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On this page His championship scoring record by season
David Clifford stats: how much Kerry rely on him
Kerry's David Clifford has scored 29-272 in 53 championship games since 2018, and his two best seasons are the last two. In 2025 and 2026 he scored 15-112, 35% of everything Kerry scored, and was their top scorer in 14 of 17 games. Take his scores off the board and Kerry win 4 of those 17 instead of 14.
Data checked on against the official match reports of all 17 Kerry championship games in 2025 and 2026, from Munster GAA and GAA.ie. Earlier seasons are from Terrace Talk.
His championship scoring record by season
Clifford made his championship debut in 2018. Terrace Talk, which keeps a game-by-game record of Kerry players, lists 53 championship appearances and 29-272 to the end of the 2026 final (Terrace Talk). Adding up its list season by season gives this.
| Season | Games | Score | Points | Per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 5 | 4-18 | 30 | 6.0 |
| 2019 | 7 | 0-29 | 29 | 4.1 |
| 2020 | 1 | 0-4 | 4 | 4.0 |
| 2021 | 4 | 2-17 | 23 | 5.8 |
| 2022 | 4 | 1-21 | 24 | 6.0 |
| 2023 | 8 | 5-42 | 57 | 7.1 |
| 2024 | 7 | 2-29 | 35 | 5.0 |
| 2025 | 9 | 8-62 | 86 | 9.6 |
| 2026 | 8 | 7-50 | 71 | 8.9 |
| Total | 53 | 29-272 | 359 | 6.8 |
2018 to 2024 from Terrace Talk's game list; 2025 and 2026 our own count from the official match reports, which agrees with it.
Up to 2024 he averaged 5.6 points a championship game. In 2025 and 2026 it was 9.2. The last two seasons hold 17 of his 53 games and 157 of his 359 points, 44% of the total.
Both were played with the two-point score, which the scorer lines show he used: three two-point scores in the 2025 final alone, for example (GAA.ie). How much of the jump is the rule and how much is the player is a question our two-point score statistics report takes up for the whole championship: after 2024 one-point scores barely moved, and the rise came from two-pointers and, in 2026, goals.
2025 and 2026 in one table
Kerry played nine championship games in 2025, when they won the All-Ireland, and eight in 2026, when they lost the final to Mayo. Clifford played in all 17 and scored in every one. These figures we checked game by game ourselves.
| 2025 | 2026 | Both seasons | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Games | 9 | 8 | 17 |
| Clifford's total | 8-62 (86) | 7-50 (71) | 15-112 (157) |
| Per game | 9.6 | 8.9 | 9.2 |
| Kerry's total | 249 | 203 | 452 |
| Clifford's share | 35% | 35% | 35% |
| Games with a Clifford goal | 5 | 7 | 12 |
| Games as Kerry's top scorer | 7 | 7, plus 1 joint | 14, plus 1 joint |
Our count from the match reports of all 17 games. Totals in brackets are points, with a goal worth three. Download the game-by-game data (CSV).
The share barely moved between the two seasons. What changed is who scored the rest. In 2025 Seán O'Shea added 1-50, and the two of them took 56% of Kerry's total between them. In 2026 O'Shea scored in only two of the eight games, 0-7 in all, and the two together took 38%.
The patternMore than a third of Kerry's scores came from one player in both seasons, whoever else was scoring around him.
Kerry without Clifford's scores
A blunt test: subtract the points value of every Clifford score from Kerry's total, leave everything else as it was, and look at the result again.
Kerry won 14 of the 17 games. Without his scores they win four, draw three and lose ten. The four that survive are Roscommon and the Armagh quarter-final in 2025, the 2025 final against Donegal by a single point, and Kildare in 2026.
The test is crude, and it overstates the case. Without Clifford, other Kerry players would have taken those shots and scored some of them, and opponents would have set up differently. What it does show is how little room Kerry had without him: in ten of their 14 wins, his scores were at least as big as the winning margin.
2025: the All-Ireland year, game by game
| Date | Game | Result | Clifford | Share | Without his scores |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 April | Munster semi-final v Cork (after extra time) | W 3-21 to 1-25 | 0-9 | 30% | L |
| 4 May | Munster final v Clare | W 4-20 to 0-21 | 2-5 | 34% | D |
| 17 May | Group v Roscommon | W 3-18 to 0-17 | 1-3 | 22% | W |
| 31 May | Group v Cork | W 1-28 to 0-20 | 1-8 | 35% | D |
| 14 June | Group v Meath | L 0-16 to 1-22 | 0-5 | 31% | L |
| 21 June | Preliminary quarter-final v Cavan | W 3-20 to 1-17 | 3-7 | 55% | L |
| 29 June | Quarter-final v Armagh | W 0-32 to 1-21 | 0-7 | 22% | W |
| 12 July | Semi-final v Tyrone | W 1-20 to 0-17 | 1-9 | 52% | L |
| 27 July | Final v Donegal | W 1-26 to 0-19 | 0-9 | 31% | W |
Scorer lines from Munster GAA match reports; the quarter-final against Armagh from GAA.ie.
His biggest days came when Kerry needed them. He scored 3-7 against Cavan in the preliminary quarter-final, 55% of Kerry's total, and 1-9 in the semi-final against Tyrone. In the final against Donegal he kicked 0-9.
2026: the season Mayo won
| Date | Game | Result | Clifford | Share | Without his scores |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 April | Munster semi-final v Clare | W 2-19 to 1-14 | 1-7 | 40% | L |
| 10 May | Munster final v Cork | W 1-23 to 1-15 | 1-6 | 35% | L |
| 23 May | Round 1 v Donegal | L 0-16 to 2-20 | 0-4 | 25% | L |
| 13 June | Round 2B v Kildare | W 3-22 to 0-17 | 1-4 | 23% | W |
| 20 June | Round 3 v Armagh | W 4-18 to 0-17 | 1-10 | 43% | D |
| 27 June | Quarter-final v Tyrone | W 2-25 to 0-27 | 1-8 | 35% | L |
| 12 July | Semi-final v Dublin | W 2-18 to 0-20 | 1-5 | 33% | L |
| 26 July | Final v Mayo | L 1-17 to 1-20 | 1-6 | 45% | L |
Scorer lines from GAA.ie match reports.
He scored a goal in seven of the eight games, and in the final, which Kerry lost by three, he scored 1-6, 45% of Kerry's total. The full comparison with Mayo's Ryan O'Donoghue and Jack Carney is on our Footballer of the Year page.
How we counted
Every figure comes from the scorer lines in the official match reports: Munster GAA for eight of the 2025 games, GAA.ie for the 2025 quarter-final against Armagh and for all eight games in 2026. Where the two published different lines for the same game, GAA.ie won; for the 2025 quarter-final the Munster GAA line gave Seán O'Shea 0-13, which does not add up to Kerry's 0-32, while GAA.ie's 0-12 does. Clifford's own line is the same in both.
Seasons before 2025 come from Terrace Talk, an independent Kerry records site. Its list matches our 2025 and 2026 count for Clifford in every game; it does give Cavan 0-17 in the 2025 preliminary quarter-final, where the official report has 1-17. Points totals include two-pointers at two each and goals at three. The Munster semi-final against Cork in 2025 went to extra time, and the figures include it. Every game, its source, the actual result and the result without his scores are in the CSV.
Frequently asked questions
How many points has David Clifford scored in the championship?
29-272, or 359 points, in 53 championship games from 2018 to the end of 2026, according to Terrace Talk's game list. In the National League it lists 22-218 in 51 games.
How many points did David Clifford score in 2025 and 2026?
8-62 in nine games in 2025, the year Kerry won the All-Ireland, and 7-50 in eight games in 2026, with a goal in seven of them.
What share of Kerry's scores does David Clifford get?
35% in both seasons: 157 of Kerry's 452 championship points.
How many Footballer of the Year awards has David Clifford won?
Three, in 2022, 2023 and 2025. He is nominated again for 2026.