2018 National Football League (Ireland)

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2018 National Football League
League details
Dates 27 January – 1 April 2018
Teams 32
League champions
Winners Dublin (13th win)
Captain Stephen Cluxton
Manager Jim Gavin
League runners-up
Runners-up Galway
Captain Damien Comer
Manager Kevin Walsh
Other division winners
Division 2 Roscommon
Division 3 Armagh
Division 4 Laois
2017
2019

The 2018 National Football League, known for sponsorship reasons as the Allianz National Football League, was the 87th staging of the National Football League (NFL), an annual Gaelic football tournament for Gaelic Athletic Association county teams. Thirty-one county teams from the island of Ireland, plus London, compete. Kilkenny do not participate.

The first six rounds in all four divisions were scheduled to have been played before 24 March 2018, allowing the final round seven matches to be played on that date. Due to poor winter weather, some fixtures in Division 2 (round 6) and Division 4 (rounds 5 and 6) had not been played by that date. The GAA decided to proceed with the final round seven matches in the four divisions before the completion of the earlier rounds. This decision proved controversial - for instance, in the rescheduled Division 2 match between Louth and Meath which was played on 31 March 2018, Meath needed to win to avoid relegation while Louth had nothing to play for as they were already relegated irrespective of the result. Meath beat Louth by 1-12 to 0-07, thereby ensuring that Down were relegated.

Eir Sport and TG4 provide live TV coverage of the league on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons respectively. The highlights programmes are RTÉ2's League Sunday on Sunday evenings and TG4's GAA 2018 on Monday evenings.

The league concluded on 1 April 2018 with Dublin defeating Galway in the division 1 final. It was their fifth Division 1 title in six years.[1][2]

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Format

League structure

The 2018 National Football League consists of four divisions of eight teams. Each team plays every other team in its division once, usually four home and three away or three home and four away. Two points are awarded for a win and one point for a draw.

Teams by Province and Division
Province Division 1 Division 2 Division 3 Division 4 Total
Connacht 2 1 1 1 5
Leinster 2 2 4 3 11
Munster 1 3 0 2 6
Ulster 3 2 3 1 9
Britain 0 0 0 1 1
Total 8 8 8 8 32

Tie-breaker

If only two teams are level on league points -

  • The team that won the head-to-head match is ranked first
  • If this game was a draw, score difference (total scored minus total conceded in all games) is used to rank the teams
  • If score difference is identical, total scored is used to rank the teams
  • If still identical, a play-off is required

If three or more teams are level on league points, score difference is used to rank the teams.

Finals, promotions and relegations

Division 1

The top two teams in Division 1 contest the National Football League final. The bottom two teams are relegated to Division 2.

Division 2, Division 3 & Division 4

The top two teams in Divisions 2, 3 and 4 are promoted and contest the finals of their respective divisions. The bottom two teams in Divisions 2 and 3 are relegated.

Division 1

Division 1 table

Template:2018 National Football League (Ireland) Division 1 table

Division 1 Rounds 1 to 7

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Division 1 Final

Sunday, April 1
4:00 pm
Final
Dublin 0-18 – 0-14 Galway Croke Park
Attendance: 36,572
Referee: A Nolan (Wicklow)
Man of the Match: Ciaran Kilkenny (Castleknock)
Dean Rock 0-7 (0-5f, 1 '45), Paul Mannion 0-3, Ciaran Kilkenny and Colm Basquel 0-2, Philly McMahon, John Small, Niall Scully, Eric Lowndes 0-1 each Report [1] Barry McHugh 0-6 (0-5f), Damien Comer 0-3, Johnny Heaney and Shane Walsh (0-1f) 0-2 each, Paul Conroy 0-1

Division 2

Division 2 table

Template:2018 National Football League (Ireland) Division 2 table

Division 2 Rounds 1 to 7

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Division 2 Final

Sunday, April 1
2:00 pm
Final
Roscommon 4-16 – 4-12 Cavan Croke Park
Referee: Sean Hurson (Tyrone)
Man of the Match: Conor Devaney (Kilbride)
Cathal Cregg 2-1, Niall Kilroy 1-1, Diarmiud Murtagh 0-4 (0-2f), David Murray 1-0, Conor Devaney and Donie Smith 0-3 each, Ciaran Murtagh (0-1f), Niall McInerney, Enda Smith, Ian Kilbride 0-1 each Report [2] Dara McVeety 1-3, Seanie Johnston 0-4 (0-2f), Enda Flanagan, Martin Reilly (1-0 pen), Conor Bradley 1-0 each, Raymond Galligan (1 '45), Padraig Faulkner, Ciaran Brady, Gearoid McKiernan (0-1f), Caoimhin O’Reilly (0-1f) 0-1 each

Division 3

Division 3 table

Template:2018 National Football League (Ireland) Division 3 table

Division 3 Rounds 1 to 7

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Division 3 Final

Saturday, March 31
5.00 pm
Final
Armagh 1-16 – 0-17 Fermanagh Croke Park
Referee: James Molloy (Galway)
Man of the Match: Andrew Murnin (St Paul's Lurgan)
Andrew Murnin 1-3, Niall Grimley 0-4 (0-3f), Patrick Burns, Aidan Forker, Ryan McShane 0-2 each, Niall Rowland, Gregory McCabe, Ben Crealey 0-1 each Report Seamus Quigley 0-9f, Conall Jones 0-3, Ryan Jones 0-2, Barry Mulrone, Declan McCusker, Tomas Corrigan 0-1 each

Division 4

Division 4 table

Template:2018 National Football League (Ireland) Division 4 table

Division 4 Rounds 1 to 7

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Division 4 Final

Saturday, March 31
3:00 pm
Laois 0-15 – 0-11 Carlow Croke Park
Referee: Martin McNally (Monaghan)
Man of the Match: Graham Brody (Portlaoise)
Donie Kingston 0-5 (0-2f), Ross Munnelly 0-4 (0-2f), Eoin Lowry 0-3 (0-1f), John O'Louglin, Kieran Lillis, Alan Farrell 0-1 each Report Sean Gannon and Darragh Foley (0-1f) 0-3 each, Paul Broderick 0-2, Shane Redmond, Brendan Murphy, Sean Murphy 0-1 each

League statistics

  • All scores correct as of 3 April 2018[3]

Top scorer: Overall

Rank Player County Tally Total Matches Average
1 Gary Walsh Colours of Laois.svg Laois 4-41 53 6 8.8
2 Paul Broderick 20px Carlow 2-46 52 8 6.5
3 Seamus Quigley 20px Fermanagh 4-37 49 7 7
4 Conor Sweeney 20px Tipperary 3-31 40 6 6.7
5 John Heslin 20px Westmeath 1-36 39 6 6.5
6 Keith Beirne Colours of Leitrim.svg Leitrim 3-28 37 5 7.4
7 Lee Brennan Colours of Tyrone.svg Tyrone 2-30 36 7 5.1
Diarmuid Murtagh Colours of Roscommon.svg Roscommon 3-27 36 8 4.5
9 Dean Rock 20px Dublin 1-32 35 8 4.4
10 Patrick McBrearty 20px Donegal 0-34 34 5 6.8
11 Nigel Dunne Colours of Offaly.svg Offaly 0-32 32 7 4.6
Colm O'Neill Colours of Cork.svg Cork 2-26 32 7 4.6
13 Mark Collins Colours of Cork.svg Cork 1-28 31 7 4.4
Donie Smith Colours of Roscommon.svg Roscommon 1-28 31 8 3.9
Robbie Smyth 20px Longford 2-25 31 7 4.4
16 Barry McHugh Colours of Galway.svg Galway 1-27 30 5 6

Top Scorer: Single game

Rank Player County Tally Total Opposition
1 Keith Beirne Colours of Leitrim.svg Leitrim 2-08 14 20px Limerick
2 Jason Curry 20px Waterford 1-09 12 20px London
3 Gary Walsh Colours of Laois.svg Laois 0-11 11 20px London
Seamus Quigley 20px Fermanagh 1-08 11 20px Derry
Gary Walsh Colours of Laois.svg Laois 1-08 11 Colours of Leitrim.svg Leitrim
Liam McGrath 20px Tipperary 2-05 11 Colours of Cork.svg Cork
7 Patrick McBrearty 20px Donegal 0-10 10 20px Kerry
Gary Walsh Colours of Laois.svg Laois 0-10 10 20px Waterford
Paul Broderick 20px Carlow 1-07 10 20px Wicklow
Liam Gavaghan 20px London 1-07 10 20px Wicklow
John Heslin 20px Westmeath 1-07 10 20px Derry
Conor Sweeney 20px Tipperary 2-04 10 Colours of Roscommon.svg Roscommon

Scoring events

  • Widest winning margin: 14
  • Most goals in a match: 8
  • Most points in a match: 35
  • Most goals by one team in a match: 4
  • Highest aggregate score: 52 points
  • Lowest aggregate score: 14 points

References

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External links

Template:GAA 2018