2016 National Football League (Ireland)


The 2016 National Football League, known for sponsorship reasons as the Allianz National Football League, was the 85th staging of the National Football League, an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams. Thirty-one Gaelic football county teams from the island of Ireland, plus London, competed. Kilkenny did not participate.
Setanta and TG4 provided live coverage of the league on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons respectively. RTÉ Two broadcast a highlights programme, League Sunday, on Sunday evenings.
Dublin won their 12th title in total and their 4th in a row, defeating Kerry in the final on a score of 2-18 to 0-13.

Format

League structure

The 2016 National Football League consisted of four divisions of eight teams. Each team played every other team in its division once, usually four home and three away or three home and four away. Two points were awarded for a win and 1 for a draw.

Tie-breaker

If only two teams were level on league points:
If three or more teams were level on points, score difference was used to rank the teams.

Finals, promotions and relegations

Division 1
The top four teams in Division 1 contest the National Football League semi-finals with the winners progressing to the final. The bottom 2 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

Table


1Donegal, Mayo, Monaghan and Cork are ranked by scoring difference.

Rounds 1 to 7

Division 1 Semi-Finals

Division 1 Final

Division 2

Table


1Fermanagh, Meath, Derry and Armagh are ranked by scoring difference.

Rounds 1 to 7

Division 2 Final

Division 3

Table


1Clare, Offaly and Longford are ranked by scoring difference.
2Sligo are ranked ahead of Tipperary by scoring difference as the head-to-head between the teams was a draw.

Rounds 1 to 7

Division 3 Final

Division 4

Table


1Carlow are ranked ahead of Wicklow because they won the head-to-head between the teams by 0-17 to 0-14.
2Waterford are ranked ahead of Leitrim because they won the head-to-head between the teams by 0-17 to 1-13.

Rounds 1 to 7

Division 4 Final

Statistics

;Overall
RankPlayerCountyTallyTotalMatchesAverage
1Conor McManus Monaghan2-434977.0
2Donal Shanley Wexford0-444476.3
3David Tubridy Clare1-404385.4
3Dean Rock Dublin1-404394.8
3Ciaran Murtagh Roscommon4-314385.4
6Tomas Corrigan Fermanagh1-384175.9
7Niall Murphy Sligo0-404075.7
7Tomas McCann Antrim2-344085.0
7Mickey Newman Meath4-284075.7
10Stefan Campbell Armagh2-323866.3
11Michael Murphy Donegal1-333684.5
11Patrick McBrearty Donegal1-333684.5
13John Heslin Westmeath1-313474.9
13Eoin Cleary Clare2-283484.3
15Ian Ryan Limerick0-333374.7
16Ronan O'Neill Tyrone2-253183.9

;Single game
RankPlayerCountyTallyTotalOpposition
1Tomas Corrigan Fermanagh1-1114 Laois
2Conor McManus Monaghan0-1212 Dublin
2Stefan Campbell Armagh1-0912 Galway
4Tomas McCann Antrim1-0811 Leitrim
4Colm O'Neill Cork1-0811 Monaghan
4Dean Rock Dublin1-0811 Roscommon
4Conor McManus Monaghan1-0811 Mayo
4Patrick Hurney Waterford2-0511 Carlow
4Ben Brosnan Wexford2-0511 Wicklow
10Darragh Foley Carlow0-1010 Wicklow
10Niall Murphy Sligo0-1010 Kildare
10Mickey Newman Meath1-0710 Tyrone