The 2006 National Hurling League, 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 Hurling League, was the 75th edition of the

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 ...

(NHL), an annual

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

competition for the

GAA county teams 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 ...

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 ...

won the league, beating

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

in the final.

Structure

Division 1

There are 12 teams in Division 1, divided into 1A and 1B. Each team plays all the others in its group once, earning 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw. *The first-placed teams in 1A and 1B advance to the NHL semi-finals. *The second- and third-placed teams in 1A and 1B advance to the NHL quarter-finals. *The fifth- and sixth-placed teams in 1A and 1B go into the relegation semi-finals and final.

Division 2

There are 11 teams in Division 2, divided into 2A and 2B. *The first-placed teams in 2A and 2B advance to the Division 2 semi-finals. *The second- and third-placed teams in 2A and 2B advance to the NHL quarter-finals. *The Division 2 champions are promoted. *The bottom two teams in 2A and 2B go into the relegation semi-finals and final.

Division 3

There are 9 teams in Division 3, divided into 3A and 3B. *The top two teams in 3A and 3B advance to the Division 3 semi-finals. *The Division 3 champions are promoted. *The other teams in 3A and 3B go into the Division 3 Shield.

Overview

Division 1

Brian Cody Brian Cody (born 12 July 1954) is an Irish former hurling manager and player and retired schoolmaster. He managed the senior Kilkenny county team between 1998 and 2022, becoming the county's longest-serving manager and most successful in term ...

won his fourth league title with

, and the second in succession, as 'the Cats' remained the only undefeated team throughout the entire league.

, who were league runners-up, also enjoyed an unbeaten run in the group stage courtesy of three wins and two drawn games with Kilkenny and

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 ...

, however, they fell to Kilkenny in the final. Down at the other end of the table, the four bottom-placed teams and relegation candidates were Antrim, Down,

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 ...

and

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 ...

. Laois, after losing all of their group stage games, eventually lost a play-off to Down and faced relegation for the following season.

Division 2

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 the Division 2 title after an unbeaten run throughout the group and knock-out stages, thus returning to the top flight having been relegated the previous year. Runners-up

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 County ...

also remained undefeated until the last day of the league when they were defeated in the final by 'the Dubs'. Going down were

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 ...

who recorded only one victory in the group stage before losing to

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

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 ...

in the relegation play-offs.

Division 3

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

and

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 ...

qualified for the league final in this division with Armagh winning promotion.

Division 1A

came into the season as defending champions of the 2004 season.

Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

entered Division 1 as the promoted team. On 30 April 2006, Kilkenny won the title following a 3-11 to 0-14 win over

in the final. It was their second league title in succession and their 13th National League title overall.

, who lost all of their group stage matches, were relegated from Division 1 after losing both their matches in the relegation play-offs.

won Division 2 and secured promotion to the top tier. Limerick's Mark Keane was the Division 1 top scorer with 4-50.

Division 1A table

Group stage

Division 1B

Division 1B table

Group stage

Relegation play-offs

Semi-finals Final

Division 1 Knockout

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final

Scoring statistics

;Top scorers overall ;Top scorers in a single game

Division 2

On 30 April 2006, Dublin won the title following a 0-17 to 1-6 win over

in the final. It was their first Division 2 title since

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, who lost all but one of their group stage matches, were relegated from Division 2 after losing both their matches in the relegation play-offs.

Division 2A table

Group stage

Division 2B table

Group stage

Relegation play-offs

Semi-finals Final

Knock-out stage

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final

Division 3

On 30 April 2006,

won the title following a 3-10 to 1-11 win over

in the final. It was their first Division 3 title since

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

Division 3A table

Division 3B table

Knock-out stage

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final

Shield

On 30 April 2006, Tyrone won the title following a 3-09 to 0-10 win over

Sligo Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the List of urban areas ...

in the final. Semi-finals Final

References

External links

All National Hurling League division results from 2006
{{GAA 2006 National Hurling League seasons