The 2020 Donegal Senior Football Championship was the 98th official edition of Donegal GAA's premier Gaelic football tournament for senior graded clubs in County Donegal. 16 teams competed, with the winner representing Donegal in the Ulster Senior Club Football Championship. Generally, the championship begins with four groups of four and continues with a knock-out format. However, this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the format was changed.
Naomh Conaill was defending champion after defeating Gaoth Dobhair by a scoreline of 0–8 to 0–7, after a second replay in the 2019 final.
The 2020 competition progressed as far as the final but this match was twice postponed due to issues arising from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games. It was eventually played on Saturday, 14 August 2021, with Naomh Conaill winning a fifth title.
This was St Naul's return to the senior grade (for the first time since 2012), after a seven-year exodus concluded with the club winning the 2019 Donegal Intermediate Football Championship. The club defeated Cloich Cheann Fhaola by 1–10 to 0–10 in the IFC final.
Team changes
The following teams changed division since the 2019 championship season.
To S.F.C. Promoted from 2019 Donegal I.F.C. St Naul's - (I.F.C. Champions)
From S.F.C. Relegated to 2020 Donegal I.F.C. Malin
Format alterations Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 championship took a different format to previous editions of the competition. All 16 teams competed in a league competition, playing four games each. A random draw determined which teams faced each other in each of the four rounds. No team could meet each other twice in the group stage. Each team played two home games and two away games in this league phase. The top eight teams went into a seeded draw for the quarter-finals (the top four had home advantage in those quarter-finals), while the bottom four teams entered a relegation play-off.
League stage All 16 teams entered the competition at this stage. A random draw determined which teams faced each other in each of the four rounds. No team could meet each other twice in the group stage. The top eight teams went into a seeded draw for the quarter-finals, while the bottom three teams entered a relegation playoff. If teams were level on points and a place in the quarter-final was at stake, a playoff would have been conducted to determine which team went through. Table TeamLD1Naomh Conaill4400+7682Gaoth Dobhair4400+5583Cill Chartha4201+6474St Eunan's4201+3575Réalt na Mara4310+2166St Michael's4310-167Seán MacCumhaills4211-158Glenfin4211-359St Naul's4220-15410Four Masters4121-15311Na Cealla Beaga4130-31212Glenswilly4130-37213Milford4031-35114An Clochán Liath4040-16015Ard an Rátha4040-31016Termon 4040-660
Round 1: Réalt na Mara 1–5, 0-15 St Eunan's, 31/7/2020 St Michael's 3-5, 0-8 Glenswilly, 31/7/2020 Naomh Conaill 3-20, 0-6 Milford, 1/8/2020 Cill Chartha 4-21, 0-7 Termon, 1/8/2020 Na Cealla Beaga 1–6, 1-12 Glenfin, 1/8/2020 Four Masters 0–7, 2-17 Gaoth Dobhair, 2/8/2020 St Naul's 1-14, 1-13 An Clochán Liath, 2/8/2020 Seán MacCumhaills 1-10, 1-9 Ard an Rátha, 2/8/2020
Round 2: St Eunan's 1–9, 1-9 Cill Chartha, 7/8/2020 Gaoth Dobhair 3-13, 0-6 Na Cealla Beaga, 8/8/2020 Termon 2–12, 2-16 Réalt na Mara, 8/8/2020 Glenfin 1-14, 0-11 St Naul's, 8/8/2020 Milford 0–14, 1-14 St Michael's, 8/8/2020 Ard an Rátha 0–5, 0-18 Naomh Conaill, 9/8/2020 An Clochán Liath 0–11, 1-11 Seán MacCumhaills, 9/8/2020 Glenswilly 2-14, 1-13 Four Masters, 9/8/2020
Round 3: Naomh Conaill 6-18, 0-8 Termon, 14/8/2020 Seán MacCumhaills 1–12, 1-12 Glenfin, 15/8/2020 Four Masters 4-10, 1-14 An Clochán Liath, 1/8/2020 St Naul's 0–5, 4-11 Gaoth Dobhair, 1/8/2020 Réalt na Mara 2-18, 1-12 Milford, 16/8/2020 St Michael's 1-11, 0-12 Ard an Rátha, 16/8/2020 Cill Chartha 4-24, 1-10 Glenswilly, 16/8/2020 Na Cealla Beaga 0–6, 3-13 St Eunan's, 16/8/2020
Round 4: St Eunan's -vs- St Michael's, 23/8/2020 An Clochán Liath -vs- Na Cealla Beaga, 23/8/2020 Ard an Rátha -vs- Réalt na Mara, 23/8/2020 Termon -vs- St Naul's, 23/8/2020 Glenswilly -vs- Naomh Conaill, 23/8/2020 Milford -vs- Four Masters, 23/8/2020 Gaoth Dobhair -vs- Seán MacCumhaills, 23/8/2020 Glenfin -vs- Cill Chartha, 23/8/2020
Knock-out stage
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals The semi-final draw was held on 6 September, producing the same pairings as this stage of the previous competition.
Final The final was originally scheduled for 19 September 2020. However, it emerged on 21 September that a Cill Chartha player had tested positive for the coronavirus; initially the game was announced to be proceeding as scheduled.
A short while later though, the final was postponed until 7 October. However, the GAA suspended all club fixtures with immediate effect on 5 October, citing "post-match celebrations and a lack of social distancing at certain events" elsewhere in the country (i.e. Cork, Meath) as "disappointing and problematic".
Naomh Conaill retained the title, in the most controversial of circumstances, a 4–2 penalty shootout victory after extra-time on Saturday, 14 August 2021. Naomh Conaill's opponent lodged an appeal against the result on Tuesday, 17 August 2021.
Eventually Naomh Conaill's victory was allowed, though the club was fined.
Relegation play-offs The four bottom-placed teams from the league phase entered the relegation play-offs. The 13th and 14th placed teams had home advantage in the relegation semi-finals and played the 16th and 15th placed teams respectively. The two winners maintained their senior status for 2021. The two losers contested a relegation final to determine which team would be relegated to the 2021 I.F.C.
Ulster Senior Club Football Championship No Ulster Senior Club Football Championship was held, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games.
Gradam Shéamuis Mhic Géidigh No Gradam Shéamuis Mhic Géidigh was given, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games.
Television rights The following matches were broadcast live on national television, unless otherwise indicated: Round RTÉ TG4 League stage: Round 2 St Eunan's v Cill Chartha League stage: Round 4 matches were all streamed live and free-to-air on Sunday 23 August.
References