1985–86 National Football League (Ireland)

1985–86 National Football League
League details
Dates	October 1985 – 4 May 1986
League champions
Winners	Laois (2nd win)
Captain	Colm Browne
Manager	Kieran Brennan
League runners-up
Runners-up	Monaghan
Captain	Eugene Sherry
← 1984–85 1986–87 →

Match programme from the semi-finals, 20 April 1986.

The 1985–86 National Football League, known for sponsorship reasons as the Ford National Football League, was the 55th staging of the National Football League (NFL), an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.

Laois won their second title to bridge a sixty-year gap.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Format

1985-86 saw a change in format of the National League. Divisions Three and Four were amalgamated into a new Division Three, which was split by region.^[4]

Divisions

Division One: 8 teams
Division Two: 8 teams
Division Three: 16 teams. Split into two regional groups of 8 (North and South)

Round-Robin Format

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

Points awarded

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

Titles

Teams in all three divisions competed for the National Football League title.

Knockout stage qualifiers

Division One: top 4 teams
Division Two: top 2 teams
Division Three (North): group winners
Division Three (South): group winners

Knockout phase structure

In the Quarter-Finals, the match-ups were as follows:

Quarter-final 1: First-placed team in Division One v First-placed team in Division Three (South)
Quarter-final 2: Second-placed team in Division One v First-placed team in Division Three (North)
Quarter-final 3: Third-placed team in Division One v Second-placed team in Division Two
Quarter-final 4: Fourth-placed team in Division One v First-placed team in Division Two

The semi-final match-ups are:

Semi-final 1: Winner Quarter-final 1 v Winner Quarter-final 4
Semi-final 2: Winner Quarter-final 2 v Winner Quarter-final 3

The final match-up is: Winner Semi-final 1 v Winner Semi-final 2.

Promotion and Relegation

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 (North): group winners promoted to Division Two.
Division Three (South): group winners promoted to Division Two.

Separation of teams on equal points

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.

League Tables

Division One

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Down	7	6	1	0	13	Advance to quarter-finals
Monaghan	7	5	1	1	11
Meath	7	4	1	2	9
Armagh	7	2	3	2	7
Kerry	7	3	0	4	6
Roscommon	7	2	1	4	5
Kildare	7	1	1	5	3	Relegated to Division Two of the 1986–87 NFL
Tyrone	7	1	0	6	2	Relegated to Division Two of the 1986–87 NFL

Division Two

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Mayo	7	5	1	1	11	Advance to quarter-finals; promoted to Division One of the 1986–87 NFL
Dublin	7	5	0	2	10
Donegal	7	4	1	2	9
Cork	7	4	1	2	9
Cavan	7	3	1	3	7
Longford	7	3	0	4	6
Galway	7	2	0	3	4	Relegated to Division Three of the 1986–87 NFL
Wexford	7	0	0	7	0	Relegated to Division Three of the 1986–87 NFL

Division Three

Division Three (North) Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Derry	7	6	0	1	12	Advance to quarter-finals; promoted to Division Two of the 1986–87 NFL
Louth	7	5	0	2	10
Offaly	7	5	0	2	10
Antrim	7	4	1	2	9
Sligo	7	4	0	3	8
Leitrim	7	1	1	5	3
Fermanagh	7	2	0	5	4
Westmeath	7	0	0	7	0

Division Three (South) Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Laois	7	6	1	0	13	Advance to quarter-finals; promoted to Division Two of the 1986–87 NFL
Carlow	7	3	4	0	10
Wicklow	7	3	2	2	8
Limerick	7	4	0	3	8
Clare	7	3	1	3	7
Tipperary	7	3	1	3	7
Waterford	7	1	0	6	2
Kilkenny	7	0	1	6	1

^[5]

Knockout Stages

Quarter-finals

Mayo v Armagh

30 March 1986
Quarter-Final

Mayo	0-15 – 1-7	Armagh

Croke Park, Dublin^[6]
Referee: Seamus Aldridge (Kildare)

Dublin v Meath

30 March 1986
Quarter-Final

Dublin	2-8 – 1-10	Meath

Croke Park, Dublin^[7]
Referee: J Gough (Antrim)

Laois v Down

6 April 1986
Quarter-Final

Laois	1-15 – 0-15	Down

Croke Park, Dublin^[8]
Attendance: 10,267
Referee: Paddy Lane (Limerick)

Monaghan v Derry

6 April 1986
Quarter-Final

Monaghan	2-9 – 1-6	Derry

Croke Park, Dublin^[9]
Attendance: 10,267
Referee: S Prior (Leitrim)

Semi-finals

Laois v Dublin

20 April 1986
Semi-Final

Laois	0-12 – 1-7	Dublin

Croke Park, Dublin^[10]

Monaghan v Mayo

20 April 1986
Semi-Final

Monaghan	0-10 – 1-6	Mayo

Croke Park, Dublin

Final

Laois v Monaghan

4 May 1986
Final

Laois	2-6 – 2-5	Monaghan
Liam Irwin 0-6, Willie Brennan 1-0, Eamonn Whelan 1-0^[11]

Croke Park, Dublin
Attendance: 29,406^[12]
Referee: Pat Lane (Limerick)^[13]

References

↑ GAA Final Teams
↑ Laois G.A.A. History 1947 - 1999
↑ GAA Archive 1986
↑ "Football League's new Div 3, North and South", Sunday Independent,25 August 1985, p.24
↑ "Your GAA Scoreboard", Irish Independent 03/03/1986, p. 11
↑ "Mayo soon sort out enigmatic Armagh!". Irish Independent, 31/03/1986, p. 9
↑ "Meath fail to break brave Dublin resolve". Irish Independent, 31/03/1986, p. 9
↑ "Laois in on merit!". Irish Independent, 07/04/1986, p. 10
↑ "Monaghan unimpressive, but...". Irish Independent, 07/04/1986, p. 10
↑ "Talented Laois shock hotly-fancied Dublin". Irish Independent, 21/04/1986, p. 12
↑ "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrisson, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151
↑ "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrisson, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151
↑ "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrisson, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151

External links

1986 NFL Final Highlights - Laois v Monaghan on YouTube

Laois – 1986 National Football League Champions (2nd title)

1 M. Conroy 2 P. Dunne 3 M. Dempsey 4 E. Kelly 5 M. Aherne 6 P. Brophy 7 C. Browne (capt) 8 J. Costello 9 L. Irwin 10 G. Browne 11 W. Brennan 12 T. Prendergast 13 M. Dempsey 14 E. Whelan 15 C. Maguire Subs N. Prendergast B. Nerney G. Lawlor Manager K. Brennan

National Football Leagues

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Finals Records and statistics Winning players

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