The 2020 Meistriliiga (known as A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons) was the 30th season of the

Meistriliiga Meistriliiga (, known as the A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons) is the highest division of the Estonian Football Association annual football championship. The league was founded in 1992, and was initially semi-professional with ...

, the top Estonian league for

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

clubs. The season began on 6 March 2020, but was suspended after the first round due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. The league continued on 19 May 2020. The season concluded on 6 December, with the last match between

Flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

and FCI Levadia cancelled due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

cases in both teams. The defending champions Flora successfully defended their title, winning second title in a row and their 13th in total.

Teams

Ten teams competed in the league, nine sides from the 2019 season and 2019 Esiliiga champions TJK Legion. Legion made their debut in the top tier after consecutive promotions from fourth tier in three seasons. Maardu Linnameeskond were relegated at the end of the 2019 season after finishing in the bottom of the table.

Kuressaare Kuressaare () is a town on Saaremaa island in Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Saaremaa Parish and the capital of Saare County. Kuressaare is the westernmost town in Estonia. The recorded population on 1 January 2018 was 13,276. Th ...

retained their Meistriliiga spot after winning a relegation play-off against Esiliiga runners-up Vaprus.

Venues

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

Format changes

Due to the long pause, the season was shortened. Instead of the regular format of each team playing each of the other teams four times, the league were to be split after the third playthrough into two sections of ''top 6'' and ''bottom 4'', with each team playing each other in that section. On 7 November, due to the second wave of COVID-19, the season was shortened even more with the league split into three sections after the 27th round – top 4, 5th & 6th, and bottom 4, with each team playing each other in that section. On 11 December the season's last match between Flora and FCI Levadia was cancelled.

League table

Relegation play-offs

At season's end Kuressaare, the ninth place club, participated in a two-legged play-off with the runners-up (of independent teams) of the 2020 Esiliiga, Maardu Linnameeskond, for the spot in 2021 Meistriliiga. :''Kuressaare won 9–5 on aggregate and retained their Meistriliiga spot for the 2021 season.''

Fixtures and results

A total of four rounds was played. In the first three rounds teams played each other three times. In the fourth round the league was split into 3 groups – top 4, 5th and 6th, and bottom 4, where they played each team in their group one more time.

Rounds 1–18

Rounds 19–27

Top four rounds 28–30

Fifth & sixth round 28

Bottom four rounds 28–30

Season statistics

Top scorers

Hat-tricks

Awards

Monthly awards

Team of the season

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Karl Mööl Karl Mööl (born 4 March 1992) is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as a right back for Estonian club Paide Linnameeskond and the Estonia national team. Club career Flora Mööl first played for a local club Kotkad, and joined the ...

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Sergei Mošnikov Sergei Mošnikov (born 7 January 1988) is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Paide Linnameeskond. Club career Early career Mošnikov came through the youth system at Pärnu. He made his senior league debut while on ...

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Konstantin Vassiljev Konstantin Vassiljev (born 16 August 1984) is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Meistriliiga club Flora and captains the Estonia national team. Vassiljev has been named Estonian Footballer of the Year ...

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Rauno Sappinen Rauno Sappinen (born 23 January 1996) is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ekstraklasa side Stal Mielec, on loan from Piast Gliwice, and the Estonia national team. Club career Flora Sappinen came through the youth ...

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Henri Anier Henri Anier (born 17 December 1990) is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Thai League 1 club Muangthong United and the Estonia national team. Club career Flora Anier came through the Flora youth system. He moved to ...

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Player transfers

* Winter 2019–20 – before the season

References

External links

Official website
{{2020 in Estonian football Meistriliiga seasons 1

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

Teams

Venues

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

Format changes

League table

Relegation play-offs

Fixtures and results

Rounds 1–18

Rounds 19–27

Top four rounds 28–30

Fifth & sixth round 28

Bottom four rounds 28–30

Season statistics

Top scorers

Hat-tricks

Awards

Monthly awards

Team of the season

Player transfers

See also

References

External links