1968–69 National Football League (Ireland)

The 1968–69 National Football League was the 38th staging of the National Football League (NFL), an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.

1968–69 National Football League

League details
Dates	October 1968 – 29 June 1969
League champions
Winners	Kerry (8th win)
Captain	Johnny Culloty
League runners-up
Runners-up	New York
Captain	Mickey Moynihan
← 1967–68 1969–70 →

Kerry beat Offaly in the home final, and then New York in the two-legged final.^[1][2][3][4]

Format

Divisions

• Division One: 8 teams. Split into two groups of 4.
• Division Two: 8 teams. Split into two groups of 4.
• Division Three: 8 teams. Split into two groups of 4.
• Division Four: 8 teams. Split into two groups of 4.

The top 2 in each group progressed to the Division Semi-finals. The winners of the Division Finals played off in the NFL semi-finals.

Round-robin format

• Division Three (A): Played as a double round-robin.
• All other groups: Single Round-Robin. 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 four divisions competed for the National Football League title.

Promotion and relegation

None. All divisions had equal status.

Knockout-phase results and tables

Division One

Division One (A) regulation games

Down v Meath

16 February 1969 Round 2

Down

1-7 — 0-7

Meath

Navan

Down v Antrim

9 March 1969 Round 3

Down

1-7 — 0-6

Antrim

Newcastle

Division One (B) play-offs

Dublin v Westmeath

9 March 1969 For 1st Place

Dublin

0-7 — 0-3

Westmeath

Raheny[5]

Division One inter-group play-offs

Westmeath v Down

16 March 1969 Semi-final

Westmeath

0-13 — 1-8

Down

Carrickmacross[6]

Dublin v Meath

16 March 1969 Semi-final

Dublin

1-10 — 0-9

Meath

Drogheda[7]

Westmeath v Dublin

30 March 1969 Final

Westmeath

1-8 — 1-6

Dublin

Navan[8]

Division One (A) table Team Pld W D L Pts Status Down 3 2 1 0 5 Meath 3 2 1 1 4 Antrim 3 1 0 2 2 Louth 3 0 1 2 1

Division One (B) table Team Pld W D L Pts Status Dublin 3 2 0 1 4 Westmeath 3 2 0 1 4 Qualified for knockout phase Monaghan 3 1 1 1 3 Armagh 3 0 1 2 1

Division Two

Division Two (A) play-offs

Sligo v Donegal

2 March 1969 For 1st Place

Sligo

0-12 — 0-7

Donegal

Sligo[9]

Division Two inter-group play-offs

Donegal v Derry

9 March 1969 Semi-final

Donegal

2-10 — 1-7

Derry

Dungannon[10]

Cavan v Sligo

23 March 1969 Semi-final

Cavan

2-10 — 1-3

Sligo

Carrick-on-Shannon[11]

Donegal v Cavan

30 March 1969 Final

Donegal

0-10 — 1-6

Cavan

Dungannon[12]

Division Two (A) table Team Pld W D L Pts Status Sligo 3 2 0 1 4 Donegal 3 2 0 1 4 Qualified for knockout phase Leitrim 3 1 0 2 2 Fermanagh 3 1 0 2 2

Division Two (B) table Team Pld W D L Pts Status Derry 3 2 1 0 5 Cavan 3 1 1 1 3 Tyrone 3 1 0 2 2 Longford 3 1 0 2 2

Division Three

Division Three (A) regulation games

Clare v Mayo

9 March 1969 Round 5

Clare

1-7 — 0-4

Mayo

Kilrush[13]

Galway v Roscommon

9 March 1969 Round 5

Galway

1-5 — 0-7

Roscommon

Ballinasloe[14]

Mayo v Roscommon

23 March 1969 Round 6

Mayo

0-6 — 2-9

Roscommon

Crossmolina[15]

Clare v Galway

23 March 1969 Round 6

Clare

0-4 — 0-13

Galway

Milltown Malbay[16]

Division Three (A) play-offs

Mayo v Roscommon

30 March 1969 For 2nd Place

Mayo

2-7 — 0-8

Roscommon

Ballinasloe[17]

Division Three inter-group play-offs

Cork v Galway

30 March 1969 Semi-final

Cork

3-8 — 1-8

Galway

Gaelic Grounds, Limerick[18]

Kerry v Mayo

13 April 1969 Semi-final	Kerry	0-11 — 0-11	Mayo	Gaelic Grounds, Limerick[19]
				Attendance: 4,000

Kerry v Mayo

20 April 1969 Semi-final Replay

Kerry

2-9 — 1-5

Mayo

Galway[20]

Kerry v Cork

27 April 1969 Final

Kerry

2-5 — 0-9

Cork

Cork Athletic Grounds[21]

Division Three (A) table Team Pld W D L Pts Status Galway 6 5 0 1 10 Mayo 6 3 0 3 6 Roscommon 6 3 0 3 6 Clare 6 1 0 5 2

Division Three (B) table Team Pld W D L Pts Status Kerry 3 3 0 0 6 Qualified for knockout phase Cork 3 2 0 1 4 Tipperary 3 1 0 2 2 Limerick 3 0 0 3 0

Division Four

Division Four (B) play-offs

Kildare v Waterford

9 March 1969 For 1st Place

Kildare

6-11 — 0-3

Waterford

Newbridge[22]

Division Four inter-group play-offs

Offaly v Waterford

16 March 1969 Semi-final

Offaly

2-12 — 2-3

Waterford

Tullamore

Kildare v Laois

16 March 1969 Semi-final

Kildare

2-7 — 0-13

Laois

Tullamore

Kildare v Laois

23 March 1969 Semi-final Replay

Kildare

1-17 — 1-6

Laois

Carlow[23]

Offaly v Kildare

30 March 1969 Final

Offaly

1-8 — 1-8

Kildare

O'Moore Park, Portlaoise[24]

Offaly v Kildare

13 April 1969 Final replay

Offaly

0-8 — 1-2

Kildare

O'Moore Park, Portlaoise

Division Four (A) table Team Pld W D L Pts Status Offaly 3 2 1 0 5 Qualified for knockout phase Laois 3 1 1 1 3 Wicklow 3 1 0 2 2 Carlow 3 1 0 2 2

Division Four (B) table Team Pld W D L Pts Status Kildare 3 2 1 0 5 Waterford 3 2 1 0 5 Wexford 3 1 0 2 2 Kilkenny 3 0 0 3 0

Knockout-phase results

Semi-finals

Offaly	2-13 – 1-3	Donegal

20 April 1969

Croke Park, Dublin^[25]

---

Kerry	2-12 – 2-8	Westmeath

11 May 1969

Croke Park, Dublin^[26]

Finals

Kerry	3-11 – 0-8	Offaly
Mick O'Dwyer 2-2; Dom O'Donnell 1-0; Brendan Lynch 0-3; Mick O'Connell, DJ Crowley, Eamonn O'Donoghue 0-2 each

18 May 1969
Home Final

Croke Park, Dublin

Attendance: 35,936^[27]

Referee: Mick Loftus, Mayo^[28]

---

Kerry	0-12 – 0-12	New York
Mick O'Dwyer 0-6; Brendan Lynch 0-4; Eamonn O'Donoghue, Pat Moynihan 0-1 each

22 June 1969
Final, first leg

Gaelic Park, New York City

Attendance: 10,000^[29]

Referee: Paul Kelly (Dublin)^[30]

---

Kerry	2-21 – 2-12	New York
Mick O'Connell 0-9; Brendan Lynch 1-3; Mick O'Dwyer 0-5; Tom Prendergast 1-1; Eamonn O'Donoghue 0-2; DJ Crowley 0-1

29 June 1969
Final, second leg

Gaelic Park, New York City

Referee: Paul Kelly (Dublin)^[31]

Kerry win 39–30 on aggregate.

References

1. GAA Final Teams
2. GAA Archive 1969^{[permanent dead link‍]}
3. Terrace Talk 1969
4. "Kerry Defeats New York In Gaelic Football Finale" - NYT
5. "Dublin in fine form", Irish Press, 10/03/1969, p. 16
6. "GAA facts", Irish Press, 17/03/1969, p. 13
7. "GAA facts", Irish Press, 17/03/1969, p. 13
8. "Results at a glance", Irish Press, 31/03/1969, p. 12
9. "GAA in brief", Irish Press, 03/03/1969, p. 12
10. "Donegal dash Kerry's National League hopes", Irish Independent, 10/03/1969, p. 15
11. "Cavan oust Sligo: now meet Donegal", Irish Independent, 24/03/1969, p. 13
12. "Results at a glance", Irish Press, 31/03/1969, p. 12
13. "Chambers' goal made Clare safe", Irish Independent, 10/03/1969, p. 15
14. "Galway win with late Keenan point", Irish Independent, 10/03/1969, p. 15
15. "Roscommon reap decisive success from switches", Irish Independent, 24/03/1969, p. 12
16. "Galway had to fight", Irish Independent, 24/03/1969, p. 12
17. "GAA in brief", Irish Independent, 31/03/1969, p. 16
18. "GAA in brief", Irish Independent, 31/03/1969, p. 16
19. "Mick O'Connell saves Kerry with a late point", Cork Examiner, 14/04/1969, p. 10
20. "GAA Results at a glance", Irish Press, 21/04/1969, p. 13
21. "GAA facts at a glance", Irish Press, 28/04/1969, p. 15
22. "Easy for Kildare", Irish Independent, 10/03/1969, p. 15
23. "Kildare sparkle", Irish Independent, 24/03/1969, p. 12
24. "Kildare-Offaly tie ends level", Irish Independent, 31/03/1969, p. 16
25. "GAA Results at a glance", Irish Press, 21/04/1969, p. 13
26. "Kerry for league final", Irish Independent, 12/05/1969, p. 12
27. "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151
28. "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151
29. "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151
30. "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151
31. "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151