1998–99 National Football League (Ireland)
# 1998–99 National Football League (Ireland)

The 1998–99 National Football League, known for sponsorship reasons as the Church & General National Football League, was the 68th staging of the National Football League (NFL), an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.

Cork beat Dublin in the final. The tournament introduced yellow and red cards to Gaelic football for the first time. It also had an experimental rule forbidding goalkeepers from handpassing the ball — this latter rule was not continued.

## Format

The top 16 teams are drawn into sections 1A and 1B. The other 17 teams are drawn into sections 2A and 2B. Each team plays all the other teams in its section once: either home or away. Teams earn 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw.

### Titles

Teams in both divisions competed for the National Football League title.

### Knockout stage qualifiers

Eight teams qualify for the NFL quarter-finals:

* The top three teams in each of sections 1A and 1B
* The first-placed teams in each of sections 2A and 2B

### Promotion and relegation

* Division One (A): bottom 2 teams demoted to Division Two
* Division One (B): bottom 2 teams demoted to Division Two
* Division Two (A): top 2 teams promoted to Division One.
* Division Two (B): top 2 teams promoted to Division One.

## Group stage

### Division One

**Final standings**

**Group A**

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Aver | Pts | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Armagh | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11-68 | 6-67 | 1.188 | 11 | Advance to Knockout stage |
| Cork | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 7-65 | 4-64 | 1.132 | 9 | Advance to Knockout stage |
| Dublin | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4-90 | 4-69 | 1.259 | 8 | Advance to Knockout stage |
| Tyrone | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3-67 | 4-60 | 1.056 | 8 | |
| Galway | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 8-78 | 5-76 | 1.121 | 7 | |
| Donegal | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4-70 | 3-64 | 1.123 | 6 | |
| Offaly | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5-59 | 5-62 | 0.961 | 6 | Relegated to Division Two of the 1999–2000 NFL |
| Leitrim | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 6-47 | 17-82 | 0.489 | 1 | Relegated to Division Two of the 1999–2000 NFL |

**Final standings**

**Group B**

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Aver | Pts | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Meath | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 8-56 | 1-41 | 1.818 | 9 | Advance to Knockout stage |
| Kildare | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3-61 | 2-58 | 1.094 | 9 | Advance to Knockout stage |
| Derry | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4-62 | 3-51 | 1.233 | 8 | Advance to Knockout stage |
| Mayo | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8-58 | 9-46 | 1.123 | 8 | |
| Clare | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 6-51 | 2-55 | 1.131 | 7 | |
| Down | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 5-55 | 6-67 | 0.824 | 7 | |
| Monaghan | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1-57 | 6-63 | 0.741 | 7 | Relegated to Division Two of the 1999–2000 NFL |
| Laois | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2-48 | 6-67 | 0.593 | 1 | Relegated to Division Two of the 1999–2000 NFL |

### Division two

**Final standings**

**Group A**

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Aver | Pts | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Kerry | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 10-97 | 3-54 | 2.016 | 14 | Advance to Knockout stage; Promoted to Division One of the 1999–2000 NFL |
| Roscommon | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 12-85 | 2-58 | 1.891 | 14 | Promoted to Division One of the 1999–2000 NFL |
| Westmeath | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 15-89 | 5-64 | 1.696 | 12 | |
| Wicklow | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 7-84 | 2-64 | 1.500 | 12 | |
| Louth | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 7-82 | 6-56 | 1.392 | 8 | |
| Antrim | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 7-79 | 9-86 | 0.885 | 4 | |
| Limerick | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 6-60 | 10-83 | 0.690 | 4 | |
| London | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2-64 | 10-79 | 0.642 | 4 | |
| Kilkenny | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2-24 | 21-120 | 0.164 | 0 | |

**Final standings**

**Group B**

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Aver | Pts | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Sligo | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 7-71 | 4-55 | 1.373 | 11 | Advance to Knockout stage; Promoted to Division One of the 1999–2000 NFL |
| Fermanagh | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7-71 | 2-62 | 1.353 | 10 | Promoted to Division One of the 1999–2000 NFL |
| Carlow | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 7-67 | 7-59 | 1.100 | 10 | |
| Wexford | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 8-72 | 5-68 | 1.157 | 8 | |
| Cavan | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 7-77 | 9-70 | 1.010 | 8 | |
| Longford | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 8-71 | 9-80 | 0.888 | 6 | |
| Tipperary | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7-62 | 6-68 | 0.965 | 3 | |
| Waterford | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 4-51 | 13-80 | 0.529 | 0 | |
