| League: | 2020 National Hurling League |
| Dates: | 25 January – 25 October 2020 |
| Teams: | 35 |
| Team1: | Limerick |
| Captain1: | Declan Hannon |
| Manager1: | John Kiely |
| Titles: | 13th |
| Team2: | Clare |
| Captain2: | David McInerney |
| Manager2: | Brian Lohan |
| Twoa: | Antrim |
| Twob: | Down |
| Threea: | Donegal |
| Threeb: | Sligo |
| Previous: | 2019 |
| Next: | 2021 |
The 2020 National Hurling League was the 89th season of the National Hurling League for county teams.
Division 1 was restructured in 2020 into two groups of approximately equal strength.[1] [2] [3]
The league was originally scheduled to end on 29 March 2020. The public health measures introduced to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland resulted in most of the final stages being delayed to October and the Division 1 final stage being reduced from five games to one.[4] [5] [6]
Eir Sport and RTÉ provide live TV coverage of the league on Saturday nights. TG4 broadcast Sunday afternoon games. The highlights programmes are RTÉ2's League Sunday on Sunday evenings, TG4's GAA 2020 on Monday evenings and Eir Sport's Allianz Leagues Reloaded on Wednesday evenings.
Limerick were the winners, defeating Clare in the final on 25 October.[7] [8]
League structure
Thirty-five teams compete in the 2020 NHL –
All thirty-two county teams from Ireland take part. London, Lancashire and Warwickshire complete the lineup.
| Teams by Province and Division | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Province | Div 1 | Div 2A | Div 2B | Div 3A | Div 3B | Total |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | |
| 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 12 | |
| 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 9 | |
| 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| Total | 12 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 35 |
Each team plays all the other teams in their division once, either home or away. Two points are awarded for a win, and one for a draw.
The Division 1 semi-finals had been proposed to finish on the day the games are played avoiding the need for replays. If a semi-final is level after the initial seventy minutes, still level after two ten minute periods of extra time played each way, and still level after two further five minute periods of extra time, the outcome is to be decided by a free-taking competition. This is intended to prevent games from going to a replay and allow the league finals to be held on the scheduled date.[9]
Tie-breaker
Finals, promotions and relegations
Division 1
Division 2A
Division 2B
Division 3A
Division 3B
The top twelve teams compete in Division 1 in two six-team groups of approximately equal strength based on their league performance in 2019. This group structure was introduced in 2020. (Previously the top six ranked teams were in Division 1A and the teams ranked 7–12 were in Division 1B.)
Each team play all the other teams in their group once. Two points are awarded for a win and one for a draw. The top team in each group qualifies for the league final. The last-placed team in each group plays in the relegation playoff with the losers being relegated to Division 2A.
This game was also the 2020 Munster quarter-final.[11] [12]
The bottom teams in the two Division 1 groups meet in a play-off with the losers being relegated to Division 2A.
| Rank | Player | Team | Tally | Total | Matches | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tony Kelly | Clare | 0-68 | 68 | 6 | 11.33 | |
| 2 | Patrick Horgan | Cork | 3-49 | 58 | 5 | 11.60 | |
| 3 | Jason Forde | Tipperary | 1-44 | 47 | 5 | 9.40 | |
| 4 | Aaron Gillane | Limerick | 1-40 | 43 | 5 | 8.60 | |
| 5 | Ross King | Laois | 0-41 | 41 | 5 | 8.20 | |
| 6 | Marty Kavanagh | Carlow | 1-35 | 38 | 6 | 6.33 | |
| 7 | Stephen Bennett | Waterford | 3-24 | 33 | 5 | 6.60 | |
| 8 | Alan Murphy | Kilkenny | 1-32 | 35 | 5 | 7.00 | |
| 9 | Killian Doyle | Westmeath | 1-28 | 31 | 4 | 7.75 | |
| 10 | Paul Morris | Wexford | 0-27 | 27 | 5 | 5.40 |
| Rank | Player | Team | Tally | Total | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Killian Doyle | Westmeath | 1-14 | 17 | Carlow |
| Tony Kelly | Clare | 0-17 | 17 | Limerick (final) | |
| Patrick Horgan | Cork | 0-17 | 17 | Limerick | |
| 4 | Patrick Horgan | Cork | 2-08 | 14 | Westmeath |
| Stephen Bennett | Waterford | 2-08 | 14 | Westmeath | |
| Jason Forde | Tipperary | 0-14 | 14 | Westmeath | |
| Evan Niland | Galway | 0-14 | 14 | Tipperary | |
| 8 | Aaron Gillane | Limerick | 0-13 | 13 | Cork |
| 9 | Patrick Horgan | Cork | 1-09 | 12 | Tipperary |
| Ross King | Laois | 0-12 | 12 | Carlow | |
| Joe Canning | Galway | 0-12 | 12 | Westmeath | |
| Tony Kelly | Clare | 0-12 | 12 | Carlow | |
| Tony Kelly | Clare | 0-12 | 12 | Wexford | |
| Tony Kelly | Clare | 0-12 | 12 | Dublin | |
| Aaron Gillane | Limerick | 0-12 | 12 | Clare (final) |
| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Matches | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Neil McManus | Antrim | 3-44 | 53 | 6 | 8.83 | |
| 2 | Shane Conway | Kerry | 1-49 | 52 | 5 | 10.40 | |
| Pádraig O'Hanrahan | Meath | 1-49 | 52 | 5 | 10.40 | ||
| 3 | Eoghan Cahill | Offaly | 0-50 | 50 | 5 | 10.00 | |
| 4 | Andy O'Brien | Wicklow | 2-41 | 47 | 5 | 9.40 | |
| 5 | Shane Boland | Mayo | 0-35 | 35 | 5 | 7.00 | |
| 6 | David Nally | Offaly | 3-11 | 20 | 5 | 4.00 | |
| 7 | Jack Conway | Kerry | 3-10 | 19 | 5 | 3.80 | |
| 8 | Liam Langton | Offaly | 0-18 | 18 | 4 | 4.50 | |
| 9 | James McNaughten | Antrim | 2-11 | 17 | 6 | 2.83 |
| Rank | Player | Club | Tally | Total | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shane Conway | Kerry | 1-14 | 17 | Antrim |
| Eoghan Cahill | Offaly | 0-17 | 17 | Wicklow | |
| 2 | Neil McManus | Antrim | 1-13 | 16 | Offaly |
| Pádraig O'Hanrahan | Meath | 0-16 | 16 | Wicklow | |
| 3 | Neil McManus | Antrim | 2-09 | 15 | Meath |
| 4 | Pádraig O'Hanrahan | Meath | 1-11 | 14 | Offaly |
| 5 | Andy O'Brien | Wicklow | 1-09 | 12 | Meath |
| Andy O'Brien | Wicklow | 1-09 | 12 | Offaly | |
| Liam Langton | Offaly | 0-12 | 12 | Meath | |
| Eoghan Cahill | Offaly | 0-12 | 12 | Mayo | |
| Shane Conway | Kerry | 0-12 | 12 | Wicklow | |
| Andy O'Brien | Wicklow | 0-12 | 12 | Mayo |