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On this page Three championships side by side
Free taking in Gaelic football: the numbers since 2024
Frees and 45s make up a smaller share of a championship team's scoring than they did two years ago. They produced about 21% of the points in 2024 and 22% in 2025, then 15% in 2026, when one-point frees fell to 3.7 a game from 6.5 in 2024. The GAA's own analysts found the same direction: fewer frees awarded, fewer shots from placed balls, and a slightly lower conversion rate.
Data checked on : our count of 164 All-Ireland SFC games from 2024 to 2026, set against the GAA Games Intelligence Unit's 2026 season report.
Three championships side by side
We counted the frees and 45s in every scorer line of the 2024, 2025 and 2026 championships, provincial games included, using the games where both teams' lines add up and mark the two-pointers. Marks are left out, because the way they are written down changed from season to season.
| 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Games counted | 63 | 52 | 49 |
| One-point frees | 6.52 | 5.67 | 3.69 |
| Two-point frees | none | 1.79 | 1.45 |
| 45s | 0.54 | 0.71 | 0.69 |
| Points from frees and 45s | 7.1 | 10.0 | 7.3 |
| Share of all points | 21.0% | 21.9% | 15.2% |
| Points from everything else | 26.6 | 35.6 | 40.6 |
Our count, both teams together. A two-point free counts two, a goal three. Download the data (CSV).
2025 is the peak year, with 10.0 points a game from frees and 45s. Free-takers kept their share because the two-point free arrived with the new rules, and nearly two a game went over, worth almost four points. In 2026 the one-point free fell away, the two-point free slipped back to 1.45 a game, and the rest of the game kept growing.
Why there are fewer frees to kick
The plainest reason is that fewer frees are given. The GAA's Games Intelligence Unit analysed 200 senior inter-county games of 2026, and in the championships (provincial, Sam Maguire and Tailteann Cup games, normal time only) it counted 27.5 frees awarded a game in 2025 and 24.2 in 2026. Most of the drop is aggressive fouls, down from 21.5 to 19.2 a game; frees for delaying the game fell from 1.44 to 0.62 (GAA Games Intelligence Unit, 2026 report).
Fewer frees means fewer shots from them. The same report has placed-ball shots in the championships falling from 10.5 a game to 8.9, while shots from open play rose from 41.0 to 43.1.
The shiftIn 2026 the game moved more of its scoring into open play. Fewer frees awarded, fewer shots from placed balls and more shots from play all point the same way.
Two-point frees
A free kicked over from on or outside the 40m arc is worth two points, as long as no team-mate touches it on the way (our scoring guide has the rule in full). It is the most reliable way to score two. In 2026 the GAA's analysts counted 250 two-point attempts from placed balls and 120 of them scored, 48%, against 37% for two-point attempts from open play.
There were fewer of them. In our count two-point frees fell from 1.79 a game in 2025 to 1.45 in 2026 (93 in 52 checked games, then 71 in 49), and from 34% of all two-pointers to 27%. The full two-point picture is in our two-point score statistics.
Free-takers still convert best
Whatever has happened to their number, a free is still the likeliest shot to score. In the 2026 championships 69% of placed-ball shots scored, against 55% from open play, and one-point placed balls went over 79% of the time, about four times in five, against 60% for one-point shots from play. Placed-ball conversion did slip, from 72.5% in 2025 to 70.1%.
Which counties lean on frees
For 2026, counties whose every championship game we could check, with at least three games:
| County | Games | From frees and 45s | Total | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cork | 6 | 31 | 141 | 22.0% |
| Mayo | 8 | 39 | 200 | 19.5% |
| Tyrone | 4 | 16 | 93 | 17.2% |
| Cavan | 3 | 11 | 66 | 16.7% |
| Roscommon | 5 | 22 | 136 | 16.2% |
| Donegal | 4 | 12 | 94 | 12.8% |
| Kerry | 8 | 25 | 203 | 12.3% |
| Derry | 4 | 11 | 100 | 11.0% |
| Galway | 5 | 13 | 135 | 9.6% |
| Kildare | 4 | 6 | 83 | 7.2% |
Our count, points with a two-point free counted as two. Marks are not included.
None of these counties took a quarter of its points from frees and 45s in 2026. In 2025, on the same test, three did: Cavan 28.7%, Mayo 27.9% and Derry 25.3%.
The Footballer of the Year is a free-taker
The free-taker's job has not gone away; it has become a smaller share of a bigger score. Mayo's Ryan O'Donoghue, voted Footballer of the Year on 30 October, took 30 of his 62 championship points from placed balls: 17 one-point frees, six two-point frees and a mark. Mayo, the champions, were second on the list above. His season and the other nominees' are on our Footballer of the Year page.
How we counted
The scorer lines come from Wikipedia's championship pages, corrected from the RTÉ and GAA.ie reports where a line did not add up; the same base as our two-point statistics. A score marked as a free, a two-point free or a 45 counts as placed. Results include extra time where it was played.
The GAA's report is the check. Its placed-ball shots multiplied by its conversion rate give about 7.6 placed scores a game in the 2025 championships and 6.2 in 2026; our count gives 8.2 and 5.8. The two do not cover the same games: the GAA includes the Tailteann Cup and leaves out extra time, while we include extra time and leave out the Tailteann Cup. Its placed-ball count may also take in marks, which we leave out. Both show a fall, steeper in our count.
Frequently asked questions
How many frees are there in a Gaelic football game?
In the 2026 championships the GAA's analysts counted 24.2 frees awarded a game, both teams together, down from 27.5 in 2025. Only some are shots at goal: placed-ball shots averaged 8.9 a game.
Is a free from outside the arc worth two points?
Yes, if it is kicked over the bar from on or outside the 40m arc and no team-mate touches it. In the 2026 championships two-point attempts from placed balls scored 48% of the time.
Are free-takers less important now?
Their share of the scoring has dropped, from about a fifth of the points to about a seventh, but the 2026 Footballer of the Year took almost half his points from placed balls.