1970–71 National Football League (Ireland)

The 1970–71 National Football League was the 40th staging of the National Football League (NFL), an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.

1970–71 National Football League
League details
Dates	October 1970 – 20 June 1971
League champions
Winners	Kerry (9th win)
Captain	Donie O'Sullivan
League runners-up
Runners-up	Mayo
← 1969–70 1971–72 →

Kerry beat Mayo in the final.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Format edit

1970-71 saw the introduction of a new format.

Divisions edit

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

Round-robin format edit

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

Points awarded edit

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

Titles edit

Teams in Division One competed for the National Football League title.
Teams in Division Two competed for the National Football League Division Two title.

Knockout stage structure edit

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 edit

In the event that teams finish on equal points, then a play-off will be used to determine group placings if necessary, i.e. where to decide relegation places or quarter-finalists.^[5]

Group stage edit

Division One edit

Results edit

Division One (A) play-offs edit

2 May 1971 For 1st Place

Kerry

0-15 — 1-8

Dublin

Croke Park, Dublin^[6]

Division One (B) play-offs edit

25 April 1971 For 2nd Place

Derry

1-7 — 1-6

Antrim

Dungannon

Tables edit

Group A edit

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Kerry	7	5	1	1	11	Qualified for Knockout Stage
Dublin	7	5	1	1	11	Qualified for Knockout Stage
Offaly	7	4	2	1	10
Cork	7	4	0	3	8
Kildare	7	3	1	3	7
Galway	7	3	1	3	7
Longford	7	1	0	6	2	Relegated to Division Two of the 1971–72 NFL
Roscommon	7	0	0	7	0	Relegated to Division Two of the 1971–72 NFL

^[7]

Division two edit

Tables edit

Group A edit

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Tipperary	7	7	0	0	14	Qualified for Knockout Stage; promoted to Division One of the 1971–72 NFL
Waterford	7	5	1	1	13
Limerick	7	5	0	2	10
Kilkenny	7	4	0	3	8
Wexford	7	2	1	4	5
Clare	7	2	1	4	5
Wicklow	7	1	1	5	3
Carlow	7	0	0	7	0

Group B edit

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Laois	7	6	1	0	13	Qualified for Knockout Stage; promoted to Division One of the 1971–72 NFL
Fermanagh	7	6	0	1	12
Armagh	7	5	0	2	10
Westmeath	7	4	0	3	8
Monaghan	7	3	1	3	7
Tyrone	7	2	0	5	4
Donegal	7	1	0	6	2
Leitrim	7	0	0	7	0

Knockout stage edit

Division One edit

16 May 1971 Semi-Final

Kerry

1-11 — 1-10

Derry

Croke Park, Dublin

24 May 1971 Semi-Final

Dublin

0-8 — 1-9

Mayo

Croke Park, Dublin

20 June 1971 Final	Kerry	0-11 — 0-8	Mayo	Croke Park, Dublin
	Mick O'Dwyer 0-6; Brendan Lynch 0-3; Donie O'Sullivan, Mick Gleeson 0-1 each		J Corcoran 0-7 (7f); T Fitzgerald 0-1	Attendance: 25,000^[8] Referee: Paul Kelly (Dublin)^[9]

Division two edit

25 April 1971 Semi-Final

Tipperary

2-9 — 0-13

Fermanagh

Croke Park, Dublin^[10]

25 April 1971 Semi-Final

Waterford

1-9 — 0-6

Laois

Nowlan Park, Kilkenny^[11]

16 May 1971 Final

Tipperary

0-10 — 1-6

Waterford

Clonmel

References edit

^ GAA Final Teams
^ "1971". Mayo GAA Blog.
^ "Terrace Talk :: Kerry Football :: :: 1971 League :: Semi-final :: Kerry Vs Derry". www.terracetalk.com.
^ "20.06.1971 National Football League Final [D727] - Images | Irish Photo Archive". irishphotoarchive.photoshelter.com.
^ "Derry back in top four", Irish Press, 26/04/1971, p. 13
^ "Terrace Talk :: Kerry Football :: 1971 League". www.terracetalk.com.
^ "League tables tidied up", Irish Press, 26/04/1971, p. 13
^ "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151
^ "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002,ISBN 9781903464151
^ "Tipperary Footballers are still undefeated", Irish Press, 26/04/1971, p. 12
^ "Waterford earn place in Division Two final", Irish Press, 26/04/1971, p. 12

[1] GAA Final Teams

[2] "1971". Mayo GAA Blog.

[3] "Terrace Talk :: Kerry Football :: :: 1971 League :: Semi-final :: Kerry Vs Derry". www.terracetalk.com.

[4] "20.06.1971 National Football League Final [D727] - Images | Irish Photo Archive". irishphotoarchive.photoshelter.com.

[5] "Derry back in top four", Irish Press, 26/04/1971, p. 13

[6] "Terrace Talk :: Kerry Football :: 1971 League". www.terracetalk.com.

[7] "League tables tidied up", Irish Press, 26/04/1971, p. 13

[8] "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151

[9] "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002,ISBN 9781903464151

[10] "Tipperary Footballers are still undefeated", Irish Press, 26/04/1971, p. 12

[11] "Waterford earn place in Division Two final", Irish Press, 26/04/1971, p. 12

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

Format edit

Divisions edit

Round-robin format edit

Points awarded edit

Titles edit

Knockout stage structure edit

Separation of teams on equal points edit

Group stage edit

Division One edit

Results edit

Division One (A) play-offs edit

Division One (B) play-offs edit

Tables edit

Group A edit

Division two edit

Tables edit

Group A edit

Group B edit

Knockout stage edit

Division One edit

Division two edit

References edit

article