1927–28 National Football League (Ireland)

The 1927–28 National Football League was the 2nd staging of the National Football League, a Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland, held in 1927 and 1928.

The League was won by Kerry.^[1][2][3]

Format

There were three divisions – Northern, Southern, and Western. Division winners played off for the NFL title.

The league was not decided by a one-match final. The three division winners played each other in a series of Inter-Divisional tests.^[4] As Kerry and Kildare both defeated Mayo, it meant that the Kerry v Kildare tie was a 'de facto' final.

Results

Northern Division

Kildare v Down

3 April 1927 Round	Kildare	3-8 — 1-2	Down

Armagh v Tyrone

3 April 1927 Round	Armagh	0-2 — 0-2	Tyrone

Armagh v Cavan

18 September 1927 Round	Armagh	2-9 — 0-12	Cavan	Athletic Grounds, Armagh,[5]

Down v Dublin

30 October 1927 Round	Down	2-7 — 2-6	Dublin	Newry,[6]

Louth v Dublin

13 November 1927 Round 2	Louth	4-4 — 0-2	Dublin	Drogheda,[7]

Louth v Meath

27 November 1927 Round 2	Louth	2-6 — 1-4	Meath	Navan,[8]

Monaghan v Kildare

27 November 1927 Round 2	Monaghan	4-4 — 4-4	Kildare	Carrickmacross,[9]

Dublin v Armagh

27 November 1927 Round	Dublin	3-5 — 0-8	Armagh	Croke Park, Dublin,[10]

Louth v Down

11 December 1927 Round	Louth	7-4 — 2-0	Down	Dundalk,[11]

Armagh v Meath

8 January 1928 Round	Armagh	3-3 — 2-3	Meath	Athletic Grounds, Armagh,[12]

Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Kildare	8	7	1	0	15	Advance to Knockout stage
Louth	8	6	0	2	12
Armagh	7	4	1	2	9
Down	7	3	0	4	8
Cavan	7	3	1	3	7
Meath	7	3	0	4	4
Monaghan	6	1	1	4	3
Dublin	6	1	1	4	3
Tyrone	6	0	1	5	1

Meath beat Down, but forfeited the points for being late on the field^[13]

Southern Division

Clare v Laois

27 February 1927 Round 1	Clare	L — W	Laois	Kilkee

Kerry v Cork

27 February 1927 Round 1	Kerry	2-6 — 0-4	Cork	Tralee,[14]

Tipperary v Kilkenny

27 February 1927 Round 1	Tipperary	0-3 — 2-4	Kilkenny	Carrick-on-Suir,[15]

Wexford v Kilkenny

20 March 1927 Round 2	Wexford	0-4 — 0-4	Kilkenny	Barrett Park, New Ross,[16]

Laois v Kerry

20 March 1927 Round 2	Laois	0-1 — 1-6	Kerry	Portlaoise,[17]

Wexford v Cork

3 April 1927 Round 3	Wexford	3-4 — 0-0	Cork	Wexford Park, Wexford

Kerry v Clare

3 April 1927 Round 3	Kerry	4-0 — 1-5	Clare	Austin Stack Park, Tralee

Cork v Kilkenny

24 April 1927 Round 4	Cork	2-3 — 0-1	Kilkenny	Cork Athletic Grounds,[18]

Wexford v Clare

9 October 1927	Wexford	4-2 — 1-4	Clare	Enniscorthy,[19]

Kerry v Tipperary

9 October 1927	Kerry	w/o — scr,	Tipperary

Kerry v Kilkenny

27 November 1927	Kerry	w/o — scr,	Kilkenny

Kerry v Wexford

5 February 1928 Round 6	Kerry	2-3 — 0-2	Wexford	Austin Stack Park, Tralee,[20]

Wexford v Tipperary

12 February 1928 Round	Wexford	1-7 — 1-1	Tipperary	Barrett Park, New Ross,[21]

Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Kerry	6	6	0	0	12	Advance to Knockout stage
Laois	6	5	0	1	10
Wexford	6	3	1	2	7
Cork	5	2	0	3	4
Kilkenny	6	1	2	3	4
Clare	6	1	1	4	3
Tipperary	5	0	0	5	0

Laois were awarded the points in respect of their tie with Clare at Kilkee^[22]

Inter-Divisional Tests

25 March 1928

Kildare	0-8 – 0-5	Mayo

Croke Park, Dublin

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15 April 1928

Kerry	0-6 – 1-1	Mayo

Castlebar

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29 April 1928
de facto Final

Kerry	2-4 – 1-6	Kildare

Croke Park, Dublin^[26]

Attendance: 12,000

Referee: Tom Shevlin, Roscommon

Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Kerry	2	2	0	0	4	NFL Winners
Kildare	2	1	0	1	2	NFL runners-up
Mayo	2	0	0	2	0

References