The 2020 Donegal Senior Football Championship was the 98th official edition of
Donegal GAA's premier
Gaelic football tournament for senior graded clubs in
County Donegal. 16 teams competed, with the winner representing Donegal in the
Ulster Senior Club Football Championship. Generally, the championship begins with four groups of four and continues with a knock-out format. However, this year, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the format was changed.
Naomh Conaill was defending champion after defeating Gaoth Dobhair by a scoreline of 0–8 to 0–7, after a second replay in the
2019 final.[2]
The 2020 competition progressed as far as the final but this match was twice postponed due to issues arising from the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games. It was eventually played on Saturday, 14 August 2021, with
Naomh Conaill winning a fifth title.
Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 championship took a different format to previous editions of the competition. All 16 teams competed in a league competition, playing four games each. A random draw determined which teams faced each other in each of the four rounds. No team could meet each other twice in the group stage. Each team played two home games and two away games in this league phase. The top eight teams went into a seeded draw for the quarter-finals (the top four had home advantage in those quarter-finals), while the bottom four teams entered a relegation play-off.
Group stage
All 16 teams entered the competition at this stage. The top two teams in each group advanced to the quarter-finals, while the bottom team of each group entered a relegation play-off.
League stage
All 12 teams entered the competition at this stage. A random draw determined which teams faced each other in each of the four rounds. No team could meet each other twice in the group stage. The top eight teams went into a seeded draw for the quarter-finals, while the bottom three teams entered a relegation playoff. If teams were level on points and a place in the quarter-final was at stake, a playoff would have been conducted to determine which team went through.
The final was originally scheduled for 19 September 2020. However, it emerged on 21 September that a Cill Chartha player had tested positive for the
coronavirus; initially the game was announced to be proceeding as scheduled.[44][45]
A short while later though, the final was postponed until 7 October.[46][47] However, the GAA suspended all club fixtures with immediate effect on 5 October, citing "post-match celebrations and a lack of social distancing at certain events" elsewhere in the country (i.e.
Cork,
Meath) as "disappointing and problematic".[48]
Naomh Conaill retained the title, in the most controversial of circumstances, a 4–2 penalty shootout victory after extra-time on Saturday, 14 August 2021.[49] Naomh Conaill's opponent lodged an appeal against the result on Tuesday, 17 August 2021.[50]
Eventually Naomh Conaill's victory was allowed, though the club was fined.[51][52]
The four bottom-placed teams from the league phase entered the relegation play-offs. The 13th and 14th placed teams had home advantage in the relegation semi-finals and played the 16th and 15th placed teams respectively. The two winners maintained their senior status for 2021. The two losers contested a relegation final to determine which team would be relegated to the 2021 I.F.C.
League stage: Round 4 matches were all
streamed live and
free-to-air on Sunday 23 August.[56]
References
^Molloy, Edward (18 November 2021). "Donegal Senior Club Championship Scorers 2021". Donegal News. p. 66. Total Scored in 2021 Championship 82–1001 (1247pts) 2020 total was 98–956 (1250pts) Total games played = 46 (42 in 2020) Scoring average per match = 27.1pts (29.76pts in 2020) Total number different scorers = 226 + 2 Own goals by opponents (201 in 2020) Top scoring goalie is again Andrew Walsh Glenfin 0.04 Seven of last year's players feature this year in scoring charts. Six of current county senior panel make the [2021] list. [Ed: These seem to have been M. Murphy, O. Gallen, N. O'Donnell, P. McBrearty, M. Langan and P. Mogan, in descending order with 'Top 18 Scorers' given by Edward Molloy for 2021].
^Craig, Frank (19 August 2021). "County final saga set to rumble on!". Donegal News. p. 72. The Towney outfit's appeal was lodged with the Donegal GAA's Competitions Controls Committee (CCC) on Tuesday evening.
^Gartland, Niall (17 March 2022). "New Kilcar boss Cunningham has his eyes on the road ahead". Donegal News. p. 67. Naomh Conaill were allowed to keep their title even though they were fined for fielding too many substitutes in their penalty shoot-out win last October, a decision which Kilcar grudgingly accepted even though it clearly rankled with the club.
^"Dorrian set to referee his first senior final". Donegal News. 12 August 2021. p. 62. Dorrian is a member of An Garda Síochána and is based in County Monaghan at present.