Thirty-three teams took part – thirty-one of the thirty-two Counties of Ireland, London and New York.
[1] They won the 2019 final, defeating Kerry in a replay, and became the GAA's first ever five-in-a-row All-Ireland senior champions.
Sixteen of the seventeen teams (New York do not enter the qualifiers) eliminated before their provincial semi-finals play eight matches in round 1 of the qualifiers, with the winners of these games playing the eight beaten provincial semi-finalists in round 2.
[citation needed] Significant changes to the format of the All-Ireland championship were made at the GAA's Annual Congress in February 2017 and introduced in 2018.
[citation needed] The top two teams in each group contest the semi-finals on a weekend in early August.
If the score is level at the end of the normal seventy minutes in the final, the match is replayed.
[citation needed] RTÉ, the national broadcaster in Ireland, will provide the majority of the live television coverage of the football championship in the second year of a five-year deal running from 2017 until 2021.
As of May 2019[update], BBC Northern Ireland planned to air four Ulster Championship games live: the Antrim–Tyrone quarter-final, the two semi-finals, and the final.
The round 1 draw was unrestricted − if two teams played each other in a provincial match they could be drawn to meet again.
The round 2 draw was unrestricted − if two teams played each other in a provincial match they could be drawn to meet again.
Round 3 draw rules did not allow two teams that have played each other in a provincial match to meet again if such a pairing could be avoided.
Round 4 draw rules did not allow two teams that had played each other in a provincial match to meet again if such a pairing could be avoided.
The matches were normally held in neutral venues (unless the two teams involved had an arrangement or agreed to a coin toss to decide who had home advantage).
The following teams took part in round 4 – Draw Galway Cork Cavan Meath Clare Tyrone Mayo Laois
Phase 3 – Weekend of 3/4 August – Both qualifiers have home advantage when they play the provincial champions.
[11] At the GAA Congress on 23 February 2019 Donegal proposed that Dublin be limited to playing one "Super 8" game at Croke Park.
The Central Competitions Control Committee of the GAA decided in October 2018 that, in future, the final should be played "by the 35th Sunday of the year".