National Football League (Ireland)

For the hurling equivalent see National Hurling League

National Football League
Founded	1925 - 1926
Trophy	New Ireland Cup
Title holders	Cork (7th title)
First winner	Laois
Most titles	Kerry (19 titles)
Sponsors	Allianz

The National Football League (known for sponsorship reasons as the Allianz National Football League) is a Gaelic football tournament held annually between the county teams of Ireland, under the auspices of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The prize for the winning team is the New Ireland Cup, presented by the New Ireland Assurance Company. The league is regarded as the second most prestigious inter-county Gaelic football competition (the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship being the most important).^[1] The reigning champions are Cork who beat Dublin in the final in 2011.

History

Down and Galway in action in the 1965 National League semi-final

The NFL was first held in 1925–1926, 38 years after the first All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, with Laois being the first winners. The League has traditionally played second fiddle to the All-Ireland, with most counties using it as a warm-up for the All-Ireland. This was not helped by the fact that the League was played in winter (November–March usually) while the championship had the more attractive summer dates and knockout structure.

In 2002 the league was changed to a February–April calendar, which has increased interest with attendances growing and live games broadcast on TG4. The 2009 season was broadcast live on Setanta Sports. TG4's coverage of the 2010 finals in Croke Park saw them become the most watched channel with 650,000 viewers tuning into the channel to watch some of the games. The Division 1 final had an average audience of 220,000 viewers^[2].

The National Football League winners receive the Irish National Insurance Cup. It was first presented in 1929 to Kerry. Kerry are the most successful team in the League playing in the final 23 times and winning it 19 times, both of which are records. They also are the team that most often won the "double" (winning both the League and All-Ireland Senior Football Championship).

Division Placings for 2012 Season

Division 1 Mayo | Cork | Kerry | Down | Donegal | Dublin | Armagh | Laois

Division 2 Tyrone | Kildare | Louth | Meath | Westmeath | Monaghan | Derry | Galway

Division 3 Offaly | Sligo | Antrim | Tipperary | Longford | Cavan | Roscommon | Wexford

Division 4 Fermanagh | Leitrim | Waterford | Wicklow | Limerick | Clare | Carlow | Kilkenny | London

Previous seasons

This is a list of all NFL finals (or NFL champions for those seasons where no final was played). The letters AI indicate the county also won the All-Ireland that year. The NFL is in general a poor prediction of summer form: only 26% (20 / 78) of League winners have gone on to win the All-Ireland. However, since the re–formatting of the competition in 2002, the winner of the national league has gone on to win the All–Ireland in 5 out of 9 occasions, Tyrone in 2003, Kerry in 2004, 2006 and 2009, and Cork in 2010.

• 1925–26 – Laois 2–1 Dublin 1–0
• 1926–27 – League not held
• 1927–28 – Kerry 2–4 Kildare 1–6
• 1928–29 – AI Kerry 1–7 Kildare 2–3
• 1929–30 – League not held
• 1930–31 – AI Kerry 1–3 Cavan 1–2
• 1931–32 – AI Kerry 5–2 Cork 3–3
• 1932–33 – Meath 0–10 Cavan 1–6
• 1933–34 – Mayo 2–4 Dublin 1–5
• 1934–35 – Mayo 5–8 Fermanagh 0–2
• 1935–36 – AI Mayo were champions with 12 points from eight games
• 1936–37 – Mayo 5–4 Meath 1–8
• 1937–38 – Mayo 3–9 Wexford 1–3
• 1938–39 – Mayo 5–9 Meath 0–6
• 1939–40 – Galway 2–5 Meath 1–5
• 1940–41 – Mayo 3–7 Dublin 0–7
• 1941–45 – League suspended for four seasons
• 1945–46 – Meath 2–2 Wexford 0–6
• 1946–47 – Derry 2–9 Clare 2–5
• 1947–48 – AI Cavan 5–9 Cork 2–8 (replay)
• 1948–49 – Mayo 1–8 Louth 1–6
• 1949–50 – Cavan 2–8 Meath 1–6
• 1950–51 – Meath 0–6 Mayo 0–3
• 1951–52 – Cork 2–3 Dublin 1–5
• 1952–53 – Dublin 4–6 Cavan 0–9
• 1953–54 – Mayo 2–10 Carlow 0–3
• 1954–55 – Dublin 2–12 Meath 1–3
• 1955–56 – Cork 0–8 Meath 0–7
• 1956–57 – Galway 1–8 Kerry 0–6
• 1957–58 – AI Dublin 3–13 Kildare 3–8
• 1958–59 – AI Kerry 2–8 Derry 1–8
• 1959–60 – AI Down 0–12 Cavan 0–9
• 1960–61 – Kerry 4–16 Derry 1–5
• 1961–62 – Down 2–5 Dublin 1–7
• 1962–63 – Kerry 0–9 Down 1–5
• 1963–64 – Dublin 2–9Down 0–7
• 1964–65 – AI Galway 1–07 Kerry 0–08
• 1965–66 – Longford 0–09 Galway 0–08
• 1966–67 – Galway 0–12 Dublin 1–07
• 1967–68 – AI Down 2–14 Kildare 2–11
• 1968–69 – AI Kerry 3–11 Offaly 0–08
• 1969–70 – Mayo 4–7 Down 0–10
• 1970–71 – Kerry 0–11 Mayo 0–8
• 1971–72 – Kerry 2–11 Mayo 1–9
• 1972–73 – Kerry 2–12 Offaly 0–14
• 1973–74 – Kerry 0–14 Roscommon 0–8 (replay)
• 1974–75 – Meath 0–16 Dublin 1–9
• 1975–76 – AI Dublin 2–10 Derry 0–15
• 1976–77 – Kerry 1–8 Dublin 1–6
• 1977–78 – Dublin 2–18 Mayo 2–13
• 1978–79 – Roscommon 0–15 Cork 1–3
• 1979–80 – Cork 0–11 Kerry 0–10
• 1980–81 – Galway 1–11 Roscommon 1–3
• 1981–82 – Kerry 1–9 Cork 0–5 (replay)
• 1982–83 – Down 1–8 Armagh 0–8
• 1983–84 – AI Kerry 1–11 Galway 0–11
• 1984–85 – Monaghan 1–11 Armagh 0–9
• 1985–86 – Laois 2–6 Monaghan 2–5
• 1986–87 – Dublin 1–11 Kerry 0–11
• 1987–88 – AI Meath 2–13 Dublin 0–11 (replay)
• 1988–89 – AI Cork 0–15 Dublin 0–12
• 1989–90 – Meath 2–7 Down 0–11
• 1990–91 – Dublin 1–9 Kildare 0–10
• 1991–92 – Derry 1–10 Tyrone 1–8
• 1992–93 – Dublin 0–10 Donegal 0–6 (replay)
• 1993–94 – Meath 2–11 Armagh 0–8
• 1994–95 – Derry 0–12 Donegal 0–8
• 1995–96 – Derry 1–16 Donegal 1–9
• 1996–97 – AI Kerry 3–7 Cork 1–8
• 1997–98 – Offaly 0–9 Derry 0–7
• 1998–99 – Cork 0–12 Dublin 1–7
• 1999–2000 – Derry 1–8 Meath 0–9
• 2000–01 – Mayo 0–13 Galway 0–12
• 2002 – Tyrone 0–15 Cavan 0–7
• 2003 – AI Tyrone 0–21 Laois 1–8
• 2004 – AI Kerry 3–11 Galway 1–16
• 2005 – Armagh 1–21 Wexford 1–14
• 2006 – AI Kerry 2–11 Galway 0–11
• 2007 – Donegal 0–13 Mayo 0–10
• 2008 – Derry 2–13 Kerry 2–9
• 2009 – AI Kerry 1–15 Derry 0–15
• 2010 – AI Cork 1–17 Mayo 0–12
• 2011 – Cork 0-21 Dublin 2-14

Performance by County

County	Winners	Runners-up	Winning Years
Kerry	19	4	1928, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1959,1961, 1963, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1982, 1984, 1997, 2004, 2006, 2009
Mayo	11	6	1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1949, 1954, 1970, 2001
Dublin	9	12	1953, 1955, 1958, 1964, 1976, 1978, 1987, 1991, 1993
Meath	7	9	1933, 1946, 1951, 1975, 1988, 1990, 1994
Cork	7	5	1952, 1956, 1980, 1989, 1999, 2010, 2011
Derry	6	5	1947, 1992, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2008
Down	4	4	1960, 1962, 1968, 1983
Galway	4	5	1957, 1965, 1967, 1981
Laois	2	1	1926, 1986
Cavan	2	5	1948, 1950
Tyrone	2	1	2002, 2003
Armagh	1	3	2005
Longford	1	0	1966
Monaghan	1	1	1985
Roscommon	1	2	1979
Offaly	1	2	1998
Donegal	1	3	2007

The top provinces by number of wins:

	Province	Wins	Last Win	Winners
1	Munster	26	2011	Kerry (19), Cork (7),
2	Leinster	20	1998	Dublin (9), Meath (7), Laois (2), Longford (1), Offaly (1)
3	Ulster	17	2008	Derry (6), Down (4), Cavan (2), Tyrone (2), Armagh (1), Donegal (1), Monaghan (1)
4	Connacht	16	2001	Mayo (11), Galway (4), Roscommon (1)

See also

• National Hurling League

References

1. ^ Scott, Ronan (30 January 2009). "Only the league...". Gaelic Life: p. 10. 
2. ^ "VIEWING FIGURES FOR GAA BEO - ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE FINALS 2010". TG4. 27 April 2010. http://www.tg4.ie/bearla/corp/pr/2010/0427-1.asp. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 

External links

• National League Results, Fixtures and Statistics
• Semi-final and final results 1926–2005
• Fixtures & Results for NFL 2006
• Division Tables