2021 National Hurling League

The 2021 National Hurling League was the 90th season of the National Hurling League for county teams. The English county teams (London, Warwickshire and Lancashire) did not compete due to the COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions.

In February 2021 it was announced that the league would be delayed due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games and that cancelling it would be a last resort. The league began on 8 May 2021.

Eir Sport and RTÉ provided live TV coverage of the league on Saturday nights. TG4 broadcast Sunday afternoon games. The highlights programmes were RTÉ2's League Sunday on Sunday evenings, and TG4's GAA 2021 on Monday evenings.

and were the joint winners.

Format
League structure

Thirty-two teams competed in the 2021 National Hurling League – All thirty-two county teams from Ireland took part.
 * twelve teams organised in two six-team groups of approximately equal strength in Division 1
 * six teams in Division 2A
 * five teams in Divisions 2B and 3A
 * four teams in Division 3B.

London, Lancashire and Warwickshire did not take part; they retained their division placings (2B, 3A and 3B respectively) for the 2022 National Hurling League.

Each team plays all the other teams in their division once, either home or away. Two points are awarded for a win, and one for a draw.

Tie-breaker
 * If only two teams are level on league points, the team that won the head-to-head match is ranked ahead. If this game was a draw, score difference (total scored minus total conceded in all games) is used to rank the teams.
 * If three or more teams are level on league points, score difference is used to rank the teams.

Final, promotions and relegations

Division 1 Divisions 2A, 2B and 3A Division 3B
 * There is no final; there will either be joint winners, or if the teams that win Divisions 1A and 1B meet in the 2021 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, this will double as the NHL final.
 * The bottom team in each group meet in a relegation play-off, with the losers being relegated to Division 2A
 * The first-placed team is the division champion and is promoted
 * The bottom team is relegated
 * The first-placed team is the Division 3B champion and is promoted to Division 3A

Division 1 Format
The top twelve teams compete in Division 1 in two six-team groups of approximately equal strength. This group structure was introduced in 2020.

Each team play all the other teams in their group once. Two points are awarded for a win and one for a draw. The top team in each group will be deemed "Co-champion", unless they are drawn together in the 2021 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, in which case the match will double up as the league final.

Division 1 Final
If the two teams that won Divisions 1A and 1B (Galway and Kilkenny respectively) had met in the 2021 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, this would have doubled as the league final. This did not happen so both teams were declared as joint winners.

Division 1 relegation play-off
The bottom teams in the two Division 1 groups met in a play-off with the losers (Westmeath) relegated to Division 2A.

Division 1 scoring statistics

 * Top scorers overall


 * Top scorers in a single game

Division 2A scoring statistics

 * Top scorers overall


 * Top scorers in a single game

Division 2B scoring statistics

 * Top scorers overall


 * Top scorers in a single game