The semi-finals (for which Galway would have qualified as Connacht representatives) did not take place in 1888 due to the season being cut short by a tour of the United States.

In 1900, thirteen years after the first championship, Galway played in its first match of the competition, the final against Tipperary, losng the game by a scoreline of 2–17 to 0–1.

Despite having represented the province by default on several occasions, it was not until 1911, that Galway earned the right to call itself full Connacht champions, when the team defeated Roscommon by a single point on a scoreline of 1–03 to 1–02.

When the GAA insisted that it should not stand due to the disqualifications Kerry withdrew, allowing Cavan to advance to the All-Ireland SFC final.

Galway's fourth All-Ireland SFC title came nearly twenty years later when the team defeated Cork at Croke Park by a scoreline of 2–13 to 3–7 in the 1956 final.

The semi-final win over Cork was a close gamer as Johnny Geraghty made two critical saves from Niall Fitzgerald in the second half.

Following an indisciplined beginning to the game, Barney Rock scored a strange goal from a distance of forty yards after a poor free-out from Galway goalkeeper Pádraig Coyne.

Galway's players objected to the goal being allowed, asserting that Dublin manager Kevin Heffernan was interfering with play by tending to the injured Joe McNally.

[4] Depleted by four injuries and a fifth to free-taker Gay McManus, the Galway team was well beaten by Kerry in the 1984 All-Ireland SFC semi-final.

In the 1998 championship, led by Mayo-born manager John O'Mahony, Galway won their first round encounter with Mayo, before overcoming Leitrim by a scoreline of 1–16 to 0–05 in the semi-final.

Galway's captain Ray Silke raised the Sam Maguire Cup aloft; the team was the first from Connacht to win an All-Ireland SFC title in 32 years.

[6] Galway's opponent in the final was a Kerry team managed by eight time All-Ireland SFC winning player, Páidí Ó Sé.

Roscommon lost by a scoreline of 0–14 to 1–05, with Galway qualifying for an All-Ireland SFC semi-final against fellow "back door" team Derry.

However, Galway managed to salvage an undeserved draw, with an Eoin Concannon goal and a Gareth Bradshaw point levelling the match at 1–10 apiece.

[41] 2014 saw Galway have a poor start to the league, coming close to relegation to Division 3 but managed to survive after winning the last two games.

Mayo, the reigning champions, ran out winners by a scoreline of 3–14 to 0–16, winning a fourth consecutive Connacht SFC title.

The score was close for most of the first half, but two goals before half-time by Fiontán Ó Curraoin and then Tom Flynn put Galway into a six-point at the break.

Late goals from Tipperary brought the deficit back to five points, but Galway held on for a final score of 4–17 to 4-12, putting the team through to its first quarter-final since 2008.

However, Galway fell short against eventual All-Ireland SFC champions Kerry, a result which led to Alan Mulholland stepping down as manager.

Despite a good start in their first two outings with wins over Meath and Westmeath, Galway fell short against Down and against Cavan and Laois but showed great confidence against old rivals Roscommon despite being behind by seven points at half-time.

After six seasons in Division 2, Galway gained promotion after a campaign that yielded five wins, a draw with Cork, and the only loss being a one-point defeat against Meath in Navan.

After a high scoring second half, Galway defeated Kildare by a scoreline of 0–18 to 0-16, earning a second cup that season and a first win at Croke Park since the 2001 All-Ireland SFC final.

The game was tight, with Mayo appearing to pull away with a win but Galway ultimately won, on a scoreline of 0–15 to 1-11, to earn them a place in the Connacht SFC final.

[59] There, Galway faced Kerry at Croke Park, a team the county had not beaten at that venue since the 1965 All-Ireland SFC final.

[78][79] After a game which included a brawl and attempted eye-gouging of Damien Comer at the end of normal time,[80] Galway defeated Armagh 4–1 on penalties.

Galway defeated Derry in the All-Ireland SFC semi-final and qualified for an All-Ireland SFC final for the first time since 2001,[83] following a game which sparked controversy when the GAA's Hawk-Eye score detection system erroneously deemed Shane Walsh's free kick before half time wide, despite replays showing it was between the posts.

Galway would reduced the deficient to one point but Walsh and Dylan McHugh would miss chances to equalise late on, with Armagh claiming victory.

1971: P. J. Smyth, Jack Cosgrove, Liam Sammon, Seamus Leydon 1972: Tommy Joe Gilmore 1973: Liam O'Neill, Tommy Joe Gilmore2nd, Liam Sammon2nd 1974: Johnny Hughes, Tom Naughton, John Tobin 1976: Johnny Hughes2nd 1981: Séamus McHugh, Barry Brennan 1983: Stephen Kinneavy 1984: Séamus McHugh2nd 1987: Val Daly 1990: Val Daly2nd 1995: Jarlath Fallon 1998: Martin McNamara, Tomás Mannion, Seán Óg De Paor, Kevin Walsh, Michael Donnellan,  Jarlath Fallon 2nd, Pádraic Joyce 2000: Declan Meehan, Michael Donnellan2nd, Pádraic Joyce2nd, Derek Savage 2001: Kieran Fitzgerald,  Declan Meehan 2nd, Seán Óg De Paor2nd, Kevin Walsh2nd, Michael Donnellan3rd, Pádraic Joyce3rd 2003: Kevin Walsh3rd 2018: Ian Burke 2022: Liam Silke, John Daly, Cillian McDaid, Damien Comer, Shane Walsh This was a team chosen in 1999 by a panel of Galway GAA past presidents and journalists.

The Tommy Varden sponsorship of the footballers was followed by the Supermac's fast food chain sponsoring the Galway hurlers for the first time in 1989.

[107] But, upon entering receivership, Aer Arann was forced to pull out of the sponsorship two years early, having sponsored the footballers for the 2008, 2009 and 2010 seasons.