The 2020 Cork Premier Senior Football Championship was the inaugural staging of the Cork Premier Senior Football Championship and the 132nd staging overall of a championship for the top-ranking Gaelic football teams in Cork. The draw for the group stage placings took place on 19 November 2019. The championship was scheduled to begin in April 2020, however, it was postponed indefinitely due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games. The championship eventually began on 24 July 2020 and, after being suspended once again on 5 October 2020, and eventually ended on 29 August 2021.
Nemo Rangers were the defending champions.
The final was played on 29 August 2021 at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork, between Castlehaven and Nemo Rangers, in what was their third final meeting and their first in six years. Nemo Rangers won the match by 3-07 to 0-13 to claim their 22nd championship title overall and a second title in succession.
Steven Sherlock from the St. Finbarr's club was the championship's top scorer with 3-36.
Format change
On 26 March 2019, three championship proposals were circulated to Cork club delegates. A core element running through all three proposals, put together by the Cork GAA games workgroup, was that there be a group stage of 12 teams, straight relegation, and one team from the divisions/colleges section to enter at the preliminary quarter-final stage. On 2 April 2019, a majority of 136 club delegates voted for Option A which would see one round of games played in April and two more in August – all with county players available.
Participating teams Clubs
The club rankings were based on a championship performance 'points' system over the previous four seasons.
Team Location Colours Seeding RankingNemo RangersTrabegBlack and greenA1St. Finbarr'sTogherBlue and goldA2Carbery RangersRosscarberyGreen, white and goldA3BallincolligBallincolligRed, white and blackB4CastlehavenCastlehavenBlue and whiteB5Valley RoversInnishannonGreen and whiteB6DouglasDouglasBlack, white and greenC7NewcestownNewcestownRed and yellowC8ClonakiltyClonakiltyRed and greenC9Ilen RoversChurch CrossGreen and whiteD10BishopstownBishopstownMaroon and whiteD11CarrigalineCarrigalineBlue and yellowD12
Divisions and colleges
Team Location ColoursBearaBeara PeninsulaRed and whiteCarberyWest CorkPurple and yellowDuhallowDuhallowRed and whiteUniversity College CorkCollege RoadRed and black
Fixtures/results Group 1 Table
TeamMatchesScorePtsPldWDLForAgainstDiffSt. Finbarr's33004-502-33234Ballincollig32014-352-3474Clonakilty31023-353-42-72Carrigaline30031-295-40-230
Results
Group 2 Table
TeamMatchesScorePtsPldWDLForAgainstDiffCastlehaven33005-452-22326Newcestown32015-384-28134Carbery Rangers31022-322-34-22Ilen Rovers30033-197-50-430
Results
Group 3 Table
TeamMatchesScorePtsPldWDLForAgainstDiffNemo Rangers33006-402-25276Valley Rovers32012-357-21-14Douglas31035-293-38-32Bishopstown30032-233-43-230
Results
Divisional/colleges sections Semi-finals
Final
Knock-out stage Relegation playoff
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Championship statistics Top scorers
Overall
Rank Player Club Tally Total Matches Average1Steven SherlockSt. Finbarr's3-364559.002Luke ConnollyNemo Rangers7-224367.163Cian DorganBallincollig1-232646.504Brian HurleyCastlehaven0-252555.005Dara Ó SéClonakilty1-202337.666Fiachra LynchValley Rovers0-222245.507Mark CollinsCastlehaven2-152154.208Cillian Myers-MurraySt. Finbarr's1-161953.809Mark CroninNemo Rangers2-121853.6010Seán O'DonovanIlen Rovers0-141443.50
In a single game
Rank Player Club Tally Total Opposition1Steven SherlockSt. Finbarr's1-1114Carrigaline2Luke ConnollyNemo Rangers3-0312BallincolligSteven SherlockSt. Finbarr's1-0912Castlehaven4Cian DorganBallincollig1-0710ClonakiltySteven SherlockSt. Finbarr's1-0710Clonakilty6Luke ConnollyNemo Rangers2-039Valley RoversMark CollinsCastlehaven2-039Ilen RoversDara Ó SéClonakilty1-069Ballincollig9Dara Ó SéClonakilty0-088CarrigalineJames McEnteeUCC0-088CarberyLuke ConnollyNemo Rangers0-088BishopstownBrian HurleyCastlehaven0-088Nemo Rangers
Miscellaneous
The quarter-final between Ballincollig and Nemo Rangers was postponed after it emerged that a Ballincollig player had tested positive for Covid-19 and a decision was made to temporarily suspend all club activity for 48 hours as a precautionary measure.
References
External links Cork GAA website