The 2016

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 Allianz ( , ) is a German multinational financial services company headquartered in Munich, Germany. Its core businesses are insurance and asset management. The company is one of the world's largest insurers and financial services groups. The ...

National Football League, was the 85th staging 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 has ...

teams. Thirty-one

county teams from the island of Ireland, plus

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 ...

, competed. Kilkenny did not participate. Setanta 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 the league on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons respectively.

RTÉ Two (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

broadcast a highlights programme, ''League Sunday'', on Sunday evenings.

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

won their 12th title in total and their 4th in a row, defeating

Kerry Kerry or Kerri may refer to: * Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name) Places * Kerry, Queensland, Australia * County Kerry, Ireland ** Kerry Airport, an international airport in Count ...

in the final on a score of 2-18 to 0-13.

Format

League structure

The 2016 National Football League consisted of four divisions of eight teams. Each team played every other team in its division once, usually four home and three away or three home and four away. Two points were awarded for a win and 1 for a draw.

Tie-breaker

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

Finals, promotions and relegations

Division 1 The top four teams in Division 1 contest the National Football League semi-finals (first plays fourth and second plays third) with the winners progressing to the final. The bottom 2 teams are relegated to Division 2. Division 2, Division 3 & Division 4 The top two teams in Divisions 2, 3 and 4 are promoted and contest the finals of their respective divisions. The bottom two teams in Divisions 2 and 3 are relegated.

Division 1

Table

Rounds 1 to 7

Division 1 Semi-Finals

Division 1 Final

Division 2

Table

Rounds 1 to 7

Division 2 Final

Division 3

Table

Rounds 1 to 7

Division 3 Final

Division 4

Table

Rounds 1 to 7

Division 4 Final

Statistics

*All scores correct as of 25 April 2016

Scoring

* First goal of the league: **

Ryan McHugh Ryan McHugh (born 11 April 1994) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for Cill Chartha and the Donegal county team. He is the brother of Mark and the son of Martin. A former county minor, McHugh propelled himself onto the national stage ...

for

Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...

against Down (Div 1, Rd 1) * Widest winning margin: 23 points **

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...

4-20 - 1-6

(Div 4, Rd 3) * Most goals in a match: 7 **

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 ...

3-10 - 4-25

Roscommon Roscommon (; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60, N61 and N63 roads. The name Roscommon is derived from Coman mac Faelchon who built ...

(Div 1, Rd 3) * Most points in a match: 36 ** Clare 2-17 - 1-19

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional cen ...

(Div 3 Final) * Most goals by one team in a match: 5 **

Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

1-22 - 5-11

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

(Div 2, Rd 5) * Highest aggregate score: 58 points **

4-23 - 3-14

Wicklow Wicklow ( ; ga, Cill Mhantáin , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; non, Víkingaló) is the county town of County Wicklow in Ireland. It is located south of Dublin on the east coast of the island. According to the 2016 census, it has ...

(Div 4, Rd 5) * Lowest aggregate score: 16 points **

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 al ...

0-10 - 0-06 Meath (Div 2, Rd 2) **

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 ...

0-07 - 0-09

(Div 1, Rd 2)

Top scorers

;Overall ;Single game

References

External links

Full Fixtures and Results
{{GAA 2016

National Football League (Ireland) seasons