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2020 Dundalk F.C. season

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Dundalk
2020 season
Vinny Perth, former Dundalk manager, celebrating the 2019 league title success with supporters in Oriel Park.
ManagerVinny Perth
(until 20 August)
Filippo Giovagnoli
(from 26 August as Interim Head Coach)
Premier Division3rd
FAI CupWinners
League CupCancelled
President's CupCancelled
Leinster Senior CupAbandoned
Champions LeagueFirst qualifying round
Europa LeagueGroup stage
Top goalscorerLeague: Patrick Hoban (10)
All: Patrick Hoban &
David McMillan (11)
Highest home attendance3,156 (Vs. Derry City 14 February 2020)
← 2019
2021 →

Dundalk entered the 2020 season as the reigning League Champions and League of Ireland Cup holders from 2019. It was manager Vinny Perth's second season as manager until his dismissal following Dundalk's exit from Europe in the first qualifying round of the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League. He was then replaced by Head Coach Filippo Giovagnoli. The 2020 season is Dundalk's 12th consecutive season in the top tier of Irish football, their 85th in all, and their 94th in the League of Ireland.

Season summary

After the postponement of the President's Cup due to storm conditions,[1] the scheduled double-double round-robin 36 round League programme commenced on 14 February 2020 and was due to be completed on 23 October 2020. The season was predicted to be a two-horse race between Dundalk and Shamrock Rovers.[2] Both sides won their opening three matches before Rovers won their first encounter, 3–2, in Tallaght Stadium. That game was notable for a goal by Dundalk's Jordan Flores, which was subsequently nominated for the FIFA Puskás Award.[3]

Subsequently, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic saw the cessation of football in line with other European countries ahead of the Round Six match at home to St Patrick's Athletic. The League of Ireland Cup, sponsored by EA Sports, was deferred for the season.[4] The Leinster Senior Cup was abandoned.[5] During the stoppage, assistant manager Ruaidhrí Higgins departed his role for a new role under former Dundalk manager Stephen Kenny with the Republic of Ireland national football team.[6] He was replaced by Alan Reynolds, who had earlier resigned as manager of Waterford.[7]

The league season resumed on 31 July 2020 with a reduced schedule of 18 matches in total. Matches were played behind closed doors for the remainder of the shortened season as part of the Irish government's response to the pandemic.[8] In Europe, Dundalk entered the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League as the seeded team in the first qualifying round. They were drawn away to Celje and defeated 3–0 in the single-leg tie, which was played at Szusza Ferenc Stadion, Budapest (Hungary) because of travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic between Slovenia and Ireland.[9] In the aftermath of that defeat, manager Vinny Perth was sacked by the club.[10]

On 26 August Filippo Giovagnoli was confirmed as the new manager of Dundalk, with nine league matches remaining.[11] John Gill and Alan Reynolds left the club the following week.[12] After being defeated in the Champions League first qualifying round, they drew Andorran champions Inter Club d'Escaldes in the Europa League second qualifying round, and won 1–0.[13] They were drawn away again in the second round, and defeated Sheriff Tiraspol in Moldova in a penalty shoot-out, following a 1–1 draw.[14] The victory gave Dundalk a chance to reach the group stage for the first time since 2016. In the play-off round, they faced KÍ of Klaksvík in the Faroe Islands at the Aviva Stadium, and won 3–1.[15][16] Meanwhile, they continued to struggle in the league and eventually finished third, thus qualifying for the new UEFA Europa Conference League.

Dundalk were seeded fourth for the group stage and were drawn in Group B alongside Arsenal, Rapid Wien, and Molde. In the first match at home to Molde, Dundalk took a first half lead through Sean Murray, before going down 2–1.[17] Matchday 2 was the first away match, which was against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. It finished 3–0 to the home side.[18] Matchday 3 away to Rapid in Vienna finished 4–3 to the home side after Dundalk had taken the lead.[19] They failed to pick up any points from the second set of matches, and finished bottom of the group on 0 points.[20] They also received a €50,000 fine from Uefa for 'shadow coaching', as interim head coach Filippo Giovagnoli did not hold a Uefa Pro Licence.[21]

In the FAI Cup, which also had a schedule change as a result of the pandemic, they reached the final after wins over Waterford, Cobh Ramblers, Bohemians, and Athlone Town. The 11–0 semi-final victory over Athlone Town saw Dundalk set a new record for the biggest win in the competition's history, and was also a new club record victory.[22] They followed that with a 4–2 extra time victory over the holders, Shamrock Rovers, with David McMillan scoring a hat-trick, to win the Cup for the twelfth time.[23]

First-Team Squad (2020)

Sources:[24][25][26] Note: Substitute appearances in brackets

No. Name DOB Pos. Debut League FAI Cup EA Cup Europe Others Totals
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1 Republic of Ireland Gary Rogers 25 September 1981 GK 2015 13 0 5 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 27 0
2 Republic of Ireland Seán Gannon 11 July 1991 DF 2014 12 (3) 0 2 (2) 0 0 0 7 (2) 0 0 0 28 0
3 Republic of Ireland Brian Gartland 4 November 1986 DF 2013 7 (1) 1 4 0 0 0 7 (1) 0 0 0 20 1
4 Republic of Ireland Seán Hoare 15 March 1994 DF 2017 9 (1) 0 2 (2) 2 0 0 8 (1) 1 0 0 23 3
5 Republic of Ireland Chris Shields 27 December 1990 MF 2012 16 (1) 0 5 1 0 0 9 1 0 0 31 2
6 England Jordan Flores 4 October 1995 MF 2019 11 (3) 3 0 (3) 1 0 0 4 (1) 2 0 0 22 6
7 Northern Ireland Michael Duffy 28 July 1994 MF 2017 15 (1) 4 5 3 0 0 9 (1) 0 0 0 31 7
8 Republic of Ireland John Mountney 22 February 1993 MF 2012 4 (7) 0 1 (4) 1 0 0 2 (6) 0 0 0 24 1
9 Republic of Ireland Patrick Hoban 28 July 1991 FW 2013 13 (2) 10 1 0 0 0 6 (1) 1 0 0 23 11
10 Republic of Ireland Greg Sloggett 3 July 1996 MF 2020 10 (4) 2 4 0 0 0 7 (1) 0 0 0 26 2
11 Republic of Ireland Patrick McEleney 26 September 1992 MF 2016 4 (5) 0 2 (2) 1 0 0 4 (4) 0 0 0 21 1
12 Republic of Ireland Andrew Quinn[a] 12 November 1996 FW 2018 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
14 Republic of Ireland Dane Massey 17 April 1988 DF 2013 7 (1) 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 2
15 Republic of Ireland Darragh Leahy 15 April 1998 DF 2020 5 (3) 0 2 (1) 0 0 0 7 (1) 0 0 0 19 0
16 Republic of Ireland Seán Murray 11 October 1993 MF 2019 5 (3) 1 1 (1) 1 0 0 5 (3) 3 0 0 18 5
17 Nigeria Nathan Oduwa[b] 5 March 1996 FW 2020 4 (6) 0 0 (2) 1 0 0 1 (3) 0 0 0 16 1
18 England Will Patching 18 October 1998 MF 2020 2 (5) 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0
20 Republic of Ireland Aaron McCarey 14 January 1992 GK 2019 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6 0
21 Republic of Ireland Daniel Cleary 9 March 1996 DF 2018 12 1 3 0 0 0 7 (1) 1 0 0 23 2
22 Serbia Stefan Čolović 16 April 1994 MF 2020 8 (6) 1 3 0 0 0 4 (4) 0 0 0 25 1
23 Scotland Cammy Smith[c] 24 August 1995 FW 2020 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
23 Northern Ireland Cameron Dummigan[d] 2 June 1996 DF 2019 5 (2) 0 3 0 0 0 3 (2) 0 0 0 15 0
24 Republic of Ireland Jamie Wynne[e] 30 July 2001 FW 2020 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 (1) 0 0 0 1 0
27 Republic of Ireland Daniel Kelly 21 May 1996 MF 2019 9 (4) 0 0 (4) 0 0 0 1 (4) 1 0 0 22 1
29 Republic of Ireland David McMillan[f] 14 December 1988 FW 2015 5 (6) 0 4 (1) 8 0 0 4 (4) 3 0 0 24 11
30 Republic of Ireland Jimmy Corcoran 1 February 2002 GK 2020 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
44 Republic of Ireland Andy Boyle 7 March 1991 DF 2013 11 (1) 1 3 1 0 0 6 (1) 0 0 0 22 2
45 United States Josh Gatt[g] 29 August 1991 MF 2020 1 (1) 0 0 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0

Out on loan

No. Name DOB Pos. Debut League FAI Cup EA Cup Europe Others Totals
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
12 Republic of Ireland Georgie Kelly[h] 12 November 1996 FW 2018 0 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
28 Democratic Republic of the Congo Lido Lotefa[i] 18 April 2000 FW 2019 0 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
25 United States Taner Dogan[j] 30 May 1998 DF 2020 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Competitions

Premier Division

14 February 2020 Round 1 Dundalk 1–0 Derry City Oriel Park
19:45 Dane Massey 79' Report Attendance: 3,156
Referee: Neil Doyle
21 February 2020 Round 2 Shelbourne 1–2 Dundalk Tolka Park
19:45 Gary Deegan 52' Report Andy Boyle 18'
Patrick Hoban 43'		 Attendance: 3,010
Referee: Damien McGraith
24 February 2020 Round 3 Dundalk 3–0 Cork City Oriel Park
19:45 Michael Duffy 16'
Patrick Hoban 63'
Jordan Flores 66'		 Report Attendance: 2,243
Referee: Paul McLoughlin
28 February 2020 Round 4 Shamrock Rovers 3–2 Dundalk Tallaght Stadium
19:45 Dylan Watts 20'
Roberto Lopes 71'
Jack Byrne 83'		 Report Jordan Flores 23'
Patrick Hoban 63'		 Attendance: 7,522
Referee: Rob Hennessey
6 March 2020 Round 5 Finn Harps 0–4 Dundalk Finn Park
20:00 Patrick Hoban 3', 52'
Michael Duffy 37'
Greg Sloggett 83'		 Report Attendance: 1,582
Referee: Rob Harvey
31 July 2020 Round 6 Dundalk 1–1 St Patrick's Athletic Oriel Park
19:45 Patrick Hoban 23' Report Robbie Benson 23' Attendance: 0
Referee: Rob Harvey
7 August 2020 Round 7 Bohemians 2–1 Dundalk Dalymount Park
17:45 Danny Grant 7'
Keith Buckley 15'		 Report Michael Duffy 42' Attendance: 0
Referee: Neil Doyle
14 August 2020 Round 8 Dundalk 2–2 Waterford Oriel Park
17:45 Patrick Hoban 83'
Daniel Cleary 90'		 Report Matthew Smith 24'
Kurtis Byrne 50'		 Attendance: 0
Referee: Ray Matthews
22 August 2020 Round 9 Sligo Rovers 3–1 Dundalk The Showgrounds
17:00 Donelan 12'
De Vries 51'
Junior 62'		 Report Stefan Čolović 76' Attendance: 0
Referee: Robert Hennessy
11 September 2020 Round 10 Dundalk 3–2 Shelbourne Oriel Park
19:45 Michael Duffy 3'
Brian Gartland 11'
Greg Sloggett 60'		 Report Dan Byrne 20'
Georgie Poynton 24'		 Attendance: 0
Referee: Paul McLaughlin
27 September 2020 Round 11 Dundalk 0–4 Shamrock Rovers Oriel Park
19:45 Report Jack Byrne 36', 85'
Liam Scales 44'
Aaron McEneff 45' (pen.)		 Attendance: 100
Referee: Rob Harvey
4 October 2020 Round 12 Dundalk 0–0 Finn Harps Oriel Park
17:30 Report Attendance: 100
Referee: Paul McLaughlin
14 October 2020 Round 13 Cork City 0–2 Dundalk Turners Cross
19:45 Patrick Hoban 73' 75' Report Attendance: 0
Referee: Neil Doyle
16 October 2020 Round 14 Dundalk 0–0 Bohemians Oriel Park
17:45 Report Attendance: 0
Referee: Damien McGraith
19 October 2020 Round 15 Derry City 1–2 Dundalk Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium
17:45 Darren Cole 18' Report Murray 7'
Jordan Flores 15'		 Attendance: 0
Referee: Rob Harvey
25 October 2020 Round 16 Waterford 1–0 Dundalk Waterford Regional Sports Centre
14:00 Report John Martin 57' Attendance: 0
Referee: Sean Grant
1 November 2020 Round 17 St Patrick's Athletic 1–1 Dundalk Richmond Park
17:45 Robbie Benson 63' Report Patrick Hoban 22' Attendance: 0
Referee: Paul McLaughlin
9 November 2020 Round 18 Dundalk 0–2 Sligo Rovers Oriel Park
19:30 Report Devers 10'
Coughlan 90'		 Attendance: 0
Referee: Derek Tomney

League table

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Shamrock Rovers (C) 18 15 3 0 44 7 +37 48 Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round
2 Bohemians 18 12 1 5 23 12 +11 37 Qualification for Europa Conference League first qualifying round[k]
3 Dundalk 18 7 5 6 25 23 +2 26
4 Sligo Rovers 18 8 1 9 19 23 −4 25
5 Waterford 18 7 3 8 17 22 −5 24
6 St Patrick's Athletic 18 5 6 7 14 17 −3 21
7 Derry City 18 5 5 8 18 18 0 20
8 Finn Harps 18 5 5 8 15 24 −9 20
9 Shelbourne (R) 18 5 4 9 13 22 −9 19 Qualification for relegation play-offs
10 Cork City (R) 18 2 5 11 10 30 −20 11 Relegation to League of Ireland First Division
Source: SSE Airtricity League, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.[27]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ promoted from U19s 27 September 2020
  2. ^ signed March 2020
  3. ^ on loan from Dundee United until 30 June 2020
  4. ^ on loan to Crusaders until 30 June 2020
  5. ^ promoted from U19s 27 September 2020
  6. ^ signed July 2020
  7. ^ signed July 2020, departed 5 November 2020
  8. ^ on loan to St Patrick's Athletic until end of 2020 season
  9. ^ on loan to Longford Town until end of 2020 season
  10. ^ on loan to Athlone Town until end of 2020 season
  11. ^ Since the winners of the 2020 FAI Cup (Dundalk) qualified for European competition based on their league position, the final spot awarded to the Cup winner passed to the next best-placed team, i.e. fourth-placed team.

FAI Cup

11 August 2020 Round 1 Dundalk 1–0WaterfordOriel Park
19:45 Seán Hoare 17' Report Attendance: 50
Referee: Paul McLaughlin
30 August 2020 Round 2Cobh Ramblers0–2 Dundalk St Colman's Park
17:00 Report Dane Massey 29'
David McMillan 75' (pen.)		 Attendance: 50
Referee: Alan Patchell
21 November 2020 Quarter FinalBohemians1–4 Dundalk Dalymount Park
19:45 Andre Wright 11' (pen.) Report Michael Duffy 2'
David McMillan 35' (pen.), 39'
Nathan Oduwa 88'		 Attendance: 0
Referee: Rob Harvey
29 November 2020 Semi FinalAthlone Town0–11 Dundalk Athlone Town Stadium
19:05 Report Michael Duffy 4', 9'
Andy Boyle 13'
John Mountney 29'
Patrick McEleney 36'
David McMillan 39', 64'
Chris Shields 55'
Nathan Oduwa 60'
Jordan Flores 74'
Sean Murray 83'		 Attendance: 0
Referee: Rob Hennessy
6 December 2020 FinalShamrock Rovers2–4 (a.e.t.) Dundalk Ballsbridge, Dublin
18:40 Dylan Watts Yellow card 16'
Joey O'Brien Yellow card 45+3'
Aaron Greene 49'
Liam Scales Yellow card 71'
Roberto Lopes 74'
Graham Burke Yellow card 98'		 Report
Stadium: Aviva Stadium
Attendance: 0
Referee: Rob Harvey
Note: Live coverage on RTÉ2

League Cup

Competition cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.[4]

Leinster Senior Cup

Competition abandoned due to COVID-19 pandemic.[5]

Europe

Champions League

First qualifying round

Celje Slovenia3–0Republic of Ireland Dundalk
 Report
Attendance: 0
Referee: Vítor Ferreira (Portugal)

Europa League

Second qualifying round

Inter Club d'Escaldes Andorra0–1Republic of Ireland Dundalk
Report
Attendance: 0
Referee: Viktor Shimusik (Belarus)

Third qualifying round

Dundalk Republic of Ireland3–1Faroe Islands KÍ
  • Murray 33'
  • Cleary 48'
  • Kelly 79'
 Report
  • Midtskogen 66'
Attendance: 0
Referee: Maurizio Mariani (Italy)
Group stage
Main article: 2020–21 UEFA Europa League group stage § Group B

The group stage draw was held on 2 October 2020.[28] Template:2020–21 UEFA Europa League group tables

22 October 2020 1 Dundalk Republic of Ireland 1–2 Norway Molde Dublin, Ireland
18:55 CEST
Report
Stadium: Tallaght Stadium
Attendance: 0
Referee: Petri Viljanen (Finland)
29 October 2020 2 Arsenal England 3–0 Republic of Ireland Dundalk London, England
20:00 GMT
Report Stadium: Emirates Stadium
Attendance: 0
Referee: Filip Glova (Slovakia)
5 November 2020 3 Rapid Wien Austria 4–3 Republic of Ireland Dundalk Vienna, Austria
18:55 CET
Report
Stadium: Allianz Stadion
Attendance: 0
Referee: Trustin Farrugia Cann (Malta)
26 November 2020 4 Dundalk Republic of Ireland 1–3 Austria Rapid Wien Dublin, Ireland
21:00 CET
Report
Stadium: Aviva Stadium
Attendance: 0
Referee: Tamás Bognár (Hungary)
3 December 2020 5 Molde Norway 3–1 Republic of Ireland Dundalk Molde, Norway
21:00 CET
Report
Stadium: Aker Stadion
Attendance: 600
Referee: Daniel Siebert (Germany)
10 December 2020 6 Dundalk Republic of Ireland 2–4 England Arsenal Dublin, Ireland
18:55 CET
Report
Stadium: Aviva Stadium
Attendance: 0
Referee: Ivan Bebek (Croatia)

Awards

Player of the Month

Month Player Reference
October Republic of Ireland Sean Murray [29]
November Republic of Ireland David McMillan [30]

FIFA Puskás Award (nomination)

Rank Player Team Opponent Score Competition Goal
England Jordan Flores[3] Republic of Ireland Dundalk Republic of Ireland Shamrock Rovers 2–3 2020 League of Ireland Premier Division nominated goal

Footnotes

  1. ^ Celje played their second qualifying round home match against Dundalk at Szusza Ferenc Stadion, Budapest (Hungary), instead of their regular stadium Stadion Z'dežele, Celje, due to travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic between Slovenia and Ireland.[9]

References

  1. ^ Fennessy, Paul. "President's Cup final unlikely to be rescheduled this season". the42.ie. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  2. ^ Malone, Emmet (14 February 2020). "Dundalk and Rovers look set to be the two leading horses again". The Irish Times. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b "THE FIFA PUSKÁS AWARD". fifa.com. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  4. ^ a b "FAI targets June resumption for League of Ireland season". rte.ie. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Leinster Senior Cup Abandoned". Extratime.ie. 19 July 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  6. ^ McDonnell, Daniel. "Ruaidhri Higgins leaves Dundalk to join Stephen Kenny's backroom team". independent.ie. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  7. ^ "Alan Reynolds named new Dundalk assistant manager". rte.ie. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  8. ^ "COVID-19: What you need to do". citizensinformation.ie. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  9. ^ a b "SPREMEMBA: Z Dundalkom na Madžarskem" [CHANGE: With Dundalk in Hungary]. nk-celje.si (in Slovenian). 9 August 2020.
  10. ^ "STATEMENT: VINNY PERTH LEAVES DUNDALK FC". dundalkfc.com. 20 August 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  11. ^ "'A lot of people are sceptical but I am not afraid' - Dundalk confirm arrival of little-known Italian Giovagnoli". The 42. 26 August 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  12. ^ "DUNDALK FC CONFIRM GILL AND REYNOLDS' DEPARTURE". dundalkfc.com. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  13. ^ "MCMILLAN STRIKE SENDS US THROUGH!". dundalkfc.com. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  14. ^ "LILYWHITES SHOOT DOWN SHERIFF! Match Report//24 Sep 2020". dundalkfc.com. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  15. ^ McDonnell, Daniel. "Dundalk's €3million bonanza as they win place in Europa League group stages". independent.ie. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  16. ^ "Dundalk beat Faroese KI to qualify for the Europa League group stages". The 42. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  17. ^ "LILYWHITES FALL TO MOLDE DEFEAT". dundalkfc.com. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  18. ^ "ARSENAL 3-0 DUNDALK FC". dundalkfc.com. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  19. ^ "RAPID WIEN 4-3 DUNDALK FC". dundalkfc.com. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  20. ^ "DUNDALK 2-4 ARSENAL". dundalkfc.com. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  21. ^ "Dundalk fined €50,000 by UEFA for 'shadow coaching'". rte.ie. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  22. ^ Buttner, Paul. "Dundalk demolish Athlone to set up Rovers final date". rte.ie. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  23. ^ Leahy, Ed. "Hat-trick hero McMillan secures Cup for Dundalk". rte.ie. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  24. ^ "Dundalk FC Squad 2020". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  25. ^ "First Team". dundalkfc.com. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  26. ^ "Dundalk FC Squad". uefa.com. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  27. ^ "Premier Division 2020". Soccerway. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  28. ^ "2020/21 UEFA Europa League: all you need to know". UEFA.com. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  29. ^ "MURRAY NAMED SWAI PLAYER OF THE MONTH FOR OCTOBER". dundalkfc.com. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  30. ^ "Dundalk's David McMillan named SWAI Player of the Month". irishtimes.com. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
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