1996–97 National Football League (Ireland)

1996–97 National Football League
League details
Dates	13 October 1996 – 4 May 1997
Teams	33
League champions
Winners	Kerry (16th win)
Captain	Mike Hassett
Manager	Páidí Ó Sé
League runners-up
Runners-up	Cork
Captain	Niall Cahalane
Manager	Larry Tompkins
Other division winners
Division 2	Laois
Division 3	Down
Division 4	Offaly
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The 1996–97 National Football League, known for sponsorship reasons as the Church & General National Football League, was the 66th staging of the National Football League (NFL), an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.

Format

The teams are in four divisions, three of 8 teams and one of 9. Each team plays all the other teams in its division once: either home or away. Teams earn 2 points for a winn and 1 for a draw. The top two teams in Divisions 2, 3 and 4 are promoted, while the bottom two teams in Divisions 1, 2 and 3 are relegated.^[1]

Eight teams contest the NFL quarter-finals:

The top 5 teams in Division 1
The first-placed teams in Divisions 2, 3 and 4

Promotion and Relegation

At the point at which the league was played, promotion and relegation was to be as follows:

Division One: bottom 2 teams demoted to Division Two
Division Two: top 2 teams promoted to Division One. Bottom 2 teams demoted to Division Three.
Division Three: top 2 teams promoted to Division Two. Bottom 2 teams demoted to Division Four.
Division Four: top 2 teams promoted to Division Three.

After the season had finished, it was decided to move to a 'mixed-ability' league for a one-season experiment in the 1997–98 NFL season, which meant that there was no relegation or promotion in 1996-97.^[2]

Results and tables

Division 1

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Kildare	7	5	0	2	10	Advance to Knockout stage
Kerry	7	5	0	2	10
Derry	7	4	1	2	9
Cork	7	3	2	2	8
Tyrone	7	2	1	4	5
Meath	7	2	1	4	5
Cavan	7	2	1	4	5
Donegal	7	1	2	4	4

Tyrone defeated Meath in a playoff.

Division 2

Play-Off

31 March 1997 For 6th Place	Mayo	0-7 — 0-4	Clare	Tuam ^[3]

Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Laois	7	5	0	2	10	Advance to Knockout stage
Louth	7	5	0	2	10
Dublin	7	3	2	2	8
Leitrim	7	3	1	3	7
Armagh	7	2	3	2	7
Mayo	7	2	2	3	6
Clare	7	3	0	4	6
Monaghan	7	1	0	6	2

Laois defeated Louth in a playoff.

Division 3

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Down	7	5	2	0	12	Advance to knockout stage
Roscommon	7	5	1	1	11
Wicklow	7	5	0	2	10
Westmeath	7	4	0	3	8
Galway	7	3	1	3	7
Antrim	7	2	0	5	4
Longford	7	1	1	5	3
Sligo	7	0	1	6	1

Division 4

Offaly won, with Fermanagh finishing second.

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals

Laois v Derry

7 April 1997

Laois	4-10 – 1-13	Derry
Hugh Emerson 3 goals

Kerry v Down

6 April 1997

Kerry	1-18 – 0-10	Down

Dublin

Kildare v Offaly

7 April 1997
3:15 p.m.

Kildare	0-9 – 0-8	Offaly

Navan

Cork v Tyrone

7 April 1997

Cork	2-8 – 0-9	Tyrone

Semi-finals

Kerry v Laois

20 April 1997

Kerry	2-13 – 1-10	Laois

Croke Park, Dublin

Cork v Kildare

21 April 1997

Cork	2-10 – 1-9	Kildare

Croke Park, Dublin

Final

Kerry v Cork

4 May 1997

Kerry	3-7 – 1-8	Cork

Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork
Attendance: 28,795 ^[4]
Referee: Pat Casserly (Westmeath)^[5]

References

↑ Gaelic Games website
↑ O'Riordan, Tom, "New format turns league on its head", Irish Independent, 27 August 1997, p. 21
↑ http://mayogaablog.com/?page_id=490
↑ "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

External links

Kerry – 1997 National Football League Champions (16th title)

1 D. O'Keeffe 2 K. Burns 3 Barry O'Shea 4 M. Hassett 5 S. Moynihan 6 L. O'Flaherty 7 E. Breen 8 D. Ó Sé 9 W. Kirby 10 P. Laide 11 L. Hassett 12 D. O'Dwyer 13 D. Ó Cinnéide 14 B. Clarke 15 M. Fitzgerald Subs M. F. Russell Manager P. Ó Sé Selectors J. O'Connor

National Football Leagues

Seasons	1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Finals Records and statistics Winning players

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