The 1965–66 National Football League was the 35th staging of the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL), an annual
Gaelic football
Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...
tournament for the
Gaelic Athletic Association county
A county is a geographic region within Gaelic games, controlled by a county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and originally based on the 32 counties of Ireland as they were in 1884. While the administrative geography of Ireland ha ...
teams of
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
.
Longford
Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...
won their first and (so far) only NFL title with wins over Galway in the "home" final and New York in the two-legged "World Championship." Longford had the first leg at
Pearse Park and won easily. After the second leg, an angry crowd chased the New York team off the field due to their (perceived) rough play.
Format
Divisions
* Division I: 8 team. Split into two groups of four
* Division II: 8 teams. Split into two groups of four
* Division III: 8 teams. Split into two groups of four
* Division IV: 8 teams. Split into two groups of four
Group stages
Division I (
Dr Lagan Cup
The Dr Lagan Cup was an inter-county Gaelic football competition in the province of Ulster. The competition was discontinued in 1967 when Donegal won the competition. The Lagan Cup was the trophy for a Senior Football League, which at the time wa ...
)
Group B Play-off
Inter-Group Play-offs
Group A
Group B
Division II
Inter-Group Play-offs
Group A
Group B
Division III
Inter-Group Play-offs
Tables
=Group A
=
=Group B
=
Division IV
Group B Play-off
Inter-Group Play-offs
Group A
["National League Positions" Irish Press, 16 November 1965, p. 10]
Group B
Knockout Stages
Semi-finals
----
Home Final
Final
----
''Longford win 21–17 on aggregate.''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1965-66 National Football League (Ireland)
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
National Football League (Ireland) seasons