| League: | 1987–88 National Hurling League |
| Dates: | 11 October 1987 – 29 July 1988 |
| Team1: | Tipperary |
| Titles: | 15th |
| Two: | Offaly |
| Three: | Meath |
| Four: | Longford |
| Previous: | 1986–87 |
| Next: | 1988–89 |
The 1987–88 National Hurling League (known as the Royal Liver National Hurling League for sponsorship reasons) was the 57th edition of the National Hurling League.
| Competition: | National Hurling League Division 1 |
| Season: | 1987-88 |
| Winners: | Tipperary 15th National League title Captain: Pat O'Neill Manager: Michael Keating |
| Relegated: | Clare Cork |
| League Topscorer: | Pat Fox (6-40) |
| Matches: | 34 |
| Prevseason: | 1986-87 |
| Nextseason: | 1988-89 |
| Updated: | 24 February 2017 |
Galway came into the season as defending champions of the 1985-86 season. Westmeath and Wexford entered Division 1 as the promoted teams.
On 24 April 1988, Tipperary won the title following a 3-15 to 2-9 win over Offaly in the final. It was their first league title since 1978-79 and their 14th National League title overall.[1]
Clare and Cork were relegated from Division 1.
Tipperary's Pat Fox was the Division 1 top scorer with 6-40.
| width=20 | Pos | width=150 | Team | width=20 | Pld | width=20 | W | width=20 | D | width=20 | L | width=20 | Diff | width=20 | Pts | width=250 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wexford | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 11 | ||||||||||
| 2 | Waterford | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 10 | ||||||||||
| 3 | Tipperary | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 20 | 9 | Division 1 champions | |||||||||
| 4 | Galway | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 9 | ||||||||||
| 5 | Kilkenny | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 8 | ||||||||||
| 6 | Limerick | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | -19 | 4 | ||||||||||
| 7 | Clare | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | -37 | 4 | Relegated to Division 2 | |||||||||
| 8 | Cork | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | -31 | 1 | Relegated to Division 2 |
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
| Rank | Player | Team | Tally | Total | Matches | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pat Fox | Tipperary | 6-40 | 58 | 10 | 5.80 |
| 2 | Nicky English | Tipperary | 7-33 | 54 | ||
| 3 | Jimmy Holohan | Wexford | 3-44 | 53 | ||
| 4 | Val Donnellan | Clare | 3-41 | 50 | 8 | 6.25 |
| 5 | Gary Kirby | Limerick | 2-38 | 44 | 8 | 5.50 |
| 6 | Kieran Delahunty | Waterford | 1-39 | 42 | 8 | 5.25 |
| 7 | Joe Cooney | Galway | 1-35 | 38 | ||
| 8 | Mickey Mullins | Cork | 2-21 | 27 | ||
| 9 | Tom Dempsey | Wexford | 2-14 | 20 | ||
| Anthony Cunningham | Galway | 2-14 | 20 |
| Rank | Player | Team | Tally | Total | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nicky English | Tipperary | 2-11 | 17 | Waterford |
| 2 | Nicky English | Tipperary | 2-07 | 13 | Antrim |
| 3 | Pat Fox | Tipperary | 2-06 | 12 | Clare |
| 4 | Pat Fox | Tipperary | 2-04 | 10 | Limerick |
| Jimmy Holohan | Wexford | 2-04 | 10 | Galway | |
| Pat Fox | Tipperary | 2-04 | 10 | Waterford | |
| Val Donnellan | Clare | 1-07 | 10 | Limerick | |
| 8 | Kieran Delahunty | Waterford | 1-06 | 9 | Kilkenny |
| Jimmy Holohan | Wexford | 1-06 | 9 | Waterford | |
| Joe Cooney | Galway | 1-06 | 9 | Clare | |
| Jimmy Holohan | Wexford | 0-09 | 9 | Kilkenny | |
| Pat Fox | Tipperary | 0-09 | 9 | Waterford | |
| Mark Corrigan | Offaly | 0-09 | 9 | Wexford |
| Competition: | National Hurling League Division 2 |
| Season: | 1987-88 |
| Winners: | Offaly |
| Promoted: | Antrim |
| Relegated: | Down Roscommon |
| Prevseason: | 1986-87 |
| Nextseason: | 1988-89 |
| Updated: | 24 February 2017 |
Down, Offaly, Roscommon and Westmeath entered Division 2 as the promoted and relegated teams from the previous season.
On 6 March 1988, Offaly secured the title following a 1-13 to 3-4 win over Down in the final round of the group stage. Antrim secured promotion to Division 1 as the second-placed team.
Down and Roscommon were relegated from Division 2.
| width=20 | Pos | width=150 | Team | width=20 | Pld | width=20 | W | width=20 | D | width=20 | L | width=20 | Pts | width=250 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Offaly (C) | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | Promoted to Division 1 | ||||||||
| 2 | Antrim | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | Promoted to Division 1 | ||||||||
| 3 | Dublin | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 8 | |||||||||
| 4 | Laois | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 8 | |||||||||
| 5 | Kerry | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 | |||||||||
| 6 | Westmeath | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | |||||||||
| 7 | Down | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | Relegated to Division 3 | ||||||||
| 8 | Roscommon | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | Relegated to Division 3 |
| Competition: | National Hurling League Division 3 |
| Season: | 1987-88 |
| Winners: | Meath |
| Promoted: | Derry |
| Relegated: | Tyrone |
| Prevseason: | 1986-87 |
| Nextseason: | 1988-89 |
| Updated: | 25 February 2017 |
Mayo, Meath and Tyrone entered Division 3 as the promoted and relegated teams from the previous season.
Meath secured the title following a 5-7 to 2-5 win over Kildare in the final round of the group stage. Derry secured promotion to Division 2 as the second-placed team.
Tyrone were relegated from Division 3.
| width=20 | Pos | width=135 | Team | width=20 | Pld | width=20 | W | width=20 | D | width=20 | L | width=20 | Pts | width=250 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meath (C) | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | Promoted to Division 2 | ||||||||
| 2 | Derry | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 12 | Promoted to Division 2 | ||||||||
| 6 | Kildare | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | |||||||||
| 3 | Carlow | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | |||||||||
| 4 | Mayo | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 6 | |||||||||
| 5 | Armagh | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 6 | |||||||||
| 7 | Wicklow | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 6 | |||||||||
| 8 | Tyrone | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | Relegated to Division 4 |
| Competition: | National Hurling League Division 4 |
| Season: | 1987-88 |
| Winners: | Longford |
| Prevseason: | 1986-87 |
| Nextseason: | 1988-89 |
| Updated: | 25 February 2017 |
Monaghan entered Division 4 as the relegated team from the previous season.
On 29 July 1988, Longford secured the title following a 2-9 to 2-7 win over Monaghan in a replay of the league final.
Semi-final
Finals