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1961 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final

Event	1961 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
Down Offaly 3-6 (15) 2-8 (14)
Date	24 September 1961
Venue	Croke Park, Dublin
Referee	L Maguire (Cavan)
Attendance	90,556
← 1960 1962 →

The 1961 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was the 74th All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1961 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland. A crowd of 90,556 (a record at the old Croke Park) watched the match between Down and Offaly.

Match

The biggest crowd ever to attend Croke Park saw an explosive opening to the match - Offaly's Mick Casey and Peter Daly got goals to put them six points ahead with the match barely begun. Down recovered with three goals by half-time, and led by two points with minutes to go. Har Donnelly had a 21-yard free for Offaly, and took a point when a goal was really needed.

Legacy

This was Down's second appearance in an All-Ireland final, and their second win from two. It was the second of three All-Ireland football titles won by Down in the 1960s, which made them joint "team of the decade" with Galway who also won three.

References

1. Grant, Alistair (9 March 2009). "See U2 at Croker... for €25: World tour tipped to include thousands of cheap tickets". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 9 March 2009.
2. High Ball magazine, issue #6, 1998.
3. "Down fans travel to All-Ireland final". The News Letter. 19 September 2010. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
4. "Kerry on honour roll". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. 14 September 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2009.

• 1961 in Gaelic football
• 1961 in Northern Ireland sport
• 1960s in Dublin (city)
• September 1961 sports events in Europe
• All-Ireland Senior Football Championship finals
• Down county football team matches
• Offaly county football team matches