referee: Billy O'Connell
|
Round 3
| 6 September 2025 Round 3 | Raheens | 0-12 (12) – (19) 3-10 | Maynooth | Clane | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14:00 | |||||
| Report | Referee: Niall Colgan
|
| 7 September 2025 Round 3 | Naas | 1-7 (10) – (19) 0-19 | Sarsfield | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (HT: 1-3 - 0-13) | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | ||||
| Report | Referee: Conor Daly
|
Group C
Advance to Quarter-Finals Advance to Preliminary Quarter-Final Advance to Relegation Play-Off
| Team | Matches | Score | Pts | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | For | Against | Diff | ||
| Clane | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 81 | 61 | +20 | 6 |
| Moorefield | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 66 | 59 | +7 | 2 |
| Kilcock | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 51 | 59 | -8 | 2 |
| Allenwood | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 47 | 66 | -19 | 2 |
Round 1
| 16 August 2025 Round 1 | Allenwood | 0-15 (15) – (22) 2-16 | Moorefield | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14:00 | (HT: 0-9 - 1-7) | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | |||
| Report | Referee: Lee Moore
|
| 16 August 2025 Round 1 | Kilcock | 3-11 (20) – (24) 1-21 | Clane | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15:45 | (HT: 0-9 - 1-12) | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | |||
| Report | Referee: Billy O'Connell
|
Round 2
| 22 August 2025 Round 2 | Moorefield | 1-17 (20) – (14) 3-5 | Kilcock | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue: Manguard Park | |||||
| Referee: Alan Archbold
|
| 23 August 2025 Round 2 | Clane | 5-12 (27) – (17) 1-14 | Allenwood | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (HT: 4-6 - 1-7) | Venue: Manguard Park | ||||
| Report | Referee: Damien Whelan
|
Round 3
| 6 September 2025 Round 3 | Moorefield | 4-12 (24) – (30) 3-21 | Clane | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (HT: 1-8 - 1-6) | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | ||||
| Report | Referee: Fergus Devereux
|
| 7 September 2025 Round 3 | Kilcock | 3-8 (17) – (15) 1-12 | Allenwood | Clane | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (HT: 1-3 - 0-6) | |||||
| Report | Referee: Brendan Cawley
|
Group D
Advance to Quarter-Finals Advance to Preliminary Quarter-Final Advance to Relegation Play-Off
| Team | Matches | Score | Pts | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | For | Against | Diff | ||
| Caragh | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 61 | 45 | +16 | 6 |
| Eadestown | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 52 | 60 | -8 | 4 |
| Carbury | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 49 | 49 | 0 | 2 |
| Confey | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 54 | 62 | -8 | 0 |
Round 1
| 16 August 2025 Round 1 | Caragh | 3-16 (25) – (11) 0-11 | Eadestown | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15:30 | (HT: 0-9 - 0-8) | Venue: Manguard Park | |||
| Report | Referee: Alan Lagrue
|
| 17 August 2025 Round 1 | Carbury | 1-16 (19) – (15) 2-9 | Confey | Clane | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3:30 | |||||
| Referee: Damien Whelan
|
Round 2
| 22 August 2025 Round 2 | Confey | 1-16 (19) – (20) 1-17 | Caragh | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (HT: 0-8 - 0-6) | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | ||||
| Report | Referee: Niall Colgan
|
| 23 August 2025 Round 2 | Eadestown | 1-15 (18) – (15) 1-12 | Carbury | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (HT: 1-6 - 0-5) | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | ||||
| Report | Referee: Brendan Cawley
|
Round 3
| 6 September 2025 Round 3 | Carbury | 0-15 (15) – (16) 0-16 | Caragh | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue: Manguard Park | |||||
| Referee: Kieran Harris
|
| 6 September 2025 Round 3 | Eadestown | 1-20 (23) – (20) 3-11 | Confey | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (HT: 1-5 - 2-6) | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | ||||
| Report | Referee: Lee Moore
|
Knock-out stages
The 1st and 2nd placed teams in Group A and B and the 1st placed teams in Group C and D qualified for the quarter-finals. The 3rd placed teams in Group A and B and the 2nd placed teams in Group C and D qualified for the preliminary quarter-finals. Quarter-final pairings were drawn with the winners of Group A and B playing the winners of the preliminary-quarter-finals, while the 2nd placed teams of Group A and B played the winners of Group C and D. The fixtures for the knock-out stages were determined on 7 September 2025.[7]
| Preliminary Quarter-Finals | Quarter-Finals | Semi-Finals | Final | |||||||||||||||
| Athy | 3-07 | |||||||||||||||||
| Caragh | 0-10 | |||||||||||||||||
| Athy | 2-14 | |||||||||||||||||
| Sarsfield | 2-13 | |||||||||||||||||
| Sarsfield | 2-21 | |||||||||||||||||
| Johnstownbridge | 2-17 | |||||||||||||||||
| Johnstownbridge | 1-09 | |||||||||||||||||
| Eadestown | 0-08 | |||||||||||||||||
| Athy | 1-17 | |||||||||||||||||
| Naas | 0-18 | |||||||||||||||||
| Maynooth | 0-12 | |||||||||||||||||
| Moorefield | 2-08 | |||||||||||||||||
| Celbridge | 3-19 | |||||||||||||||||
| Moorefield | 1-16 | |||||||||||||||||
| Celbridge | 0-13 | |||||||||||||||||
| Naas | 1-20 | |||||||||||||||||
| Clane | 0-13 | |||||||||||||||||
| Naas | 1-22 | |||||||||||||||||
Preliminary quarter-finals
| 13 September 2025 Preliminary Quarter-Final 1 | Maynooth | 0-12 (12) – (14) 2-8 | Moorefield | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (HT: 0-7 - 1-1) | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | ||||
| Report | Referee: Paddy McDermott
|
| 14 September 2025 Preliminary Quarter-Final 2 | Johnstownbridge | 1-9 (12) – (8) 0-8 | Eadestown | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (HT: 1-7 - 0-3) | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | ||||
| Report | Referee: Frank Delaney
|
Quarter-finals
| 20 September 2025 Quarter-Final 1 | Athy | 3-7 (16) – (10) 0-10 | Caragh | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (HT: 0-3 - 0-3) | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | ||||
| Report | Referee: Brendan Cawley
|
| 20 September 2025 Quarter-Final 2 | Clane | 0-13 (13) – (25) 1-22 | Naas | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (HT: 0-8 - 1-11) | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | ||||
| Report | Referee: Kieran Harris
|
| 21 September 2025 Quarter-Final 3 | Celbridge | 3-19 (31) – (19) 1-16 | Moorefield | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (HT: 1-12 - 0-4) | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | ||||
| Report | Referee: Conor Daly
|
| 21 September 2025 Quarter-Final 4 | Sarsfield | 2-21 (27) – (23) 2-17 | Johnstownbridge | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (HT: 1-7 - 2-15) | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | ||||
| Report | Referee: Henry Barrett
|
Semi-finals
| 5 October 2025 Semi-Final 1 | Celbridge | 0-13 (13) – (23) 1-20 | Naas | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (HT: 0-9 - 1-8) | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | ||||
| Report | Referee: Billy O'Connell
|
| 5 October 2025 Semi-Final 2 | Athy | 2-14 (20) – (19) 2-13 | Sarsfield | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (HT: 2-6 - 0-6) | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | ||||
| Report | Referee: Paddy McDermott
|
Final
| 19 October 2025 Final | Athy | 1-17 (20) – (18) 0-18 | Naas | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (HT: 1-7 - 0-9) | Venue: Cedral St. Conleth's | ||||
| Report | Referee: Brendan Cawley
|
Relegation play-off
The relegation play-off consisted of the 4th placed teams in Group C and D. The winners of the playoff retained their status as a senior level club, while the loser would be relegated to the Kildare Intermediate Football Championship.
| 21 September 2025 Relegation Play-Off | Allenwood | 1-16 (19) – (13) 0-13 | Confey | Newbridge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue: Manguard Park | |||||
| Report | Referee: Alan Archbold
|
References
- ^ Gaa.ie (2024-10-27). "Kildare SFC: Four in a row for Naas". www.gaa.ie. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
- ^ "Caragh overcome the odds and the elements to land famous win - News - Kildare Nationalist". kildare-nationalist.ie. 2025-11-11. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
- ^ Park, Paul Keane at St Conleth's. "Kildare SFC final: Athy revel in upsetting Naas". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
- ^ "Doyle rescues Allenwood as they see off Confey to save their Senior status - News - Kildare Nationalist". kildare-nationalist.ie. 2025-11-10. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
- ^ Callaghan, Tommy (2025-05-23). "Kildare GAA: 2025 Club Football Championship draws". www.leinsterleader.ie. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
- ^ "Group stage draws made for Senior and Intermediate Championships - News - Kildare Nationalist". kildare-nationalist.ie. 2025-11-11. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
- ^ "Kildare SFC knockout stages confirmed - HoganStand". hoganstand.com. Retrieved 2025-11-11.