1984–85 National Football League (Ireland)

1984–85 National Football League
League details
Dates	October 1984 – 7 April 1985
League champions
Winners	Monaghan (1st win)
Captain	Eugene Sherry
League runners-up
Runners-up	Armagh
← 1983–84 1985–86 →

The 1984–85 National Football League was the 54th staging of the National Football League (NFL), an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.

Monaghan won their first and only national title with a win over Armagh in the final.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Format

This was the final year of the NFL in its present format before a move to a three division league for the 1985–86 NFL.

Divisions

Division One: 8 teams
Division Two: 8 teams
Division Three: 8 teams.
Division Four: 8 teams.

Round-Robin Format

Each team played every other team in its division (or group where the division is split) once, either home or away.

Points awarded

2 points were awarded for a win and 1 for a draw.

Titles

Teams in all four divisions competed for the National Football League title.

Knockout stage qualifiers

Division One: top 4 teams
Division Two: top 2 teams
Division Three: top team
Division Four: top team

Knockout phase structure

In the Quarter-Finals, the match-ups were as follows:

Quarter-final 1: First-placed team in Division One v First-placed team in Division Four
Quarter-final 2: Second-placed team in Division One v First-placed team in Division Three
Quarter-final 3: Third-placed team in Division One v Second-placed team in Division Two
Quarter-final 4: Fourth-placed team in Division One v First-placed team in Division Two

The semi-final match-ups are:

Semi-final 1: Winner Quarter-final 1 v Winner Quarter-final 4
Semi-final 2: Winner Quarter-final 2 v Winner Quarter-final 3

The final match-up is: Winner Semi-final 1 v Winner Semi-final 2.

Promotion and Relegation

When the NFL was played, relegation was to be as follows:

Division One: bottom 2 teams demoted to Division Two
Division Two: top 2 teams promoted to Division One. Bottom 2 teams demoted to Division Three.
Division Three: top 2 teams promoted to Division Two. Bottom 2 teams demoted to Division Four.
Division Four: top 2 teams promoted to Division Three.

The change in format agreed in advance of the^[4] 1985–86 NFL meant that promotion and relegation was as follows:

Division One: bottom 2 teams demoted to Division Two
Division Two: top 2 teams promoted to Division One. Bottom 2 teams demoted to Division Three.
Division Three: top 2 teams promoted to Division Two.
Division Four: top 2 teams promoted to Division Three.

Separation of teams on equal points

In the event that teams finish on equal points, then a play-off will be used to determine group placings if necessary, i.e. where to decide relegation places or quarter-finalists.

League Tables

Division One

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Tyrone	7	3	3	1	9	Qualified for knockout stage
Armagh	7	4	1	2	9
Down	7	4	0	3	8
Kildare	7	3	2	2	8
Kerry	7	2	2	3	6
Meath	7	2	2	3	6
Galway	7	2	1	4	5	Relegated to Division Two of the 1985–86 NFL
Cork	7	2	1	4	5	Relegated to Division Two of the 1985–86 NFL

^[5]

Division Two

Play-Offs

3 March 1985 For 2nd Place	Roscommon	0-11 — 0-7	Wexford	Athy ^[6]

24 February 1985 For 6th Place	Donegal	2-7 — 2-5	Louth	Clones

Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Monaghan	7	4	2	1	10	Qualified for knockout stage; promoted to Division One of the 1985–86 NFL
Roscommon	7	4	1	2	9	Promoted to Division One of the 1985–86 NFL
Wexford	7	4	1	2	9
Dublin	7	4	0	3	8
Mayo	7	2	2	3	6
Donegal	7	2	1	4	5
Louth	7	2	1	4	5	Relegated to Division Three of the 1985–86 NFL
Offaly	7	1	2	4	4	Relegated to Division Three of the 1985–86 NFL

^[7]

Division Three

Play-Offs

17 February 1985 For 1st Place	Cavan	1-9 — 0-8	Longford	Breffni Park, Cavan^[8]

24 February 1985 For 6th Place	Laois	3-7 — 2-3	Wicklow	Dr. Cullen Park, Carlow

This result was to relegate Wicklow to Division Four of the 1985–86 NFL. The play-off turned out to be redundant because of the restructure to the league, and both teams were in Division Three of the 1985–86 NFL.

Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Cavan	7	5	0	2	10	Qualify for knockout stages; promoted to Division Two of the 1985–86 NFL
Longford	7	5	0	2	10	Promoted to Division Two of the 1985–86 NFL
Derry	7	4	1	2	9	Placed in Division Three of the 1985–86 NFL
Leitrim	7	4	0	3	8
Clare	6	2	3	1	7
Laois	7	2	1	4	5
Wicklow	7	1	2	4	5
Antrim	6	0	0	6	0

^[9]

Division Four

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Carlow	7	7	0	0	14	Advance to Quarter-Final; placed in Division Three of the 1985–86 NFL
Westmeath	7	4	2	1	10	Placed in Division Three of the 1985–86 NFL
Fermanagh	7	4	1	2	9
Limerick	7	3	1	3	7
Sligo	7	3	1	3	7
Tipperary	7	2	1	4	5
Waterford	7	2	0	5	4
Kilkenny	7	0	0	7	0

^[10]

Knockout Stages

Quarter-Finals

Tyrone v Cavan

03 March 1985

Tyrone	2-8 – 1-3	Cavan

Clones ^[11]

Monaghan v Kildare

03 March 1985

Monaghan	4-6 – 0-2	Kildare

Croke Park, Dublin ^[12]

Armagh v Carlow

03 March 1985

Armagh	1-8 – 0-6	Carlow

Croke Park, Dublin ^[13]

Down v Roscommon

10 March 1985

Down	1-8 – 1-4	Roscommon

Croke Park, Dublin ^[14]

Semi-Finals

Armagh v Down

24 March 1985

Armagh	1-9 – 0-6	Down

Croke Park, Dublin ^[15]

Monaghan v Tyrone

24 March 1985

Monaghan	1-6 – 0-9	Tyrone

Croke Park, Dublin ^[16]

Monaghan v Tyrone

31 March 1985
Replay

Monaghan	1-8 – 0-8	Tyrone

Croke Park, Dublin ^[17]

Finals

Monaghan v Armagh

7 April 1985
Final

Monaghan	1-11 – 0-9	Armagh

Croke Park, Dublin
Attendance: 15,226^[18]
Referee: John Gough (Antrim)^[19]

References

↑ GAA Final Teams
↑ GAA Gold Event
↑ GAA Archive 1985
↑ "Football League's new Div 3, North and South", Sunday Independent,25 August 1985, p.24
↑ "Your GAA Scoreboard", Irish Independent, 25/02/1985, p. 11
↑ "Roscommon Rule Roost", Irish Press, 04/03/1985, p. 16
↑ "Your GAA Scoreboard", Irish Independent, 11/02/1985, p. 11
↑ "Your GAA Scoreboard", Irish Independent, 18/02/1985, p. 13
↑ "Your GAA Scoreboard", Irish Independent, 25/02/1985, p. 11
↑ "Your GAA Scoreboard", Irish Independent, 25/02/1985, p. 11
↑ "Tyrone overcome first-half blows", Irish Independent, 04 March 1985, p. 12
↑ "Murphy is hero as Monaghan advance", Irish Independent, 04 March 1985, p. 12
↑ "Armagh's experience counts against Carlow", Irish Independent, 04 March 1985, p. 12
↑ "Down make it an Ulster Monopoly", Irish Press, 11 March 1985, p. 16
↑ "Super Armagh show their superiority", Irish Press, 25 March 1985, p. 16
↑ "Tyrone survive", Irish Press, 25 March 1985, p. 16
↑ "Monaghan seal it after extra time", Irish Press, 01 April 1985, p. 15
↑ "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrisson, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151
↑ "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrisson, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151

External links

Monaghan 1985 Football League Champions on YouTube

Monaghan – 1985 National Football League Champions (1st title)

1 P. Linden 2 E. Sherry (c) 3 G. McCaville 4 F. Caulfield 5 G. Hoey 6 C. Murray 7 Br. Murray 8 H. Clerkin 9 D. Byrne 10 D. Flanagan 11 E. McEneaney 12 Be. Murray 13 R. McCarron 14 E. Murphy 15 E. Hughes

National Football Leagues

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Finals Records and statistics Winning players

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