1979–80 National Football League (Ireland)

The 1979–80 National Football League was the 49th staging of the National Football League (NFL), an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.

1979–80 National Football League
League details
DatesOctober 1979 – 27 April 1980
League champions
WinnersCork (3rd win)
CaptainChristy Ryan
ManagerBilly Morgan
League runners-up
Runners-upKerry
CaptainJimmy Deenihan
ManagerMick O'Dwyer

Cork defeated Kerry in an all-Munster final.[1][2][3][4]

Format

Divisions
  • Division One: 12 teams. Split into two regional groups of 6 (North and South)
  • Division Two: 20 teams. Split into two 10 team regional sub-divisions of North and South, which were divided into five teams each.

Titles

Teams in both divisions competed for the National Football League title.

There was also a separate National Football League Division Two title.

Knockout stage qualifiers
  • Division One (North): top 3 teams[5]
  • Division One (South): top 3 teams
  • Division Two (North): winners
  • Division Two (South): winners

Promotion and relegation

This was the last season of the present league format. For the 1980–81 season, the 32 counties were divided into four divisions of eight teams. The teams were not placed into the new structure entirely in line with their placings in the 1979–80 league.[6]

Group stage

Division One (North) Play-offs
10 February 1980 For 1st Place Armagh 0-10 — 1-4 Down Coalisland[7]

Table
Team Pld W D L Pts Notes
Armagh 54018Qualified for Knockout Stages
Down 54018
Roscommon 53026
Mayo 52034Relegated to Division Two of the 1980–81 NFL
Tyrone 52034
Cavan 50050Relegated to Division Three of the 1980–81 NFL

[8]

Table
Team Pld W D L Pts Notes
Galway 54109Qualified for Knockout Stages and relegated to Division Two of the 1980–81 NFL
Kerry 53117Qualified for Knockout Stages
Cork 52125
Kildare 52034
Dublin 51133
Offaly 51042

[9]

Division Two (North) Final
24 February 1980 Final Fermanagh 2-6 — 1-4 Antrim Coalisland[10]

Division Two (South) Final
2 March 1980 Final Wexford 1-14 — 0-7 Clare Croke Park, Dublin[13]

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals
Armagh1-8 – 2-5Wexford
Armagh0-13 – 0-5Wexford
Galway1-12 – 0-10Fermanagh
Kerry1-8 – 1-5Roscommon
Cork3-6 – 0-6Down

Semi-final
Kerry1-11 – 1-6Armagh
Cork1-16 – 1-6Galway
Attendance: 11,410

Final
Cork0-11 – 0-10Kerry
Attendance: 39,139[23]
Referee: Tommy Moran (Leitrim)

Division Two Final
6 July 1980 'Home' Final Wexford 5-14 — 0-10 Fermanagh Croke Park, Dublin[24]
30 August 1980 Final Wexford 7-17 — 1-7 Warwickshire Coventry[25]

References
  1. GAA Final Teams
  2. Terrace Talk 1980
  3. "059 Dubs 1978 | a whole new world". Archived from the original on 19 December 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  4. GAA Archive 1980
  5. "How They Stand", Irish Press, 04/02/1980, p. 11
  6. "New line-up for National League", Ulster Herald, 17 May 1980, p. 3
  7. "Toner miss boost for Armagh", Irish Independent, 11/02/1980, p. 11
  8. "GAA Results and Tables", Irish Independent, 04/02/1980, p. 10
  9. "GAA Results and Tables", Irish Independent, 04/02/1980, p. 10
  10. "Cool Fermanagh surprise Antrim", Irish Independent, 25/02/1980, p. 11
  11. "GAA Results and Tables", Irish Independent, 04/02/1980, p. 10
  12. "GAA Results and Tables", Irish Independent, 04/02/1980, p. 10
  13. "Wexford make it third time lucky", Irish Independent, 03/03/1980, p. 11
  14. "GAA Results and Tables", Irish Independent, 04/02/1980, p. 10
  15. "GAA Results and Tables", Irish Independent, 04/02/1980, p. 10
  16. "Magee to the rescue", Irish Press, 24/03/1980, p. 16
  17. "Armagh always in control but waste chances", Irish Independent, 31/03/1980, p. 13
  18. "Galway Masters", Irish Press, 24/03/1980, p. 16
  19. "Goalkeeper turns poacher!", Irish Press, 24/03/1980, p. 16
  20. "Down fall to Cork", Irish Press, 24/03/1980, p. 16
  21. "Terrace Talk :: Kerry Football :: 1980 League".
  22. "Cork canter into decider", Irish Press, 14/04/1980, p. 16
  23. "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151
  24. "Furlong hits four goals", Irish Press, 6 July 1980, p. 10
  25. "Wexford take Div 2 title", Irish Independent, 31 August 1980, p. 8

See also
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