Meath entered the championship as the defending champions; however, they were defeated by Offaly in the Leinster final.
On 28 September 1997 Kerry, the most successful county in Gaelic football history, claimed their 31st All-Ireland title – and their first since 1986 – with a 0–13 to 1–7 victory over Mayo.
This year also saw Ulster's most successful county, Cavan, win their first provincial title since 1969.
Munster Championship format change
A new 2 year system was introduced in Munster meaning that Kerry, Cork & Clare would have straight access to the Munster semi-finals for Limerick, Tipperary & Waterford would play in a Preliminary Round and the bye team in a lone Quarter final involved.
A Kelly 1–3, R Malone 1–2, C McManus 1–2, V Claffey 1–1, C Quinn 1–0, P Brady 0–3, F Cullen 0–2, S Grennan 0–1, R Mooney 0–1, J Grennan 0–1, V Mooney 0–1.
D Barr 0–6, E Barden 0–3, E McCormack 0–3, T Smullen 0–1.
F Cahill 1–1, R Carolan 0–4, D McCabe 0–2, P Reilly 0–1, L Reilly 0–1, D O'Reilly 0–1.
M Fitzgerald 0–7, MF Russell 1–1, Billy O'Shea 0–2, E Breen 0–1, D Ó Sé 0–1, P Laide 0–1, L Hassett 0–1, D O'Dwyer 0–1, D Ó Cinnéide 0–1, B Clarke 0–1.
Attendance: 60,072 Referee: P Casserly (Westmeath)
