This article may contain unsourced predictions, speculative material, or accounts of events that might not occur. Information must be verifiable and based on reliable published sources. Please help improve it by removing unsourced speculative content. ( Learn how and when to remove this message )

The following is a summary of Down county football team's 2026 season.

Contents

• Competitions
• Dr McKenna Cup
• Table
• Fixtures
• National Football League Division 3
• Fixtures 2
• Table 2
• Reports
• Ulster Senior Football Championship
• Fixtures 3
• Bracket
• References

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	PR	Pts	Qualification
1	Tyrone	2	2	0	0	37	31	1.194	4	Advance to semi-final
2	Down [a]	2	1	0	1	14	18	0.778	2
3	Armagh	2	0	0	2	17	19	0.895	0

Source: Ulster GAA
Notes:

1. ↑ Armagh defeated Down by 3-10 to 0-10, but the result was reversed due to the fielding of ineligible players. ^[3]

Fixtures

Armagh v Down

7 January 2026Group Stage	Armagh	3-10 - 0-10	Down	Armagh
19:30 IWT (UTC)	O O’Neill (1-2), T Kelly (1-1), S Conlon (1-1), B Hughes (0-1), J McElroy (0-1), D Magee (0-1), C McConville (0-1), R Duffy (0-1)	Report	P Havern (0-3), S Loughran (0-2), D Guinness (0-1), T Close (0-1), E Brown (0-1), A Crimmins (0-1), P McPolin (0-1)	Stadium: Athletic Grounds Referee: James Lewis (Fermanagh)

Tyrone v Down

11 January 2026Group Stage	Tyrone	0-18 - 1-11	Down	Pomeroy
13:30 IWT (UTC)	Ethan Jordan (0-7), Michael Conroy (0-4), Mattie Donnelly (0-3), Joseph Oguz (0-1), Joey Clarke (0-1), Ronan Cassidy (0-1), Aidan Donaghy (0-1)	Report	Pat Havern (0-8), Donal Scullion (1-1), John McGeough (0-1), Daniel Guinness (0-1)	Stadium: Plunkett Park Referee: Conor Dourneen (Cavan)

National Football League Division 3

Official fixtures for the 2026 National League were announced on 4 December 2025. ^{[4] [5]}

Table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Down	2	2	0	0	43	37	+6	4	Advance to NFL Division 3 Final and promotion to 2027 NFL Division 2
2	Wexford	1	1	0	0	16	12	+4	2
3	Westmeath	1	1	0	0	20	19	+1	2
4	Laois	1	0	1	0	13	13	0	1
5	Limerick	2	0	1	1	30	31	−1	1
6	Sligo	1	0	0	1	19	20	−1	0
7	Fermanagh	1	0	0	1	12	16	−4	0	Relegation to 2027 NFL Division 4
8	Clare	1	0	0	1	20	25	−5	0

First match(es) will be played: January 2026. Source: GAA.ie
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Reports

24 January 2026

18:00

Round 1

Down	2-19 - 2-14	Clare
P Havern (0-06), O Murdock (1-02), D Guinness (0-05), J McGeough (1-01), C Doherty (0-03), S Annett (0-01), A Crimmins (0-01)	Report	M McInerney (1-03), C Brennan (1-00), D Bohannon (0-02), D Coughlan (0-02), S Ryan (0-02), A Griffin (0-02), B McNamara (0-02), C Murray (0-01)

Pairc Esler, Newry

Referee: Conor Dourneen (Cavan)

31 January 2026

14:00

Round 2

Limerick	1-14 - 0-18	Down
Eliah O’Riordan (0-05), James Naughton (0-04f), Danny Neville (1-00), Robbie Childs (0-02), Barry Coleman (0-01), Andrew Meade (0-01), Paul Maher (0-01)	Report	Daniel Guinness (0-05), Pat Havern (0-03), Ceilum Doherty (0-03), Shane Annett (0-02), Pearse McPolin (0-02), Odhran Murdock (0-01), Ryan McEvoy (0-01), Jamie Doran (0-01)

Páirc na nGael, Limerick

Referee: Fergal Kelly (Longford)

Ulster Senior Football Championship

The draw for the 2026 Ulster Championship took place on 27 November 2026. ^{[8] [9]}

Fixtures

26 April 2026

TBC

Quarter Final

Donegal	v	Down

MacCumhaill Park , Ballybofey

Bracket

Preliminary round v t e

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