| League: | 1986–87 National Hurling League |
| Dates: | 12 October 1986 – 3 May 1987 |
| Team1: | Galway |
| Titles: | 4th |
| Two: | Tipperary |
| Three: | Down |
| Four: | Tyrone |
| Previous: | 1985–86 |
| Next: | 1987–88 |
The 1986–87 National Hurling League (known as the Ford National Hurling League for sponsorship reasons) was the 56th season of the National Hurling League.
| Competition: | National Hurling League Division 1 |
| Season: | 1986-87 |
| Winners: | Galway 4th National League title Captain: Conor Hayes Manager: Cyril Farrell |
| Relegated: | Offaly Westmeath |
| League Topscorer: | Cyril Lyons (4-51) |
| Biggest Home Win: | Limerick 3-16 - 1-7 Westmeath (12 October 1986) |
| Biggest Away Win: | Galway 5-16 - 1-12 Waterford (19 April 1987) |
| Highest Scoring: | Cork 5-8 - 2-21 Galway (12 October 1986) |
| Matches: | 33 |
| Prevseason: | 1985-86 |
| Nextseason: | 1987-88 |
| Updated: | 24 February 2017 |
Kilkenny came into the season as defending champions of the 1985-86 season. Westmeath and Wexford entered Division 1 as the promoted teams.
On 3 May 1987, Galway won the title following a 3-12 to 3-10 win over Clare in the final. It was their first league title since 1974-75 and their 3rd National League title overall.[1]
Offaly and Westmeath were relegated from Division 1.
Clare's Cyril Lyons was the Division 1 top scorer with 4-51.
| width=20 | Pos | width=150 | Team | width=20 | Pld | width=20 | W | width=20 | D | width=20 | L | width=20 | Pts | width=250 | Qualification or Relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clare | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 12 | Division 1 Runners-Up | ||||||||
| 2 | Galway | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | Division 1 Champions | ||||||||
| 3 | Cork | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | |||||||||
| 4 | Limerick | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 8 | |||||||||
| 5 | Kilkenny | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 6 | |||||||||
| 6 | Wexford | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |||||||||
| 7 | Westmeath | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | Relegated to Division 2 | ||||||||
| 8 | Offaly | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
| Rank | Player | Team | Tally | Total | Matches | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cyril Lyons | Clare | 4-51 | 63 | 9 | 7.00 | |
| 2 | Joe Cooney | Galway | 4-43 | 55 | |||
| 3 | Jimmy Holohan | Wexford | 2-37 | 43 | |||
| 4 | David Kilcoyne | Westmeath | 5-24 | 39 | |||
| Joe Dooley | Offaly | 2-33 | 39 | 7 | |||
| 6 | Terence Kenny | Limerick | 5-12 | 27 | |||
| 7 | Gary Kirby | Limerick | 5-09 | 24 | |||
| 8 | Tomás Mulcahy | Cork | 7-02 | 23 | |||
| Mark Foley | Cork | 6-05 | 23 | ||||
| 10 | Anthony Cunningham | Galway | 5-07 | 22 |
| Rank | Player | Club | Tally | Total | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jimmy Holohan | Wexford | 1-10 | 13 | Clare |
| 2 | Anthony Cunningham | Galway | 3-03 | 12 | Waterford |
| Joe Cooney | Galway | 2-06 | 12 | Clare | |
| Cyril Lyons | Clare | 1-09 | 12 | Westmeath | |
| 5 | Jimmy Holohan | Wexford | 0-11 | 11 | Westmeath |
| 6 | Éanna Ryan | Galway | 3-01 | 10 | Clare |
| Cyril Lyons | Clare | 2-04 | 10 | Kilkenny | |
| Joe Cooney | Galway | 1-07 | 10 | Cork | |
| David Kilcoyne | Westmeath | 1-07 | 10 | Galway | |
| Joe Cooney | Galway | 1-07 | 10 | Waterford |
| Competition: | National Hurling League Division 2 |
| Season: | 1986-87 |
| Winners: | Tipperary Captain: Richard Stakelum Manager: Babs Keating |
| Promoted: | Waterford |
| Relegated: | Mayo Meath |
| Prevseason: | 1985-86 |
| Nextseason: | 1987-88 |
| Updated: | 24 February 2017 |
Dublin, Laois, Mayo and Waterford entered Division 2 as the promoted and relegated teams from the previous season.
On 1 March 1987, Tipperary secured the title following a 5-18 to 0-2 win over Mayo in the final round of the group stage. Waterford secured promotion to Division 1 as the second-placed team.
Mayo and Meath were relegated from Division 2.
| width=20 | Pos | width=135 | Team | width=20 | Pld | width=20 | W | width=20 | D | width=20 | L | width=20 | Pts | width=250 | Qualification or Relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tipperary (C) | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 12 | Promoted to Division 1 | ||||||||
| 2 | Waterford | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | |||||||||
| 3 | Antrim | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 9 | |||||||||
| 4 | Dublin | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | |||||||||
| 5 | Laois | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | |||||||||
| 6 | Kerry | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | |||||||||
| 7 | Mayo | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | Relegated to Division 3 | ||||||||
| 7 | Meath | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| Competition: | National Hurling League Division 3 |
| Season: | 1986-87 |
| Winners: | Dublin |
| Promoted: | Roscommon |
| Relegated: | Monaghan |
| Prevseason: | 1985-86 |
| Nextseason: | 1987-88 |
| Updated: | 24 February 2017 |
Down, Monaghan and Roscommon entered Division 3 as the promoted and relegated teams from the previous season.
On 1 March 1987, Down secured the title following a 3-18 to 0-6 win over Kildare in the final round of the group stage. Roscommon secured promotion to Division 1 as the second-placed team.
Monaghan were relegated from Division 2.
| width=20 | Pos | width=135 | Team | width=20 | Pld | width=20 | W | width=20 | D | width=20 | L | width=20 | Pts | width=250 | Qualification or Relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Down (C) | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 12 | Promoted to Division 2 | ||||||||
| 2 | Roscommon | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | |||||||||
| 3 | Carlow | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | |||||||||
| 4 | Derry | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | |||||||||
| 5 | Armagh | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 6 | |||||||||
| 6 | Kildare | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | |||||||||
| 7 | Wicklow | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | |||||||||
| 8 | Monaghan | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | Relegated to Division 4 |