1996–97 National Football League (Ireland)

1996–97 National Football League
League details
Dates 13 October 1996 – 4 May 1997
Teams 33
League champions
Winners Kerry (16th win)
Captain Mike Hassett
Manager Páidí Ó Sé
League runners-up
Runners-up Cork
Captain Niall Cahalane
Manager Larry Tompkins
Other division winners
Division 2 Laois
Division 3 Down
Division 4 Offaly

The 1996–97 National Football League, known for sponsorship reasons as the Church & General National Football League, was the 66th staging of the National Football League (NFL), an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.

Format

The teams are in four divisions, three of 8 teams and one of 9. Each team plays all the other teams in its division once: either home or away. Teams earn 2 points for a winn and 1 for a draw. The top two teams in Divisions 2, 3 and 4 are promoted, while the bottom two teams in Divisions 1, 2 and 3 are relegated.[1]

Eight teams contest the NFL quarter-finals:

  • The top 5 teams in Division 1
  • The first-placed teams in Divisions 2, 3 and 4

Promotion and Relegation

At the point at which the league was played, promotion and relegation was to be as follows:

  • Division One: bottom 2 teams demoted to Division Two
  • Division Two: top 2 teams promoted to Division One. Bottom 2 teams demoted to Division Three.
  • Division Three: top 2 teams promoted to Division Two. Bottom 2 teams demoted to Division Four.
  • Division Four: top 2 teams promoted to Division Three.

After the season had finished, it was decided to move to a 'mixed-ability' league for a one-season experiment in the 1997–98 NFL season, which meant that there was no relegation or promotion in 1996-97.[2]

Results and tables

Division 1

Team Pld W D L Pts Status
Kildare 750210Advance to Knockout stage
Kerry 750210
Derry 74129
Cork 73228
Tyrone 72145
Meath 72145
Cavan 72145
Donegal 71244
  • Tyrone defeated Meath in a playoff.

Division 2

Play-Off

Table

Team Pld W D L Pts Status
Laois 750210Advance to Knockout stage
Louth 750210
Dublin 73228
Leitrim 73137
Armagh 72327
Mayo 72236
Clare 73046
Monaghan 71062
  • Laois defeated Louth in a playoff.

Division 3

Team Pld W D L Pts Status
Down 752012Advance to knockout stage
Roscommon 751111
Wicklow 750210
Westmeath 74038
Galway 73137
Antrim 72054
Longford 71153
Sligo 70161

Division 4

Offaly won, with Fermanagh finishing second.

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals

Laois 4-10 – 1-13 Derry
Hugh Emerson 3 goals
Kerry 1-18 – 0-10 Down
Kildare 0-9 – 0-8 Offaly
Cork 2-8 – 0-9 Tyrone

Semi-finals

Kerry 2-13 – 1-10 Laois
Cork 2-10 – 1-9 Kildare

Final

Kerry 3-7 – 1-8 Cork
Attendance: 28,795 [4]
Referee: Pat Casserly (Westmeath)[5]

References

  1. ↑ Gaelic Games website
  2. ↑ O'Riordan, Tom, "New format turns league on its head", Irish Independent, 27 August 1997, p. 21
  3. ↑ http://mayogaablog.com/?page_id=490
  4. ↑ "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151
  5. ↑ "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151


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