Offaly manager Mickey Harte and Meath boss Robbie Brennan will renew rivalries when the counties meet in the last round of games in NFL Div 2. Photo: Gerry Shanahan-www.cyberimages.net

National Football League Div 2 Preview county by county

Published: Thu 22 Jan 2026, 6:00 PM

MEATH

Last year was a bolt from the blue for Meath. Wins over Dublin, Kerry and Galway in the championship has risen the Royal stock and if progression is to be maintained then they will be aiming for promotion to Div 1.

Manager: Robbie Brennan; players to watch: Jordan Morris, Jack Flynn, Sean Rafferty; 2025 results: NFL Div 2 - Cork 2-19, Meath 0-21; Meath 3-21, Cavan 0-20; Meath 0-24, Down 1-18; Meath 2-18, Roscommon 0-17; Meath 3-14, Westmeath 1-17; Monaghan 1-29, Meath 1-20; Louth 1-19, Meath 0-17; Leinster SFC - Meath 1-30, Carlow 0-19; Meath 1-25, Offaly 0-21; Meath 0-23, Dublin 1-16; final - Louth 3-14, Meath 1-18; All-Ireland SFC: group stage - Meath 1-13, Cork 0-12; Meath 0-21, Roscommon 0-21; Meath 1-22, Kerry 0-16; quarter-final - Meath 2-16, Galway 2-15; semi-final - Donegal 3-26, Meath 0-15; prediction: second.

DERRY

After going the whole of 2025 without winning a league or championship match Derry are most certainly a wounded animal and should be treated with caution. They are very much a teasm in transition and a couple of years in Div 2 will do them no harm.

Manager: Ciaran Meenagh; players to watch: Conor Glass, Tommy Rogers, Cahir McMonagle; 2025 results: NFL Div 1 - Tyrone 2-13, Derry 1-9; Kerry 5-15, Derry 1-24; Derry 0-16, Galway 1-13; Dublin 3-20, Derry 2-12; Donegal 1-22, Derry 1-19; Mayo 2-19, Derry 1-17; Armagh 4-24, Derry 1-18; Ulster SFC - Donegal 1-25, Derry 1-15; All-Ireland SFC: group stage - Armagh 2-21, Derry 2-17; Galway 4-14, Derry 2-20; Dublin 0-22, Derry 0-20; prediction: third.

CAVAN

Dermot McCabe takes charge of his native county and that will instil a lot of pride around Breffni way. On their day Cavan can be world beaters as we saw against Mayo, Louth and Roscommon last year, but they might find the intensity of week on week football hard to handle.

Manager: Dermot McCabe; players to watch: Paddy Lynch, Cian Madden, Ciaran Brady; 2025 results: NFL Div 2 - Monaghan 2-22, Cavan 0-20; Meath 3-21, Cavan 0-20; Cavan 3-15, Louth 0-18; Cavan 1-22, Westmeath 0-21; Cavan 1-20, Down 1-18; Cavan 0-22, Roscommon 0-20; Cork 0-21, Cavan 0-19; Ulster SFC - Tyrone 1-24, Cavan 0-20; All-Ireland SFC: group stage - Cavan 1-17, Mayo 1-14; Donegal 3-26, Cavan 1-13; Tyrone 0-32, Cavan 0-18; preliminary quarter-final - Kerry 3-20, Cavan 1-17; prediction: seventh.

LOUTH

Succeeding a provincial championship winning manager is a thankless task for Gavin Devlin. Ending the long wait for a Leinster SFC title should be a stepping stone for Louth, but it will take time to integrate their exciting crop of Leinster u-20 winning players.

Manager: Gavin Devlin; players to watch: Sam Mulroy, Craig Lennon, Tommy Durnin; 2025 results: NFL Div 2 - Louth 1-17, Westmeath 0-18; Roscommon 1-17, Louth 1-15; Cavan 3-15, Louth 0-18; Louth 2-17, Down 0-22; Monaghan 1-27, Louth 1-21; Cork 1-23, Louth 0-18; Louth 1-19, Meath 0-17; Leinster SFC - Louth 2-16, Laois 1-7; Louth 1-18, Kildare 0-18; final - Louth 3-14, Meath 1-18; All-Ireland SFC: group stage - Monaghan 1-23, Louth 4-8; Down 0-25, Louth 0-24; Louth 2-17, Clare 2-14; preliminary quarter-final - Donegal 2-22, Louth 0-12; prediction: fifth.

CORK

John Cleary was given another two-years to turn the fortunes of Cork, but the footballers always play second fiddle to the hurlers on Leeside. The return of Steven Sherlock is a huge boost and they will claim some big scalps. Home form is key.

Manager: John Cleary; players to watch: Steven Sherlock, David Buckley, Brian O'Driscoll; 2025 results: NFL Div 2 - Cork 2-19, Meath 0-21; Down 1-19, Cork 2-15; Cork 3-18, Westmeath 3-17; Monaghan 3-16, Cork 1-15; Roscommon 2-21, Cork 0-13; Cork 1-23, Louth 0-18; Cork 0-21, Cavan 0-19; Munster SFC - Cork 0-24, Limerick 0-13; Kerry 3-21, Cork 1-25; All-Ireland SFC: group stage - Meath 1-13, Cork 0-12; Kerry 1-28, Cork 0-20; Cork 0-19, Roscommon 0-17; preliminary quarter-final - Dublin 1-19, Cork 1-16; prediction: fourth.

KILDARE

Brian Flanagan enjoyed instant success with Kildare leading them to promotion to Div 2 and Tailteann Cup success. Their loss to Louth in Leinster proves they might not be ready to mix it with the big guns yet, but they are on their way.

Manager: Brian Flanagan; players to watch: Darragh Kirwan, Mick Spillane, Alex Beirne; 2025 results: NFL Div 3 - Kildare 2-24, Fermanagh 1-12; Kildare 1-16, Sligo 0-13; Kildare 1-27, Leitrim 0-7; Kildare 0-21, Laois 0-9; Clare 2-12, Kildare 0-16; Offaly 2-17, Kildare 0-17; Kildare 1-16, Antrim 1-15; Leinster SFC - Kildare 2-17, Westmeath 0-21; Louth 1-18, Kildare 0-18; Tailteann Cup: group stage - Kildare 0-36, Leitrim 0-11; Kildare 3-19, Tipperary 1-11; Kildare 4-19, Sligo 1-24; quarter-final - Kildare 1-17, Offaly 0-19; semi-final - Kildare 1-13, Fermanagh 0-9; final - Kildare 1-24, Limerick 2-19; prediction: sixth.

TYRONE

It seems easy to forget that Tyrone pushed Kerry to within six points in last year's All-Ireland SFC semi-final. They finished Div 1 last year with seven points, one less than Kerry who reached the league final. Were relegated by virtue of their head-to-head loss to Armagh. They should bounce back.

Manager: Malachy O'Rourke; players to watch: Ruairi McCullagh, Mattie Donnelly, Eoin McElholm; 2025 results: NFL Div 1 - Tyrone 2-13, Derry 1-9; Armagh 1-23, Tyrone 0-18; Mayo 0-12, Tyrone 0-10; Kerry 3-13, Tyrone 2-13; Galway 1-18, Tyrone 1-18; Tyrone 0-25, Donegal 0-19; Tyrone 2-20, Dublin 1-16; Ulster SFC - Tyrone 1-24, Cavan 0-20; Armagh 0-23, Tyrone 0-22; All-Ireland SFC: group stage - Tyrone 2-17, Donegal 0-20; Mayo 2-17, Tyrone 1-13; Tyrone 0-31, Cavan 0-18; quarter-final - Tyrone 0-23, Dublin 0-16; semi-final - Kerry 1-20, Tyrone 0-17; prediction: first.

OFFALY

Secured promotion to Div 2 by winning Div 3 and under Declan Kelly and Mickey Harte they have developed into a potential banana skin for all the top sides. Be interesting to see how they cope with the higher intensity week in and week out, but on their day they are a dangerous side. But are they dangerous enough to survive?

Manager: Mickey Harte/Declan Kelly; players to watch: Cormac Egan, Jordan Hayes, Ciaran Murphy; 2025 results: NFL Div 3 - Offaly 1-17, Sligo 0-13; Offaly 2-19, Laois 1-17; Offaly 4-19, Antrim 0-15; Fermanagh 1-13, Offaly 3-6; Offaly 1-13, Leitrim 1-9; Offaly 2-17, Kildare 0-17; Clare 2-14, Offaly 2-9; Leinster SFC - Meath 1-25, Offaly 0-21; Tailteann Cup: group stage - Offaly 2-13, Wicklow 0-11; Offaly 1-18, Waterford 1-13; Laois 3-18, Offaly 3-16; preliminary quarter-final - Offaly 2-25, New York 1-12; quarter-final - Kildare 1-17, Offaly 0-19; prediction: eighth.