All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1987 - Format

Format

The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was run on a provincial basis as usual. All games were played on a knockout basis whereby once a team lost they were eliminated from the championship. The format for the All-Ireland series of games ran as follows:

• The winners of the Munster Championship advanced directly to the first All-Ireland semi-final.
• The winners of the Leinster Championship advanced directly to the second All-Ireland semi-final.
• Galway, a team who faced no competition in the Connacht Championship, entered the championship at the All-Ireland semi-final stage where they played the Munster champions.
• The winners of the Ulster Championship advanced directly to a lone All-Ireland quarter-final where they played the winners of the All-Ireland ‘B’ championship. The winners of this game advanced to the All-Ireland semi-final where they played the Leinster champions.