2026 Down county football team season
| 2026 season | |
|---|---|
| Manager | Conor Laverty |
| Stadium | Páirc Esler, Newry |
The following is a summary of Down county football team's 2026 season.
Competitions
Down will compete in the pre-season McKenna Cup tournament, with the main season consisting of the National Football League Division 3, the Ulster Championship and either the Tailteann Cup or the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.
Dr McKenna Cup
The draw for the 2026 Dr McKenna Cup took place on 2 December 2025. [1] [2]
Table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Armagh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to semi-final |
| 2 | Down | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | Tyrone | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Source: Ulster GAA
Fixtures
National Football League Division 3
Official fixtures for the 2026 National League were announced on 4 December 2025. [3] [4]
Fixtures
Win Draw Loss Postponed/Cancelled
| Date | Round | Home | Score | Away | Ground | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday 24 January | Group | Down | Clare | Pairc Esler, Newry | ||
| Saturday 31 January | Group | Limerick | Down | Páirc na nGael, Limerick | ||
| Saturday 14 February | Group | Down | Westmeath | Pairc Esler, Newry | ||
| Sunday 22 February | Group | Wexford | Down | Wexford Park, Wexford | ||
| Saturday 28 February | Group | Down | Fermanagh | Pairc Esler, Newry | ||
| Sunday 15 March | Group | Sligo | Down | Markievicz Park, Sligo | ||
| Sunday 22 March | Group | Down | Laois | Pairc Esler, Newry |
Table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wexford | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to NFL Division 3 Final and promotion to 2027 NFL Division 2 |
| 2 | Clare | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | Fermanagh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | Limerick | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | Laois | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 6 | Westmeath | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 7 | Down | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Relegation to 2027 NFL Division 4 |
| 8 | Sligo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Ulster Senior Football Championship
The draw for the 2026 Ulster Championship took place on 27 November 2026.[5] [6]
Fixtures
Bracket
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | |||||||||||||||||
| Derry | |||||||||||||||||||
| Antrim | |||||||||||||||||||
| Quarter-final winner | |||||||||||||||||||
| Quarter-final winner | |||||||||||||||||||
| Monaghan | |||||||||||||||||||
| Cavan | |||||||||||||||||||
| Semi-final winner | |||||||||||||||||||
| Semi-final winner | |||||||||||||||||||
| Donegal | |||||||||||||||||||
| Down | |||||||||||||||||||
| Quarter-final winner | |||||||||||||||||||
| Armagh | Quarter-final winner | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tyrone | Fermanagh | ||||||||||||||||||
| Preliminary winner | |||||||||||||||||||
References
- ^ "2026 Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup fixtures confirmed". Ulster GAA. 2 December 2025.
- ^ "Armagh v Tyrone to open returning McKenna Cup". BBC Sport. 2 December 2025.
- ^ "Full list of 2026 GAA National League fixtures in football and hurling". BBC Sport. 4 December 2025.
- ^ "GAA Master Fixtures schedule for 2026". GAA. 3 December 2025.
- ^ "2026 Provincial Football Championships draws". GAA. 27 November 2025.
- ^ "2026 SFC provincial draws: Armagh and Tyrone in early season Ulster showdown". RTE. 28 November 2025.