# 2024 Down county football team season

The following is a summary of Down county football team's 2024 season, which is its 121st year.

## 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 All Ireland Senior Football Championship or the Tailteann Cup.

## Dr McKenna Cup

The draw for the 2024 Dr McKenna Cup took place on 14 December 2023.

### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Derry | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 23 | +5 | 4 | Advance to semi-final |
| 2 | Down | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 2 | |
| 3 | Cavan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 31 | 36 | −5 | 0 | |

### Fixtures
## National Football League Division 3

Down will compete in Division Three of the National League in 2024. The fixtures were confirmed on 6 December 2023.

### Fixtures

Win  Draw  Loss  Postponed/Cancelled
| Date | Round | Home | Score | Away | Ground |
| Saturday 28 January | Group | Wicklow | 0-13 v 0-18 | Down | Aughrim County Ground |
| Saturday 3 February | Group | Down | 3-16 v 0-09 | Limerick | Páirc Esler, Newry |
| Sunday 18 February | Group | Antrim | 1-06 v 1-15 | Down | Corrigan Park |
| Saturday 24 February | Group | Down | 4-12 v 2-14 | Offaly | Páirc Esler, Newry |
| Sunday 3 March | Group | Down | 2-17 v 1-08 | Sligo | Páirc Esler, Newry |
| Sunday 17 March | Group | Westmeath | 0-13 v 1-10 | Down | Cusack Park, Mullingar |
| Sunday 24 March | Group | Down | 3-15 v 1-10 | Clare | Páirc Esler, Newry |
| Saturday 30 March | Final | Down | 0-13 v 2-10 | Westmeath | Croke Park, Dublin |

### Table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Down | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 145 | 88 | +57 | 13 | Advance to NFL Division 3 Final and promotion to 2025 NFL Division 2 |
| 2 | Westmeath | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 95 | 83 | +12 | 11 | Advance to NFL Division 3 Final and promotion to 2025 NFL Division 2 |
| 3 | Clare | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 106 | 95 | +11 | 10 | |
| 4 | Sligo | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 103 | 96 | +7 | 9 | |
| 5 | Antrim | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 94 | 106 | −12 | 6 | |
| 6 | Offaly | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 111 | 100 | +11 | 5 | |
| 7 | Wicklow | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 78 | 126 | −48 | 2 | Relegation to 2025 NFL Division 4 |
| 8 | Limerick | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 77 | 115 | −38 | 0 | Relegation to 2025 NFL Division 4 |

### Reports
## Ulster Senior Football Championship

The draw for the 2024 Ulster Championship took place on 21 October 2023.

### Bracket

| Preliminary roundvte | Preliminary roundvte | Preliminary roundvte | Quarter-Finals | Quarter-Finals | Quarter-Finals | Semi-Finals | Semi-Finals | Semi-Finals | Final | Final | Final |
| | | | Down | Down | 0-13 | | | | | | |
| | | | Antrim | Antrim | 0-09 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Down | Down | 2-06 | | | |
| | | | | | | Armagh | Armagh | 0-13 | | | |
| | | | Fermanagh | Fermanagh | 0-09 | | | | | | |
| | | | Armagh | Armagh | 3-11 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | Armagh | Armagh | 0-20 (5) |
| | | | | | | | | | Donegal | Donegal | 0-20 (6) |
| | | | Derry | Derry | 0-17 | | | | | | |
| | | | Donegal | Donegal | 4-11 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Donegal | Donegal | 0-18 | | | |
| Monaghan | Monaghan | 1-12 | | | | Tyrone | Tyrone | 0-16 | | | |
| Cavan | Cavan | 3-12 | Cavan | Cavan | 3-16 | | | | | | |
| | | | Tyrone | Tyrone | 1-23* | | | | | | |

## Tailteann Cup

Due to their National League ranking and because they never progressed to the Ulster Championship final, Down will enter the Tailteann Cup in 2024 for the 3rd time. The draw for the 2024 competition was made on 30 April with Down being drawn into Group 4 with Offaly, Limerick and London. Down proceeded onto a second Tailteann Cup final in a row against Laois on 13 July 2024 and went on to win the final by two points winning their first Tailteann Cup.

### Group 4

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Down | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 41 | +37 | 6 | Advance to quarter-final |
| 2 | Limerick | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 45 | 41 | +4 | 4 | Advance to preliminary quarter-final |
| 3 | London | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 46 | 59 | −13 | 2 | Advance to preliminary quarter-final |
| 4 | Offaly | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 42 | 70 | −28 | 0 | |

### Knockout stage

| Preliminary quarter-finals | Preliminary quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| | | Down | 1-18 | | | | |
| Leitrim | 1-11 | Wicklow | 0-12 | | | | |
| Wicklow | 2-15 | | | Down (a.e.t.) | 1-20 | | |
| | | | | Sligo | 2-15 | | |
| | | Sligo | 2-20 | | | | |
| Limerick | 1-18 | Limerick | 0-9 | | | | |
| Tipperary | 1-10 | | | | | Down | 0-14 |
| | | | | | | Laois | 2-06 |
| | | Kildare | 0-12 | | | | |
| Laois | 1-13 | Laois | 2-11 | | | | |
| New York | 1-9 | | | Laois | 3-12 | | |
| | | | | Antrim | 1-13 | | |
| | | Fermanagh | 0-11 | | | | |
| Antrim | 3-11 | Antrim | 1-11 | | | | |
| London | 1-10 | | | | | | |