The 2020 All-Ireland Under-20 Football Championship was the third staging of the All-Ireland Under-20 Championship and the 57th staging overall of a Gaelic football championship for players between the minor and senior grades. The competition ran from 7 February to 19 December 2020.
The defending champion was ; however, the team was beaten by in the Munster final.
The final took place on 19 December 2020, between and . Galway won the match by 1–11 to 0–13 to win asixth title and a first since 2013.
's Ciarán Archer was the competition's top scorer with 1–25. Galway captain Jack Glynn was named U20 Footballer of the Year.
Player eligibility At the start of the championship footballers aged under 20 cannot play for both their county's senior and under-20 championship teams. Initially a footballer must opt to play for either the senior or the under-20 team. Once a county's senior team exits the senior championship all of their under-20 players are then eligible to play for the county under-20 team.
This rule was introduced to prevent player burnout and avoid scheduling conflicts when the senior and under-20 championships are played in the same summer months as both county teams have distinct panels of players. Inevitably some county under-20 teams play without their best under-20 footballers as a result of the player eligibility rule.
Competition format Provincial Championships format
Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster each organise a provincial championship. Each province decides the format for their championship – the format can be straight knockout, double-elimination, a league, groups, etc. or a combination.
All-Ireland format
The four provincial winners play in two All-Ireland Under-20 Football Semi-finals, with the winners of those matches playing in the All-Ireland Final.
Connacht Under-20 Football Championship Quarter-final
Semi-finals
Final
Leinster Under-20 Football Championship Preliminary round
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Munster Under-20 Football Championship Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Ulster Under-20 Football Championship Preliminary round
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
All-Ireland Under-20 Football Championship Semi-finals
Final
Statistics Top scorers overall Rank Player County Tally Total Matches Average1Ciarán Archer1–252864.672Matthew Tierney1–182154.203Tiarnan Quinn2–121844.504Mark McInerney2–91527.50Blake Murphy1–126Tomo Culhane2–81443.50Lorcan O'Dell62.33Aaron Doherty34.679Mark Lavin0–111161.83Ethan Jordan42.75
Top scorers in a single game Rank Player County Tally Total Opposition1Tomo Culhane1–69Paul Towey0–9Blake Murphy4Shane Meehan2–28Mark McInerney1–5Alex Doherty7Ciarán Archer1–47Tiarnan QuinnMark McInerneyEthan HarkinCiarán Archer0–7
References