2020 League of Ireland Premier Division

The 2020 League of Ireland Premier Division, known as the SSE Airtricity League for sponsorship reasons, was the 36th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division.

League of Ireland Premier Division
Season2020
Dates14 February 2020 – 9 November 2020
ChampionsShamrock Rovers
RelegatedCork City, Shelbourne
Champions LeagueShamrock Rovers
Europa Conference LeagueBohemians
Dundalk
Sligo Rovers
Matches played90
Goals scored190 (2.11 per match)
Top goalscorerPatrick Hoban (10 goals)
Biggest home winShamrock Rovers 6–0 Cork City
(21 February 2020)
Biggest away winFinn Harps 0–4 Dundalk
(6 March 2020)
Highest scoringShamrock Rovers 6–1 Waterford
(21 September 2020)
Longest winning run7 matches
Shamrock Rovers
Longest unbeaten run18 matches
Shamrock Rovers
Longest winless run7 matches
Finn Harps
Longest losing run5 matches
Finn Harps
Highest attendance7,522[1]
Total attendance65,700[note 1]
Average attendance2,986[2]
← 2019
2021 →
All statistics correct as of 10 November 2020.

The league began on 14 February 2020 and concluded on 9 November 2020. The fixtures were announced on 20 December 2019.[3] The season was halted in mid-March because of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland following the directive of the Irish government and the Football Association of Ireland.[4][5] The FAI subsequently announced a contingency plan with a view to completing the domestic season at a later date with a reduced number of games.[6] It resumed on 31 July.[7] On 24 October, Finn Harps won 2–0 at Bohemians which meant Shamrock Rovers won the league and Cork City were relegated.[8][9]

Overview

The Premier Division consists of 10 teams. Ordinarily each team plays each other four times for a total of 36 matches in the season. Following a meeting of the Football Association of Ireland regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, it was decided that the season would be played on an 18-match basis with teams playing each other twice: once at home and once away.[7]

Shelbourne, the 2019 First Division champions, were promoted to the league for the first time since 2013, replacing fellow Dublin side UCD, who were relegated to the League of Ireland First Division after finishing bottom of the league in 2019.[10]

Teams

Stadia and locations
Locations of Premier Division teams
Locations of Dublin Premier Division teams
Team Location Stadium Capacity
BohemiansDublin (Phibsborough)Dalymount Park3,640
Cork CityCorkTurners Cross7,845
Derry CityDerryBrandywell Stadium3,700
DundalkDundalkOriel Park4,500
Finn HarpsBallybofeyFinn Park6,000
St Patrick's AthleticDublin (Inchicore)Richmond Park5,340
Shamrock RoversDublin (Tallaght)Tallaght Stadium8,000
ShelbourneDublin (Drumcondra)Tolka Park3,700
Sligo RoversSligoThe Showgrounds5,500
WaterfordWaterfordRegional Sports Centre5,500

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Bohemians Keith Long Keith Buckley O'Neills Des Kelly Interiors
Cork City Colin Healy Gearoid Morrissey Adidas University College Cork
Derry City Declan Devine Conor McCormack Adidas Diamond Corrugated
Dundalk Filippo Giovagnoli Brian Gartland Umbro Fyffes
Finn Harps Ollie Horgan Gareth Harkin Joma KN Group
St Patrick's Athletic Stephen O'Donnell Ian Bermingham Umbro MIG Insurance Brokers
Shamrock Rovers Stephen Bradley Ronan Finn Umbro JD Sports
Shelbourne Ian Morris Lorcan Fitzgerald Umbro FLYEfit
Sligo Rovers Liam Buckley Kyle Callan-McFadden Joma Avantcard
Waterford Fran Rockett Brian Murphy Umbro 24/7 Cardiac Care

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of
departure		 Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of
appointment
Waterford Alan Reynolds Resigned 16 June 2020[11] 6th John Sheridan[12] 8 July 2020
Dundalk Vinny Perth Sacked 20 August 2020[13] 3rd Filippo Giovagnoli[14] 25 August 2020
Waterford John Sheridan Moved to Wigan Athletic 11 September 2020[15] 4th Fran Rockett[16] 24 September 2020
Cork City Neale Fenn Resigned 8 October 2020[17] 10th Colin Healy[lower-alpha 1][18] 9 October 2020
  1. Healy was initially appointed as caretaker manager until the end of the season. He was made permanent manager on 24 December 2020.

League table

Standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Shamrock Rovers (C) 18 15 3 0 44 7 +37 48 Qualification to Champions League first qualifying round
2 Bohemians 18 12 1 5 23 12 +11 37 Qualification to Europa Conference League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
3 Dundalk 18 7 5 6 25 23 +2 26
4 Sligo Rovers 18 8 1 9 19 23 −4 25
5 Waterford 18 7 3 8 17 22 −5 24
6 St Patrick's Athletic 18 5 6 7 14 17 −3 21
7 Derry City 18 5 5 8 18 18 0 20
8 Finn Harps 18 5 5 8 15 24 −9 20
9 Shelbourne (R) 18 5 4 9 13 22 −9 19 Qualification to Relegation play-offs
10 Cork City (R) 18 2 5 11 10 30 −20 11 Relegation to League of Ireland First Division
Source: SSE Airtricity League, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.[19]
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Since the winners of the 2020 FAI Cup (Dundalk) qualified for European competition based on their league position, the final spot awarded to the Cup winner passed to the next best-placed team i.e fourth-placed team.

Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included in the round at which they were originally scheduled but added to the full round they were played immediately afterward.

Team ╲ Round123456789101112131415161718
Bohemians643333222222222222
Cork City7101099101091091010101010101010
Derry City888577785766676777
Dundalk122222333433463333
Finn Harps23468891091099999998
Shamrock Rovers311111111111111111
Shelbourne466456667678888889
Sligo Rovers99910109874355555554
St Patrick's Athletic1055745446887747766
Waterford577864558544334445
Source: Extratime.com
  = Leader and UEFA Champions League first qualifying round;   = UEFA Conference League first qualifying round;   = Qualification to the Relegation play-offs;   = Relegation to the League of Ireland First Division

Results

Teams will play each other twice (once at home, once away).

Home \ Away BOH COR DER DUN FHA STP SHM SHE SLI WAT
Bohemians — 3–0 2–1 2–1 0–2 2–0 0–1 2–0 2–0 0–2
Cork City 0–1 — 1–1 0–2 1–0 1–2 0–3 0–1 3–0 0–0
Derry City 2–0 3–1 — 1–2 1–1 0–0 1–2 2–0 0–2 2–0
Dundalk 0–0 3–0 1–0 — 0–0 1–1 0–4 3–2 0–2 2–2
Finn Harps 0–1 1–1 0–0 0–4 — 3–2 0–2 0–1 1–0 1–0
St Patrick's Athletic 1–2 1–0 0–2 1–1 2–0 — 0–0 2–0 0–0 0–1
Shamrock Rovers 1–0 6–0 2–0 3–2 3–1 0–0 — 0–0 4–0 6–1
Shelbourne 1–3 1–1 1–1 1–2 1–1 1–0 0–2 — 1–0 0–1
Sligo Rovers 0–1 2–1 1–0 3–1 3–1 0–2 2–3 2–1 — 2–1
Waterford 0–2 0–0 2–1 1–0 2–3 3–0 0–2 0–1 1–0 —
Source: SSE Airtricity League, Extratime.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Season statistics

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Patrick Hoban Dundalk 10
2 Jack Byrne Shamrock Rovers 9
3 Graham Burke Shamrock Rovers 8
Andre Wright Bohemians
4 Daniel Grant Bohemians 7
Aaron Greene Shamrock Rovers
5 Ronan Coughlan Sligo Rovers 6

Last updated: 6 November 2020.
Source: Extratime.com

Hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date Goals
Graham BurkeShamrock RoversCork City6–021 February 20205
Daniel GrantBohemiansShelbourne1–33 October 20203

Play-Offs

First Division Play-Off Semi-finals
31 October 2020 Bray Wanderers0–1 Galway United Carlisle Grounds
15:00 Wilson Waweru  86' Attendance: 0 (Behind closed doors)
31 October 2020 UCD2–3 (a.e.t.) Longford Town UCD Bowl
15:00 Colm Whelan  18'
Yousef Mahdy  110'		 Joe Gorman  90'
Joe Gorman  113'
Dean Byrne  120'		 Attendance: 0 (Behind closed doors)

First Division Play-Off Final
6 November 2020 Galway United1–2 Longford Town UCD Bowl
19:45 Vinny Faherty  88' Report Karl Chambers  43'
Aodh Dervin  82'		 Attendance: 0 (Behind closed doors)
Referee: Mark Moynihan

Promotion/Relegation Play-Off
15 November 2020 Shelbourne 0–1 Longford Town Richmond Park
14:30 Report Rob Manley  46' Attendance: 0
Referee: Neil Doyle

Source:[20]

Awards

Monthly awards
Month Player of the Month References
Player Club
February Jack Byrne Shamrock Rovers
August Daniel Grant Bohemians
September Jack Byrne Shamrock Rovers
October Sean Murray Dundalk
November David McMillan Dundalk

Annual awards
Award Winner Club
PFAI Player of the Year Jack Byrne Shamrock Rovers
PFAI Young Player of the Year Daniel Grant Bohemians
PFAI Premier Division Manager of the Year Stephen Bradley Shamrock Rovers
PFAI Team of the Year
Goalkeeper Alan Mannus (Shamrock Rovers)
Defenders Andy Lyons (Bohemians) Roberto Lopes (Shamrock Rovers) Lee Grace (Shamrock Rovers) Tyreke Wilson (Waterford)
Midfielders Keith Buckley (Bohemians) Aaron McEneff (Shamrock Rovers) Jack Byrne (Shamrock Rovers)
Forwards Daniel Grant (Bohemians) Andre Wright (Bohemians) Michael Duffy (Dundalk)

See also

Notes
  1. Total attendance and average attendance figures only account for the first four weeks of the season after which no spectators were allowed due to the Covid-19 pandemic

References
  1. "League Report: Shamrock Rovers 3 - 2 Dundalk". extra time. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  2. "2020 SSE AIRTRICITY LEAGUE OF IRELAND PREMIER DIVISION". extra time. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  3. "2020 Premier Division season begins with Dublin derby". RTÉ Sport. 20 December 2019.
  4. "FAI postpones all football activity with immediate effect". Football Association of Ireland. 12 March 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  5. Quinn, Gavin (12 March 2020). "Which Irish sports events have been cancelled due to coronavirus? FAI, GAA and IRFU suspend all activity until March 29". Irish Daily Mirror. Dublin: Reach plc.
  6. "League to resume on June 19th & finish in December with EA Sports Cup deferred". League of Ireland. 20 March 2020.
  7. "Airtricity League confirm that season will restart on July 31st". The Irish Times. 30 June 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  8. Buttner, Paul (25 October 2020). "Shamrock Rovers are league champions as Harps down Bohs". RTÉ Sport.
  9. Donnelly, Dave (24 October 2020). "Shamrock Rovers crowned champions and Cork City relegated after Finn Harps win over Bohs". The42. TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  10. "Shelbourne promoted to Premier Division". RTÉ Sport. 12 September 2019.
  11. "Manager Alan Reynolds departs Waterford FC". RTÉ Sport. 16 June 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  12. "John Sheridan named as new Waterford FC boss". RTÉ Sport. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  13. Malone, Emmet (20 August 2020). "Vinny Perth sacked by Dundalk following Champions League exit". The Irish Times. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  14. "'A lot of people are sceptical but I am not afraid' – Dundalk confirm arrival of little-known Italian Giovagnoli". The42. TheJournal.ie. 25 August 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  15. O'Hehir, Paul (11 September 2020). "John Sheridan leaves Waterford for Wigan insisting he didn't disrespect League of Ireland". Irish Daily Mirror. Dublin: Reach plc. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  16. Kelly, Niall (24 September 2020). "Waterford appoint Rockett to take over from John Sheridan as first-team manager". The42. TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  17. McDonnell, Daniel (8 October 2020). "Neale Fenn 'devastated' after Cork City departure as Preston owner eyes up takeover deal". Irish Independent. Dublin: Independent News & Media. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  18. "Cork City appoint Colin Healy as head coach". The Irish Times. 24 December 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  19. "Premier Division 2020". Soccerway. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  20. "2020 Season SSE Airtricity League Fixtures" (PDF). SSE Airtricity League. 18 October 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
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