The 1971–72 National Football League was the 41st staging of the National Football League (NFL), an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.
Kerry successfully defended the Mayo title in the final for the second consecutive season.GAA Final TeamsMayo GAA Blog
Format Divisions Division One: 16 teams. Split into two groups of 8. Division Two: 16 teams. Split into two groups of 8.
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 Division One competed for the National Football League title. Teams in Division Two competed for the National Football League Division Two title.
Knockout stage structure In the Semi-Finals, the match-ups were as follows: Quarter-final 1: First-placed team in Division One (A) v Second-placed team in Division One (B) Quarter-final 2: Second-placed team in Division One (A) v First-placed team in Division One (B)
The final match-up is: Winner Semi-final 1 v Winner Semi-final 2.
Separation of teams on equal points
In the event that teams finish on equal points, then teams were separated according to points average(goals scored divided by goals conceded)."Monaghan pipped", Irish Independent, 28/02/1972, p. 13
Division One Tables
Group A TeamPldWDLFAAverPtsNotes Offaly7 7 0 0 116 65 1.785 14 Qualify for Knockout Stage Kerry7 5 0 2 114 80 1.425 10 Dublin7 3 2 2 82 73 1.123 8 Cork7 3 1 3 73 74 0.986 7 Galway7 2 2 3 91 80 1.138 6 Kildare7 2 1 4 85 107 0.794 5 Waterford7 1 2 4 51 95 0.537 4 Relegated to Division Two of the 1972–73 NFL Tipperary7 1 0 6 59 97 0.608 2
Group B TeamPldWDLFAAverPtsNotes Derry7 7 0 0 108 53 2.038 14 Qualify for Knockout Stage Mayo7 5 0 2 87 83 1.048 10 Sligo7 4 0 3 75 79 0.949 8 Laois7 3 1 3 78 83 0.940 7 Meath7 3 0 4 80 83 0.964 6 Fermanagh7 2 1 4 88 96 0.917 5 Antrim7 2 0 5 74 93 0.796 4 Relegated to Division Two of the 1972–73 NFL Down7 1 0 6 71 91 0.780 2
Division two Tables Group A TeamPldWDLFAAverPtsNotes Longford7 7 0 0 106 58 1.828 14 Qualify for Knockout Stage; promoted to Division One of the 1972–73 NFL Roscommon7 6 0 1 123 52 2.365 12 Carlow7 4 0 3 99 84 1.179 8 Clare7 3 1 3 70 81 0.864 7 Limerick7 3 0 4 84 96 0.875 6 Wexford7 2 1 4 83 93 0.892 5 Wicklow7 1 0 6 65 104 0.625 2 Kilkenny7 1 0 6 68 130 0.523 2
Group B Table TeamPldWDLFAAverPtsNotes Cavan7 6 0 1 97 47 2.064 12 Qualify for Knockout Stage; promoted to Division One of the 1972–73 NFL Westmeath7 5 0 2 109 81 1.346 10 Monaghan7 4 2 1 76 60 1.267 10 Tyrone7 4 0 3 60 61 0.984 8 Louth7 3 1 3 76 75 1.013 7 Armagh7 2 0 5 72 89 0.809 4 Donegal7 1 1 5 64 99 0.646 3 Leitrim7 1 0 6 73 115 0.635 2
Knockout stage Division One
Division two
References