1950–51 National Football League (Ireland)

Gaelic football competition

1950–51 National Football League
League details
Dates	October 1950 – 30 September 1951
League champions
Winners	Meath (3rd win)
Captain	Paddy Meegan
League runners-up
Runners-up	New York
Captain	Tom "Gega" O'Connor
← 1949–50 1951–52 →

The 1950–51 National Football League was the 20th staging of the National Football League, an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.

Thirty counties participated; Kilkenny and Limerick did not participate.

Meath won the home final and flew to New York for the real final. Despite some players being weakened by smallpox vaccination, they beat New York by a goal and sailed home in triumph on the SS Nieuw Amsterdam. John 'Lefty' Devine commentated on the radio, and was criticised for his newly acquired New York accent (he was a native of County Clare).

Format

Teams are placed into Divisions I, II, III and IV. The top team in each division reaches the home semi-finals. The winner of the home final plays New York in the NFL final.

Group stage

Division I (Dr Lagan Cup)

Eastern Section

Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	Status
Monaghan	3	3	0	6	Win Dr Lagan Cup; advance to Knockout Stage
Antrim	3	2	1	4
Armagh	3	1	2	2
Down	3	0	3	0

Western Section

Team	Pld	W	L	Pts
Donegal	3	3	0	6
Derry	3	2	1	4
Tyrone	3	1	2	2
Fermanagh	3	0	3	0

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals

1 April 1951

Meath	2-8 – 1-4	Monaghan

Croke Park, DublinAttendance: 11,741Referee: J Shanley, Dublin

Semi-finals

8 April 1951

Cork	0-2 – 1-6	Mayo

Croke Park, Dublin

15 April 1951

Meath	2-5 – 2-3	Cavan

Croke Park, DublinReferee: J Shanley, Dublin

Finals

29 April 1951
Home Final

Meath	0-6 – 0-3	Mayo
Paddy Meegan 0-2, Mattie McDonnell 0-2, Brian Smyth 0-1, Peter McDermott 0-1		P Solan 0-2; S Mulderrig 0-1

Croke Park, DublinAttendance: 46,197Referee: Simon Deignan (Cavan)

30 September 1951
Final

Meath	1-10 – 0-10	New York
Mattie McDonnell 1-0		Tom O'Connor 0-6

Polo Grounds, New York CityAttendance: 30,000Referee: John Dunne (Galway)

References

"26 Counties in action on Sunday", Irish Independent, 4 October 1950, p. 10
Mayo results archive, 1951
"GAA Archive 1949". Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
GAA Final Teams
"Death of Meath legend Paddy Meegan" - HoganStand
Ballina Herald
New York Times: 30,000 SEE MEATH GAIN 13-10 VICTORY; IRISH TEAMS DISPLAYING THEIR SKILLS AT THE POLO GROUNDS
"National Football League Tables" Irish Press, 31 October 1963, p. 8
"For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151
"For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151
"For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151
"For The Record, A History of the National Football and Hurling League Finals", Tom Morrison, Collins Press, 2002, ISBN 9781903464151

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