2021 Nicky Rackard Cup

The 2021 Nicky Rackard Cup was the 17th staging of the Nicky Rackard Cup since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2005. The cup began on 26 June 2021 and ended on 31 July 2021.

Longford and Monaghan did not participate in the competition after being relegated in 2020. Donegal were the defending champions, however, they were beaten by Tyrone in the semi-final. Leitrim were relegated after a defeat by Armagh.

The final was played on 31 July 2021 at Croke Park in Dublin, between Mayo and Tyrone, in what was their first ever meeting in a final. Mayo won the match by 2-27 to 1-14 to claim their second cup title overall and a first title since 2016.

Donegal's Declan Coulter was the Nicky Rackard Cup's top scorer with 1-34.

To Championship
Relegated from the Christy Ring Cup


 * None

Promoted from the Lory Meagher Cup


 * None

From Championship
Promoted to the Christy Ring Cup


 * None

Relegated to the Lory Meagher Cup


 * Longford
 * Monaghan

Cup format
The format has been changed for 2021 with 5 teams playing across two groups, one with 3 teams and one with 2 teams based on an open draw.

Group A will feature 3 teams and be played in a single Round Robin format with each team having one home game and one away game.

Group B will feature 2 teams who will play a single fixture.

All teams will play a knockout format after this group stage, with the group winners and second-placed team in Group A being placed in the semi-finals. A tie between the third-placed team in Group A and second-placed team in Group B will determine the fourth semi-finalist.

Promotion
The winner of the final will be promoted to the Christy Ring Cup.

Relegation
The loser of the quarter-final will be relegated to the Lory Meagher Cup

Group A

 * {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

!width=20|Pos !width=150 style="text-align:left;"|Team !width=20|Pld !width=20|W !width=20|D !width=20|L !width=50|SF !width=50|SA !width=20|Diff !width=20|Pts !Qualification
 * - style="background:#ccffcc"
 * 1||align=left|Colours_of_Mayo.svg Mayo||2||2||0||0||2-43||0-26||+23||4
 * rowspan="2" |Advance to Semi-Finals
 * - style="background:#ccffcc"
 * 2|| align="left" |Colours_of_Donegal.svg Donegal||2||1||0||1||1-47||6-24||+5||2
 * - style="background:#FFFFE0"
 * 3|| align="left" |Colours_of_Leitrim.svg Leitrim||2||0||0||2||4-19||1-56||-28||0
 * Advance to Quarter-Finals
 * }

Group B

 * {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

!width=20|Pos !width=150 style="text-align:left;"|Team !width=20|Pld !width=20|W !width=20|D !width=20|L !width=50|SF !width=50|SA !width=20|Diff !width=20|Pts !Qualification
 * - style="background:#ccffcc"
 * 1||align=left|Colours_of_Tyrone.svg Tyrone||1||1||0||0||1-18||1-16||+2||2
 * Advance to Semi-Finals
 * - style="background:#FFFFE0"
 * 2|| align="left" |Colours_of_Armagh.svg Armagh||1||0||0||1||1-16||1-18||-2||0
 * Advance to Quarter-Finals
 * }

Top scorers

 * Top scorer overall


 * In a single game