# 2020 Women's National League (Ireland)

The 2020 Women's National League was the 10th season of the Women's National League, the highest women's association football league in the Republic of Ireland.
The League lacked a title sponsor, as the Só Hotel Group did not renew their agreement from the previous season. Barretstown were announced as a "charity partner" on 24 July 2020. Expansion teams Athlone Town and Bohemians competed for the first time.
Following the financial collapse of Limerick F.C., they were replaced by a new team, Treaty United. Kilkenny United were excluded for a variety of reasons, including that they had not bonded with the local league, they had changed venues for home games, did not train in Kilkenny, lacked a qualified manager, and had produced poor results (just seven points in the last three seasons combined [60 matches]).
Originally scheduled to kick off on 15 March, the season's opening was delayed, initially to late June by the COVID-19 pandemic. A reduced season eventually kicked-off in August 2020. The WNL Cup was deferred for the season, but the 2020 FAI Women's Cup was effectively a League Cup, with the nine Women's National League clubs the only participants.
On 21 November 2020, Peamount United won their second consecutive title and third overall after a 3–1 win over Shelbourne.

## Teams

| Team | Home town/suburb | Stadium | 2019 finish |
| Athlone Town | Athlone | Athlone Town Stadium | n/a |
| Bohemians | Dublin (Coolock) | Oscar Traynor Centre | n/a |
| Cork City | Cork | Bishopstown Stadium | 5th |
| Galway | Galway | Eamonn Deacy Park | 4th |
| Treaty United | Limerick | Markets Field | n/a |
| Peamount United | Newcastle, South Dublin | Greenogue | 1st |
| Shelbourne | Dublin (Drumcondra) | Tolka Park | 2nd |
| DLR Waves | Dún Laoghaire | Jackson Park | 6th |
| Wexford Youths | Crossabeg | Ferrycarrig Park | 3rd |

### 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 | Tommy Hewitt | Paula Doran | Nike | Palfinger |
| Bohemians | Sean Byrne | Sinead O’Farrelly | O'Neills | ICHH - Inner City Helping Homeless |
| Cork City | Ronán Collins | Katie McCarthy | Adidas | |
| DLR Waves | Graham Kelly | Catherine Cronin | Jako | Eversheds Sutherland |
| Galway | Billy Clery | Keara Cormican | Uhlsport | Só Hotels |
| Peamount United | James O’Callaghan | Áine O'Gorman | O'Neills | Texaco Newcastle Service Station |
| Shelbourne | Dave Bell | Pearl Slattery | Umbro | FlyeFit |
| Treaty United | Dave Rooney | Marie Curtin | Umbro | Ei Electronics |
| Wexford Youths | Tom Elmes | Kylie Murphy | Jako | Energia |

## Format

In the initial phase of the season, the nine teams played a round-robin tournament whereby each team played each one of the other teams once. After eight games, the league split into two sections of five and four teams, with each team playing every other team in their section once.

## League table
### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Peamount United (C) | 12 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 40 | 9 | +31 | 33 | Qualification for the Champions League first round |
| 2 | Shelbourne | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 37 | 15 | +22 | 28 | |
| 3 | Wexford Youths | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 27 | 16 | +11 | 22 | |
| 4 | Cork City | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 21 | 25 | −4 | 19 | |
| 5 | Galway | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 15 | 20 | −5 | 14 | |
| 6 | DLR Waves | 11 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 13 | −1 | 10 | |
| 7 | Athlone Town | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 27 | −18 | 10 | |
| 8 | Treaty United | 11 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 16 | 37 | −21 | 9 | |
| 9 | Bohemians | 11 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 27 | −15 | 5 | |
* ↑ Teams play each other once (eight matches), before the league is split into two groups (the top five and the bottom four).

### 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 to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards.
| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Athlone Town | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | — |
| Bohemians | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | — |
| Cork City | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| DLR Waves | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | — |
| Galway | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Peamount United | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Shelbourne | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Treaty United | 9 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 8 | — |
| Wexford Youths | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |

## Results
### Matches 1–8

Teams play each other once.
| Home \ Away | ATH | BOH | COR | DLR | GAL | PEA | SHE | TRE | WEX |
| Athlone Town | — | — | — | 1–4 | — | — | 0–3 | 3–2 | 0–1 |
| Bohemians | 1–0 | — | 3–4 | — | 1–4 | 0–3 | — | — | — |
| Cork City | 2–0 | — | — | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–3 | — | — | — |
| DLR Waves | — | 0–0 | — | — | — | — | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 |
| Galway | 3–0 | — | — | 1–1 | — | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | — |
| Peamount United | 8–0 | — | — | 3–2 | 2–1 | — | — | 5–0 | — |
| Shelbourne | — | 3–0 | 3–1 | — | — | 1–5 | — | — | 2–1 |
| Treaty United | — | 2–1 | 2–5 | — | — | — | 0–7 | — | 1–5 |
| Wexford | — | 4–1 | 1–2 | — | 3–1 | 3–0 | — | — | — |

### Matches 9–11/12

After eight matches, the league split into two sections i.e. the top five and the bottom four, with the teams playing every other team in their section once (either at home or away). The exact matches were determined by the position of the teams in the league table at the time of the split.

## Statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Áine O'Gorman | Peamount United | 14 |
| 2 | Eleanor Ryan Doyle | Peamount United | 10 |
| 3 | Ellen Molloy | Wexford Youths | 8 |
| 4 | Aoife Horgan | Treaty United | 6 |
| 4 | Lynsey McKey | Galway | 6 |
| 4 | Saoirse Noonan | Cork City | 6 |
| 7 | Noelle Murray | Shelbourne | 5 |
| 7 | Aoife Thompson | Galway | 5 |
| 7 | Ciara Grant | Shelbourne | 5 |
| 7 | Jessica Ziu | Shelbourne | 5 |
| 7 | Emily Whelan | Shelbourne | 5 |
| 7 | Stephanie Roche | Peamount United | 5 |

## Awards
### Monthly awards

| Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month | References |
| Month | Player | Club | References |
| August | Ellen Molloy | Wexford Youths | |
| September | Saoirse Noonan | Cork City | |
| October | Jessica Ziu | Shelbourne | |
| November | Karen Duggan | Peamount United | |

### Annual awards

| Award | Winner | Club |
| WNL Player of the Year | Karen Duggan | Peamount United |
| Young Player of the Year | Ellen Molloy | Wexford Youths |
| Services to the Women's National League | Michael Hayes | |
WNL Team of the Year :
| Goalkeeper | Eve Badana (DLR Waves) | Eve Badana (DLR Waves) | Eve Badana (DLR Waves) | Eve Badana (DLR Waves) | Eve Badana (DLR Waves) | Eve Badana (DLR Waves) | Eve Badana (DLR Waves) | Eve Badana (DLR Waves) | Eve Badana (DLR Waves) | Eve Badana (DLR Waves) | Eve Badana (DLR Waves) | Eve Badana (DLR Waves) |
| Defenders | Niamh Farrelly (Peamount United) | Niamh Farrelly (Peamount United) | Niamh Farrelly (Peamount United) | Pearl Slattery (Shelbourne) | Pearl Slattery (Shelbourne) | Pearl Slattery (Shelbourne) | Claire Walsh (Peamount United) | Claire Walsh (Peamount United) | Claire Walsh (Peamount United) | Shauna Brennan (Galway) | Shauna Brennan (Galway) | Shauna Brennan (Galway) |
| Midfielders | Ellen Molloy (Wexford Youths) | Ellen Molloy (Wexford Youths) | Ellen Molloy (Wexford Youths) | Ellen Molloy (Wexford Youths) | Karen Duggan (Peamount United) | Karen Duggan (Peamount United) | Karen Duggan (Peamount United) | Karen Duggan (Peamount United) | Jessica Ziu (Shelbourne) | Jessica Ziu (Shelbourne) | Jessica Ziu (Shelbourne) | Jessica Ziu (Shelbourne) |
| Forwards | Áine O'Gorman (Peamount United) | Áine O'Gorman (Peamount United) | Áine O'Gorman (Peamount United) | Áine O'Gorman (Peamount United) | Eleanor Ryan-Doyle (Peamount United) | Eleanor Ryan-Doyle (Peamount United) | Eleanor Ryan-Doyle (Peamount United) | Eleanor Ryan-Doyle (Peamount United) | Saoirse Noonan (Cork City) | Saoirse Noonan (Cork City) | Saoirse Noonan (Cork City) | Saoirse Noonan (Cork City) |

## Broadcasting

The title-deciding match between Peamount United and Shelbourne on 21 November 2020 was streamed live by the Football Association of Ireland on their FAI TV YouTube channel. The annual awards ceremony was televised live on Eir Sport 1.