1930–31 National Football League (Ireland)

1930–31 National Football League

League details
Dates	29 June 1930 – May 1931
League champions
Winners	Kerry (3rd win)
Captain	Miko Doyle
League runners-up
Runners-up	Cavan
Captain	Jim Smith
← 1928–29 1931–32 →

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.

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

Divisions

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

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 Division One competed for the National Football League title.
• Teams in Division Two (Midland) competed for the National Football League Division Two (Midland) title.
• Teams in Division Two (Northern) competed for the National Football League Division Two (Northern) title.

Knockout stage qualifiers

• 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

Group A

Kildare v Dublin

23 March 1930 Round 1	Kildare	1-1 — 2-3	Dublin	Newbridge[5]
				Referee: M. Delaney Laois

Kerry v Laois

23 March 1930 Round 1	Kerry	3-8 — 2-0	Laois	Austin Stack Park, Tralee

Dublin v Wexford

6 April 1930 Round 2	Dublin	4-5 — 2-2	Wexford	Croke Park, Dublin[6]

Laois v Kildare

6 April 1930 Round 2	Laois	3-2 — 2-6	Kildare	Portlaoise[7]
				Referee: Sean Robbins Offaly

Wexford v Kildare

5 October 1930 Round 3	Wexford	1-4 — 3-5	Kildare	Wexford

Kerry v Kildare

16 November 1930	Kerry	0-2 — 0-2	Kildare	Naas[8]

Kerry v Wexford

16 November 1930	Kerry	w/o — scr.	Wexford

Dublin v Kerry

7 December 1930 Round 4	Dublin	0-3 — 0-8	Kerry	Croke Park, Dublin[9]
				Referee: J. Delaney Laois

Table

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

Clare v Limerick

23 March 1930 Round 1	Clare	2-7 — 2-6	Limerick	Kilrush[10]

Tipperary v Cork

23 March 1930 Round 1	Tipperary	3-3 — 2-8	Cork	Clonmel[11]

Cork v Clare

6 April 1930 Round 2	Cork	3-5 — 1-2	Clare	Cork[12]

Limerick v Waterford

6 April 1930 Round 2	Limerick	1-5 — 1-5	Waterford	Glin[13]

Tipperary v Waterford

9 November 1930 Round 2	Tipperary	1-2 — 3-6	Waterford	Clonmel[14]

Waterford v Clare

7 December 1930 Round 4	Waterford	2-7 — 1-2	Clare	Dungarvan[15]

Table

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

Antrim v Monaghan

23 March 1930 Round 1	Antrim	0-2 — 1-2	Monaghan	Corrigan Park, Belfast[16]

Meath v Armagh

23 March 1930 Round 1	Meath	2-8 — 1-2	Armagh	Navan[17]

Louth v Antrim

6 April 1930 Round 2	Louth	2-3 — 0-3	Antrim	Drogheda[18]
				Referee: J. Curran Meath

Monaghan v Cavan

6 April 1930 Round 2	Monaghan	0-6 — 0-6	Cavan	Clones[19]

Cavan v Armagh

5 October 1930 Round 2	Cavan	0-11 — 0-9	Armagh	Armagh[20]

Cavan v Louth

2 November 1930 Round 3	Cavan	W — L	Louth	Breffni Park, Cavan[21]

Louth v Armagh

16 November 1930	Louth	1-2 — 0-7	Armagh	Dundalk[22]

Meath v Monaghan

23 November 1930	Meath	1-6 — 0-0	Monaghan	Navan[23]

Down v Cavan

23 November 1930	Down	1-7 — 2-5	Cavan	Newry[24]

Cavan v Antrim

7 December 1930 Round 2	Cavan	5-6 — 0-3	Antrim	Breffni Park, Cavan[25]

Louth v Meath

7 December 1930 Round 4	Louth	2-3 — 2-3	Meath	Drogheda[26]

Down v Monaghan

7 December 1930 Round 4	Down	w/o — scr[27]	Monaghan

Meath v Antrim

14 December 1930 Round 2	Meath	1-4 — 0-3	Antrim	Navan[28]

Cavan v Meath

18 January 1931 1st Place Play-Off	Cavan	2-6 — 0-2	Meath	Breffni Park, Cavan[29]

Group D

Sligo v Mayo

26 April 1930 Round 1	Sligo	1-2 — 4-4	Mayo	Tubbercurry, Sligo[30]

Galway v Roscommon

11 May 1930 Round 1	Galway	2-1 — 0-3	Roscommon	Ballinasloe[31]

Galway v Mayo

29 June 1930 Round 1	Galway	0-7 — 0-1	Mayo	Tuam[32]

Leitrim v Sligo

20 July 1930 Round 1	Leitrim	3-0 — 0-5	Sligo	Ballinamore, Leitrim[33]

Roscommon v Mayo

20 July 1930 Round 1	Roscommon	0-3 — 1-7	Mayo	Castlerea

Galway v Leitrim

21 September 1930 Round 3	Galway	3-6 — 0-4	Leitrim	Roscommon[34]

Mayo v Leitrim

1930 Round 4	Mayo	w/o — scr[35]	Leitrim

Galway v Sligo

5 October 1930 Round 4	Galway	2-8 — 0-2	Sligo	Tuam[36]

Table

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

Semi-Finals

Kerry v Galway

15 February 1931

Kerry	2-5 – 1-1	Galway

Tuam[37]

---

Cavan v Waterford

15 February 1931

Cavan	7-5 – 0-3	Waterford

Cavan[38]

Final

Kerry v Cavan

1 March 1931

Kerry	1-3 – 1-2	Cavan
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

Croke Park, Dublin[39] Attendance: 15,000[40]

Division Two

Midland

Northern Section

Offaly v Westmeath

23 March 1930 Round 1	Offaly	1-3 — 4-7	Westmeath	Tullamore[41]

Longford v Offaly

6 April 1930 Round 2	Longford	0-2 — 0-3	Offaly	Longford[42]

Westmeath v Longford

31 August 1930 Round 3	Westmeath	5-5 — 2-7	Longford	Mullingar[43]
				Referee: Sean O'Neill Dublin

Southern Section

Carlow v Wicklow

23 March 1930 Round 1	Carlow	2-6 — 2-0	Wicklow	Muine Bheag[44]

Wicklow v Kilkenny

6 April 1930 Round 2	Wicklow	0-2 — 1-4	Kilkenny	Arklow[45]

Kilkenny v Carlow

9 November 1930 Round 3	Kilkenny	1-1 — 1-1	Carlow	Nowlan Park, Kilkenny[46]

Final

Westmeath v Kilkenny

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

Tables

Northern Section Team Pld W D L Pts Status Westmeath 2 2 0 0 4 Win Division Two (Midland) Offaly 2 1 0 1 2 Longford 2 0 0 2 0

Southern Section Team Pld W D L Pts Status Kilkenny 2 1 1 0 3 Carlow 2 1 1 0 3 Wicklow 2 0 0 2 0

Northern

Donegal v Tyrone

23 March 1930 Round 1	Donegal	2-6 — 1-1	Tyrone	Erne Park, Ballyshannon[48]
				Referee: T McGlynn Donegal

Fermanagh v Derry

23 March 1930 Round 1	Fermanagh	1-4 — 1-1	Derry	Enniskillen[49]

Tyrone v Fermanagh

6 April 1930 Round 2	Tyrone	3-1 — 2-2	Fermanagh	Dungannon[50]

Derry v Donegal

6 April 1930 Round 2	Derry	1-4 — 2-6	Donegal	Brandywell, Derry[51]

Tyrone v Derry

31 August 1930 Round 3	Tyrone	3-2 — 0-3	Derry	Dungannon[52]

Donegal v Fermanagh

5 October 1930 Round 3	Donegal	1-5 — 0-2	Fermanagh	Ballyshannon[53]

Table

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	1	3	0

^[54]

References

2. GAA Final Teams
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. http://mayogaablog.com/?page_id=5968
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