1974–75 National Football League (Ireland)

1974–75 National Football League
League details
Dates	October 1974 – 18 May 1975
League champions
Winners	Meath (4th win)
Captain	Ronan Giles
Manager	Micheál O'Brien
League runners-up
Runners-up	Dublin
Captain	Seán Doherty
Manager	Kevin Heffernan
	← 1973–74 1975–76 →

The 1974–75 National Football League was the 44th staging of the National Football League (NFL), an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.

Meath won a surprise victory over Dublin in the final.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Format

Divisions

Division One: 12 teams. Split into two groups of 6.
Division Two: 6 teams
Division Three: 14 teams. Split into two groups of 7.

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 all three divisions competed for the National Football League title.

Knockout stage qualifiers

Division One (A): top 2 teams
Division One (B): top 2 teams
Division Two: group winners
Division Three: Division winners. Determined by a play-off between the two group winners

Knockout phase structure

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

Quarter-final 1: Second-placed team in Division One (A) v First-placed team in Division Two
Quarter-final 2: Second-placed team in Division One (B) v First-placed team in Division Three

The semi-final match-ups are:

Semi-final 1: First Placed team in Division One (A) v Winner Quarter-final 1
Semi-final 2: First Placed team in Division One (B) v Winner Quarter-final 2

The final match-up is: Winner Semi-final 1 v Winner Semi-final 2.

Promotion and relegation

Division One: 1 relegation place. Bottom teams in Division One (A) and Division One (B) play-off
Division Two: group winners promoted to Division One. Bottom team demoted to Division Three.
Division Three: 1 promotion place. Group winners of Division Three (A) and Division Three (B) play-off

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).^[4]

Group stage

Division One

Results

Division One relegation play-off

27 April 1975

Kildare

3-5 — 2-6

Wicklow

Croke Park, Dublin^[5]

Tables

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Aver	Pts	Notes
Dublin	5	3	1	1	66	41	1.610	7	Advanced to Knockout stage
Kerry	5	3	1	1	59	40	1.475	7	Advanced to Knockout stage
Cork	5	3	0	2	59	50	1.180	6
Roscommon	5	3	0	2	51	55	0.927	6
Offaly	5	1	0	4	36	55	0.655	2
Kildare	5	1	0	4	43	73	0.589	2

Group B

Team	Pld	W	L	F	A	Aver	Pts	Notes
Mayo	5	5	0	71	33	2.152	10	Advanced to Knockout stage
Tyrone	5	4	1	59	37	1.595	8	Advanced to Knockout stage
Derry	5	3	2	76	38	2.000	6
Galway	5	2	3	53	58	0.914	4
Sligo	5	1	4	47	76	0.618	2
Wicklow	5	0	5	29	93	0.312	0	Relegated to Division Two of the 1975–76 NFL

Division Two

Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Aver	Pts	Notes
Meath	5	4	0	1	61	44	1.386	8	Advanced to Knockout stage and promoted to Division One of the 1975–76 NFL
Down	5	4	0	1	48	37	1.297	8
Cavan	5	2	1	2	45	42	1.071	5
Antrim	5	2	0	3	53	49	1.082	4
Fermanagh	5	1	1	3	41	55	0.745	3
Longford	5	0	2	3	43	64	0.672	2	Relegated to Division Three of the 1975–76 NFL

Division Three

Results

Division Three promotion play-off

16 March 1975

Monaghan

1-5 — 0-5

Clare

O'Moore Park, Portlaoise^[6]

Tables

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Aver	Pts	Notes
Monaghan	6	5	0	1	78	40	1.950	10	Advanced to Knockout stage and promoted to Division Two of the 1975–76 NFL
Louth	6	5	0	1	90	54	1.667	10
Armagh	6	4	0	2	75	55	1.364	8
Donegal	6	2	1	3	67	62	1.081	5
Westmeath	6	2	0	4	47	75	0.627	4
Laois	6	1	1	4	56	71	0.789	3
Leitrim	6	1	0	5	45	101	0.446	2

Group B

Team	Pld	W	L	F	A	Aver	Pts
Clare	6	6	0	73	29	2.517	12
Tipperary	6	5	1	102	62	1.645	10
Wexford	6	3	3	82	67	1.224	6
Limerick	6	3	3	78	74	1.054	6
Waterford	6	3	3	64	64	1.000	6
Carlow	6	1	5	58	81	0.716	2
Kilkenny	6	0	6	44	124	0.355	0

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals

23 March 1975

Meath	0-11 –0-6	Kerry

Croke Park, Dublin^[7]

23 March 1975

Tyrone	1-9 –1-7	Monaghan

Croke Park, Dublin^[8]

Semi-finals

27 April 1975

Meath	4-6 –0-8	Mayo

Croke Park, Dublin^[9]

4 May 1975

Dublin	3-12 –1-7	Tyrone

Croke Park, Dublin^[10]

Attendance: 22,487

Finals

18 May 1975
Final

Meath	0-16 – 1-9	Dublin

Croke Park, Dublin

Attendance: 40,853^[11]

Referee: Harry O'Reilly (Louth)^[11]

References

^ GAA Final Teams
^ "Terrace Talk :: Kerry Football :: :: 1974 League :: Final :: Kerry Vs Roscommon". www.terracetalk.com.
^ "The boylan leinster breakthrough - 25 years ago - HoganStand". www.hoganstand.com.
^ "National Football League placings clarified", Irish Press, 03/03/1975, p. 14
^ "Vital goal by Carew", Irish Independent, 28/04/1975, p. 10
^ "GAA in brief", Irish Independent, 17/03/1975, p. 8
^ "Terrace Talk :: Kerry Football :: 1975 League". www.terracetalk.com.
^ "Tyrone earn semi-final with Dublin", Irish Independent, 24/03/1975, p.8
^ "1975".
^ "Dublin stroll to National Football League final", Irish Independent, 05/05/1975, p.8
^ ^a ^b "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151

[1] GAA Final Teams

[2] "Terrace Talk :: Kerry Football :: :: 1974 League :: Final :: Kerry Vs Roscommon". www.terracetalk.com.

[3] "The boylan leinster breakthrough - 25 years ago - HoganStand". www.hoganstand.com.

[4] "National Football League placings clarified", Irish Press, 03/03/1975, p. 14

[5] "Vital goal by Carew", Irish Independent, 28/04/1975, p. 10

[6] "GAA in brief", Irish Independent, 17/03/1975, p. 8

[7] "Terrace Talk :: Kerry Football :: 1975 League". www.terracetalk.com.

[8] "Tyrone earn semi-final with Dublin", Irish Independent, 24/03/1975, p.8

[9] "1975".

[10] "Dublin stroll to National Football League final", Irish Independent, 05/05/1975, p.8

[auto-11] "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151

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