1930–31 National Football League (Ireland)


The 1930–31 National Football League was the 4th staging of the National Football League, a Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.

1930–31 National Football League
League details
Dates29 June 1930 – May 1931
League champions
WinnersKerry (3rd win)
CaptainMiko Doyle
League runners-up
Runners-upCavan
CaptainJim Smith

Kerry won their third league in a row. They trailed Cavan 1-1 to 0-1 at half-time in the final, but went on to win by a point.[1][2][3] After their win, Kerry went on an American tour.[4]

Format

edit

Divisions

edit
  • Division One: 22 teams. Split into four regional groups
  • Division Two: 10 teams. Split into two regional sections

Round-robin format

edit

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

Points awarded

edit

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

Titles

edit

Knockout stage qualifiers

edit
  • Division One title: top team in each group qualified for the semi-final
  • Division Two (Midland) title: top team in each group qualified for the final
  • Division Two (Northern) title: group winners win the title

Division One

edit

Group A

edit
23 March 1930 Round 1 Kildare 1-1 — 2-3 Dublin Newbridge[5]
Referee: M. Delaney Laois
23 March 1930 Round 1 Kerry 3-8 — 2-0 Laois Austin Stack Park, Tralee
6 April 1930 Round 2 Dublin 4-5 — 2-2 Wexford Croke Park, Dublin[6]
6 April 1930 Round 2 Laois 3-2 — 2-6 Kildare Portlaoise[7]
Referee: Sean Robbins Offaly
5 October 1930 Round 3 Wexford 1-4 — 3-5 Kildare Wexford
16 November 1930 Kerry 0-2 — 0-2 Kildare Naas[8]
16 November 1930 Kerry w/o — scr. Wexford
7 December 1930 Round 4 Dublin 0-3 — 0-8 Kerry Croke Park, Dublin[9]
Referee: J. Delaney Laois

Table

edit
Team Pld W D L Pts Status
  Kerry 4 3 1 0 7 Advance to Knockout stage
  Dublin 4 3 0 1 6
  Kildare 4 2 1 1 5
  Laois 4 1 0 3 2
  Wexford 4 0 0 4 0

Group B

edit
23 March 1930 Round 1 Clare 2-7 — 2-6 Limerick Kilrush[10]
23 March 1930 Round 1 Tipperary 3-3 — 2-8 Cork Clonmel[11]
6 April 1930 Round 2 Cork 3-5 — 1-2 Clare Cork[12]
6 April 1930 Round 2 Limerick 1-5 — 1-5 Waterford Glin[13]
9 November 1930 Round 2 Tipperary 1-2 — 3-6 Waterford Clonmel[14]
7 December 1930 Round 4 Waterford 2-7 — 1-2 Clare Dungarvan[15]

Table

edit
Team Pld W D L Pts Status
  Waterford 4 3 1 0 7 Advance to Knockout stage
  Cork 4 3 0 1 6
  Clare 4 2 0 2 4
  Limerick 3 0 1 2 1
  Tipperary 3 0 0 3 0

Group C

edit
23 March 1930 Round 1 Antrim 0-2 — 1-2 Monaghan Corrigan Park, Belfast[16]
23 March 1930 Round 1 Meath 2-8 — 1-2 Armagh Navan[17]
6 April 1930 Round 2 Louth 2-3 — 0-3 Antrim Drogheda[18]
Referee: J. Curran Meath
6 April 1930 Round 2 Monaghan 0-6 — 0-6 Cavan Clones[19]
5 October 1930 Round 2 Cavan 0-11 — 0-9 Armagh Armagh[20]
2 November 1930 Round 3 Cavan W — L Louth Breffni Park, Cavan[21]
16 November 1930 Louth 1-2 — 0-7 Armagh Dundalk[22]
23 November 1930 Meath 1-6 — 0-0 Monaghan Navan[23]
23 November 1930 Down 1-7 — 2-5 Cavan Newry[24]
7 December 1930 Round 2 Cavan 5-6 — 0-3 Antrim Breffni Park, Cavan[25]
7 December 1930 Round 4 Louth 2-3 — 2-3 Meath Drogheda[26]
7 December 1930 Round 4 Down w/o — scr[27] Monaghan
14 December 1930 Round 2 Meath 1-4 — 0-3 Antrim Navan[28]
18 January 1931 1st Place Play-Off Cavan 2-6 — 0-2 Meath Breffni Park, Cavan[29]

Group D

edit
26 April 1930 Round 1 Sligo 1-2 — 4-4 Mayo Tubbercurry, Sligo[30]
11 May 1930 Round 1 Galway 2-1 — 0-3 Roscommon Ballinasloe[31]
29 June 1930 Round 1 Galway 0-7 — 0-1 Mayo Tuam[32]
20 July 1930 Round 1 Leitrim 3-0 — 0-5 Sligo Ballinamore, Leitrim[33]
20 July 1930 Round 1 Roscommon 0-3 — 1-7 Mayo Castlerea
21 September 1930 Round 3 Galway 3-6 — 0-4 Leitrim Roscommon[34]
1930 Round 4 Mayo w/o — scr[35] Leitrim
5 October 1930 Round 4 Galway 2-8 — 0-2 Sligo Tuam[36]

Table

edit
Team Pld W D L Pts Status
  Galway 4 4 0 0 8 Advance to Knockout stage
  Mayo 4 3 0 1 6
  Roscommon 4 2 0 2 4
  Leitrim 4 1 0 3 2
  Sligo 4 0 0 4 0

Knockout stage

edit

Semi-finals

edit
Kerry2-5 – 1-1Galway

Cavan7-5 – 0-3Waterford

Final

edit
Kerry1-3 – 1-2Cavan
John Joe Landers 1-0, Tim Landers 0-1, Miko Doyle 0-1 Terry Coyle 1-0, Jack Smallhorne 0-1, Louis Blessing 0-1
Attendance: 15,000[40]

Division two

edit

Midland

edit

Northern Section

edit
23 March 1930 Round 1 Offaly 1-3 — 4-7 Westmeath Tullamore[41]
6 April 1930 Round 2 Longford 0-2 — 0-3 Offaly Longford[42]
31 August 1930 Round 3 Westmeath 5-5 — 2-7 Longford Mullingar[43]
Referee: Sean O'Neill Dublin

Southern Section

edit
23 March 1930 Round 1 Carlow 2-6 — 2-0 Wicklow Muine Bheag[44]
6 April 1930 Round 2 Wicklow 0-2 — 1-4 Kilkenny Arklow[45]
9 November 1930 Round 3 Kilkenny 1-1 — 1-1 Carlow Nowlan Park, Kilkenny[46]

Final

edit
7 December 1930 Final Westmeath 7-4 — 1-0 Kilkenny Mullingar[47]

Tables

edit

Northern

edit
23 March 1930 Round 1 Donegal 2-6 — 1-1 Tyrone Erne Park, Ballyshannon[48]
Referee: T McGlynn Donegal
23 March 1930 Round 1 Fermanagh 1-4 — 1-1 Derry Enniskillen[49]
6 April 1930 Round 2 Tyrone 3-1 — 2-2 Fermanagh Dungannon[50]
6 April 1930 Round 2 Derry 1-4 — 2-6 Donegal Brandywell, Derry[51]
31 August 1930 Round 3 Tyrone 3-2 — 0-3 Derry Dungannon[52]
5 October 1930 Round 3 Donegal 1-5 — 0-2 Fermanagh Ballyshannon[53]

Table

edit
Team Pld W D L Pts Status
  Donegal 3 3 0 0 6 Win Division Two (Northern)
  Tyrone 3 2 0 1 4
  Fermanagh 3 1 0 2 2
  Derry 3 0 0 3 0

[54]

References

edit
  1. ^ http://www.crokepark.ie/gaa-museum/gaa-archive/gaa-years/2000-2009-(6)/1984-(1)[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ GAA Final Teams
  3. ^ "Kerry V kildare 1931 All-Ireland Gaelic football Final at croke Park Dublin". www.1st-stop-county-kerry.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  4. ^ "Up Kerry! Up the IRA!". 5 March 2013.
  5. ^ "Dublin's success at Newbridge", Irish Independent, 24 March 1930, p. 10
  6. ^ "Dublin's good win", Irish Independent, 7 April 1930, p. 10
  7. ^ "Won by a point", Irish Independent, 7 April 1930, p. 10
  8. ^ "Four scores in poor game", Irish Independent, 17 November 1930, p. 11
  9. ^ "Kerry defeat Dublin in National Football League", The Kerryman, 13 December 1930, p. 12
  10. ^ "Won by a point", Irish Independent, 24 March 1930, p. 10
  11. ^ "Home County weak", Irish Independent, 24 March 1930, p. 10
  12. ^ "In The South", Irish Independent, 7 April 1930, p. 10
  13. ^ "National League", Irish Independent, 8 April 1930, p. 14
  14. ^ "Football League", Cork Examiner, 10 November 1930, p. 10
  15. ^ "Dungarvan tie decides honours", Irish Independent, 8 December 1930, p. 13
  16. ^ "In The North", Irish Independent, 24 March 1930, p. 10
  17. ^ "Armagh outplayed", Irish Independent, 24 March 1930, p. 10
  18. ^ "Homesters win well", Irish Independent, 7 April 1930, p. 10
  19. ^ "Level scoring", Irish Independent, 7 April 1930, p. 10
  20. ^ "A win for Cavan", Cork Examiner, 6 October 1930, p. 12
  21. ^ "National Football League", Meath Chronicle, 8 November 1930, p. 9
  22. ^ "Do Louth need a rest?", Irish Independent, 17 November 1930, p. 11
  23. ^ "Weak teams suffer the penalty", Irish Independent, 24 November 1930, p. 12
  24. ^ "Weak teams suffer the penalty", Irish Independent, 24 November 1930, p. 12
  25. ^ "Smith's first match", Irish Independent, 8 December 1930, p. 13
  26. ^ "A lucky draw", Irish Independent, 8 December 1930, p. 13
  27. ^ "Croke Park", Irish Independent, 5 December 1930, p,13
  28. ^ "Antrim's narrow defeat at Navan", Irish Independent, 15 December 1930, p. 11
  29. ^ "Cavan ready Divisional winners", Meath Chronicle, 24 January 1931, p. 9
  30. ^ "Connacht Senior Football League", Connaught Telegraph, 3 May 1930, p. 4
  31. ^ "Galway play and win", Irish Independent, 12 May 1930, p. 11
  32. ^ "1930".
  33. ^ "Leitrim's success", Irish Independent, 22 July 1930, p. 13
  34. ^ "Connacht League", Irish Independent, 22 September 1930, p. 10
  35. ^ "GAA games", Irish Independent, 3 October 1930, p. 14
  36. ^ "Galway's defeat of Sligo", Connacht Tribune, 11 October 1930, p. 11
  37. ^ "Kerry's win", The Cork Examiner, 16 February 1931, p.12
  38. ^ "Second Semi-final", The Cork Examiner, 16 February 1931, p.12
  39. ^ "Depleted Kerry Team", The Kerryman, 7 March 1931, p.10
  40. ^ "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrisson, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151
  41. ^ "One-sided match", Irish Independent, 24 March 1930, p. 10
  42. ^ "Decisions unpopular", Irish Independent, 7 April 1930, p. 10
  43. ^ "National League", Meath Chronicle, 6 September 1930, p. 9
  44. ^ "Midland - Group A", Irish Independent, 25 March 1930, p. 12
  45. ^ "Wicklow very weak", Irish Independent, 7 April 1930, p. 10
  46. ^ "Kilkenny and Carlow draw", Cork Examiner, 10 November 1930, p. 10
  47. ^ "A poor contest", Irish Independent, 8 December 1930, p. 13
  48. ^ "Donegal's first match in National League", Donegal News, 29 March 1930, p. 3
  49. ^ "Narrow victory", Irish Independent, 24 March 1930, p. 10
  50. ^ "Exciting match", Irish Independent, 7 April 1930, p. 10
  51. ^ "Close struggle in Derry", Irish Independent, 7 April 1930, p. 10
  52. ^ "National League Fixture", Donegal News, 6 September 1930, p. 3
  53. ^ "Donegal defeat Fermanagh", Irish Independent, 6 October 1930, p. 12
  54. ^ "National League success", Donegal News, 11 October 1930, p. 5