The 1925 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 39th staging of Ireland's premier Gaelic football knock-out competition. Galway were the winners.
The championship has become known for the farcical manner in which the play-offs took place. The Connaught final was not held in time to produce a team that could compete against the other three provinces in the semi-finals. Mayo was therefore nominated to represent the province. Mayo beat Wexford in the semi final. Kerry beat Cavan in the other semi-final. However, both Kerry and Cavan were disqualified for fielding illegal players. This meant that Mayo were declared champions without the need for a final. However, in the meantime, Galway had defeated Mayo in the Connaught final and this put the GAA in a bind. They withdrew their nomination of Mayo to represent Connaught, and chose Galway as rightful Connaught champions. Thus, Galway became All-Ireland champions.
However, this was deemed unsatisfactory by all. So the GAA ordered the semi-finals to be replayed with Galway taking the rightful place of Connaught champions. However, Kerry complained that their semi-final victory over Cavan should stand. When the GAA insisted that it should not stand, Kerry withdrew, leaving Cavan to automatically proceed to the final. Galway defeated Cavan in the final. The farce went on so long that the final was not played until January 10, 1926. Cavan, despite having previously been disqualified, finished with a silver medal. Mayo, despite having previously been declared champions, were eliminated. Galway, despite having previously been removed from the tournament, were champions.
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