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The Gaelic Athletic Association

The All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Cadbury Under-21 Football Championship) is the premier "knockout" competition for players aged between 18 and 21 in the game of Gaelic football played in Ireland. The series of games are organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association and are played during the summer months. Mayo are the current All Ireland U-21 Champions.

The All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship was created in 1964 in response to a Congress motion put forward by the Kerry County Board. Since then the competition has grown in importance and profile. The championship is run on an inter-county provincial basis with the winners from Munster, Leinster, Ulster and Connacht playing off against each other in two semi-finals.

Kerry and Cork are the most successful teams in the history of the Under-21 Championship. Cork's three-in-row from 1984 to 1986 remains the record to beat in the competition. In spite of victory in other grades Dublin have been very unsuccessful in this competition and for many years did not field a team. The coveted treble of winning senior, under-21, minor titles in the same year has been achieved on just one occasion, by Kerry in 1975. Because of the fact that teams will only play together for at most, about two or three years, unlike the senior competition, it is unusual that one county will dominate for periods any longer than this.

It is usually considered a mark of a great upcoming player, if he plays for both his county's Under 21 and Senior team at the same time. Many great players have achieved this, although one particular example would be Frank McGuigan, who, in 1973, represented Tyrone in the Ulster Finals of the Minors, Seniors and Under 21s.^[1]