2021 Down county football team season

There was no McKenna Cup in 2021 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games.^[1]

Down were promoted to Division 2 following their 2020 campaign, however in December 2020, it was announced that each division would be divided into North and South sections in order to reduce fixtures and minimise cross-border matches.^[2] Teams will play three league games, plus possibly two knockout matches, allowing the tournament to be finished in just five rounds of games.^[3][4][5] In February 2021, it was announced that the league would be delayed due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games, but that cancelling it would be a last resort.^[6][7][8]

The National League began on 15 May 2021. Following two defeats Down entered into the relegation play-offs, beating Laois 2-19 - 2-12 to retain their Division 2 status for the 2022 campaign.^[9]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Mayo (P)	3	3	0	0	74	50	+24	6	Advance to Division 2 semi-finals; both finalists are promoted to Division 1
2	Meath	3	2	0	1	55	55	0	4
3	Down	3	1	0	2	41	60	−19	2	Advance to a relegation playoff; losers are relegated to Division 3
4	Westmeath (R)	3	0	0	3	45	50	−5	0

15 May 2021

14:00

Round 1

Mayo	2-21 - 1-11	Down
Cillian O'Connor (0-8), Tommy Conroy (1-3), Ryan O'Donoghue (1-1), Matthew Ruane (0-2), Jordan Flynn (0-1), Fionn McDonagh (0-1), Michael Plunkett (0-1), Diarmuid O'Connor (0-1), Bryan Walsh (0-1), Eoghan McLaughlin (0-1)	Report	Barry O'Hagan 0-5 (0-4), Stephen McConville 1-0, Corey Quinn 0-2 (0-1), James Guinness (0-1), Daniel Guinness (0-1), Paul Devlin (0-1), Liam Kerr (0-1)

MacHale Park, Castlebar

Referee: Fergal Kelly (Longford)

23 May 2021

15:45

Round 2

Meath	2-15 - 0-14	Down
Cillian O'Sullivan (2-1), Jordan Morris (0-7), Thomas O'Reilly (0-1), Andrew Colgan (0-1) Cathal Hickey (0-1), Ethan Devine (0-1), Bryan McMahon (0-1), Matthew Costello (0-1), Eamon Wallace (0-1)	Report	Paul Devlin (0-5), Cory Quinn (0-4), Ryan McEvoy (0-2), Conor McCrickard (0-2), Barry O’Hagan (0-1)

Athletic Grounds, Armagh

Referee: Niall Cullen (Fermanagh)

30 May 2021

13:45

Round 3

Westmeath	1-09 - 0-13	Down
John Heslin 0-6, Fola Ayorinde 1-0, Ronan O'Toole 0-1, Brandon Kelly 0-1, Ger Egan 0-1	Report	Corey Quinn 0-7, Paul Devlin 0-2, Pierce Laverty (0-1), Ryan McEvoy (0-1), Liam Kerry (0-1), Caolan Molloy (0-1)

Cusack Park, Mullingar

Referee: Sean Lonergan (Tipperary)

12 June 2021

18:15

Relegation play-off

Down	2-19 - 2-12	Laois
Barry O'Hagan (1-9), Caolan Mooney (1-2), Cory Quinn (0-2), Liam Kerr (0-1), Darren O'Hagan (0-1), Pierce Laverty (0-1), Gerard Collins (0-1), Stephen McConville (0-1), Conor McCrickard (0-1)	Report	Donie Kingston (1-3), Evan O'Carroll (1-0), Niall Corbet (0-3), Kieran Lillis (0-2), Colm Begley (0-1), Eoin Lowry (0-1), Colm Murphy (0-1), Gary Walsh (0-1)

Páirc Esler, Newry

Referee: Jerome Henry (Mayo)

The draw for the 2021 Ulster Championship was made on 22 April 2021.^[10][11]

27 June 2021

19:00

Preliminary Round

Down	1-12 - 2-25	Donegal
Caolan Mooney (1-0), Barry O'Hagan (0-8), Liam Kerr (0-2), James Guinness (0-1), Darren O'Hagan (0-1)	Report	Patrick McBrearty (1-6), Jamie Brennan (1-1), Ryan McHugh (0-4), Michael Langan (0-4), Peadar Mogan (0-3), Michael Murphy (0-2), Ciaran Thompson (0-1), Niall O'Donnell (0-1), Eoin McHugh (0-1), Conor O'Donnell (0-1), Ethan O'Donnell (0-1)

Páirc Esler, Newry

Referee: Maurice Deegan (Laois)

	Preliminary round					Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Final
						Armagh		4-15
						Antrim		0-14
											Armagh		2-21
											Monaghan		4-17
						Monaghan		1-21
						Fermanagh		0-14
																Monaghan		0-15
																Tyrone		0-16
						Tyrone		1-18
						Cavan		0-13
											Tyrone		0-23
											Donegal		1-14
						Derry		0-15
	Down		1-12			Donegal		0-16
	Donegal		2-25

Down could only enter the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship if they won the Ulster Championship. Following a defeat to Donegal, Down did not enter the 2021 All-Ireland Championship.