2021_National_Football_League_(Ireland)

League details
Dates	15 May – 19 June 2021
Teams	31
League champions
Winners	Kerry/Dublin (22nd and 14th win)
Other division winners
Division 2	Kildare and Mayo
Division 3	Derry
Division 4 Shield	Wexford
	← 2020 2022 →

2021 National Football League (Ireland)

Gaelic football competition

The 2021 National Football League, known for sponsorship reasons as the Allianz National Football League, was the 90th 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 compete; Kilkenny do not participate. London did not participate, due to restrictions around travel in place to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.^[1]^[2]

Quick Facts League details, Dates ...

In December 2020, it was announced that each division would be divided into North and South sections in order to reduce fixtures and minimise cross-border matches.^[3] This plan had been hinted at as early as September 2020.^[4] Teams would play three league games, plus possibly two knockout matches, allowing the tournament to be finished in just five rounds of games.^[5]^[6]^[7] In February 2021, it was announced that the league would be delayed due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games and that cancelling it would be a last resort.^[8]^[9]^[10] It began on 15 May 2021.^[11]^[12]

Due to COVID-19, finals were not played if a team had a championship game scheduled for the following week. This resulted in three divisions having their finals cancelled and being awarded jointly. Kerry and Dublin shared the Division 1 title; Kildare and Mayo Division 2; and Antrim and Louth Division 4.^[13]^[14] Offaly and Derry would have shared the Division 3 title, but chose to play the final instead. It was a pilot COVID test event with 2,400 spectators permitted, and Derry won.^[15]

Format

Division 1

Locations of the 2021 NFL Division 1 teams.

Red: North section;

Green: South section.

Division 2

Locations of the 2021 NFL Division 2 teams.

Red: North section;

Green: South section.

Division 3

Locations of the 2021 NFL Division 3 teams.

Red: North section;

Green: South section.

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This article uses material from the Wikipedia article 2021_National_Football_League_(Ireland), and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] [1]
Connaughton, Gary (18 October 2020). "Promotion & Relegation Permutations For All Four Divisions Of National Football League". Balls.ie.

[2] [2]
"Allianz FL results & reports: Mayo and Leitrim go down". 25 October 2020 – via www.rte.ie.

[3] [3]
"Inter-county leagues and championships revamped for 2021 season". BBC Sport. 21 December 2020. Retrieved 21 December 2020.

[4] [4]
Keys, Colm (23 September 2020). "Shorter inter-county season on the cards for 2021 as GAA braced for more Covid disruption". Irish Independent. Retrieved 23 September 2020.

[5] [5]
Fogarty, John (19 December 2020). "New League structure as GAA master calendar for 2021 revealed". Irish Examiner.

[6] [6]
"Longford pitted with provincial champions in 2021 National Football League". www.longfordleader.ie.

[7] [7]
"2021 League and Championships – Overview". www.gaa.ie.

[8] [8]
"No Activity For Clare GAA Sides Until Easter At The Earliest". 11 February 2021.

[9] [9]
Fogarty, John (27 January 2021). "What will the delayed GAA season look like? Here are four possible scenarios". Irish Examiner.

[10] [10]
Fogarty, John (26 January 2021). "GAA officials redrawing League and Championship calendars". Irish Examiner.

[11] [11]
GBFM, Sport (8 April 2021). "GAA: 2021 Inter-County Fixtures Plan Released".

[12] [12]
Nolan, Pat (12 April 2021). "Dublin set to be left without a home game in Allianz League". Irish Mirror.

[13] [13]
"Dublin share League title with Kerry after win over Donegal: As it happened". independent.

[14] [14]
Fogarty, John (10 June 2021). "As leagues that may or may not have finals conclude, the GAA's obscure history of shared titles". Irish Examiner.

[auto1-15] [15]
McCormack, Richie. "GAA confirm limited attendance for NFL Division 3 final at Croke Park". Newstalk.

[auto-16] [16]
"NFL semis and relegation play-off pairings confirmed". 30 May 2021 – via www.rte.ie.

[17] [17]
"UPDATED: Croke Park reveals counties agreed to Allianz NFL Division 4 Shield Final pairing as Leitrim end League campaign". www.leitrimobserver.ie.

[18] [18]
"GAA Official Guide - Part 1" (PDF). gaa.ie. Retrieved 21 October 2020.

[19] [19]
"Harte's troops march on to Division Three with comprehensive win over Carlow". Dundalk Democrat. 19 June 2021.

[20] [20]
"Tubridy's record haul cannot stop Rebels but Banner qualify with Division 1 now in their sights". Irish Independent. 31 May 2021.

[21] [21]
"Banner hero David Tubridy already has more history in his sights after becoming highest league scorer of all time". Irish Independent. 1 June 2021.

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

Total	8	8	8	7	31

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Donegal	3	1	2	0	38	36	+2	4	Advance to NFL semi-finals
2	Tyrone	3	1	1	1	37	34	+3	3	Advance to NFL semi-finals
3	Armagh	3	1	1	1	35	36	−1	3	Advance to a relegation playoff; losers are relegated to Division 2
4	Monaghan	3	0	2	1	35	39	−4	2

15 May 2021 1	Tyrone	0-16 (16) – (18) 0-18	Donegal	Omagh
17:00				Venue: Healy Park
		Report		Referee: Joe McQuillan (Cavan)

16 May 2021 1	Monaghan	1-12 (15) – (19) 1-16	Armagh	Enniskillen
15:00				Venue: Brewster Park
				Referee: Ciaran Branagan

22 May 2021 2	Donegal	1–20 (23) – (23) 4–11	Monaghan	Ballybofey
17:00				Venue: MacCumhaill Park
		Report		Referee: Barry Cassidy

22 May 2021 2	Armagh	2–10 (16) – (21) 2–15	Tyrone	Armagh
19:00				Venue: Athletic Grounds
				Referee: David Gough

29 May 2021 3	Armagh	1-16 (19) – (19) 1-16	Donegal	Armagh
19:30				Venue: Athletic Grounds
		Report

29 May 2021 3	Tyrone	0-14 (14) – (14) 0-14	Monaghan	Omagh
19:30				Venue: Healy Park
		Report

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Kerry (C)	3	2	1	0	75	47	+28	5	Advance to NFL semi-finals
2	Dublin (C)	3	2	1	0	68	55	+13	5	Advance to NFL semi-finals
3	Galway (R)	3	1	0	2	51	71	−20	2	Advance to Division 1 relegation playoffs; two losers are relegated to Division 2
4	Roscommon (R)	3	0	0	3	47	68	−21	0

15 May 2021 1	Kerry	4-21 (33) – (11) 0-11	Galway	Tralee
15:00				Venue: Austin Stack Park
		Report		Referee: Conor Lane (Cork)

16 May 2021 1	Roscommon	0-16 (16) – (25) 1-22	Dublin	Roscommon
13:45				Venue: Dr Hyde Park
				Referee: Derek O'Mahoney

23 May 2021 2	Dublin	4–9 (21) – (21) 1–18	Kerry	Thurles
13:45				Venue: Semple Stadium
				Referee: Sean Hurson

23 May 2021 2	Galway	2–16 (22) – (16) 1–13	Roscommon	Salthill
14:00				Venue: Pearse Stadium
				Referee: David Coldrick

30 May 2021 3	Galway	1-15 (18) – (22) 2-16	Dublin	Tuam
15:45				Venue: Tuam Stadium
				Referee: Brendan Cawley

30 May 2021 3	Roscommon	1-12 (15) – (21) 2-15	Kerry	Roscommon
15:45				Venue: Dr Hyde Park
				Referee: Joe Mc Quillan

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Mayo (P)	3	3	0	74	50	+24	6	Advance to Division 2 semi-finals; both finalists are promoted to Division 1
2	Meath	3	2	1	55	55	0	4
3	Down	3	1	2	41	60	−19	2	Advance to a relegation playoff; losers are relegated to Division 3
4	Westmeath (R)	3	0	3	45	50	−5	0

15 May 2021 1	Mayo	2-21 (27) – (14) 1-11	Down	Castlebar
14:00				Venue: MacHale Park
		Report		Referee: Fergal Kelly (Longford)

16 May 2021 1	Meath	0-16 (16) – (15) 0-15	Westmeath	Navan
15:45				Venue: Páirc Tailteann
				Referee: Brendan Cawley

22 May 2021 2	Westmeath	2-12 (18) – (21) 0-21	Mayo	Mullingar
15:00				Venue: Cusack Park
				Referee: Noel Mooney

23 May 2021 2	Down	0–14 (14) – (21) 2–15	Meath	Armagh
15:45				Venue: Athletic Grounds
				Referee: Niall Cullen

30 May 2021 3	Mayo	3-17 (26) – (18) 2-12	Meath	Castlebar
13:45				Venue: MacHale Park
		Report		Referee: Martin McNally

30 May 2021 3	Westmeath	1-9 (12) – (13) 0-13	Down	Mullingar
13:45				Venue: Cusack Park
				Referee: Sean Lonergan

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Kildare (P)	3	2	1	55	41	+14	4	Advance to Division 2 semi-finals; both finalists are promoted to Division 1
2	Clare	3	2	1	56	47	+9	4
3	Cork	3	2	1	54	49	+5	4	Advance to a relegation playoff; losers are relegated to Division 3
4	Laois (R)	3	0	3	33	61	−28	0

15 May 2021 1	Cork	0-14 (14) – (18) 2-12	Kildare	Thurles
15:30				Venue: Semple Stadium
		Report		Referee: Maurice Deegan (Laois)

16 May 2021 3	Clare	1-16 (19) – (12) 0-12	Laois	Ennis
16:00				Venue: Cusack Park
				Referee: Sean Lonergan

2021_National_Football_League_(Ireland)

Format

League structure

Tiebreakers for league ranking

Division 1

Division 1 North

Table

Matches

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Division 1 South

Table

Matches

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Division 1 Relegation Playoffs

Division 1 Finals

Division 2

Division 2 North

Table

Matches

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Division 2 South

Table

Matches

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Division 2 Relegation Playoffs

Division 2 Finals

Division 3

Division 3 North

Table

Matches

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Division 3 South

Table

Matches

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Division 3 Relegation Playoffs

Division 3 Finals

Division 4

Division 4 North

Table

Matches

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Division 4 South

Table

Matches

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Division 4 Shield

Division 4 Finals

League statistics

Scoring events

References

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22 May 2021 2	Laois	0–10 (10) – (18) 2–12	Cork	Portlaoise
19:00				Venue: O'Moore Park
				Referee: Barry Judge

23 May 2021 2	Kildare	0–13 (13) – (16) 1–13	Clare	Newbridge
14:00				Venue: County Grounds
				Referee: Fergal Kelly

30 May 2021 3	Laois	1-8 (11) – (24) 2-18	Kildare	Portlaoise
13:45				Venue: O'Moore Park
		Report		Referee: Paul Faloon

30 May 2021 3	Clare	1-18 (21) – (22) 0-22	Cork	Ennis
13:45				Venue: Cusack Park
		Report		Referee: Derek O'Mahoney

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Derry (P)	3	3	0	0	49	14	+35	6	Advance to Division 3 semi-finals; both finalists are promoted to Division 2
2	Fermanagh	3	1	1	1	24	42	−18	3
3	Cavan (R)	3	1	0	2	36	31	+5	2	Advance to a relegation playoff; losers are relegated to Division 4
4	Longford	3	0	1	2	21	43	−22	1

15 May 2021 1	Longford	0-5 (5) – (21) 0-21	Derry	Longford
17:00				Venue: Pearse Park
		Report		Referee: Jerome Henry

15 May 2021 1	Fermanagh	0-15 (15) – (14) 0-14	Cavan	Enniskillen
19:00				Venue: Brewster Park
		Report		Referee: Martin McNally

22 May 2021 2	Derry	5-13 (28) – (9) 0-9	Fermanagh	Owenbeg
17:00				Venue: Derry GAA Ground
				Referee: Paul Faloon

22 May 2021 2	Cavan	1-19 (22) – (16) 1-13	Longford	Cavan
19:00				Venue: Breffni Park
				Referee: Cormac Reilly

29 May 2021 3	Cavan	2-11 (17) – (19) 1-16	Derry	Cavan
15:00				Venue: Breffni Park
				Referee: Padraig Hughes