1998–99 National Football League (Ireland)

The 1998–99 National Football League, known for sponsorship reasons as the Church & General National Football League, was the 68th staging of the National Football League (NFL), an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.

1998–99 National Football League

League details
Dates	1 November 1998 – 9 May 1999
Teams	33
League champions
Winners	Cork (5th win)
Captain	Philip Clifford
Manager	Larry Tompkins
League runners-up
Runners-up	Dublin
Captain	Dessie Farrell
Manager	Tommy Carr
Other division winners
Division 2A	Kerry
Division 2B	Sligo
← 1997–98 1999–2000 →

Cork beat Dublin in the final.^[1][2][3] The tournament introduced yellow and red cards to Gaelic football for the first time. It also had an experimental rule forbidding goalkeepers from handpassing the ball — this latter rule was not continued.^[4]

Format

The top 16 teams are drawn into sections 1A and 1B. The other 17 teams are drawn into sections 2A and 2B. Each team plays all the other teams in its section once: either home or away. Teams earn 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw.

Titles

Teams in both divisions competed for the National Football League title.

Knockout stage qualifiers

Eight teams qualify for the NFL quarter-finals:

• The top three teams in each of sections 1A and 1B
• The first-placed teams in each of sections 2A and 2B^[5]

Promotion and relegation

• Division One (A): bottom 2 teams demoted to Division Two
• Division One (B): bottom 2 teams demoted to Division Two
• Division Two (A): top 2 teams promoted to Division One.
• Division Two (B): top 2 teams promoted to Division One.

Group stage

Division One

Final standings

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Aver	Pts	Notes
Armagh	7	5	1	1	11-68	6-67	1.188	11	Advance to Knockout stage
Cork	7	4	1	2	7-65	4-64	1.132	9
Dublin	7	3	2	2	4-90	4-69	1.259	8
Tyrone	7	3	2	2	3-67	4-60	1.056	8
Galway	7	3	1	3	8-78	5-76	1.121	7
Donegal	7	3	0	4	4-70	3-64	1.123	6
Offaly	7	2	2	3	5-59	5-62	0.961	6	Relegated to Division Two of the 1999–2000 NFL
Leitrim	7	0	1	6	6-47	17-82	0.489	1

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Aver	Pts	Notes
Meath	7	4	1	2	8-56	1-41	1.818	9	Advance to Knockout stage
Kildare	7	4	1	2	3-61	2-58	1.094	9
Derry	7	3	2	2	4-62	3-51	1.233	8
Mayo	7	3	2	2	8-58	9-46	1.123	8
Clare	7	3	1	3	6-51	2-55	1.131	7
Down	7	3	1	3	5-55	6-67	0.824	7
Monaghan	7	3	1	3	1-57	6-63	0.741	7	Relegated to Division Two of the 1999–2000 NFL
Laois	7	0	1	6	2-48	6-67	0.593	1

^[6]

Division two

Final standings

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Aver	Pts	Notes
Kerry	8	7	0	1	10-97	3-54	2.016	14	Advance to Knockout stage; Promoted to Division One of the 1999–2000 NFL
Roscommon	8	7	0	1	12-85	2-58	1.891	14	Promoted to Division One of the 1999–2000 NFL
Westmeath	8	6	0	2	15-89	5-64	1.696	12
Wicklow	8	6	0	2	7-84	2-64	1.500	12
Louth	8	4	0	4	7-82	6-56	1.392	8
Antrim	8	2	0	6	7-79	9-86	0.885	4
Limerick	8	2	0	6	6-60	10-83	0.690	4
London	8	2	0	6	2-64	10-79	0.642	4
Kilkenny	8	0	0	8	2-24	21-120	0.164	0

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Aver	Pts	Notes
Sligo	7	5	1	1	7-71	4-55	1.373	11	Advance to Knockout stage; Promoted to Division One of the 1999–2000 NFL
Fermanagh	7	4	2	1	7-71	2-62	1.353	10	Promoted to Division One of the 1999–2000 NFL
Carlow	7	5	0	2	7-67	7-59	1.100	10
Wexford	7	4	0	3	8-72	5-68	1.157	8
Cavan	7	4	0	3	7-77	9-70	1.010	8
Longford	7	3	0	4	8-71	9-80	0.888	6
Tipperary	7	1	1	5	7-62	6-68	0.965	3
Waterford	7	0	0	7	4-51	13-80	0.529	0

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals

11 April 1999

Armagh	0-6 – 0-5	Sligo

Pearse Park, Longford

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11 April 1999

Meath	0-14 – 0-10	Kerry

Gaelic Grounds, Limerick

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11 April 1999

Cork	3-14 – 1-6	Derry

Croke Park, Dublin

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11 April 1999

Dublin	1-17 – 2-8	Kildare

Croke Park, Dublin

Semi-finals

25 April 1999

Cork	0-6 – 0-3	Meath

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25 April 1999

Dublin	0-11 – 0-11	Armagh

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2 May 1999
Replay

Dublin	1-14 – 0-12	Armagh

Finals

9 May 1999
Final

Cork	0-12 – 1-7	Dublin

Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork

Attendance: 10,000^[7]

Referee: Brian White (Wexford)^[7]