1981–82 National Football League (Ireland)

The 1981–82 National Football League was the 51st staging of the National Football League (NFL), an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.

1981–82 National Football League

League details
Dates	October 1981 – 24 May 1982
League champions
Winners	Kerry (14th win)
Captain	Jimmy Deenihan
Manager	Mick O'Dwyer
League runners-up
Runners-up	Cork
Captain	Dinny Allen
← 1980–81 1982–83 →

Kerry defeated Cork in the final after a replay.^[1][2]

Format

Titles

Teams in all four divisions competed for one league title.

Divisions

• Division One: 8 teams
• Division Two: 8 teams
• Division Three: 8 teams
• Division Four: 8 teams

Round-robin format

Each team played every other team in its division once, either home or away.

Points awarded

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

Knockout stage qualifiers

• Division One: top 4 teams^[3]
• Division Two: top 2 teams
• Division Three: top team
• Division Four: top team

Knockout phase structure

In the Preliminary quarter-finals, the match-ups were as follows

• Preliminary Quarter-final 1: Fourth-placed team in Division One v First-placed team in Division Four
• Preliminary Quarter-final 2: Second-placed team in Division Two v First-placed team in Division Three

In the quarter-finals, the match-ups were as follows

• Quarter-final 1: Winner Preliminary Quarter-final 1 v First-placed team in Division Two
• Quarter-final 2: Winner Preliminary Quarter-final 2 v Third-placed team in Division One

The semi-final match-ups are:

• Semi-final 1: First-placed team in Division One v Winner Quarter-final 1
• Semi-final 2: Second-placed team in Division One v Winner Quarter-final 2

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.

Group stage

Division One

Regulation games

Cork v Mayo

18 October 1981

Cork

2-9 — 0-9

Mayo

Pairc Ui Chaoimh, Cork

Offaly v Dublin

18 October 1981

Offaly

1-11 — 0-12

Dublin

Croke Park[4]

Roscommon v Kerry

22 November 1981	Roscommon	0-9 — 0-6	Kerry	Dr Hyde Park, Roscommon[5]
				Attendance: 1,500 Referee: P.J. McGrath, Mayo

Play-offs

Cork v Kerry

7 March 1982 For 3rd Place

Cork

2-9 — 1-5

Kerry

Killarney[6][3]

Cork v Offaly

14 March 1982 For 2nd Place

Cork

1-11 — 0-8

Offaly

Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork[7]

Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Notes
Armagh	7	4	2	1	10	Qualified for Knockout Stages
Cork	7	4	0	3	8
Offaly	7	4	0	3	8
Kerry	7	4	0	3	8
Dublin	7	3	1	3	7
Mayo	7	3	1	3	7
Galway	7	2	1	4	5	Relegated to Division Two of the 1982–83 NFL
Roscommon	7	1	1	5	3

^[8]

Division Two

Play-offs

Down v Meath

7 March 1982 For 2nd Place

Down

0-11 — 0-8

Meath

Dundalk[9]

Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Derry	7	5	1	1	11	Qualified for Knockout Stage; Promoted to Division One of the 1982–83 NFL
Down	7	4	2	1	10
Meath	7	4	2	1	10
Tyrone	7	2	3	2	7
Kildare	7	2	2	3	6
Cavan	7	3	0	4	6
Fermanagh	7	1	1	5	3	Relegated to Division Three of the 1982–83 NFL
Monaghan	7	1	1	5	3

^[8]

Division Three

Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Wicklow	7	6	0	1	12	Qualified for Knockout Stage; Promoted to Division Two of the 1982–83 NFL
Antrim	7	5	1	1	11	Promoted to Division Two of the 1982–83 NFL
Laois	7	3	1	3	7
Wexford	7	3	1	3	7
Donegal	7	3	0	4	6
Louth	7	3	0	4	6
Tipperary	7	2	1	5	5	Relegated to Division Four of the 1982–83 NFL
Westmeath	7	1	0	6	2

^[8]

Division Four

Longford v Sligo

7 March 1982 For 2nd Place

Longford

1-8 — 0-9

Sligo

Carrick-on-Shannon[9]

Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Clare	7	7	0	0	14	Qualified for Knockout Stage; Promoted to Division Three of the 1982–83 NFL
Longford	7	5	0	2	10	Promoted to Division Three of the 1982–83 NFL
Sligo	7	5	0	2	10
Waterford	7	3	0	4	6
Carlow	7	2	2	3	6
Limerick	7	2	1	4	5
Leitrim	7	1	1	5	3
Kilkenny	7	1	0	6	2

^[8]

Knockout stages

Preliminary quarter-finals

Kerry	4-6 – 1-3	Clare

14 March 1982

Ennis

---

Down	3-8 – 0-9	Wicklow

14 March 1982

Croke Park, Dublin^[10]

Attendance: 2,553

Quarter-finals

Kerry	1-11 – 0-5	Derry

21 March 1982

Croke Park, Dublin^[11]

---

Offaly	1-9 – 0-12	Down

21 March 1982

Croke Park, Dublin^[11]

---

Offaly	3-8 – 1-10	Down

4 April 1982
Replay

Croke Park, Dublin^[12]

---

Semi-finals

Kerry	3-14 – 1-5	Armagh

11 April 1982

Croke Park, Dublin^[13]

---

Cork	1-15 – 1-10	Offaly

11 April 1982

Croke Park, Dublin^[13]

Final

Kerry	0-11 – 0-11	Cork

25 April 1982
Final

Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney

Attendance: 30,000^[14]

Referee: Seamus Aldridge (Kildare)^[14]

---

Kerry	1-9 – 0-8	Cork

24 May 1982
Final Replay

Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork

Attendance: 25,000^[14]

Referee: Seamus Aldridge (Kildare)^[14]

References

1. "Final Teams". gaa.ie. Archived from the original on 16 July 2015.
2. "Terrace Talk :: Kerry Football :: :: 1982 League :: Final :: Kerry Vs Cork". www.terracetalk.com.
3. "League play-offs cause confusion", Cork Examiner, 10 March 1982, p. 15
4. "Results at a glance", Irish Press, 19 October 1981, p. 14
5. "Kerry suffer first defeat", Cork Examiner, 23 November 1981, p. 14
6. "Terrace Talk :: Kerry Football :: 1982 League". www.terracetalk.com.
7. "Confident Cork hold whiphand", Irish Independent, 15 March 1982, p. 11
8. "GAA Results in Brief", Irish Independent, 01/03/1982, p. 9
9. "GAA Results", Irish Independent, 8 March 1982, p. 11
10. "Handy for Down as Wicklows defence concedes chances".
11. "GAA Results", Irish Press, 22 March 1982, p. 13
12. "Goalkeeping error costs Down dearly", Cork Examiner, 5 April 1982, p. 16
13. "GAA Results", Irish Press, 12 April 1982, p. 13
14. "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151

External links

• Cork v Kerry 1982 NFL Final on YouTube
• Cork v Kerry 1982 NFL Final Replay on YouTube