| Year: | 2020 |
| Dates: | 31 October 2020 – 19 December 2020 |
| Teams: | 31 |
| Connacht: | Mayo |
| Munster: | Tipperary |
| Leinster: | Dublin |
| Ulster: | Cavan |
| Matches: | 29 |
| Poty: | Brian Fenton |
| Team: | Dublin |
| Titles: | 30th |
| Captain: | Stephen Cluxton |
| Manager: | Dessie Farrell |
| Team2: | Mayo |
| Captain2: | Aidan O'Shea |
| Manager2: | James Horan |
| Totalgoals: | 59 (2.03 per game) |
| Totalpoints: | 803 (27.68 per game) |
| Topscorer: | Cillian O'Connor (5–40) |
| Previous: | 2019 |
| Next: | 2021 |
The 2020 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 133rd edition of the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county Gaelic football tournament since its establishment in 1887.
The public health measures introduced to combat the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the competition being delayed.[1] On 17 March, the GAA confirmed that the opening fixture – due to have taken place at Gaelic Park in The Bronx on 3 May – had been postponed.[2] In June, the GAA announced that the 2020 championship would be straight knock-out, the first straight-knockout since 2000.[3]
Thirty teams took part – thirty of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. New York were unable to participate due to travel restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. London were also eliminated from the 2020 All-Ireland championship after a meeting of the GAA's Ard Chomhairle on 12 September 2020. Sligo later withdrew due to a COVID-19 outbreak from 3 November.
New York were initially scheduled to host Galway decided on 26 June not reschedule the match.
London were initially scheduled to host Roscommon at Ruislip at the beginning of May, before all GAA activity was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Roscommon were then set to play their rescheduled Connacht football quarter-final on the weekend of 31 October, with the winner facing Mayo or Leitrim the following weekend. Roscommon advanced directly into the semi-final.
The Galway vs Sligo Connacht semi-final was not played as Sligo were affected by COVID-19 cases. Galway's first match was the Connacht final and the Connacht championship only had four teams instead of the usual seven. This previously only happened during the period when all Connacht finals were between Galway and Mayo (1933–1940) again in 1965 the match was rescheduled for 2023 season.
In 2024 information will be published for both postponed games against London and New York games will be rescheduled for 2025 season.
It emerged that in order for London's quarter-final to take place their entire squad and backroom team would have had to self-isolate in Ireland for two weeks prior to the match. Kilkenny, as in previous years, did not enter.
In 2020 the GAA planned to introduce the Tailteann Cup, a second-tier championship for Division 3 and 4 National Football League teams who failed to reach their provincial finals or get promoted to Division 2 of the league.[4] [5] The Tailteann Cup was cancelled as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games and was rescheduled for introduction in 2021, when its introduction was again postponed.
Defending champions Dublin completed an unprecedented six-in-a-row.[6] [7]
Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster each organise a provincial championship. Most of the teams who lost a match in their provincial championship entered the All-Ireland qualifiers in the years prior to 2020 – New York did not enter the qualifiers.[8] [9] [10] [11] As the championship was delayed due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the qualifiers were abandoned with all matches being changed to straight knock-out.
If the score is level at the end of the normal seventy minutes, two periods of ten minutes each way are played. If the score is still level the tie is decided by a penalty shoot-out.
The four provincial champions compete in the semi-finals. If the score is level at the end of the normal seventy minutes in a semi-final, two periods of ten minutes each way are played. If the score is still level the semi-final is replayed. If the score is level at the end of the normal seventy minutes in the final, the match is replayed.
Following a motion proposed by Kildare at the GAA Congress on 28 September 2020, the kick-out rule was further modified so that an outfield player receiving a ball direct from the kick-out cannot play the ball back to their goalkeeper. Unusually, the "no back-pass" modification was not trialled before its introduction in the 2020 senior championship.
See main article: 2020 Connacht Senior Football Championship.
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See main article: 2020 Leinster Senior Football Championship.
See main article: 2020 Leinster Senior Football Championship Final. ----
See main article: 2020 Munster Senior Football Championship. The two teams who won the semi-finals in the previous year are given byes to this year's semi-finals.
See main article: 2020 Munster Senior Football Championship Final. ----
See main article: 2020 Ulster Senior Football Championship. An un-seeded draw determined the fixtures for all nine teams. In April 2018, the Ulster GAA Competitions Control Committee introduced a rule that the two teams playing in the preliminary round would be exempt from playing in the preliminary round in the following two years.[12] As a result of the draw for 2020, Cavan and Monaghan were awarded byes to the quarter-finals in 2021 and 2022.
See main article: 2020 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final.
| Name | County | Club | Matches refereed |
|---|---|---|---|
| BRANAGAN, Ciaran | Down | ||
| CASSIDY, Barry | Derry | Bellaghy | |
| CAWLEY, Brendan | Kildare | ||
| COLDRICK, David | Meath | Blackhall Gaels | |
| DEEGAN, Maurice | Laois | ||
| FALOON, Paul | Down | ||
| GOUGH, David | Meath | Slane | |
| HENRY, Jerome | Mayo | ||
| HURSON, Sean | Tyrone | ||
| KELLY, Fergal | Longford | ||
| LANE, Conor | Cork | ||
| MCNALLY, Martin | Monaghan | ||
| MCQUILLAN, Joe | Cavan | ||
| O'MAHONEY, Derek | Tipperary | ||
| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Matches | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cillian O'Connor | Mayo | 5–40 | 55 | 5 | 11.0 |
| 2 | Conor Sweeney | Tipperary | 2–27 | 33 | 4 | 8.2 |
| 3 | Dean Rock | Dublin | 1–26 | 29 | 5 | 5.8 |
| 4 | Ciarán Kilkenny | Dublin | 1–20 | 23 | 5 | 4.6 |
| 5 | Jordan Morris | Meath | 4-09 | 21 | 3 | 7 |
| 6 | Gearóid McKiernan | Cavan | 0–12 | 12 | 5 | 2.4 |
| Con O'Callaghan | Dublin | 1-09 | 12 | 5 | 2.4 | |
| 8 | Rian O'Neill | Armagh | 0–11 | 11 | 2 | 5.5 |
| Cian Farrell | Offaly | 0–11 | 11 | 2 | 5.5 | |
| Donal O'Hare | Down | 1-08 | 11 | 2 | 5.5 | |
| Tommy Conroy | Mayo | 1-08 | 11 | 5 | 2.2 | |
| Martin Reilly | Cavan | 2-05 | 11 | 5 | 2.2 | |
| Seán Bugler | Dublin | 2-05 | 11 | 5 | 2.2 | |
| 14 | Gary Walsh | Laois | 0–10 | 10 | 2 | 5 |
| Sam Mulroy | Louth | 1-07 | 10 | 1 | 10 | |
| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cillian O'Connor | Mayo | 4-09 | 21 | Tipperary |
| 2 | Jordan Morris | Meath | 3-04 | 13 | Wicklow |
| 3 | Cillian O'Connor | Mayo | 1-09 | 12 | Leitrim |
| Conor Sweeney | Tipperary | 1-09 | 12 | Mayo | |
| 5 | Dean Rock | Dublin | 1-07 | 10 | Meath |
| Sam Mulroy | Louth | 1-07 | 10 | Longford | |
| 7 | Cillian O'Connor | Mayo | 0-09 | 9 | Roscommon |
| Cillian O'Connor | Mayo | 0-09 | 9 | Dublin | |
| 9 | Paul Broderick | Carlow | 0-08 | 8 | Offaly |
| Gary Walsh | Laois | 0-08 | 8 | Longford | |
| Pos. | Player | Team | Appearances |
|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Raymond Galligan | Cavan | 1 |
| RCB | Oisín Mullin | Mayo | 1 |
| FB | Padraig Faulkner | Cavan | 1 |
| LCB | Michael Fitzsimons | 3 | |
| RWB | James McCarthy | Dublin | 4 |
| CB | John Small | Dublin | 1 |
| LWB | Eoin Murchan | Dublin | 1 |
| MD | Brian FentonFOTY | Dublin | 5 |
| MD | Thomas Galligan | Cavan | 1 |
| RWF | Niall Scully | Dublin | 1 |
| CF | Ciarán Kilkenny | Dublin | 4 |
| LWF | Con O'Callaghan | Dublin | 3 |
| RCF | Cillian O'Connor | Mayo | 2 |
| FF | Conor Sweeney | Tipperary | 1 |
| LCF | Dean Rock | Dublin | 3 |
Player has previously been selected.