The 2020 National Hurling League was the 89th season of the
National Hurling League
The National Hurling League is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the l ...
for
county team
A county is a geographic region within Gaelic games, controlled by a county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and originally based on the 32 counties of Ireland as they were in 1884. While the administrative geography of Ireland has ...
s.
Division 1 was restructured in 2020 into two groups of approximately equal strength.
The league was originally scheduled to end on 29 March 2020. The public health measures introduced to combat 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 identif ...
in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
resulted in most of the final stages being delayed to October and the Division 1 final stage being reduced from five games to one.
Eir Sport
Eir Sport (stylised as eir Sport; formerly Setanta Sports) was a group of Irish television sports channels operated by Eircom Sport Limited, a subsidiary of Eir. In December 2015, Eir purchased original Setanta Sports operations in the Republic ...
and
RTÉ
(RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...
provide live TV coverage of the league on Saturday nights.
TG4
TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond.
TG4 was formerly known ...
broadcast Sunday afternoon games. The highlights programmes are RTÉ2's League Sunday on Sunday evenings, TG4's ''
GAA 2020'' on Monday evenings and Eir Sport's Allianz Leagues Reloaded on Wednesday evenings.
Limerick
Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...
were the winners, defeating
Clare in the final on 25 October.
Format
League structure
Thirty-five teams compete in the 2020 NHL –
* twelve teams organised in two six-team groups of approximately equal strength in Division 1
* six teams in Divisions 2A, 2B and 3A
* five teams in Division 3B.
All thirty-two county teams from Ireland take part.
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
and
Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...
complete the lineup.
Each team plays all the other teams in their division once, either home or away. Two points are awarded for a win, and one for a draw.
The Division 1 semi-finals had been proposed to finish on the day the games are played avoiding the need for replays. If a semi-final is level after the initial seventy minutes, still level after two ten minute periods of extra time played each way, and still level after two further five minute periods of extra time, the outcome is to be decided by a
free-taking competition. This is intended to prevent games from going to a replay and allow the league finals to be held on the scheduled date.
Tie-breaker
* If only two teams are level on league points, the team that won the head-to-head match is ranked ahead. If this game was a draw, score difference (total scored minus total conceded in all games) is used to rank the teams.
* If three or more teams are level on league points, score difference is used to rank the teams.
Finals, promotions and relegations
Division 1
*The top team in each group qualifies for the NHL final. (Originally, the group winner would have advanced to the semi-finals, and the second- and third placed team in each group qualify for the NHL quarter-finals)
* The bottom team in each group meet in a relegation play-off, with the losers being relegated to Division 2A
Division 2A
* The top two teams meet in Division 2A final, with the winners being promoted to Division 1
* The bottom team is relegated to Division 2B
Division 2B
* The top two teams meet in Division 2B final, with the winners being promoted to Division 2A
* The bottom two teams meet in a relegation play-off, with the losers being relegated to Division 3A
Division 3A
* The top two teams meet in Division 3A final, with the winners being promoted to Division 2B
* The bottom team is relegated to Division 3B
Division 3B
* The top two teams meet in Division 3B final, with the winners being promoted to Division 3A
Division 1
Division 1 Format
The top twelve teams compete in Division 1 in two six-team groups of approximately equal strength based on their league performance in 2019. This group structure was introduced in 2020. (Previously the top six ranked teams were in Division 1A and the teams ranked 7–12 were in Division 1B.)
Each team play all the other teams in their group once. Two points are awarded for a win and one for a draw. The top team in each group qualifies for the league final. The last-placed team in each group plays in the relegation playoff with the losers being relegated to Division 2A.
Division 1 Group A
Division 1 Group A Table
Division 1 Group A Rounds 1 to 5
=Division 1 Group A Round 1
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=Division 1 Group A Round 2
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=Division 1 Group A Round 3
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=Division 1 Group A Round 4
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=Division 1 Group A Round 5
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Division 1 Group B
Division 1 Group B Table
Division 1 Group B Rounds 1 to 5
=Division 1 Group B Round 1
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=Division 1 Group B Round 2
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=Division 1 Group B Round 3
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=Division 1 Group B Round 4
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=Division 1 Group B Round 5
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Division 1 Final
This game was also the
2020 Munster quarter-final.
Division 1 Relegation Play-Off
The bottom teams in the two Division 1 groups meet in a play-off with the losers being relegated to Division 2A.
Division 1 scoring statistics
;Top scorers overall
;Top scorers in a single game
Division 2A
Division 2A Table
Division 2A Rounds 1 to 5
Division 2A Round 1
Division 2A Round 2
Division 2A Round 3
Division 2A Round 4
Division 2A Round 5
Division 2A Final
Division 2A scoring statistics
;Top scorers overall
;Top scorers in a single game
Division 2B
Division 2B Table
Division 2B Rounds 1 to 5
Division 2B Round 1
Division 2B Round 2
Division 2B Round 3
Division 2B Round 4
Division 2B Round 5
Division 2B Final
Division 2B Relegation Play-Off
Division 3A
Division 3A Table
Division 3A Rounds 1 to 5
Division 3A Round 1
Division 3A Round 2
Division 3A Round 3
Division 3A Round 4
Division 3A Round 5
Division 3A Final
Division 3B
Division 3B Table
Division 3B Rounds 1 to 5
Division 3B Round 1
Division 3B Round 2
Division 3B Round 3
Division 3B Round 4
Division 3B Round 5
Division 3B Final
References
External links
Full Fixtures and Results
{{GAA 2020
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
National Hurling League seasons