1989–90 National Football League (Ireland)

The 1989–90 National Football League, known for sponsorship reasons as the Royal Liver Assurance National Football League, was the 59th staging of the National Football League (NFL), an annual Gaelic football tournament for the Gaelic Athletic Association county teams of Ireland.

The tournament introduced several experimental rules: game divided into four quarters; all kick outs from the hands from within the small rectangle; free kicks from the hands or the ground; all sideline kicks from the hands; teeing up the ball is a foul. Of these rules, only the free kick from hand or ground, and the illegality of teeing up the ball, survive to the modern day. Meath defeated Down in the final.

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: The semi-final match-ups are:
 * 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
 * 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 3 teams demoted to Division Three.
 * Division Three (North): group winners promoted to Division Two. Group runners up play-off for the third promotion slot from Division Three.
 * Division Three (South): group winners promoted to Division Two. Group runners up play-off for the third promotion slot from Division Three.

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.