1996–97 National Football League (Ireland)

Irish football league

1996–97 National Football LeagueLeague 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| Louth
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

[edit]

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

### Promotion and relegation

[edit]

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

[edit]

### Division 1

[edit]

Team  | Pld  | W  | D  | L  | Pts  | Status

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|
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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

### Division 2

[edit]

#### Play-Off

[edit]

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

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#### Division 2

[edit]

Team  | Pld  | W  | D  | L  | Pts  | Status

|
|
|
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|
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Louth | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | Advance to Knockout stage
Laois | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | Laois advanced to Knock out stage as Division 2 Runner Up
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

### Division 3

[edit]

Team  | Pld  | W  | D  | L  | Pts  | Status

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|
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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

[edit]

Offaly won, with Fermanagh finishing second.

## Knockout stage

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### Quarter-finals

[edit]

6 April 1997

Laois| 4-10 - 1-13| Derry

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Hugh Emerson 3 goals |  |

* * *

6 April 1997

Kerry| 1-18 - 0-10| Down

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|

|  |

Dublin

* * *

7 April 1997

3:15 p.m.

Kildare| 0-9 - 0-8| Offaly

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|

|  |

Navan

* * *

6 April 1997[4]

Cork| 1-12 - 0-11| Louth

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Corkery (1-7, 1pen, 4f), Corcoran (0-2), Dorgan (0-1), C. O'Sullivan (0-1), O. O'Sullivan (0-1) |  | Butterly (0-4), White (0-2, 1f), Curran (0-2), S. O'Hanlon (0-1), Kelly (0-1), Donaldson (0-1)

O'Moore Park Portlaoise

Referee: S. Prior (Leitrim)

|  |

|

GK | 1 | Kevin O'Dwyer
RCB | 2 | Ronan McCarthy
FB | 3 | Mark O'Connor
LCB | 4 | Owen Sexton
RHB | 5 | Ciarán O'Sullivan
CHB | 6 | Niall Cahalane (c)
LHB | 7 | Martin Cronin
MF | 8 | Damien O'Neill
MF | 9 | Liam Honohan
RHF | 10 | Michael O'Donovan
CHF | 11 | Steven O'Brien
LHF | 12 | Brian Corcoran
RCF | 13 | Ollie O'Sullivan
FF | 14 | Colin Corkery
LCF | 15 | Aidan Dorgan
Substitutes:
| 16 | Seán Óg Ó hAilpín for Honohan
| 17 | John Buckley for O. O'Sullivan
| 18 | Mark Farr for O'Connor
|  |

|

GK | 1 | Niall O'Donnell (Clan na Gael)
RCB | 2 | Nicky Malone (Lann Léire)
FB | 3 | Gareth O'Neill (Cooley Kickhams)
LCB | 4 | Ray Rooney (Dundalk Gaels)
RHB | 5 | Gerry Curran (Clan na Gael)
CHB | 6 | John Donaldson (Stabannon Parnells)
LHB | 7 | Stephen Melia (O'Dwyers, Dublin)
MF | 8 | Séamus O'Hanlon (Clan na Gael) (c)
MF | 9 | Ken Reilly (Stabannon Parnells)
RHF | 10 | Alan Rooney (St Mary's)
CHF | 11 | David Reilly (Stabannon Parnells)
LHF | 12 | Colin Kelly (Newtown Blues)
RCF | 13 | Stefan White (Clan na Gael)
FF | 14 | Cathal O'Hanlon (Clan na Gael)
LCF | 15 | Pat Butterly (Stabannon Parnells)
Substitutes:
| 16 | Ollie McDonnell (St Joseph's) for A. Rooney
| 17 | Brendan Kerin (St Mary's) for D. Reilly
| 18 | Alan Doherty (St Mary's) for Butterly

### Semi-finals

[edit]

20 April 1997

Kerry| 2-13 - 1-10| Laois

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|  |

Croke Park, Dublin

* * *

21 April 1997

Cork| 2-10 - 1-9| Kildare

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Croke Park, Dublin

### Final

[edit]

4 May 1997

Kerry| 3-7 - 1-8| Cork

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Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork

Attendance: 28,795 [5]

Referee: Pat Casserly (Westmeath)[5]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "1996-7 Football League play-offs & Final". homepage.eircom.net.
2. ^ O'Riordan, Tom, "New format turns league on its head", Irish Independent, 27 August 1997, p. 21
3. ^ "1997".
4. ^ "Corkery pulls right strings". Irish Times. 7 April 1997.
5. ^ a b "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151

## External links

[edit]

* Kerry v Cavan 1997 All-Ireland SFC Semi-Final on YouTube
* Kerry v Cork 1997 NFL Final on YouTube

* v
* t
* e

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

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