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2020 League of Ireland First Division

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League of Ireland First Division
Season2020
Dates21 February 2020 – 27 October 2020
ChampionsDrogheda United (5th title)
PromotedDrogheda United, Longford Town
Matches played90
Goals scored265 (2.94 per match)
Top goalscorerYousef Mahdy (15 league goals + 1 playoff goal)
Biggest home winUCD 8-0 Wexford
(4 September 2020)
Biggest away winCobh Ramblers 0-6 UCD
(12 September 2020)
Highest scoringUCD 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

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

Stadia and locations

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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

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

Managerial changes

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Team Outgoing manager Manner of
departure 		Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of
appointment
Galway United Republic of Ireland Alan Murphy Sacked 18 August 2020[8] 9th Republic of Ireland John Caulfield[9] 21 August 2020

League table

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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
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

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Matches 1–18

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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 —
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

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Top scorers

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Last updated: 27 October 2020.
Source: SSE Airtricity League First Division Statistics

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

Play-offs

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First Division play-off Semi-finals

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31 October 2020 Bray Wanderers0–1 Galway United Carlisle Grounds
15:00 Wilson Waweru 86'
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'

First Division play-off Final

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6 November 2020 Galway United 1–2 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

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15 November 2020 Shelbourne 0–1 Longford Town Richmond Park
14:30 Report Rob Manley 46' Attendance: 0
Referee: Neil Doyle

[11]

See also

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References

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  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.
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