# 2023 Down county football team season

The following is a summary of Down county football team's 2023 season, which was its 120th year. On 9 August 2022, Conor Laverty was appointed Down manager.

## 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 the Tailteann Cup.

## Dr McKenna Cup

The McKenna Cup group draw took place on 15 December 2021.

### Table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PR | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Down | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 25 | 1.440 | 4 | Advance to semi-final |
| 2 | Monaghan | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 29 | 0.931 | 2 | |
| 3 | Donegal | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 35 | 0.743 | 0 | |

### Fixtures
## National Football League Division 3

Down will compete in Division Three of the National League in 2023. The GAA released the fixtures for the league season on 8 December 2022.

### Fixtures

Win  Draw  Loss  Postponed/Cancelled
| Date | Round | Home | Score | Away | Ground |
| Saturday 28 January | Group | Tipperary | 1-11 v 2-11 | Down | Semple Stadium, Thurles |
| Saturday 4 February | Group | Down | 2-18 v 2-17 | Antrim | Páirc Esler, Newry |
| Sunday 19 February | Group | Fermanagh | 2-14 v 3-10 | Down | Brewster Park, Enniskillen |
| Saturday 25 February | Group | Down | 1-10 v 0-11 | Westmeath | Páirc Esler, Newry |
| Sunday 5 March | Group | Cavan | 2-14 v 1-10 | Down | Breffni Park, Cavan |
| Sunday 18 March | Group | Down | 1-19 v 1-14 | Longford | Páirc Esler, Newry |
| Sunday 26 March | Group | Offaly | 0-09 v 1-18 | Down | O'Connor Park, Tullamore |

### Table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Fermanagh | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 114 | 94 | +20 | 12 | Advance to NFL Division 3 Final and promotion to 2024 NFL Division 2 |
| 2 | Cavan | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 130 | 94 | +36 | 10 | Advance to NFL Division 3 Final and promotion to 2024 NFL Division 2 |
| 3 | Down | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 129 | 114 | +15 | 10 | |
| 4 | Westmeath | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 135 | 79 | +56 | 8 | |
| 5 | Offaly | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 105 | 115 | −10 | 8 | |
| 6 | Antrim | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 124 | 158 | −34 | 4 | |
| 7 | Longford | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 104 | 142 | −38 | 3 | Relegation to 2024 NFL Division 4 |
| 8 | Tipperary | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 83 | 128 | −45 | 1 | Relegation to 2024 NFL Division 4 |

### Reports
## Ulster Senior Football Championship

The draw for the 2023 Ulster Championship was made on 15 October 2022.

### Bracket

| Preliminary roundvte | Preliminary roundvte | Preliminary roundvte | Quarter-Finals | Quarter-Finals | Quarter-Finals | Semi-Finals | Semi-Finals | Semi-Finals | Final | Final | Final |
| | | | Fermanagh | Fermanagh | 2–8 | | | | | | |
| | | | Derry | Derry | 3–17 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Derry | Derry | 1–21 | | | |
| | | | | | | Monaghan | Monaghan | 2–10 | | | |
| | | | Tyrone | Tyrone | 1–18 | | | | | | |
| | | | Monaghan | Monaghan | 2–17 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | Derry | Derry | 1–15 (3) |
| | | | | | | | | | Armagh | Armagh | 0–18 (1) |
| | | | Down | Down | 2–13 | | | | | | |
| | | | Donegal | Donegal | 1–11 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Down | Down | 0–12 | | | |
| | | | | | | Armagh | Armagh | 4–10 | | | |
| | | | Cavan | Cavan | 0–12 | | | | | | |
| Armagh | Armagh | 0–20 | Armagh | Armagh | 1–14 | | | | | | |
| Antrim | Antrim | 1–8 | | | | | | | | | |

## 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 2023 for the 2nd time. The draw for the 2023 competition was made on 2 May with Down being drawn into Group B with Meath, Waterford and Tipperary.

### Group 2

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Meath | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 62 | 40 | +22 | 6 | Advance to quarter-final |
| 2 | Down | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 56 | 29 | +27 | 4 | Advance to preliminary quarter-final |
| 3 | Tipperary | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 34 | 62 | −28 | 2 | |
| 4 | Waterford | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 42 | 63 | −21 | 0 | |

### Knockout stage

| Preliminary quarter-finals | Preliminary quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| | | Cavan | 0–15 | | | | |
| Down | 1–20 | Down | 1–17 | | | | |
| Longford | 1–12 | | | Down | 8–16 | | |
| | | | | Laois | 2–12 | | |
| | | Limerick | 0–14 | | | | |
| Fermanagh | 1–9 | Laois | 1–14 | | | | |
| Laois | 1–11 | | | | | Down | 0–14 |
| | | | | | | Meath | 2–13 |
| | | Meath | 2–23 | | | | |
| Offaly | 2–14 | Wexford | 0–12 | | | | |
| Wexford | 1–22 | | | Meath | 2–16 | | |
| | | | | Antrim | 2–14 | | |
| | | Antrim | 1–19 | | | | |
| Carlow | 0–15 | Carlow | 1–15 | | | | |
| New York | 0–10 | | | | | | |