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. The Coronavirus pandemic in Ireland halted the season in mid-March as per directive of the Irish Government and the Football Association of Ireland. 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.
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.
Teams
Stadia and locations Team Location Stadium Capacity Athlone Town Athlone Athlone Town Stadium 5,000 Bray Wanderers Bray Carlisle Grounds 4,000 Cabinteely Dublin 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 Stadium 8,000 UCD Dublin 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 Adrian Carbury Darren Meenan Nike Nitro SportsBray Wanderers Gary Cronin Paul Keegan Umbro Matt Britton CarpetsCabinteely Pat Devlin Conor Keeley Uhlsport EdufitCobh Ramblers Stuart Ashton Paul Hunt Joma Metropole HotelDrogheda United Tim Clancy Jake Hyland Umbro Scotch Hall Shopping CenterGalway United John Caulfield Shane Duggan Puma Comer Property ManagementLongford Town Daire Doyle Dean Zambra Macron BishopsgateShamrock Rovers II Aidan Price Darragh Nugent Umbro JD SportsUCD Andy Myler Jack Keaney O'Neill's O'Neill'sWexford Brian O'Sullivan Dan Tobin Bodibro Premier Tickets
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner ofdepartureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate ofappointmentGalway United Alan Murphy Sacked18 August 20209th John Caulfield21 August 2020
League table
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.
Season statistics Top scorers
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Yousef MahdyUCD152 Colm WhelanUCD143 Mark DoyleDrogheda United134 Brandon KavanaghShamrock Rovers II9 Rob ManleyLongford Town5 Ronan ManningAthlone Town86 Gary ShawBray Wanderers77 Darragh LynchBray Wanderers6 Sam VerdonLongford Town8 Shane BarnesCabinteely5
Play-offs First Division play-off Semi-finals
First Division play-off Final
Promotion/relegation play-off
See also 2020 League of Ireland Premier Division 2020 FAI Cup 2020 League of Ireland Cup
References