2020 League of Ireland First Division
Season | 2020 |
---|---|
Dates | 21 February 2020 – 27 October 2020 |
Champions | Drogheda United (5th title) |
Promoted | Drogheda United, Longford Town |
Matches played | 90 |
Goals scored | 265 (2.94 per match) |
Top goalscorer | Yousef Mahdy (15 league goals + 1 playoff goal) |
Biggest home win | UCD 8-0 Wexford (4 September 2020) |
Biggest away win | Cobh Ramblers 0-6 UCD (12 September 2020) |
Highest scoring | UCD 8-0 Wexford (4 September 2020) Longford Town 2-6 Galway United (3 October 2020) |
← 2019 2021 → |
The 2020 League of Ireland First Division season was the 36th season of the League of Ireland First Division. The league began on 21 February 2020 and concluded on 27 October 2020. Drogheda United won the league title for a record 5th time, winning promotion to the League of Ireland Premier Division for 2021.[1][2] [3] The Coronavirus pandemic in Ireland halted the season in mid-March as per directive of the Irish Government and the Football Association of Ireland.[4][5] On 13 July 2020, the league announced the season restart with a reduced fixture list of two rounds only (18 games in total, per team for the regular season) and the play-off series as announced pre-season.[6]
Overview
The First Division has 10 teams. Each team plays each other three times for a total of 27 matches in the season. This format was changed after the league was postponed during the COVID-19 pandemic meaning each team would now play each other only two times, once home and once away. Additionally, the promotion play-off semi-finals, usually played over two legs, were played over one leg. UCD were relegated from the 2019 League of Ireland Premier Division. A reserve side of Shamrock Rovers F.C. competed in place of the Limerick team that encountered financial difficulty prior to the commencement of the season. Drogheda United finished top of the league table after a 2–0 away win over Cabinteely sealed the league title and promotion to the League Of Ireland Premier Division for 2021. It was the Drogs' record 5th First Division title. Wexford FC were wrongly applied forfeits in four games by the FAI, which was subsequently overturned and results restored. [7]
Teams
![Map of the Republic of Ireland with the ten League of Ireland First Division teams](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Ireland_adm_location_map.svg/280px-Ireland_adm_location_map.svg.png)
![Dublin](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Red_pog.svg/12px-Red_pog.svg.png)
![Dublin teams Cabinteely Shamrock Rovers II UCD](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/TransparentPlaceholder.png/1px-TransparentPlaceholder.png)
Stadia and locations
Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
---|---|---|---|
Athlone Town | Athlone | Athlone Town Stadium | 5,000 |
Bray Wanderers | Bray | Carlisle Grounds | 4,000 |
Cabinteely | Dublin (Cabinteely) | Stradbrook Road | 1,620 |
Cobh Ramblers | Cobh | St. Colman's Park | 3,000 |
Drogheda United | Drogheda | United Park | 2,000 |
Galway United | Galway | Eamonn Deacy Park | 5,000 |
Longford Town | Longford | Bishopsgate | 4,960 |
Shamrock Rovers II | Dublin (Tallaght) | Tallaght Stadium | 8,000 |
UCD | Dublin (Belfield) | UCD Bowl | 3,000 |
Wexford | Crossabeg | Ferrycarrig Park | 2,500 |
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Athlone Town | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Bray Wanderers | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Cabinteely | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Cobh Ramblers | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Drogheda United | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Galway United | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Longford Town | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Shamrock Rovers II | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
UCD | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Wexford | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Managerial changes
Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Galway United | ![]() | Sacked | 18 August 2020[8] | 9th | ![]() | 21 August 2020 |
League table
Pos | Team
| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Drogheda United (C, P) | 18 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 39 | 17 | +22 | 39 | Promotion to League of Ireland Premier Division |
2 | Bray Wanderers | 18 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 30 | 13 | +17 | 38 | Qualification to Promotion play-offs |
3 | UCD | 18 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 44 | 29 | +15 | 30 | |
4 | Longford Town (P) | 18 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 26 | 23 | +3 | 29 | |
5 | Galway United | 18 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 26 | 19 | +7 | 27 | |
6 | Cobh Ramblers | 18 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 22 | 20 | +2 | 27 | |
7 | Cabinteely | 18 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 22 | 33 | −11 | 26 | |
8 | Shamrock Rovers II | 18 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 22 | 28 | −6 | 15 | |
9 | Athlone Town | 18 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 21 | 43 | −22 | 12 | |
10 | Wexford | 18 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 13 | 39 | −26 | 12 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.[10]
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted
Results
Matches 1–18
Teams play each other twice (once at home, once away). Wexford were wrongly applied a forfeit in four matches, which was subsequently overturned.
Home \ Away | ATH | BRW | CAB | COB | DRO | GAL | LON | SHA | UCD | WEX |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Athlone Town | — | 0–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 1–4 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 2–4 | 1–3 |
Bray Wanderers | 3–1 | — | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
Cabinteely | 1–1 | 4–2 | — | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–5 |
Cobh Ramblers | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | — | 0–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–6 | 4–0 |
Drogheda United | 0–2 | 3–1 | 5–1 | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 5–1 | 2–0 |
Galway United | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | — | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 |
Longford Town | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–6 | — | 2–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 |
Shamrock Rovers II | 3–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | — | 2–5 | 2–0 |
UCD | 2–1 | 1–3 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 3–1 | — | 8–0 |
Wexford | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | — |
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Season statistics
Top scorers
Last updated: 27 October 2020.
Source: SSE Airtricity League First Division Statistics
Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() | UCD | 15 |
2 | ![]() | UCD | 14 |
3 | ![]() | Drogheda United | 13 |
4 | ![]() | Shamrock Rovers II | 9 |
![]() | Longford Town | ||
5 | ![]() | Athlone Town | 8 |
6 | ![]() | Bray Wanderers | 7 |
7 | ![]() | Bray Wanderers | 6 |
![]() | Longford Town | ||
8 | ![]() | Cabinteely | 5 |
Play-offs
First Division play-off Semi-finals
31 October 2020 | Bray Wanderers | 0–1 | Galway United | Carlisle Grounds |
15:00 | Wilson Waweru ![]() |
31 October 2020 | UCD | 2–3 (a.e.t.) | Longford Town | UCD Bowl |
15:00 | Colm Whelan ![]() Yousef Mahdy ![]() | Joe Gorman ![]() Joe Gorman ![]() Dean Byrne ![]() |
First Division play-off Final
6 November 2020 | Galway United | 1–2 | Longford Town | UCD Bowl |
19:45 | Vinny Faherty ![]() | Report | Karl Chambers ![]() Aodh Dervin ![]() | 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 ![]() | Attendance: 0 Referee: Neil Doyle |
[11]
See also
References
- ^ "Drogheda seal promotion as play-off places are decided". RTE Sport. 27 October 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
- ^ "Drogheda seal promotion to Premier Division". The 42. 27 October 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
- ^ "SSE Airtricity League Fixtures". sseairtricityleague.ie. League of Ireland. 13 February 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
- ^ "FAI postpones all football activity with immediate effect". FAI. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
- ^ "2020 SSE Airtricity League - Fixture List". SSE Airtricity League. League of Ireland. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
- ^ "Wexford win appeal over fielding ineligible player, Galway United replace Cabinteely in play-offs".
- ^ "Club legend Alan Murphy leaves role as Galway boss". The42.ie. 18 August 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
- ^ "Galway United appoint John Caulfield as new manager". The42.ie. 21 August 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
- ^ "First Division 2020". Soccerway. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
- ^ "2020 Season SSE Airtricity League Fixtures" (PDF). www.sseairtricityleague.ie. SSE Airtricity League. 18 October 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.