National Football League

Longford first competed in the National Football League in October 1925 during the inaugural season of the league (1925/26). Longford won the National League in the 1965/66 season, beating Galway in the Home final and defeating New York (21–17 on aggregate) over two ill-tempered legs in the Final Proper. Over the years Longford won NFL Division 2 twice (1936/37 & 1971/72), NFL Division 3 once (2012), NFL Division 3N once (1989/90), NFL Division 3S once (1987/88) and NFL Division 4 twice (1983/84 & 2011). On two occasions, Longford topped the division but didn’t win the division final (2003 & 2015). Longford did not compete in the League in 1927/28 or 1929/30 and there was no League held in 1926/27. NFL was suspended from 1941/42 to 1944/45 seasons (WW2) and Longford played in Leinster League instead in 1943/44 and 1944/45 seasons.

Longford has played 552 NFL games, Won 237 (43%), Drew 43 (8%), Lost 271 (49%) and 1 Void game.

Longford’s longest winning run in the League was 13 games from Round 1 of Division 2A in October 1971 to Round 4 of Division 1A in December 1972. Longford’s longest losing run in the League was 9 games from Round 1 of Division 2 in 2013 to Round 3 of Division 3 in 2014. Longford forfeited just two games in NFL history, against Laois in 1926 (in protest) and against Cork in 2021 (during Covid-19 pandemic). The winter weather of 1946/47 was so bad that by March 1947 many teams had not played a single game. It was decided to invite the four group leaders (Longford, Derry, Clare and Wicklow) to play the semi-finals. Derry beat Longford in that semi-final and went on to beat Clare in the National League Final.

Two Longford footballers were top scorers in the NFL over the years. Bobby Burns (St. Marys Granard) was top scorer in the 1965/66 League with a total of 1-35 from seven league games. Seán McCormack (Killoe Young Emmets) was joint top scorer in 2013 League along with Dublin star Bernard Brogan. Seán scored 4-32 from seven league games which was only eventually equaled by Brogan in the Division 1 League final of 2013. Seán’s achievement is even more remarkable when you consider that Longford ended the 2013 NFL campaign pointless.

Promotion/Relegation began in the 1970/71 season. Before that, divisions were made up of a ‘top-tier’ group with other groups mostly arranged geographically. The word ‘Division’ was used prior to 1970/71 season, but in reality these were groups with arbitrary re-arrangement over time. Longford gained promotion 12 times (1971/72, 1981/82, 1983/84, 1984/85, 1986/87, 1989/90, 1992/93, 1994/95, 2002, 2011, 2012 and 2015) and was relegated 14 times (1970/71, 1973/74, 1974/75, 1979/80, 1982/83, 1986/87, 1988/89, 1992/93, 1994/95, 1996/97, 2004, 2009, 2013 and 2014).

The National League format has changed many times over the years from provincial leagues in the early years to distinct divisions with or without A and B or North and South (and Midlands) sections too. In the 1992/93 season, in order to re-format the league from subgroups of two divisions back into four distinct divisions, the league consisted of four “mixed ability” groups of eight teams with Longford in Group B. This unique format led to some unusual pairings and was credited with increasing attendances quite significantly. The league reverted back to four divisions from 1993/94 until the 1997/98 season when another “mixed ability” set of four groups was created in order to transition back to subgroups of two divisions from the 1998/99 season onward. By 2007 the league was back to four distinct divisions and with the exception of 2021 has remained in this format since. In 2021 the format switched temporarily to North and South sections for each division to limit travel and games during the Covid-19 pandemic, but returned to the normal four division format thereafter. The NFL was traditionally played between Autumn and Spring, but from 2002 has been played in same calendar year.

Note: One game vs Dublin in 1925/26 was declared void and was replayed. Hence total ‘played’ vs Dublin does not equal total W/D/L by 1 game.