Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

2016 National Football League (Ireland)

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Teams
  
32

Captain
  
Stephen Cluxton

Runners-up
  
Kerry

Winners
  
Dublin (12th win)

Manager
  
Jim Gavin

Dates
  
30 January – 24 April 2016

The 2016 National Football League, known for sponsorship reasons as the Allianz National Football League, was the 85th staging of the National Football League (NFL), an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams. Thirty-one Gaelic football county teams from the island of Ireland, plus London, competed. Kilkenny did not participate.

Contents

Setanta and TG4 provided live coverage of the league on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons respectively. RTÉ Two broadcast a highlights programme "League Sunday" on Sunday evenings.

Dublin won their 12th title in total and their 4th in a row, defeating Kerry in the final on a score of 2-18 to 0-13.

League structure

The 2016 National Football League consisted of four divisions of eight teams. Each team played every other team in its division once, usually four home and three away or three home and four away. Two points were awarded for a win and 1 for a draw.

Tie-breaker

If only two teams were level on league points:

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

    • If three or more teams were level on points, score difference was used to rank the teams.

    Finals, promotions and relegations

    Division 1

    The top four teams in Division 1 contest the National Football League semi-finals (first plays fourth and second plays third) with the winners progressing to the final. The bottom 2 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.

    Table

      Compete in Division 1 semi-finals
      Automatic relegation to Division 2

    1Donegal, Mayo, Monaghan and Cork are ranked by scoring difference.

    Table

      Compete in Division 2 final and automatic promotion to Division 1
      Automatic relegation to Division 3

    1Fermanagh, Meath, Derry and Armagh are ranked by scoring difference.

    Table

      Compete in Division 3 final and automatic promotion to Division 2
      Automatic relegation to Division 4

    1Clare, Offaly and Longford are ranked by scoring difference.

    2Sligo are ranked ahead of Tipperary by scoring difference as the head-to-head between the teams was a draw.

    Table

      Compete in Division 4 final and automatic promotion to Division 3

    1Carlow are ranked ahead of Wicklow because they won the head-to-head between the teams by 0-17 to 0-14.

    2Waterford are ranked ahead of Leitrim because they won the head-to-head between the teams by 0-17 to 1-13.

    Statistics

  • All scores correct as of 25 April 2016

    • Scoring

  • First goal of the league:
  • Ryan McHugh for Donegal against Down (Div 1, Rd 1)
  • Widest winning margin: 23 points
  • Wexford 4-20 - 1-6 London (Div 4, Rd 3)
  • Most goals in a match: 7
  • Cork 3-10 - 4-25 Roscommon (Div 1, Rd 3)
  • Most points in a match: 36
  • Clare 2-17 - 1-19 Kildare (Div 3 Final)
  • Most goals by one team in a match: 5
  • Laois 1-22 - 5-11 Derry (Div 2, Rd 5)
  • Highest aggregate score: 58 points
  • Wexford 4-23 - 3-14 Wicklow (Div 4, Rd 5)
  • Lowest aggregate score: 16 points
  • Fermanagh 0-10 - 0-06 Meath (Div 2, Rd 2)
  • Mayo 0-07 - 0-09 Dublin (Div 1, Rd 2)

    • Top scorers

    Overall
    Single game

    References

    2016 National Football League (Ireland) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA