1979–80 National Football League (Ireland)
Gaelic football competition
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The 1979–80 National Football League was the 49th staging of the National Football League (NFL), an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.
| League details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | October 1979 – 27 April 1980 |
| League champions | |
| Winners | Cork (3rd win) |
| Captain | Christy Ryan |
| Manager | Billy Morgan |
| League runners-up | |
| Runners-up | Kerry |
| Captain | Jimmy Deenihan |
| Manager | Mick O'Dwyer |
← 1978–79 1980–81 → | |
Format
Divisions
- Division One: 12 teams. Split into two regional groups of 6 (North and South)
- Division Two: 20 teams. Split into two 10 team regional sub-divisions of North and South, which were divided into five teams each.
Titles
Teams in both divisions competed for the National Football League title.
There was also a separate National Football League Division Two title.
Knockout stage qualifiers
- Division One (North): top 3 teams[5]
- Division One (South): top 3 teams
- Division Two (North): winners
- Division Two (South): winners
Promotion and relegation
This was the last season of the present league format. For the 1980–81 season, the 32 counties were divided into four divisions of eight teams. The teams were not placed into the new structure entirely in line with their placings in the 1979–80 league.[6]
Group stage
Division One (North)
Division One (North) Play-offs
| 10 February 1980 For 1st Place | Armagh | 0-10 — 1-4 | Down | Coalisland[7] |
Table
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | Pts | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Armagh |
5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | Qualified for Knockout Stages |
 Down |
5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
 Roscommon |
5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |
 Mayo |
5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | Relegated to Division Two of the 1980–81 NFL |
 Tyrone |
5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | |
 Cavan |
5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | Relegated to Division Three of the 1980–81 NFL |
Division One (South)
Table
Division Two (North)
Division Two (North) Final
| 24 February 1980 Final | Fermanagh | 2-6 — 1-4 | Antrim | Coalisland[10] |
Group A table
|
Group B table
|
|
Division Two (South)
Division Two (South) Final
| 2 March 1980 Final | Wexford | 1-14 — 0-7 | Clare | Croke Park, Dublin[13] |
Group A table
|
Group B table
|
|
Knockout stage
Quarter-finals
Semi-final
Attendance: 11,410