1971–72 National Football League (Ireland)

The 1971–72 National Football League was the 41st staging of the National Football League (NFL), an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.

1971–72 National Football League
League details
DatesOctober 1971 – 14 May 1972
League champions
WinnersKerry (10th win)
CaptainMick Gleeson
League runners-up
Runners-upMayo
CaptainRay Prendergast
Other division winners
Division 2Longford

Kerry beat Mayo in the final for the second year in a row.[1][2][3][4][5]

Format

Divisions
  • Division One: 16 teams. Split into two groups of 8.
  • Division Two: 16 teams. Split into two groups of 8.

Round-robin format

Each team played every other team in its division (or group where the division is split) once, either home or away.

Points awarded

2 points were awarded for a win and 1 for a draw.

Titles

Knockout stage structure

In the Semi-Finals, the match-ups were as follows:

  • Quarter-final 1: First-placed team in Division One (A) v Second-placed team in Division One (B)
  • Quarter-final 2: Second-placed team in Division One (A) v First-placed team in Division One (B)

The final match-up is: Winner Semi-final 1 v Winner Semi-final 2.

Separation of teams on equal points

In the event that teams finish on equal points, then teams were separated according to points average(goals scored divided by goals conceded).[6]

Division One

Tables

Division two

Group A
Team Pld W D L F A Aver Pts Notes
Longford 7700106581.82814Qualify for Knockout Stage; promoted to Division One of the 1972–73 NFL
Roscommon 7601123522.36512
Carlow 740399841.1798
Clare 731370810.8647
Limerick 730484960.8756
Wexford 721483930.8925
Wicklow 7106651040.6252
Kilkenny 7106681300.5232

Group B Table
Team Pld W D L F A Aver Pts Notes
Cavan 760197472.06412Qualify for Knockout Stage; promoted to Division One of the 1972–73 NFL
Westmeath 7502109811.34610
Monaghan 742176601.26710
Tyrone 740360610.9848
Louth 731376751.0137
Armagh 720572890.8094
Donegal 711564990.6463
Leitrim 7106731150.6352

Knockout stage

Division One
9 April 1972 Semi-Final Kerry 0-17 — 0-13 Derry Croke Park, Dublin
16 April 1972 Semi-Final Mayo 2-10 — 0-16 Offaly Croke Park, Dublin
30 April 1972 Semi-Final Replay Mayo 1-11 — 0-8 Offaly Croke Park, Dublin
14 May 1972 Final Kerry 2-11 — 1-9 Mayo Croke Park, Dublin
Liam Higgins 1-4; Mick Gleeson 1-0; Mick O'Connell 0-3; Donal Kavanagh 0-2; Mick O'Dwyer, Jackie Walsh 0-1 each W McGee 1-1; T O’Malley, J Corcoran 0-3 each, S Kilbride, J Higgins 0-1 each Attendance: 32,883[7]
Referee: P O'Tiarnain (Cavan)[8]

Division two
9 April 1972 Semi-Final Roscommon 3-5 — 0-8 Cavan Croke Park, Dublin[9]
16 April 1972 Semi-Final Longford 0-16 — 3-5 Westmeath Pearse Park, Longford[10]
30 April 1972 Final Longford 0-9 — 0-6 Roscommon Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada, Carrick-on-Shannon[11]

References
  1. GAA Final Teams
  2. Mayo GAA Blog
  3. "Terrace Talk".
  4. 20.06.1971 NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE FINAL - Irish Photo Archive
  5. Irish Photo Archive
  6. "Monaghan pipped", Irish Independent, 28/02/1972, p. 13
  7. "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151
  8. "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151
  9. "Second-half goals enough for Roscommon", Irish Independent, 10/04/1972, p. 10
  10. "Score margin doesn't flatter Longford", Irish Independent, 17/04/1972, p. 12
  11. "Longford's unique success", Irish Press, 01/05/1972, p. 22
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