2020 Monaghan Senior Football Championship Explained

Monaghan SFC
County:	Monaghan
Year:	2020
Trophy:	Mick Duffy Cup
Sponsor:	Greenfield Foods
Dates:	25 July - October
Num Teams:	10
Defending Champions:	Clontibret O'Neills
Qualify For:	Ulster Club SFC
Manager:	???
Captain:	???
Runnersup:	???
Runnerupmanager:	???
Runnerupcaptain:	???
Relegated:	??? (9th in SFL) ??? (10th in SFL)
Website:	Monaghan GAA
Previous:	2018
Next:	2020

The 2020 Monaghan Senior Football Championship will be the 114th edition of Monaghan GAA's premier gaelic football tournament for senior clubs in County Monaghan, Ireland. Ten teams compete, with the winners not representing Monaghan in the AIB GAA Ulster Club Senior Football Championship due to the latter competition's cancellation. Generally, the championship uses a double-elimination format for Rounds 1 and 2 before becoming knock-out. However, for this season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a round-robin system splitting the 10 senior clubs into two groups of five was used. ^[1]

Clontibret O'Neills are the defending champions after defeating Scotstown in the 2019 final. ^[2] The 2019 competition also sees the return of Magheracloone Mitchell's and Donaghmoyne to the Senior ranks following their promotion from the Intermediate competition. ^{[3] [4]}

Usually, relegation is based on a team's performance in the Senior Football League, but due to the cancellation of this year's league, a Relegation Final contested by the two bottom placed finishers in both groups was implemented. TBD were relegated to the 2021 I.F.C. after they lost the Relegation Final to ???. They'll be replaced by TBD, this year's I.F.C. Champions.

Team Changes

Prior to 2020, the two bottom-placed teams in the Monaghan Senior Football League are relegated to the Intermediate ranks for the following season, with the Intermediate Football Championship winners and Intermediate Football League winners promoted in their place. If a team wins both the Intermediate Championship and League, then the next highest placed team in the League will be promoted.

The following teams have changed division since the 2019 championship season.

To S.F.C.

Promoted from 2019 Monaghan I.F.C.

• Magheracloone Mitchell's - (I.F.C. Champions)
• Donaghmoyne - (I.F.L. Champions)

From S.F.C.

Relegated to 2020 Monaghan I.F.C.

• Doohamlet O'Neill's (9th in League)
• Currin (10th in League)

Participating teams

Club	2019 C'ship Position	Last Success
Ballybay Pearse Brothers		2012
Carrickmacross Emmets		1919
Castleblayney Faughs		2003
Clontibret O'Neills		2019
Donaghmoyne	Promoted	1945
Inniskeen Grattans		1948
Latton O'Rahillys		2011
Magheracloone Mitchell's	Promoted	2004
Scotstown		2018
Truagh Gaels

Group stage

^[5]

There are two groups of five teams called Group A and B. The 1st placed team in each group qualify for the semi-finals. 2nd and 3rd qualify for the quarter-finals while the 4th and 5th placed teams proceed to the relegation play-offs.

The draw for the group stages of the championship were made on 3 July 2020 with the games commencing on 25 July 2020. Teams named first in the group stage had home advantage.

Group A

Team
Ballybay Pearse Bros.	4	3	0	1	74	46	+28	7
Magheracloone Mitchell's	4	2	1	1	59	55	+4	5
Inniskeen Grattans	4	2	0	2	55	50	+5	4
Clontibret O'Neills	4	0	1	3	53	56	-3	3
Donaghmoyne	4	0	3	1	47	81	-34	0

Round 1

• Ballybay 1-9, 1-9 Clontibret, 26/7/2020,
• Inniskeen 1-11, 2-9 Magheracloone, 26/7/2020,
• Donaghmoyne - Bye,

Round 2

• Magheracloone 1-9, 1-12 Ballybay, 1/8/2020,
• Donaghmoyne 1-6, 0-13 Inniskeen, 1/8/2020,
• Clontibret - Bye,

Round 3

• Clontibret 0-13, 0-13 Magheracloone, 9/8/2020,
• Ballybay 4-20, 0-8 Donaghmoyne, 9/8/2020,
• Inniskeen - Bye,

Round 4

• Donaghmoyne 2-11, 2-11 Clontibret, 15/8/2020,
• Inniskeen 0-14, 2-9 Ballybay, 15/8/2020,
• Magheracloone - Bye,

Round 5

• Clontibret 0-11, 2-8 Inniskeen, 21/8/2020,
• Magheracloone 1-16, 2-7 Donaghmoyne, 21/8/2020,
• Ballybay - Bye,

Group B

Team
Scotstown	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
Carrickmacross Emmets	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
Latton O'Rahillys	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
Truagh Gaels	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0
Castleblayney Faughs	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	0

Round 1

• Scotstown 0-17, 1-12 Truagh, 25/7/2020,
• Castleblayney 0-9, 1-13 Latton, 25/7/2020,
• Carrickmacross - Bye,

Round 2

• Carrickmacross 1-12, 0-8 Castleblayney, 2/8/2020,
• Latton 0-8, 0-12 Scotstown, 2/8/2020,
• Truagh - Bye,

Round 3

• Truagh 4-17, 0-6 Latton, 8/8/2020,
• Scotstown 2-15, 0-7 Carrickmacross, 8/8/2020,
• Castleblayney - Bye,

Round 4

• Castleblayney 0-13, 1-13 Scotstown, 16/8/2020,
• Carrickmacross 0-12, 1-10 Truagh, 16/8/2020,
• Latton - Bye,

Round 5

• Truagh -vs- Castleblayney, 23/8/2020,
• Latton -vs- Carrickmacross, 23/8/2020,
• Scotstown - Bye,

Quarter-finals

The four 2nd and 3rd placed teams from Groups A and B enter the quarter-finals. The two losers are eliminated.

Semi-finals

The two 1st placed teams from Groups A and B play against the two Quarter-Final winners.

Relegation play-offs

Relegation Semi-Finals

The two 1st placed teams from Groups A and B play against the two Quarter-Final winners.

Relegation Final

Notes and References

1. Web site: Draws Made For New Look Monaghan Championships. Northernstandard.ie . 3 July 2020.
2. Web site: Classy Clontibret end Scotstown's reign in Monaghan (2019 S.F.C. Final). Rte.ie. 20 October 2019.
3. Web site: Prolific Magheracloone win 2019 I.F.C. Final. Monaghangaa.ie. 18 October 2019.
4. Web site: 2019 League Finals round-up: Titles for Ballybay, Donaghmoyne and Éire Óg. Monaghangaa.ie . 3 November 2019.
5. Web site: Draws Made For New Look Monaghan Championships. Northernstandard.ie . 3 July 2020.