1987–88 National Football League

League details
Dates	October 1987 – 22 May 1988
League champions
Winners	Meath (5th win)
Captain	Mick Lyons
Manager	Seán Boylan
League runners-up
Runners-up	Dublin
Captain	Barney Rock
Manager	Gerry McCaul
← 1986–87 1988–89 →

The 1987–88 National Football League, known for sponsorship reasons as the Royal Liver National Football League, was the 57th staging of the National Football League (NFL), an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.

Meath won the league, beating Dublin in a replayed final. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Format

Divisions

• Division One: 8 teams
• Division Two: 8 teams
• Division Three: 16 teams. Split into two regional groups of 8 (North and South)

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 three divisions competed for the National Football League title.

Knockout stage qualifiers

• Division One: top 4 teams
• Division Two: top 2 teams
• Division Three (North): group winners
• Division Three (South): group winners

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 Three (South)
• Quarter-final 2: Second-placed team in Division One v First-placed team in Division Three (North)
• 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

• 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 (North): group winners promoted to Division Two.
• Division Three (South): group winners promoted to Division Two.

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 Phase Results and Tables

Division One

Division One (A) play-offs

Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Dublin	7	5	2	0	12	Advance to quarter-finals
Meath	7	4	2	1	10
Monaghan	7	4	1	2	9
Derry	7	3	0	4	6
Armagh	7	2	1	4	5
Kerry	7	2	1	4	5
Mayo	7	2	1	4	5	Relegated to Division Two of the 1988–89 NFL
Cork	7	1	2	4	4

Division Two

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Down	7	5	1	1	11	Advance to quarter-finals; promoted to Division One of the 1988–89 NFL
Donegal	7	5	1	1	11
Galway	7	3	3	1	9
Kildare	7	4	1	2	9
Roscommon	7	3	0	4	6
Cavan	7	2	1	4	5
Clare	7	1	2	4	4	Relegated to Division Three of the 1988–89 NFL
Laois	7	0	1	6	1

Division Three

Division Three (South)

Promotion play-offs

Division Three (North) table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Louth	7	6	1	0	13	Advance to quarter-finals; promoted to Division Two of the 1988–89 NFL
Antrim	7	4	2	1	10
Tyrone	7	4	1	2	9
Fermanagh	7	3	0	4	6
Leitrim	7	3	0	4	6
Offaly	7	2	3	3	6
Westmeath	7	2	0	5	4
Sligo	7	1	0	6	2

Division Three (South) table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Longford	7	5	0	2	10	Advance to quarter-finals; promoted to Division Two of the 1988–89 NFL
Limerick	7	5	0	2	10
Tipperary	7	5	0	2	10
Wexford	7	5	0	2	10
Wicklow	7	3	0	4	6
Carlow	7	2	0	5	4
Waterford	7	2	0	5	4
Kilkenny	7	1	0	6	2

^[9]

Knockout stage

Quarter-final

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GK 1 Mickey McQuillan RCB 2 Robbie O'Malley FB 3 Mick Lyons LCB 4 Terry Ferguson RHB 5 Kevin Foley CHB 6 Liam Harnan LHB 7 Martin O'Connell MF 8 Liam Hayes MF 9 Gerry McEntee RHF 10 David Beggy CHF 11 P.J. Gillic LHF 12 Brendan Reilly RCF 13 Colm O'Rourke FF 14 Brian Stafford LCF 15 Bernard Flynn Substitutes: 16 Frank Foley for Harnan 17 Mattie McCabe for Beggy

GK 1 Niall O'Donnell ( Clan na Gael) RCB 2 Pat Matthews ( Oliver Plunketts) FB 3 David Mulligan ( St Joseph's) LCB 4 Stephen Melia ( John Mitchels) RHB 5 Dessie Callaghan ( Newtown Blues) CHB 6 Martin McCann ( Dundalk Young Irelands) LHB 7 Peter Fitzpatrick ( Clan na Gael) (c) MF 8 Séamus O'Hanlon ( Clan na Gael) MF 9 Gerry Curran ( Clan na Gael) RHF 10 Eugene Judge ( Newtown Blues) CHF 11 Paul Reneghan ( Geraldines) LHF 12 Davy McDonnell ( Dundalk Gaels) RCF 13 Jimmy McDonnell (Civil Service, Dublin) FF 14 Richie Culhane ( Newtown Blues) LCF 15 Kevin Dawe ( Dreadnots) Substitutes: 16 Cathal O'Hanlon ( Clan na Gael) for Judge

20 March 1988 Down 2-13 – 1-16 Derry Armagh [11] 27 March 1988 Replay Down 2-6 – 0-10 Derry Armagh 27 March 1988 Dublin 0-10 – 0-4 Longford Croke Park, Dublin Semi-final 3 April 1988 Dublin 4-12 – 1-8 Monaghan Croke Park, Dublin [12] 3 April 1988 Meath 0-13 – 1-9 Down Croke Park, Dublin [12] Final 17 April 1988 Meath 0-11 – 1-8 Dublin Croke Park, Dublin 22 May 1988 Replay Meath 2-13 – 0-11 Dublin Croke Park, Dublin References ^ GAA Final Teams Archived 2015-07-17 at the Wayback Machine ^ Moran, Sean. "No love lost in 1988". The Irish Times. ^ "NFL Final 1988 | Inpho Photography". inpho.ie. ^ "How they stand", Cork Examiner, 14 March 1988, p. 19 ^ "Terrace Talk :: Kerry Football :: 1988 League". www.terracetalk.com. ^ "Backs shine as Longford press ahead", Irish Independent, 14 March 1988, p. 10 ^ "Limerick stay in the race", Cork Examiner, 14 March 1988, p.14 ^ "GAA Results", Irish Independent, 21 March 1988, p.13 ^ "GAA Scoreboard", Irish Independent 29/02/1988, p. 15 ^ "Battling Louth give Meath a real fright", Irish Independent, 14 March 1988, p. 10 ^ "GAA Results", Irish Independent, 21 March 1988, p. 13 ^ a b "GAA Results", Irish Press 4 April 1988, p. 11