The 2012

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 ...

known for sponsorship reasons as the Allianz National Football League was the 81st staging of the

(NFL), an annual Gaelic football 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 has ...

teams of

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. The League began on Saturday 4 February 2012. Thirty-two Gaelic football county teams from the island of Ireland, plus

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, participated. On 29 April,

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

defeated

Mayo Mayo often refers to: * Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo" * Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States Mayo may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land Australia * Division of Mayo, an Aust ...

by 2-10 to 0-11 to win their eight league title and their third in a row.

Format

League structure

The 2012 format of the National Football League was a system of four divisions. The top three divisions consisted of 8 teams, and Division 4 contained nine teams. Each team played every other team in its division once, either home or away. 2 points were awarded for a win and 1 for a draw.

Tie-breaker

If only two teams were level on points: * The team that won the head-to-head match was ranked first * If this game was a draw, points difference (total scored minus total conceded in all games) was used to rank the teams * If points difference was identical, total scored was used to rank the teams * If still identical, a play-off was required If three or more teams were level on points, points difference was used to rank the teams.

Finals, promotions and relegations

The top four teams in Division 1 contested the 2012 NFL semi-finals (first played fourth and second played third) and final. The top two teams in divisions 2, 3 and 4 were promoted, and contested the finals of their respective divisions. The bottom two teams in divisions 1, 2 and 3 were relegated.

Division 1

Table

Rounds 1 to 7

Division 1 Semi-finals

¹Attendance figure is total of both semi-finals played consecutively

Division 1 final

²Attendance figure is total of the Division 1 and Division 2 finals played consecutively

Division 2

Table

Rounds 1 to 7

Division 2 final

²Attendance figure is total of the Division 1 and Division 2 finals played consecutively

Division 3

Table

Rounds 1 to 7

Division 3 final

³Attendance figure is total of the Division 3 and Division 4 finals played consecutively

Division 4

Table

Rounds 1 to 8

Division 4 final

⁴Attendance figure is total of the Division 3 and Division 4 finals played consecutively

Statistics

*All scores correct as of 26 March 2016

Scoring

*Widest winning margin: 46 ** Kilkenny 0-4 - 9-23

Fermanagh Historically, Fermanagh ( ga, Fir Manach), as opposed to the modern County Fermanagh, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Fermanagh. ''Fir Manach'' originally referred to a distinct kin group of a ...

(Division 4) *Most goals in a match: 9 ** Kilkenny 0-4 - 9-23

(Division 4) *Most points in a match: 39 **

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Ireland. It also provides the name of its civil parish and barony. The population of the town as of the 2016 census was 7,678. The town is on the N2 road from Dublin to Derry and Lette ...

2-24 - 1-15

Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town * Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia **Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * Cou ...

(Division 2) *Most goals by one team in a match: 9 ** Kilkenny 0-4 - 9-23

(Division 4) * Highest aggregate score: 54 points ** Kilkenny 0-4 - 9-23

(Division 4) *Lowest aggregate score: 16 points ** Donegal 1-7 - 0-6

(Division 1) **

0-4 - 2-6 Carlow (Division 4)

Top scorers

;Overall ;Single game

References

{{GAA 2012

National Football League (Ireland) seasons