2020 League of Ireland First Division

Last updated

League of Ireland First Division
Season2020
Dates21 February 2020 – 27 October 2020
Champions Drogheda United (5th title)
Promoted Drogheda United, Longford Town
Matches played90
Goals scored265 (2.94 per match)
Top goalscorerYousef 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]

Contents

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

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Dublin
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Locations of the First Division teams
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UCD
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Locations of Dublin First Division teams

Stadia and locations

TeamLocationStadiumCapacity
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.

TeamManagerCaptainKit manufacturerShirt sponsor
Athlone Town Flag of Ireland.svg Adrian Carbury Flag of Ireland.svg Darren Meenan Flag of the United States.svg Nike Flag of Ireland.svg Nitro Sports
Bray Wanderers Flag of Ireland.svg Gary Cronin Flag of Ireland.svg Paul Keegan Flag of England.svg Umbro Flag of Ireland.svg Matt Britton Carpets
Cabinteely Flag of Ireland.svg Pat Devlin Flag of Ireland.svg Conor Keeley Flag of Germany.svg Uhlsport Flag of Ireland.svg Edufit
Cobh Ramblers Flag of Ireland.svg Stuart Ashton Flag of Ireland.svg Paul Hunt Flag of Spain.svg Joma Flag of Ireland.svg Metropole Hotel
Drogheda United Flag of Ireland.svg Tim Clancy Flag of Ireland.svg Jake Hyland Flag of England.svg Umbro Flag of Ireland.svg Scotch Hall Shopping Center
Galway United Flag of Ireland.svg John Caulfield Flag of Ireland.svg Shane Duggan Flag of Germany.svg Puma Flag of Ireland.svg Comer Property Management
Longford Town Flag of Ireland.svg Daire Doyle Flag of Ireland.svg Dean Zambra Flag of Italy.svg Macron Flag of Ireland.svg Bishopsgate
Shamrock Rovers II Flag of Ireland.svg Aidan Price Flag of Ireland.svg Darragh Nugent Flag of England.svg Umbro Flag of England.svg JD Sports
UCD Flag of Ireland.svg Andy Myler Flag of Ireland.svg Jack Keaney Flag of Ireland.svg O'Neill's Flag of Ireland.svg O'Neill's
Wexford Flag of Ireland.svg Brian O'Sullivan Flag of Ireland.svg Dan Tobin Flag of Ireland.svg Bodibro Flag of Ireland.svg Premier Tickets

Managerial changes

TeamOutgoing managerManner of
departure		Date of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of
appointment
Galway United Flag of Ireland.svg Alan MurphySacked18 August 2020 [8] 9th Flag of Ireland.svg John Caulfield [9] 21 August 2020

League table

PosTeam
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1 Drogheda United (C, P)1812333917+2239Promotion to League of Ireland Premier Division
2 Bray Wanderers 1812243013+1738Qualification to Promotion play-offs
3 UCD 189364429+1530
4 Longford Town (P)189272623+329
5 Galway United 187652619+727
6 Cobh Ramblers 188372220+227
7 Cabinteely 188282233−1126
8 Shamrock Rovers II 1843112228−615
9 Athlone Town 1833122143−2212
10 Wexford 1833121339−2612
Updated to match(es) played on 27 September 2021. Source: SSE Airtricity League, Soccerway
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 —0–11–32–13–31–40–40–42–41–3
Bray Wanderers 3–1—3–00–00–10–13–01–02–02–0
Cabinteely 1–14–2—1–00–20–10–31–00–31–5
Cobh Ramblers 3–21–21–2—0–22–22–00–00–64–0
Drogheda United 0–23–15–10–1—1–00–13–25–12–0
Galway United 2–20–00–20–11–3—0–12–12–21–0
Longford Town 2–00–21–30–11–12–6—2–03–13–1
Shamrock Rovers II 3–10–20–20–12–21–11–2—2–52–0
UCD 2–11–35–11–01–30–30–03–1—8–0
Wexford 0–11–30–00–40–30–02–10–21–1—
Updated to match(es) played on 27 October 2020 including revised results for Wexford following FAI ruling. Source: SSE Airtricity League
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

RankPlayerClubGoals
1 Flag of Ireland.svg Yousef Mahdy UCD 15
2 Flag of Ireland.svg Colm Whelan UCD 14
3 Flag of Ireland.svg Mark Doyle Drogheda United 13
4 Flag of Ireland.svg Brandon Kavanagh Shamrock Rovers II 9
Flag of Ireland.svg Rob Manley Longford Town
5 Flag of Ireland.svg Ronan Manning Athlone Town 8
6 Flag of Ireland.svg Gary Shaw Bray Wanderers 7
7 Flag of Ireland.svg Darragh Lynch Bray Wanderers 6
Flag of Ireland.svg Sam Verdon Longford Town
8 Flag of Ireland.svg Shane Barnes Cabinteely 5

Play-offs

First Division play-off Semi-finals

31 October 2020 Bray Wanderers 0–1 Galway United Carlisle Grounds
15:00Wilson Waweru Soccerball shade.svg86'
31 October 2020 UCD 2–3 (a.e.t.) Longford Town UCD Bowl
15:00Colm Whelan Soccerball shade.svg18'
Yousef Mahdy Soccerball shade.svg110'		Joe Gorman Soccerball shade.svg90'
Joe Gorman Soccerball shade.svg113'
Dean Byrne Soccerball shade.svg120'

First Division play-off Final

6 November 2020 Galway United 1–2 Longford Town UCD Bowl
19:45 Vinny Faherty Soccerball shade.svg88' Report Karl Chambers Soccerball shade.svg43'
Aodh Dervin Soccerball shade.svg82'		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 Soccerball shade.svg46'Attendance: 0
Referee: Neil Doyle

[11]

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. ↑ "Drogheda seal promotion as play-off places are decided". RTE Sport. 27 October 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  2. ↑ "Drogheda seal promotion to Premier Division". The 42. 27 October 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  3. ↑ "SSE Airtricity League Fixtures". sseairtricityleague.ie. League of Ireland. 13 February 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  4. ↑ "FAI postpones all football activity with immediate effect". FAI. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  5. ↑ "Irish sports events cancelled". irishmirror.ie. 13 March 2020. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  6. ↑ "2020 SSE Airtricity League - Fixture List". SSE Airtricity League. League of Ireland. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  7. ↑ "Wexford win appeal over fielding ineligible player, Galway United replace Cabinteely in play-offs".
  8. ↑ "Club legend Alan Murphy leaves role as Galway boss". The42.ie. 18 August 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  9. ↑ "Galway United appoint John Caulfield as new manager". The42.ie. 21 August 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  10. ↑ "First Division 2020". Soccerway. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  11. ↑ "2020 Season SSE Airtricity League Fixtures" (PDF). www.sseairtricityleague.ie. SSE Airtricity League. 18 October 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.