The 2012

National Hurling League The National Hurling League is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the l ...

commenced in February 2012. 34 GAA county hurling teams: 32 from

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 ...

(including

Fingal Fingal ( ; ) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three successor counties to County Dublin, which was disestablished for administrative purposes in 1994. ...

but not

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Bally ...

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, contested it. On 6 May

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

defeated

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 ...

in the final to win their 15th NHL title, moving them to second place in the all-time roll of honour, behind

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

who have won 19 Leagues.

Format

The 2012 format was originally to consist of five divisions: Divisions 1 and 2 having eight teams in each, Division 3A six, Division 3B seven, and six teams in Division 4. However, this was controversially altered to a system of six divisions, with six teams in divisions 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B and 3A, and four in division 3B. This meant that many counties were effectively relegated to a lower division. It was agreed in October 2011 that there would no longer be an eight-team Division 1, with the top division hurling counties giving their approval to the new system. The league settings are as follows: *Division 1A: Top three teams qualify for NHL semi-finals. Bottom two teams play a relegation playoff, with the losing team relegated. *Division 1B: Top two teams play division final, with the winner being promoted and qualifying for NHL semi-final. Bottom two teams play a relegation playoff, with the losing team relegated. *Division 2A: Top two teams play division final, with the winner being promoted. Bottom two teams play a relegation playoff, with the losing team relegated. *Division 2B: Top two teams play division final, with the winner being promoted. No relegation. *Division 3A: Top two teams play division final, but the winner is not promoted. Bottom two teams play a relegation playoff, with the losing team relegated. *Division 3B: Top two teams play division final, with the winner being promoted.

Division 1A

Fixtures and results

Division 1 Knockout

Top scorers

Season

Single game

Division 1B

Fixtures and results

Top scorers

=Season

=Single game

Division 2A

Fixtures and results

Top scorers

=Season

=Single game

Division 2B

Fixtures and results

Division 3A

Fixtures and results

The Monaghan team gave a walkover after a dispute with the county board, who had refused to reschedule

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 ...

club games to allow their players to rest for the final.

Division 3B

Fixtures and results

Broadcasting rights

Setanta Sports Setanta Sports is a sports television company based in Dublin, Ireland broadcasting throughout select Eurasian. The company was formed in 1990 to facilitate the broadcasting of Irish sporting events to international audiences. The company previo ...

and

TG4 TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was formerly known ...

provided live coverage of matches in

with

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

providing highlights on Sunday nights. The finals were all shown live on TG4.

broadcast live matches in Australia.

also provided coverage of matches from the

to viewers in Asia.

References

External links

2012 National Hurling League Fixtures and Results
{{GAA 2012 National Hurling League seasons