1979–80 National Football League (Ireland)

Format

Group stage

Knockout stage

Division Two Final

References

Divisions

Titles

Knockout stage qualifiers

Promotion and relegation

Division One (North)

Division One (South)

Division Two (North)

Division Two (South)

Quarter-finals

Semi-final

Final

Division One (North) Play-offs

Table

Table

Division Two (North) Final

Group A table

Group B table

Division Two (South) Final

Group A table

Group B table

1979–80 National Football League
League details
Dates	October 1979 – 27 April 1980
League champions
Winners	Cork (3rd win)
Captain	Christy Ryan
Manager	Billy Morgan
League runners-up
Runners-up	Kerry
Captain	Jimmy Deenihan
Manager	Mick O'Dwyer
	← 1978–79 1980–81 →

The 1979–80 National Football League was the 49th staging of the National Football League (NFL), an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.

Cork defeated Kerry in an all-Munster final.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Division One: 12 teams. Split into two regional groups of 6 (North and South)
Division Two: 20 teams. Split into two 10 team regional sub-divisions of North and South, which were divided into five teams each.

Teams in both divisions competed for the National Football League title.

There was also a separate National Football League Division Two title.

Division One (North): top 3 teams^[5]
Division One (South): top 3 teams
Division Two (North): winners
Division Two (South): winners

This was the last season of the present league format. For the 1980–81 season, the 32 counties were divided into four divisions of eight teams. The teams were not placed into the new structure entirely in line with their placings in the 1979–80 league.^[6]

10 February 1980 For 1st Place

Armagh

0-10 — 1-4

Down

Coalisland^[7]

^[8]

^[9]

24 February 1980 Final

Fermanagh

2-6 — 1-4

Antrim

Coalisland^[10]

^[11]

^[12]

2 March 1980 Final

Wexford

1-14 — 0-7

Clare

Croke Park, Dublin^[13]

^[14]

^[15]

23 March 1980

Armagh	1-8 – 2-5	Wexford

Croke Park, Dublin^[16]

30 March 1980
Replay

Armagh	0-13 – 0-5	Wexford

Croke Park, Dublin^[17]

23 March 1980

Galway	1-12 – 0-10	Fermanagh

Carrick-on-Shannon^[18]

23 March 1980

Kerry	1-8 – 1-5	Roscommon

Gaelic Grounds, Limerick^[19]

23 March 1980

Cork	3-6 – 0-6	Down

Croke Park, Dublin^[20]

6 April 1980

Kerry	1-11 – 1-6	Armagh

Croke Park, Dublin^[21]

13 April 1980

Cork	1-16 – 1-6	Galway

Croke Park, Dublin^[22]

Attendance: 11,410

27 April 1980

3:30 p.m.

Cork	0-11 – 0-10	Kerry

Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork

Attendance: 39,139^[23]

Referee: Tommy Moran (Leitrim)

6 July 1980 'Home' Final

Wexford

5-14 — 0-10

Fermanagh

Croke Park, Dublin^[24]

30 August 1980 Final

Wexford

7-17 — 1-7

Warwickshire

Coventry^[25]

Qualified for Knockout Stages

Relegated to Division Two of the 1980–81 NFL

Relegated to Division Two of the 1980–81 NFL

Relegated to Division Three of the 1980–81 NFL

^ GAA Final Teams
^ Terrace Talk 1980
^ "059 Dubs 1978 | a whole new world". Archived from the original on 19 December 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
^ GAA Archive 1980^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "How They Stand", Irish Press, 04/02/1980, p. 11
^ "New line-up for National League", Ulster Herald, 17 May 1980, p. 3
^ "Toner miss boost for Armagh", Irish Independent, 11/02/1980, p. 11
^ "GAA Results and Tables", Irish Independent, 04/02/1980, p. 10
^ "GAA Results and Tables", Irish Independent, 04/02/1980, p. 10
^ "Cool Fermanagh surprise Antrim", Irish Independent, 25/02/1980, p. 11
^ "GAA Results and Tables", Irish Independent, 04/02/1980, p. 10
^ "GAA Results and Tables", Irish Independent, 04/02/1980, p. 10
^ "Wexford make it third time lucky", Irish Independent, 03/03/1980, p. 11
^ "GAA Results and Tables", Irish Independent, 04/02/1980, p. 10
^ "GAA Results and Tables", Irish Independent, 04/02/1980, p. 10
^ "Magee to the rescue", Irish Press, 24/03/1980, p. 16
^ "Armagh always in control but waste chances", Irish Independent, 31/03/1980, p. 13
^ "Galway Masters", Irish Press, 24/03/1980, p. 16
^ "Goalkeeper turns poacher!", Irish Press, 24/03/1980, p. 16
^ "Down fall to Cork", Irish Press, 24/03/1980, p. 16
^ "Terrace Talk :: Kerry Football :: 1980 League".
^ "Cork canter into decider", Irish Press, 14/04/1980, p. 16
^ "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151
^ "Furlong hits four goals", Irish Press, 6 July 1980, p. 10
^ "Wexford take Div 2 title", Irish Independent, 31 August 1980, p. 8