The 2018 National Football League, known for sponsorship reasons as the Allianz National Football League, was the 87th 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, plus London, compete. Kilkenny do not participate.
The first six rounds in all four divisions were scheduled to have been played before 24 March 2018, allowing the final round seven matches to be played on that date. Due to poor winter weather, some fixtures in Division 2 (round 6) and Division 4 (rounds 5 and 6) had not been played by that date. The GAA decided to proceed with the final round seven matches in the four divisions before the completion of the earlier rounds. This decision proved controversial - for instance, in the rescheduled Division 2 match between Louth and Meath which was played on 31 March 2018, Meath needed to win to avoid relegation while Louth had nothing to play for as they were already relegated irrespective of the result. Meath beat Louth by 1-12 to 0-07, thereby ensuring that Down were relegated.
Eir Sport and TG4 provide live TV coverage of the league on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons respectively. The highlights programmes are RTÉ2's League Sunday on Sunday evenings and TG4's GAA 2018 on Monday evenings.
The league concluded on 1 April 2018 with Dublin defeating Galway in the division 1 final. It was their fifth Division 1 title in six years.
Format
League structure The 2018 National Football League consists of four divisions of eight teams. Each team plays every other team in its division once, usually four home and three away or three home and four away. Two points are awarded for a win and one point for a draw.
Teams by Province and Division Province Division 1 Division 2 Division 3 Division 4 Total Connacht 2 1 1 1 5 Leinster 2 2 4 3 11 Munster 1 3 0 2 6 Ulster 3 2 3 1 9 Britain 0 0 0 1 1 Total 8 8 8 8 32
Tie-breaker If only two teams are level on league points - The team that won the head-to-head match is ranked first If this game was a draw, score difference (total scored minus total conceded in all games) is used to rank the teams If score difference is identical, total scored is used to rank the teams If still identical, a play-off is required If three or more teams are level on league points, score difference is used to rank the teams.
Finals, promotions and relegations
Division 1 The top two teams in Division 1 contest the National Football League final. The bottom two 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.
Division 1
Division 1 table
Division 1 Rounds 1 to 7
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Division 1 Final
Division 2
Division 2 table
Division 2 Rounds 1 to 7
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Division 2 Final
Division 3
Division 3 table
Division 3 Rounds 1 to 7
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Division 3 Final
Division 4
Division 4 table
Three games (Laois v Antrim, Waterford v Leitrim and Wicklow v Limerick) were postponed due to poor weather. The CCCC decided to cancel them as the results were irrelevant to determining the league finalists. Several managers and the Gaelic Players Association criticised the decision as undermining the integrity of the division, arguing that Division 1 games would not be cancelled in the same fashion.
Division 4 Rounds 1 to 7
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Division 4 Final
League statistics All scores correct as of 3 April 2018
Top scorer: Overall Rank Player CountyTally Total Matches Average 1Gary Walsh Laois4-41 53 6 8.8 2Paul Broderick Carlow2-46 52 8 6.5 3Seamus Quigley Fermanagh4-37 49 7 7 4Conor Sweeney Tipperary3-31 40 6 6.7 5John Heslin Westmeath1-36 39 6 6.5 6Keith Beirne Leitrim3-28 37 5 7.4 7Lee Brennan Tyrone2-30 36 7 5.1Diarmuid Murtagh Roscommon3-27 36 8 4.5 9Dean Rock Dublin1-32 35 8 4.4 10Patrick McBrearty Donegal0-34 34 5 6.8 11Nigel Dunne Offaly0-32 32 7 4.6Colm O'Neill Cork2-26 32 7 4.6 13Mark Collins Cork1-28 31 7 4.4Donie Smith Roscommon1-28 31 8 3.9Robbie Smyth Longford2-25 31 7 4.4 16Barry McHugh Galway1-27 30 5 6
Top Scorer: Single game Rank Player CountyTally Total Opposition 1Keith Beirne Leitrim 2-08 14 Limerick 2Jason Curry Waterford 1-09 12 London 3Gary Walsh Laois 0-11 11 LondonSeamus Quigley Fermanagh 1-08 11 DerryGary Walsh Laois 1-08 11 LeitrimLiam McGrath Tipperary 2-05 11 Cork 7Patrick McBrearty Donegal 0-10 10 KerryGary Walsh Laois 0-10 10 WaterfordPaul Broderick Carlow 1-07 10 WicklowLiam Gavaghan London 1-07 10 WicklowJohn Heslin Westmeath 1-07 10 DerryConor Sweeney Tipperary 2-04 10 Roscommon
Scoring events Widest winning margin: 14 Armagh 2-17 – 0-09 Sligo (Division 3) Meath 0-21 – 0-07 Clare (Division 2) Tipperary 2-17 – 0-09 Louth (Division 2) Most goals in a match: 8 Cavan 4-12 – 4-16 Roscommon (Division 2 final) Most points in a match: 35 Dublin 0-20 – 0-15 Donegal (Division 1) Most goals by one team in a match: 4 Cavan 4-12 – 4-16 Roscommon (Division 2 final) Meath 4-14 – 1-14 Down (Division 2) Highest aggregate score: 52 points Cavan 4-12 – 4-16 Roscommon (Division 2 final) Lowest aggregate score: 14 points Fermanagh 0-07 – 0-07 Armagh (Division 3)
References
External links Full Fixtures and Results