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2020 National Football League (Ireland)

2020 National Football League
League details
Dates25 January – 25 October 2020
Teams32
League champions
WinnersKerry (21st win)
CaptainDavid Clifford
ManagerPeter Keane
League runners-up
Runners-upDublin
CaptainStephen Cluxton
ManagerDessie Farrell
Other division winners
Division 2Roscommon
Division 3Cork
Division 4Limerick
2019
2021

The 2020 National Football League, known for sponsorship reasons as the Allianz National Football League, is the 89th staging of the National Football League (NFL), an annual Gaelic football tournament for Gaelic Athletic Association county teams. Thirty-one county teams from the island of Ireland, plus London, compete. Kilkenny do not participate.

The league was originally scheduled to end in March 2020, but the public health measures introduced to combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the final two league rounds being delayed to October.[1][2][3] In June 2020 the GAA announced that the league finals would not be played with the division winners being determined by table position at the end of the league rounds. This was only the second NFL season to be decided without a final (the first was in 1935–36).[4]

The GAA announced a new broadcast agreement on 10 January 2019 that runs from 2019 until 2022. Eir Sport and RTÉ provide live TV coverage of the league on Saturday nights. TG4 broadcast Sunday afternoon games. The highlights programmes are RTÉ2's League Sunday on Sunday evenings, TG4's GAA 2019 on Monday evenings and Eir Sport's Allianz Leagues Reloaded on Wednesday evenings.[5][6]

London withdrew after Round 6 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games. A meeting was held on 12 September.[clarification needed]

On 24 October, Kerry became the Division 1 champions, with 11 points from their seven games.[7]

  1. ^ "U21 championship delayed with Clare Cup start deferred". 12 March 2020.
  2. ^ GBFM, Sport (12 March 2020). "Sporting Events Postponed Due to Coronavirus Scare".
  3. ^ "Coronavirus: A comprehensive guide as Irish and global sport shuts down in effort to contain spread of Covid-19". independent. 12 March 2020.
  4. ^ O'Toole, Fintan (26 June 2020). "December All-Ireland final dates confirmed as GAA unveil 2020 championship plan". The42.
  5. ^ "GAA, RTE and eir sport announce new broadcast agreement". www.hoganstand.com. Hogan Stand. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  6. ^ "How the 2019 National Football League divisions will look". SportsJOE.ie.
  7. ^ "Kerry crowned Division 1 champions after heavy win over understrength Donegal". The 42. 24 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.