1997–98 National Football League (Ireland)

1997–98 National Football League

League details
Dates	19 October 1997 – 26 April 1998
Teams	33
League champions
Winners	Offaly (1st win)
Captain	Finbarr Cullen
Manager	Tommy Lyons
League runners-up
Runners-up	Derry
Captain	Kieran McKeever
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

The 1997–98 National Football League, known for sponsorship reasons as the Church & General National Football League, was the 67th staging of the National Football League (NFL), an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.

The Kerry v Cavan Round 1 game was played at the Polo Grounds, New York City, to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1947 All-Ireland Final. ^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Offaly won their first and only league title.^[6][7]

Format

The teams are in four sections, three of 8 teams and one of 9. Each team plays all the other teams in its division once: either home or away. Teams earn 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw. The top two teams in each section contest the NFL quarter-finals.^[8]

Results

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Mayo	7	6	0	0	13	Advance to knockout stage and moved to Division One of the 1998–99 NFL
Galway	7	5	2	0	12
Laois	7	4	2	1	10	Moved to Division One of the 1998–99 NFL
Leitrim	7	4	1	2	9
Louth	7	3	0	4	6	Moved to Division Two of the 1998–99 NFL
Fermanagh	7	1	1	5	3
Carlow	7	1	1	5	3
Kilkenny	7	0	0	7	0

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Donegal	7	6	1	0	13	Advance to Knockout stage and moved to Division One of the 1998–99 NFL
Derry	7	5	1	1	11
Armagh	7	5	0	2	10	Moved to Division One of the 1998–99 NFL
Meath	7	4	1	2	9
Longford	7	3	0	4	6	Moved to Division Two of the 1998–99 NFL
Westmeath	7	2	1	4	5
Antrim	7	1	0	6	2
London	7	0	0	7	0

Group C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Offaly	7	6	1	0	13	Advance to knockout stage and moved to Division One of the 1998–99 NFL
Monaghan	7	4	1	2	9
Dublin	7	4	0	3	8	Moved to Division One of the 1998–99 NFL
Tyrone	7	4	0	3	8
Sligo	7	3	2	2	8	Moved to Division Two of the 1998–99 NFL
Kerry	7	3	0	4	6
Cavan	7	2	0	5	4
Wexford	7	0	0	7	0

Group D

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Down	8	6	0	2	12	Advance to quarter-finals and moved to Division One of the 1998–99 NFL
Cork	8	6	0	2	12
Kildare	8	6	0	2	12	Moved to Division One of the 1998–99 NFL
Clare	8	4	1	3	9
Wicklow	8	4	1	3	9	Moved to Division Two of the 1998–99 NFL
Tipperary	8	4	0	4	8
Roscommon	8	2	2	4	6
Limerick	8	1	1	6	3
Waterford	8	0	1	7	1

Knockout stage

Quarter-Finals

Derry v Mayo

5 April 1998

Derry	1-9 – 0-10	Mayo

Markievicz Park, Sligo

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Offaly v Galway

5 April 1998

Offaly	1-11 – 0-10	Galway

Dr Hyde Park, Roscommon

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Donegal v Cork

5 April 1998

Donegal	2-14 – 1-9	Cork

Croke Park, Dublin

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Monaghan v Down

5 April 1998

Monaghan	2-6 – 1-8	Down

Croke Park, Dublin

Semi-Finals

Offaly v Donegal

12 April 1998

Offaly	3-10 – 1-14	Donegal

Croke Park, Dublin

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Derry v Monaghan

12 April 1998

Derry	1-12 – 0-8	Monaghan

Croke Park, Dublin

Finals

Offaly v Derry

26 April 1998 Final

Offaly	0-9 – 0-7	Derry

Croke Park, Dublin Attendance: 22,531 [9] Referee: Niall Barrett (Cork) [10]

References

1. GAA Final Teams
2. GAA Archive 1997
3. Kerry photos
4. 1997 Kerry v Cavan NFL game in New York Photos
5. Terrace Talk 1997
6. GAA Final Teams
7. GAA Archive 1998
8. Gaelic Games website
9. "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151
10. "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151