# 2020 League of Ireland Premier Division

The 2020 League of Ireland Premier Division, known as the SSE Airtricity League for sponsorship reasons, was the 36th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division.
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 because of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland following the 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. It resumed on 31 July. On 24 October, Finn Harps won 2–0 at Bohemians which meant Shamrock Rovers won the league and Cork City were relegated.

## 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 an 18-match basis with teams playing each other twice: once at home and once away.
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 (Phibsborough) | 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 (Inchicore) | Richmond Park | 5,340 |
| Shamrock Rovers | Dublin (Tallaght) | Tallaght Stadium | 8,000 |
| Shelbourne | Dublin (Drumcondra) | Tolka Park | 3,700 |
| Sligo Rovers | Sligo | The Showgrounds | 5,500 |
| 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 | Colin Healy | 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 | Fran Rockett | Brian Murphy | 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 | 25 August 2020 |
| Waterford | John Sheridan | Moved to Wigan Athletic | 11 September 2020 | 4th | Fran Rockett | 24 September 2020 |
| Cork City | Neale Fenn | Resigned | 8 October 2020 | 10th | Colin Healy | 9 October 2020 |
* ↑ Healy was initially appointed as caretaker manager until the end of the season. He was made permanent manager on 24 December 2020.

## League table
### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 Conference League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Dundalk | 18 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 25 | 23 | +2 | 26 | Qualification to Europa Conference League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Sligo Rovers | 18 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 19 | 23 | −4 | 25 | Qualification to Europa Conference League first qualifying round |
| 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 (R) | 18 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 22 | −9 | 19 | Qualification to Relegation play-offs |
| 10 | Cork City (R) | 18 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 10 | 30 | −20 | 11 | Relegation to League of Ireland First Division |
* ↑ Since the winners of the 2020 FAI Cup (Dundalk) qualified for European competition based on their league position, the final spot awarded to the Cup winner passed to the next best-placed team i.e fourth-placed team.

### Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included in the round at which they were originally scheduled but added to the full round they were played immediately afterward.
| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| Bohemians | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Cork City | 7 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Derry City | 8 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Dundalk | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Finn Harps | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 |
| Shamrock Rovers | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Shelbourne | 4 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 |
| Sligo Rovers | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | 10 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
| Waterford | 5 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 |

## Results

Teams will play each other twice (once at home, once away).
| Home \ Away | BOH | COR | DER | DUN | FHA | STP | SHM | SHE | SLI | WAT |
| Bohemians | — | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| Cork City | 0–1 | — | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 |
| Derry City | 2–0 | 3–1 | — | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 |
| Dundalk | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 |
| Finn Harps | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–4 | — | 3–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | — | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Shamrock Rovers | 1–0 | 6–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | — | 0–0 | 4–0 | 6–1 |
| Shelbourne | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | — | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Sligo Rovers | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 2–1 | — | 2–1 |
| Waterford | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | — |

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Patrick Hoban | Dundalk | 10 |
| 2 | Jack Byrne | Shamrock Rovers | 9 |
| 3 | Graham Burke | Shamrock Rovers | 8 |
| 3 | Andre Wright | Bohemians | 8 |
| 4 | Daniel Grant | Bohemians | 7 |
| 4 | Aaron Greene | Shamrock Rovers | 7 |
| 5 | Ronan Coughlan | Sligo Rovers | 6 |
Last updated: 6 November 2020. Source: Extratime.com

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Goals |
| Graham Burke | Shamrock Rovers | Cork City | 6–0 | 21 February 2020 | 5 |
| Daniel Grant | Bohemians | Shelbourne | 1–3 | 3 October 2020 | 3 |

## Play-offs
### Promotion/relegation play-off

Source:

## Awards
### Monthly awards

| Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month | References |
| Month | Player | Club | References |
| February | Jack Byrne | Shamrock Rovers | |
| August | Daniel Grant | Bohemians | |
| September | Jack Byrne | Shamrock Rovers | |
| October | Sean Murray | Dundalk | |
| November | David McMillan | Dundalk | |

### Annual awards

| Award | Winner | Club |
| PFAI Player of the Year | Jack Byrne | Shamrock Rovers |
| PFAI Young Player of the Year | Daniel Grant | Bohemians |
| PFAI Premier Division Manager of the Year | Stephen Bradley | Shamrock Rovers |
PFAI Team of the Year :
| Goalkeeper | Alan Mannus (Shamrock Rovers) | Alan Mannus (Shamrock Rovers) | Alan Mannus (Shamrock Rovers) | Alan Mannus (Shamrock Rovers) | Alan Mannus (Shamrock Rovers) | Alan Mannus (Shamrock Rovers) | Alan Mannus (Shamrock Rovers) | Alan Mannus (Shamrock Rovers) | Alan Mannus (Shamrock Rovers) | Alan Mannus (Shamrock Rovers) | Alan Mannus (Shamrock Rovers) | Alan Mannus (Shamrock Rovers) |
| Defenders | Andy Lyons (Bohemians) | Andy Lyons (Bohemians) | Andy Lyons (Bohemians) | Roberto Lopes (Shamrock Rovers) | Roberto Lopes (Shamrock Rovers) | Roberto Lopes (Shamrock Rovers) | Lee Grace (Shamrock Rovers) | Lee Grace (Shamrock Rovers) | Lee Grace (Shamrock Rovers) | Tyreke Wilson (Waterford) | Tyreke Wilson (Waterford) | Tyreke Wilson (Waterford) |
| Midfielders | Keith Buckley (Bohemians) | Keith Buckley (Bohemians) | Keith Buckley (Bohemians) | Aaron McEneff (Shamrock Rovers) | Aaron McEneff (Shamrock Rovers) | Aaron McEneff (Shamrock Rovers) | Aaron McEneff (Shamrock Rovers) | Jack Byrne (Shamrock Rovers) | Jack Byrne (Shamrock Rovers) | Jack Byrne (Shamrock Rovers) | Jack Byrne (Shamrock Rovers) | Jack Byrne (Shamrock Rovers) |
| Forwards | Daniel Grant (Bohemians) | Daniel Grant (Bohemians) | Daniel Grant (Bohemians) | Andre Wright (Bohemians) | Andre Wright (Bohemians) | Andre Wright (Bohemians) | Andre Wright (Bohemians) | Michael Duffy (Dundalk) | Michael Duffy (Dundalk) | Michael Duffy (Dundalk) | Michael Duffy (Dundalk) | Michael Duffy (Dundalk) |