2006 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship the winners progressed to Round 2 and the losers were eliminated from the 2006 All-Ireland Football Championship, but could continue in the All-Ireland competition, the Tommy Murphy Cup. Due to a controversial blood substitution by Offaly against Kildare, Kildare decided to appeal the match result and therefore Offaly's continuation in the Leinster Championship. Eventually it was clarified that Offaly hadn't broken the substitution rules, Kildare then faced Cavan in the first round of the qualifiers and subsequently defeated them. Round one saw the exit of Antrim, Down, Waterford, London, Carlow, Louth, Cavan and Wicklow from the 2006 All-Ireland Senior Football
County Offaly covering radio, print and online. The radio station that covers Offaly is Midlands 103 which broadcasts across three counties, Offaly, Laois and Westmeath. The main online resource for news and sport for the county is the Offaly Express, www.offalyexpress.ie The print edition of the newspaper ceased publication in July 2012. The three main newspapers are the Midland/Tullamore Tribune, Offaly independent and Offaly Topic. The Midland/Tullamore Tribune and the Offaly Topic are published each Wednesday while the Offaly Independent is distributed across the county on Fridays. The 2006 population figure for County Offaly is the highest for the county since 1881.