1998–99 National Football League (Ireland)

The 1998–99 National Football League, known for sponsorship reasons as the Church & General National Football League, was the 68th staging of the National Football League (NFL), an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.

1998–99 National Football League
League details
Dates1 November 1998 – 9 May 1999
Teams33
League champions
WinnersCork (5th win)
CaptainPhilip Clifford
ManagerLarry Tompkins
League runners-up
Runners-upDublin
CaptainDessie Farrell
ManagerTommy Carr
Other division winners
Division 2AKerry
Division 2BSligo

Cork beat Dublin in the final.[1][2][3] The tournament introduced yellow and red cards to Gaelic football for the first time. It also had an experimental rule forbidding goalkeepers from handpassing the ball — this latter rule was not continued.[4]

Format

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The top 16 teams are drawn into sections 1A and 1B. The other 17 teams are drawn into sections 2A and 2B. Each team plays all the other teams in its section once: either home or away. Teams earn 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw.

Titles

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Teams in both divisions competed for the National Football League title.

Knockout stage qualifiers

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Eight teams qualify for the NFL quarter-finals:

  • The top three teams in each of sections 1A and 1B
  • The first-placed teams in each of sections 2A and 2B[5]

Promotion and relegation

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  • Division One (A): bottom 2 teams demoted to Division Two
  • Division One (B): bottom 2 teams demoted to Division Two
  • Division Two (A): top 2 teams promoted to Division One.
  • Division Two (B): top 2 teams promoted to Division One.

Group stage

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Division One

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Final standings

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Group A
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Team Pld W D L F A Aver Pts Notes
Armagh 7 5 1 1 11-68 6-67 1.188 11 Advance to Knockout stage
Cork 7 4 1 2 7-65 4-64 1.132 9
Dublin 7 3 2 2 4-90 4-69 1.259 8
Tyrone 7 3 2 2 3-67 4-60 1.056 8
Galway 7 3 1 3 8-78 5-76 1.121 7
Donegal 7 3 0 4 4-70 3-64 1.123 6
Offaly 7 2 2 3 5-59 5-62 0.961 6 Relegated to Division Two of the 1999–2000 NFL
Leitrim 7 0 1 6 6-47 17-82 0.489 1
Group B
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Team Pld W D L F A Aver Pts Notes
Meath 7 4 1 2 8-56 1-41 1.818 9 Advance to Knockout stage
Kildare 7 4 1 2 3-61 2-58 1.094 9
Derry 7 3 2 2 4-62 3-51 1.233 8
Mayo 7 3 2 2 8-58 9-46 1.123 8
Clare 7 3 1 3 6-51 2-55 1.131 7
Down 7 3 1 3 5-55 6-67 0.824 7
Monaghan 7 3 1 3 1-57 6-63 0.741 7 Relegated to Division Two of the 1999–2000 NFL
Laois 7 0 1 6 2-48 6-67 0.593 1

[6]

Division two

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Final standings

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Group A
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Team Pld W D L F A Aver Pts Notes
Kerry 8 7 0 1 10-97 3-54 2.016 14 Advance to Knockout stage; Promoted to Division One of the 1999–2000 NFL
Roscommon 8 7 0 1 12-85 2-58 1.891 14 Promoted to Division One of the 1999–2000 NFL
Westmeath 8 6 0 2 15-89 5-64 1.696 12
Wicklow 8 6 0 2 7-84 2-64 1.500 12
Louth 8 4 0 4 7-82 6-56 1.392 8
Antrim 8 2 0 6 7-79 9-86 0.885 4
Limerick 8 2 0 6 6-60 10-83 0.690 4
London 8 2 0 6 2-64 10-79 0.642 4
Kilkenny 8 0 0 8 2-24 21-120 0.164 0
Group B
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Team Pld W D L F A Aver Pts Notes
Sligo 7 5 1 1 7-71 4-55 1.373 11 Advance to Knockout stage; Promoted to Division One of the 1999–2000 NFL
Fermanagh 7 4 2 1 7-71 2-62 1.353 10 Promoted to Division One of the 1999–2000 NFL
Carlow 7 5 0 2 7-67 7-59 1.100 10
Wexford 7 4 0 3 8-72 5-68 1.157 8
Cavan 7 4 0 3 7-77 9-70 1.010 8
Longford 7 3 0 4 8-71 9-80 0.888 6
Tipperary 7 1 1 5 7-62 6-68 0.965 3
Waterford 7 0 0 7 4-51 13-80 0.529 0

Knockout stage

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Quarter-finals

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Armagh0-6 – 0-5Sligo

Meath0-14 – 0-10Kerry

Cork3-14 – 1-6Derry

Dublin1-17 – 2-8Kildare

Semi-finals

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Cork0-6 – 0-3Meath

Dublin0-11 – 0-11Armagh

Dublin1-14 – 0-12Armagh

Finals

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Cork0-12 – 1-7Dublin
Attendance: 10,000[7]
Referee: Brian White (Wexford)[7]

References

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  1. ^ GAA Final Teams Archived 2015-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "GAA Archive 1999". Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  3. ^ "National Football League Final 9/5/1999 | Inpho Photography". inpho.ie.
  4. ^ "GAA's previous experimental rules". independent.
  5. ^ "1998/99 CHURCH AND GENERAL NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE". homepage.eircom.net.
  6. ^ "1998/9 National Football League Tables". homepage.eircom.net.
  7. ^ a b "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151