2020 League of Ireland Premier Division

League of Ireland Premier Division 2020
Season information
Dates	14 February 2020 – 9 November 2020
Winners	Shamrock Rovers (18th title)
Relegated	Cork City Shelbourne
Continental cup qualifiers
Champions League	Shamrock Rovers
Conference League	Bohemians Dundalk Sligo Rovers
Season statistics
Matches played	90
Goals scored	190
Average	(2.11 per match)
Top goalscorer	Patrick Hoban Dundalk (10 goals)
← 2019	2021 →

The 2020 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 36th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division, the top-flight division of football in the Republic of Ireland. The league began on 14 February 2020 and concluded on 9 November 2020. The fixtures were announced on 20 December 2019. The season was halted in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland as per directive of the Irish Government and the Football Association of Ireland. 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. The season resumed on 31 July.

The title was won by Shamrock Rovers, their 18th title overall, qualifying them for the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds. Joining them in European competition will be Bohemians, Dundalk and Sligo Rovers after they qualified for the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying rounds, Europe's new third-tier European competition. Cork City and Shelbourne were relegated to the League of Ireland First Division.

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 a 27 match basis with teams playing each other three times.

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.

Teams

Stadia and locations

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Bohemians	Dublin	Dalymount Park	3,640
Cork City	Cork	Turners Cross	7,845
Derry City	Derry	Brandywell Stadium	3,700
Dundalk	Dundalk	Oriel Park	4,500
Finn Harps	Ballybofey	Finn Park	6,000
St Patrick's Athletic	Dublin	Richmond Park	5,340
Shamrock Rovers	Dublin	Tallaght Stadium	8,000
Shelbourne	Dublin	Tolka Park	3,600
Sligo Rovers	Sligo	The Showgrounds	5,500
Waterford	Waterford	Waterford Regional Sports Centre	5,500

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	Neale Fenn	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	John Sheridan	Michael O'Connor	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	6th	John Sheridan	8 July 2020
Dundalk	Vinny Perth	Sacked	20 August 2020	3rd	Filippo Giovagnoli	26 August 2020

League table

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 League first qualifying round
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	18	5	4	9	13	22	−9	19	Qualification to Relegation play-offs
10	Cork City	18	2	5	11	10	30	−20	11	Relegation to League of Ireland First Division

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Patrick Hoban	Dundalk	5
	Graham Burke	Shamrock Rovers	5
3	Jack Byrne	Shamrock Rovers	3
	Daniel Mandroiu	Bohemians	3
5	Aaron Greene	Shamrock Rovers	2
	Michael Duffy	Dundalk	2
	Stephen Mallon	Derry City	2
	Jordan Flores	Dundalk	2
9	Niall Morahan	Sligo Rovers	1
	Aaron McEneff	Shamrock Rovers	1
	Ronan Coughlin	Sligo Rovers	1
	Shane Griffin	Waterford	1
	Greg Sloggett	Dundalk	1
	Billy King	St Patrick's Athletic	1
	Andre Wright	Bohemians	1
	Sam Bone	Waterford	1
	Walter Figueira	Derry City	1
	Roberto Lopes	Shamrock Rovers	1
	Alec Byrne	Cork City	1
	Jaze Kabia	Shelbourne	1
	Dylan Watts	Shamrock Rovers	1
	Kris Twardek	Bohemians	1
	Rhys Marshall	Shamrock Rovers	1
	Adam Liddle	Derry City	1
	Gary Deegan	Shelbourne	1
	Chris Forrester	St Patrick's Athletic	1
	Ryan Connolly	Finn Harps	1
	Ronan Hale	St Patrick's Athletic	1
	Andy Boyle	Dundalk	1
	Ciarán Kilduff	Shelbourne	1
	Dane Massey	Dundalk	1
	Karl O'Sullivan	Finn Harps	1
	Kevin O'Connor	Waterford	1

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Goals
Graham Burke	Shamrock Rovers	Cork City	6–0	02020-02-21-21 February 2020	5

See also

• 2020 League of Ireland First Division
• 2020 FAI Cup
• 2020 League of Ireland Cup

External links

• Official website
• Full Results and Fixtures

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