The final is played by the 35th Sunday of the year at Croke Park in Dublin, with the winning team receiving the Sam Maguire Cup.

The final was played in Beech Hill, Donnybrook (not Bird Avenue) on 29 April 1888 with Commercials winning by 1–4 to 0–3.

The 1888 provincial championships had been completed (Tipperary, Kilkenny and Monaghan winning them; no Connacht teams entered) but after the Invasion tour returned, the All-Ireland semi-final and final were not played.

English team London reached the final four times in the early years of the competition (1900–1903).

The rules of hurling and football were also altered: goals were made equal to five points, and teams were reduced from 21 to 17 a-side.

[2] Unlike in other European countries, such as neighbouring England, where annual sports events were cancelled during the twentieth century due to the First and Second World Wars, the All-Ireland Championship has been running continuously since 1887, with the final running since 1889 (the 1888 competition was played but no final was held due to the Invasion mentioned above).

In 1941, the All-Ireland Championship was disrupted by an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease but the postponed Leinster final were later rescheduled.

[5] The first half of the twentieth century brought the rise of several teams who won two or more All-Ireland titles in that period, such as Kildare, Mayo, Cavan, Wexford and Roscommon.

In the 1990s, a significant sea change took place, as the All-Ireland was claimed by an Ulster team in four consecutive years (1991–1994).

Later that year, the 2001 final brought victory for Galway who became the first football team to win an All-Ireland by springing through "the back door."

[7] It was first used to confirm that Offaly substitute Peter Cunningham's attempted point had gone wide 10 minutes into the second half of a game against Kildare.

[8] 2013 also brought the first Friday night game in the history of the Championship – a first round qualifier between Carlow and Laois.

In 2018 the Super 8s were introduced, where the four provincial champions and the four-round 4 qualifier winners would be split into two groups of four teams.

Division 3 and 4 teams from the National Football League that fail to reach a provincial final will not proceed to the All-Ireland qualifiers and will instead play in the Tailteann Cup.

The structure outlined above was adopted in 2001 to allow more games to be played, but still retain provincial championships and the knockout structure, resulting in every game continuing to be a meaningful fixture, with no dead-rubber league format matches being played out.

The qualifiers series (also referred to as the "back door") for teams that did not win their provincial championships would take place in the months of June and July with the winning four teams of Round 4 playing the four Provincial Champions in the All-Ireland Quarter Finals.

Teams that were eliminated in their provincial championships did not access the qualifiers, which were cancelled, and the "Super 8's" were removed in favour of a straight-knockout semi-final and final.

In 2022 a smaller back door system took place then Knockout (2001–2017) or Super 8 (2018–2019) there was a knock out Tailteann Cup in 2022 as well.

Under this system, approved at a Special Congress of the GAA in February 2022, the results in the National Football League (held in January through to March of each year) would have an impact on counties' progression in the championship.

After the conclusion of the four provincial championships, whose structures remain unaltered, there would be a round-robin competition for 16 teams, split evenly into four.

The groups would be made up of the four provincial champions and four runners-up, joined by a further eight teams based on their overall ranking from the league.

The four group winners would automatically qualify for the All-Ireland Quarter Finals, and the four remaining spots in the quarter-finals are determined by playoff-matches between the second and third placed teams.

[14][15] A potential new format for the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) is under consideration[3], with a single alternative structure gaining significant support.

This streamlining is aimed at easing scheduling pressure and creating a clearer gap between the league and the provincial championships.

Kilkenny is currently unique among the 32 Irish county associations in not participating in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.

Guests who attend these events include the President of Ireland, the Taoiseach and other important dignitaries.

The final game of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship takes place on the third Sunday of September.

Due to COVID-19 and the related State restrictions, the 2020 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final was staged on Saturday, 19 December, two weeks after the semi-finals.