The National Hurling League saw a major restructuring of the usual four divisions with the teams divided more equitably into a five-tier structure.

[1][2] Clare failed to win a single group stage game - finishing in the bottom position - and were relegated to Division 2 for the 2010 league.

Due to the restructuring the 2008 Division 2 champions did not gain promotion to the top tier.

Each team played all the others in its group once, earning 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw.

National Hurling League Final Relegated team