The 2020 Women's National League was the 10th season of the Women's National League, the highest women's association football league in the Republic of Ireland.
The League lacked a title sponsor, as the Só Hotel Group did not renew their agreement from the previous season. Barretstown were announced as a "charity partner" on 24 July 2020. Expansion teams Athlone Town and Bohemians competed for the first time.
Following the financial collapse of Limerick F.C., they were replaced by a new team, Treaty United. Kilkenny United were excluded for a variety of reasons, including that they had not bonded with the local league, they had changed venues for home games, did not train in Kilkenny, lacked a qualified manager, and had produced poor results (just seven points in the last three seasons combined [60 matches]).
Originally scheduled to kick off on 15 March, the season's opening was delayed, initially to late June by the COVID-19 pandemic. A reduced season eventually kicked-off in August 2020. The WNL Cup was deferred for the season, but the 2020 FAI Women's Cup was effectively a League Cup, with the nine Women's National League clubs the only participants.
On 21 November 2020, Peamount United won their second consecutive title and third overall after a 3–1 win over Shelbourne.
Teams
Team Home town/suburb Stadium 2019 finish Athlone Town Athlone Athlone Town Stadium n/a Bohemians Dublin Oscar Traynor Centre n/a Cork City Cork Bishopstown Stadium 5th Galway Galway Eamonn Deacy Park 4th Treaty United Limerick Markets Field n/a Peamount United Newcastle, County Dublin Greenogue 1st Shelbourne Dublin Tolka Park 2nd DLR Waves Dún Laoghaire Jackson Park 6th Wexford Youths Crossabeg Ferrycarrig Park 3rd
Personnel and kits
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor Athlone Town Tommy Hewitt Paula Doran NikePalfingerBohemians Sean Byrne Sinead O’FarrellyO'NeillsICHH - Inner City Helping HomelessCork City Ronán Collins Katie McCarthyAdidasDLR Waves Graham Kelly Catherine CroninJakoEversheds SutherlandGalway Billy Clery Keara CormicanUhlsportSó HotelsPeamount United James O’Callaghan Áine O'GormanO'NeillsTexaco Newcastle Service StationShelbourne Dave Bell Pearl SlatteryUmbroFlyeFitTreaty United Dave Rooney Marie Curtin UmbroEi ElectronicsWexford Youths Tom Elmes Kylie MurphyJakoEnergia
Format In the initial phase of the season, the nine teams played a round-robin tournament whereby each team played each one of the other teams once. After eight games, the league split into two sections of five and four teams, with each team playing every other team in their section once.
League table Standings
Positions by round
The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards.
Results Matches 1–8 Teams play each other once.
Matches 9–11/12 After eight matches, the league split into two sections i.e. the top five and the bottom four, with the teams playing every other team in their section once (either at home or away). The exact matches were determined by the position of the teams in the league table at the time of the split.
Group one
Group two
Statistics Top scorers Rank Player Club Goals1 Áine O'GormanPeamount United142 Eleanor Ryan DoylePeamount United103 Ellen MolloyWexford Youths84 Aoife HorganTreaty United6 Lynsey McKeyGalway Saoirse NoonanCork City7 Noelle MurrayShelbourne5 Aoife ThompsonGalway Ciara GrantShelbourne Jessica ZiuShelbourne Emily WhelanShelbourne Stephanie RochePeamount United
Awards Monthly awards MonthPlayer of the MonthReferencesPlayerClubAugust Ellen MolloyWexford YouthsSeptember Saoirse NoonanCork CityOctober Jessica ZiuShelbourneNovember Karen DugganPeamount United
Annual awards
Award Winner Club WNL Player of the Year Karen Duggan Peamount United Young Player of the Year Ellen Molloy Wexford Youths Services to the Women's National League Michael Hayes WNL Team of the Year Goalkeeper Eve Badana (DLR Waves) Defenders Niamh Farrelly (Peamount United) Pearl Slattery (Shelbourne) Claire Walsh (Peamount United) Shauna Brennan (Galway) Midfielders Ellen Molloy (Wexford Youths) Karen Duggan (Peamount United) Jessica Ziu (Shelbourne) Forwards Áine O'Gorman (Peamount United) Eleanor Ryan-Doyle (Peamount United) Saoirse Noonan (Cork City)
Broadcasting The title-deciding match between Peamount United and Shelbourne on 21 November 2020 was streamed live by the Football Association of Ireland on their FAI TV YouTube channel. The annual awards ceremony was televised live on Eir Sport 1.
See also 2020 FAI Women's Cup
References
External links