Dundalk entered the 2020 season as the reigning League Champions and League of Ireland Cup holders from 2019. Having qualified for European football for the seventh season in a row, they were entered in the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League. 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 Champions League. The 2020 season was 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, 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. 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.

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. The Leinster Senior Cup was abandoned. 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. He was replaced by Alan Reynolds, who had earlier resigned as manager of Waterford.

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. 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. In the aftermath of that defeat, manager Vinny Perth was sacked by the club.

On 26 August Filippo Giovagnoli was confirmed as the new manager of Dundalk, with nine league matches remaining. John Gill and Alan Reynolds left the club the following week. 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. 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. 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. 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. Matchday 2 was the first away match, which was against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. It finished 3–0 to the home side. Matchday 3 away to Rapid in Vienna finished 4–3 to the home side after Dundalk had taken the lead. They failed to pick up any points from the second set of matches, and finished bottom of the group on 0 points. 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.

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. 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.

First-Team Squad (2020) Sources: Note: Substitute appearances in brackets

No.NameDOBPos.DebutLeagueFAI CupEA CupEuropeOthersTotalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals1 25 September 1981 GK 2015130500090002702 11 July 1991 DF 201412 (3)02 (2)0007 (2)0002803 4 November 1986 DF 20137 (1)140007 (1)0002014 15 March 1994 DF 20179 (1)02 (2)2008 (1)1002335 27 December 1990 MF 201216 (1)0510091003126 4 October 1995 MF 201911 (3)30 (3)1004 (1)2002267 28 July 1994 MF 201715 (1)453009 (1)0003178 22 February 1993 MF 20124 (7)01 (4)1002 (6)0002419 28 July 1991 FW 201313 (2)1010006 (1)100231110 Greg Sloggett 3 July 1996 MF 202010 (4)240007 (1)00026211 26 September 1992 MF 20164 (5)02 (2)1004 (4)00021112 Andrew Quinn 24 January 2002 DF 201810000000001014 17 April 1988 DF 20137 (1)1110000009215 Darragh Leahy 15 April 1998 DF 20205 (3)02 (1)0007 (1)00019016 11 October 1993 MF 20195 (3)11 (1)1005 (3)30018517 5 March 1996 FW 20204 (6)00 (2)1001 (3)00016118 18 October 1998 MF 20202 (5)0200000009020 14 January 1992 GK 201950000010006021 Daniel Cleary 9 March 1996 DF 201812130007 (1)10023222 Stefan Čolović 16 April 1994 MF 20208 (6)130004 (4)00025123 Cammy Smith 24 August 1995 FW 202050000000005023 2 June 1996 DF 20195 (2)030003 (2)00015024 Jamie Wynne 30 July 2001 FW 20200000000 (1)0001027 Daniel Kelly 21 May 1996 MF 20199 (4)00 (4)0001 (4)10022129 14 December 1988 FW 20155 (6)04 (1)8004 (4)300241130 Jimmy Corcoran 1 February 2002 GK 2020 00000000000044 7 March 1991 DF 201311 (1)131006 (1)00022245 29 August 1991 MF 20201 (1)00 (1)000000030

Out on loan No.NameDOBPos.DebutLeagueFAI CupEA CupEuropeOthersTotalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals12 Georgie Kelly 12 November 1996 FW 20180 (2)0000000002028 Lido Lotefa 18 April 2000 FW 20190 (1)0000000001025 Taner Dogan 30 May 1998 DF 2020000000000000

Competitions Premier Division

League table

FAI Cup

League Cup Competition cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic. Leinster Senior Cup Competition abandoned due to COVID-19 pandemic. Europe Champions League First qualifying round

Europa League Second qualifying round

Third qualifying round

Group stage

The group stage draw was held on 2 October 2020.

Awards Player of the Month MonthPlayerReferenceOctober Sean MurrayNovember David McMillan

FIFA Puskás Award (nomination) RankPlayerTeamOpponentScoreCompetitionGoal Jordan Flores Dundalk Shamrock Rovers2–32020 League of Ireland Premier Divisionnominated goal

Footnotes

References