The 1981 All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship was the 18th staging of the All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1964.

Cork entered the championship as defending champions.

On 8 November 1981, Cork won the championship following a 2-9 to 1-6 defeat of Galway in a replay of the All-Ireland final.^[1] This was their fourth All-Ireland title overall and their second in successive seasons.

Results

Leinster Under-21 Football Championship

19 July 1981^[2][3][4]

Final

Louth	2-08 - 0-06	Longford
Cluskey 1-1, Carr 1-1, Berrill 0-3, McCarragher 0-1, Callaghan 0-1, Rafferty 0-1		Culhane 0-2, McCormack 0-2, Cheevers 0-1, Maguire 0-1

Croke Park, Dublin

Referee: Séamus Aldridge (Kildare)

GK 1 Eugene McArdle (Dundalk Young Irelands) RCB 2 Liam Reilly (Cooley Kickhams) FB 3 Declan Healy (Naomh Máirtín) LCB 4 Kevin Byrne (St Bride's) RHB 5 Fergal Judge (Newtown Blues) CHB 6 Tony McCarragher (Cooley Kickhams) LHB 7 Peter Fitzpatrick (Clan na Gael) MF 8 Pat McConnon (Dundalk Young Irelands) (c) MF 9 Dessie Callaghan (Newtown Blues) RHF 10 Noel Cluskey (Seán McDermott's) CHF 11 Paul McGee (Roche Emmets) LHF 12 Frank Brannigan (St Fechin's) RCF 13 Martin Carr (Newtown Blues) FF 14 Pat Smith (O'Raghallaighs) LCF 15 Jimmy Berrill (Naomh Máirtín) Substitutes: 16 Noel Healy (Naomh Máirtín) for Smith 17 Enda Rafferty (Cooley Kickhams) for Brannigan

GK 1 Hubert Smith (Longford Slashers) RCB 2 Jimmy Halpin (Longford Slashers) FB 3 Donal Mullooly (Rathcline) LCB 4 Declan Clabby (Forgney St Munis) RHB 5 Philip Smith (St Mary's) CHB 6 Michael Sexton (Longford Slashers) LHB 7 Dessie Barry (Longford Slashers) MF 8 Brendan Lennon (Killoe Young Emmets) MF 9 Pádraig Carberry (Cashel) RHF 10 David Breslin (Fr. Manning Gaels) CHF 11 Richie Culhane (Newtown Blues) LHF 12 John McCormack (Killoe Young Emmets) RCF 13 Richard Cheevers (Rathcline) FF 14 Frank O'Hara (Seán Connolly's) LCF 15 Denis Maguire (Dromard) Substitutes: 16 John Keegan (St Patrick's) for Breslin 17 Michael Kenny (Abbeylara) for O'Hara

Munster Under-21 Football Championship Ulster Under-21 Football Championship All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship Semi-finals Galway v Louth 27 September 1981 Semi-final Galway 3-08 - 1-06 Louth Croke Park, Dublin Cork v Monaghan 27 September 1981 Semi-final Cork 2-12 - 1-10 Monaghan Croke Park, Dublin Finals Cork v Galway 11 October 1981 Final Cork 0-14 - 2-08 Galway Cusack Park, Ennis Cork v Galway 8 November 1981 Final replay Cork 2-09 - 1-06 Galway Cusack Park, Ennis Statistics Miscellaneous Monaghan win the Ulster title for the first time in their history. The All-Ireland semi-finals see two first time championship pairings as Cork play Monaghan for the very first time and Louth play Galway for the very first and only time in the history of the championship. References ↑ "Senior influence, history repeating and more All-Ireland U21 football final talking points". The 42. 29 April 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2017. ↑ "Impressive Louth Take U-21 Title". The Argus. 24 July 1981. ↑ "Pat and Louth ruled Leinster in '81". Hogan Stand. 30 November 2006. ↑ "Youthful Down dethrone Armagh". Irish Times. 20 July 1981.