1945–46 National Football League (Ireland)

1945–46 National Football League

League details
Dates	November 1945 – April 1946
League champions
Winners	Meath (2nd win)
Captain	Matt O'Toole
League runners-up
Runners-up	Wexford
← 1940–41 1946–47 →

The 1945–46 National Football League was the 15th staging of the National Football League, an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.

The NFL returned after a four-year gap due to The Emergency / Second World War. Meath won, beating Wexford in the final.^[1][2][3][4]

Format

There were four divisions – Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western. Division winners played off for the NFL title.

League Phase Results and Tables

Group One (Dr Lagan Cup)

Down, Tyrone, Armagh, Derry, Antrim

Group Two

Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Meath	4	4	0	0	8	Qualified for Knockout Phase
Louth	4	2	0	2	4
Monaghan	4	2	0	2	4
Longford	4	2	0	2	4
Fermanagh	4	0	0	4	0

^[5]

Group Three

Wexford won, from Waterford,Carlow and Cork

Group Four

Cavan won, from Leitrim, Sligo, Mayo, Roscommon

Group Five

Results

Tipperary v Kerry

4 November 1945 Round 1	Tipperary	1-7 — 2-1	Kerry	Clonmel[6]

Galway v Clare

4 November 1945 Round 1	Galway	2-11 — 3-4	Clare	Galway[7]

Kerry v Galway

18 November 1945 Round 2	Kerry	0-12 — 1-8	Galway	Austin Stack Park,Tralee[8]

Clare v Tipperary

18 November 1945 Round 2	Clare	0-5 — 3-7	Tipperary	Milltown Malbay[9]

Tipperary v Galway

3 March 1946 Round 3	Tipperary	3-5 — 2-5	Galway	Clonmel[10]

Clare v Kerry

10 March 1946 Round 3[11]	Clare	scr — scr	Kerry

Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Status
Tipperary	3	3	0	0	6	Qualified for Knockout Phase
Galway	3	1	0	2	2
Kerry	2	1	0	1	2
Clare	2	0	0	2	0

Group Six

Dublin won, from Kildare, Laois, Wicklow, Offaly

Knockout Phase

Inter-Group Play-Offs

Wexford v Tipperary

7 April 1946

Wexford	1-8 – 1-7	Tipperary

Wexford Park, Wexford[12]

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Meath v Cavan

31 March 1946

Meath	3-9 – 2-5	Cavan

Breffni Park, Cavan[13]

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Semi-Final

Meath v Antrim

14 April 1946

Meath	3-4 – 1-10	Antrim

Navan[14]

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Meath v Antrim

28 April 1946 Replay

Meath	0-11 – 0-9	Antrim

Corrigan Park,Belfast[15]

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Wexford v Dublin

14 April 1946

Wexford	5-6 – 1-2	Dublin

Enniscorthy[16]

Final

Meath v Wexford

26 May 1946

Meath	2-2 – 0-6	Wexford
Bill Halpenny 1-0, Jim Clarke 1-0, Frankie O'Neill 0-1, Paddy Meegan 0-1 [17]		Des O'Neill 0-2, Paddy Kehoe 0-2, Nicky Rackard 0-1, Tom O'Leary 0-1 [18]

Croke Park, Dublin Attendance: 18,215[19] Referee: J Dowling (Kildare)[20]

References

1. Mayo results archive
2. GAA Final Teams
3. Croke Park archive page
4. Paddy Meegan obituary
5. "National Football League", Meath Chronicle, 09/03/1946, p. 3
6. "Our footballers disappoint", The Kerryman, 10/11/1945, p. 4
7. "Other football league games", Irish Press, 05/11/1945, p. 4
8. "Galway has promising football material", The Connacht Tribune, 24/11/1945, p. 7
9. "Other league games", Irish Press, 19/11/1945, p. 4
10. "Tipperary won despite rally", Irish Independent, 04/03/1946, p. 6
11. "Five have hopes of reaching final", Irish Press, 06/03/1946, p. 6
12. "Wexford beat Tipperary", Irish Independent, 07/04/1946, p. 7
13. "Meath defeat Cavan in inter-group game", Cork Examiner, 01/04/1946, p. 4
14. "Long whistle saves Meath", Meath Chronicle, 20/04/1946
15. "Meath's two points win in thrilling game of swaying fortunes", Irish Press. 29/04/1946, p. 8
16. "Dashing Wexford had easy path to final", Irish Press, 15/04/1946, p. 8
17. "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151
18. "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151
19. "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151
20. "For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151