Wikipedia

2020 Dundalk F.C. season

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.

Dundalk
2020 season
Vinny Perth, former Dundalk manager, celebrating the 2019 league title success with supporters in Oriel Park
ManagerVinny Perth
(until 20 August)
Filippo Giovagnoli
(from 26 August as Interim Head Coach)
Premier Division3rd
FAI CupWinners
League CupCancelled
President's CupCancelled
Leinster Senior CupAbandoned
Champions LeagueFirst qualifying round
Europa LeagueGroup stage
Top goalscorerLeague: Patrick Hoban (10)
All: Patrick Hoban &
David McMillan (11)
Highest home attendance3,156 (Vs. Derry City 14 February 2020)
← 2019
2021 →

Season summary

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After the postponement of the President's Cup due to storm conditions,[1] 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.[2] 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.[3]

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.[4] The Leinster Senior Cup was abandoned.[5] 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.[6] He was replaced by Alan Reynolds, who had earlier resigned as manager of Waterford.[7]

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.[8] 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.[9] In the aftermath of that defeat, manager Vinny Perth was sacked by the club.[10]

On 26 August Filippo Giovagnoli was confirmed as the new manager of Dundalk, with nine league matches remaining.[11] John Gill and Alan Reynolds left the club the following week.[12] 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.[13] 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.[14] 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.[15][16] 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.[17] Matchday 2 was the first away match, which was against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. It finished 3–0 to the home side.[18] Matchday 3 away to Rapid in Vienna finished 4–3 to the home side after Dundalk had taken the lead.[19] They failed to pick up any points from the second set of matches, and finished bottom of the group on 0 points.[20] 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.[21]

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.[22] 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.[23]

First-Team Squad (2020)

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Sources:[24][25] Note: Substitute appearances in brackets

No. Name DOB Pos. Debut League FAI Cup EA Cup Europe Others Totals
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1   Gary Rogers 25 September 1981 GK 2015 13 0 5 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 27 0
2   Seán Gannon 11 July 1991 DF 2014 12 (3) 0 2 (2) 0 0 0 7 (2) 0 0 0 28 0
3   Brian Gartland 4 November 1986 DF 2013 7 (1) 1 4 0 0 0 7 (1) 0 0 0 20 1
4   Seán Hoare 15 March 1994 DF 2017 9 (1) 0 2 (2) 2 0 0 8 (1) 1 0 0 23 3
5   Chris Shields 27 December 1990 MF 2012 16 (1) 0 5 1 0 0 9 1 0 0 31 2
6   Jordan Flores 4 October 1995 MF 2019 11 (3) 3 0 (3) 1 0 0 4 (1) 2 0 0 22 6
7   Michael Duffy 28 July 1994 MF 2017 15 (1) 4 5 3 0 0 9 (1) 0 0 0 31 7
8   John Mountney 22 February 1993 MF 2012 4 (7) 0 1 (4) 1 0 0 2 (6) 0 0 0 24 1
9   Patrick Hoban 28 July 1991 FW 2013 13 (2) 10 1 0 0 0 6 (1) 1 0 0 23 11
10   Greg Sloggett 3 July 1996 MF 2020 10 (4) 2 4 0 0 0 7 (1) 0 0 0 26 2
11   Patrick McEleney 26 September 1992 MF 2016 4 (5) 0 2 (2) 1 0 0 4 (4) 0 0 0 21 1
12   Andrew Quinn[a] 12 November 1996 FW 2018 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
14   Dane Massey 17 April 1988 DF 2013 7 (1) 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 2
15   Darragh Leahy 15 April 1998 DF 2020 5 (3) 0 2 (1) 0 0 0 7 (1) 0 0 0 19 0
16   Seán Murray 11 October 1993 MF 2019 5 (3) 1 1 (1) 1 0 0 5 (3) 3 0 0 18 5
17   Nathan Oduwa[b] 5 March 1996 FW 2020 4 (6) 0 0 (2) 1 0 0 1 (3) 0 0 0 16 1
18   Will Patching 18 October 1998 MF 2020 2 (5) 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0
20   Aaron McCarey 14 January 1992 GK 2019 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6 0
21   Daniel Cleary 9 March 1996 DF 2018 12 1 3 0 0 0 7 (1) 1 0 0 23 2
22   Stefan Čolović 16 April 1994 MF 2020 8 (6) 1 3 0 0 0 4 (4) 0 0 0 25 1
23   Cammy Smith[c] 24 August 1995 FW 2020 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
23   Cameron Dummigan[d] 2 June 1996 DF 2019 5 (2) 0 3 0 0 0 3 (2) 0 0 0 15 0
24   Jamie Wynne[e] 30 July 2001 FW 2020 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 (1) 0 0 0 1 0
27   Daniel Kelly 21 May 1996 MF 2019 9 (4) 0 0 (4) 0 0 0 1 (4) 1 0 0 22 1
29   David McMillan[f] 14 December 1988 FW 2015 5 (6) 0 4 (1) 8 0 0 4 (4) 3 0 0 24 11
30   Jimmy Corcoran 1 February 2002 GK 2020 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
44   Andy Boyle 7 March 1991 DF 2013 11 (1) 1 3 1 0 0 6 (1) 0 0 0 22 2
45   Josh Gatt[g] 29 August 1991 MF 2020 1 (1) 0 0 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0

Out on loan

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No. Name DOB Pos. Debut League FAI Cup EA Cup Europe Others Totals
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
12   Georgie Kelly[h] 12 November 1996 FW 2018 0 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
28   Lido Lotefa[i] 18 April 2000 FW 2019 0 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
25   Taner Dogan[j] 30 May 1998 DF 2020 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Competitions

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Premier Division

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14 February 2020 Round 1 Dundalk 1–0 Derry City Oriel Park
19:45 Dane Massey  79' Report Attendance: 3,156
Referee: Neil Doyle
21 February 2020 Round 2 Shelbourne 1–2 Dundalk Tolka Park
19:45 Gary Deegan  52' Report Andy Boyle  18'
Patrick Hoban  43'		 Attendance: 3,010
Referee: Damien McGraith
24 February 2020 Round 3 Dundalk 3–0 Cork City Oriel Park
19:45 Michael Duffy  16'
Patrick Hoban  63'
Jordan Flores  66'		 Report Attendance: 2,243
Referee: Paul McLoughlin
28 February 2020 Round 4 Shamrock Rovers 3–2 Dundalk Tallaght Stadium
19:45 Dylan Watts  20'
Roberto Lopes  71'
Jack Byrne  83'		 Report Jordan Flores  23'
Patrick Hoban  63'		 Attendance: 7,522
Referee: Rob Hennessey
6 March 2020 Round 5 Finn Harps 0–4 Dundalk Finn Park
20:00 Patrick Hoban  3', 52'
Michael Duffy  37'
Greg Sloggett  83'		 Report Attendance: 1,582
Referee: Rob Harvey
31 July 2020 Round 6 Dundalk 1–1 St Patrick's Athletic Oriel Park
19:45 Patrick Hoban  23' Report Robbie Benson  23' Attendance: 0
Referee: Rob Harvey
7 August 2020 Round 7 Bohemians 2–1 Dundalk Dalymount Park
17:45 Danny Grant  7'
Keith Buckley  15'		 Report Michael Duffy  42' Attendance: 0
Referee: Neil Doyle
14 August 2020 Round 8 Dundalk 2–2 Waterford Oriel Park
17:45 Patrick Hoban  83'
Daniel Cleary  90'		 Report Matty Smith  24'
Kurtis Byrne  50'		 Attendance: 0
Referee: Ray Matthews
22 August 2020 Round 9 Sligo Rovers 3–1 Dundalk The Showgrounds
17:00 Donelan  12'
De Vries  51'
Junior  62'		 Report Stefan Čolović  76' Attendance: 0
Referee: Robert Hennessy
11 September 2020 Round 10 Dundalk 3–2 Shelbourne Oriel Park
19:45 Michael Duffy  3'
Brian Gartland  11'
Greg Sloggett  60'		 Report Dan Byrne  20'
Georgie Poynton  24'		 Attendance: 0
Referee: Paul McLaughlin
27 September 2020 Round 11 Dundalk 0–4 Shamrock Rovers Oriel Park
19:45 Report Jack Byrne  36', 85'
Liam Scales  44'
Aaron McEneff  45' (pen.)		 Attendance: 100
Referee: Rob Harvey
4 October 2020 Round 12 Dundalk 0–0 Finn Harps Oriel Park
17:30 Report Attendance: 100
Referee: Paul McLaughlin
14 October 2020 Round 13 Cork City 0–2 Dundalk Turners Cross
19:45 Patrick Hoban  73'  75' Report Attendance: 0
Referee: Neil Doyle
16 October 2020 Round 14 Dundalk 0–0 Bohemians Oriel Park
17:45 Report Attendance: 0
Referee: Damien McGraith
19 October 2020 Round 15 Derry City 1–2 Dundalk Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium
17:45 Darren Cole  18' Report Murray   7'
Jordan Flores   15'		 Attendance: 0
Referee: Rob Harvey
25 October 2020 Round 16 Waterford 1–0 Dundalk Waterford Regional Sports Centre
14:00 John Martin   57' Report Attendance: 0
Referee: Sean Grant
1 November 2020 Round 17 St Patrick's Athletic 1–1 Dundalk Richmond Park
17:45 Robbie Benson  63' Report Patrick Hoban  22' Attendance: 0
Referee: Paul McLaughlin
9 November 2020 Round 18 Dundalk 0–2 Sligo Rovers Oriel Park
19:30 Report Devers  10'
Coughlan  90'		 Attendance: 0
Referee: Derek Tomney

League table

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Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Shamrock Rovers (C) 18 15 3 0 44 7 +37 48 Qualification to Champions League first qualifying round
2 Bohemians 18 12 1 5 23 12 +11 37 Qualification to Europa Conference League first qualifying round[k]
3 Dundalk 18 7 5 6 25 23 +2 26
4 Sligo Rovers 18 8 1 9 19 23 −4 25
5 Waterford 18 7 3 8 17 22 −5 24
6 St Patrick's Athletic 18 5 6 7 14 17 −3 21
7 Derry City 18 5 5 8 18 18 0 20
8 Finn Harps 18 5 5 8 15 24 −9 20
9 Shelbourne (R) 18 5 4 9 13 22 −9 19 Qualification to Relegation play-offs
10 Cork City (R) 18 2 5 11 10 30 −20 11 Relegation to League of Ireland First Division
Source: SSE Airtricity League, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.[26]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ promoted from U19s 27 September 2020
  2. ^ signed March 2020
  3. ^ on loan from Dundee United until 30 June 2020
  4. ^ on loan to Crusaders until 30 June 2020
  5. ^ promoted from U19s 27 September 2020
  6. ^ signed July 2020
  7. ^ signed July 2020, departed 5 November 2020
  8. ^ on loan to St Patrick's Athletic until end of 2020 season
  9. ^ on loan to Longford Town until end of 2020 season
  10. ^ on loan to Athlone Town until end of 2020 season
  11. ^ Since the winners of the 2020 FAI Cup (Dundalk) qualified for European competition based on their league position, the final spot awarded to the Cup winner passed to the next best-placed team i.e fourth-placed team.

FAI Cup

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11 August 2020 Round 1 Dundalk 1–0WaterfordOriel Park
19:45 Seán Hoare   17' Report Attendance: 50
Referee: Paul McLaughlin
30 August 2020 Round 2Cobh Ramblers0–2 Dundalk St Colman's Park
17:00 Report Dane Massey  29'
David McMillan  75' (pen.)		 Attendance: 50
Referee: Alan Patchell
21 November 2020 Quarter FinalBohemians1–4 Dundalk Dalymount Park
19:45 Andre Wright  11' (pen.) Report Michael Duffy  2'
David McMillan  35' (pen.), 39'
Nathan Oduwa  88'		 Attendance: 0
Referee: Rob Harvey
29 November 2020 Semi FinalAthlone Town0–11 Dundalk Athlone Town Stadium
19:05 Report Michael Duffy  4', 9'
Andy Boyle  13'
John Mountney  29'
Patrick McEleney  36'
David McMillan  39', 64'
Chris Shields  55'
Nathan Oduwa  60'
Jordan Flores  74'
Sean Murray  83'		 Attendance: 0
Referee: Rob Hennessy
6 December 2020 FinalShamrock Rovers2–4 (a.e.t.) Dundalk Ballsbridge, Dublin
18:40 Dylan Watts   16'
Joey O'Brien   45+3'
Aaron Greene   49'
Liam Scales   71'
Roberto Lopes   74'
Graham Burke   98'		 Report
Stadium: Aviva Stadium
Attendance: 0
Referee: Rob Harvey
Note: Live coverage on RTÉ2

League Cup

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Competition cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.[4]

Leinster Senior Cup

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Competition abandoned due to COVID-19 pandemic.[5]

Europe

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Champions League

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First qualifying round

Celje  3–0  Dundalk
 Report
Attendance: 0
Referee: Vítor Ferreira (Portugal)

Europa League

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Second qualifying round

Inter Club d'Escaldes  0–1  Dundalk
Report
Attendance: 0
Referee: Viktor Shimusik (Belarus)

Third qualifying round

Sheriff Tiraspol  1–1 (a.e.t.)  Dundalk
 Report
Penalties
 3–5
Dundalk  3–1  KÍ
 Report
  • Midtskogen   66'
Attendance: 0
Referee: Maurizio Mariani (Italy)
Group stage
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Main article: 2020–21 UEFA Europa League group stage § Group B

The group stage draw was held on 2 October 2020.[27]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification ARS MOL RW DUN
1   Arsenal 6 6 0 0 20 5 +15 18 Advance to knockout phase — 4–1 4–1 3–0
2   Molde 6 3 1 2 9 11 −2 10 0–3 — 1–0 3–1
3   Rapid Wien 6 2 1 3 11 13 −2 7 1–2 2–2 — 4–3
4   Dundalk 6 0 0 6 8 19 −11 0 2–4 1–2 1–3 —
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
22 October 2020 1 Dundalk   1–2   Molde Dublin, Ireland
18:55 CEST
Report
Stadium: Tallaght Stadium
Attendance: 0
Referee: Petri Viljanen (Finland)
29 October 2020 2 Arsenal   3–0   Dundalk London, England
20:00 GMT
Report Stadium: Emirates Stadium
Attendance: 0
Referee: Filip Glova (Slovakia)
5 November 2020 3 Rapid Wien   4–3   Dundalk Vienna, Austria
18:55 CET
Report
Stadium: Allianz Stadion
Attendance: 0
Referee: Trustin Farrugia Cann (Malta)
26 November 2020 4 Dundalk   1–3   Rapid Wien Dublin, Ireland
21:00 CET
Report
Stadium: Aviva Stadium
Attendance: 0
Referee: Tamás Bognár (Hungary)
3 December 2020 5 Molde   3–1   Dundalk Molde, Norway
21:00 CET
Report
Stadium: Aker Stadion
Attendance: 600
Referee: Daniel Siebert (Germany)
10 December 2020 6 Dundalk   2–4   Arsenal Dublin, Ireland
18:55 CET
Report
Stadium: Aviva Stadium
Attendance: 0
Referee: Ivan Bebek (Croatia)

Awards

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Player of the Month

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Month Player Reference
October   Sean Murray [28]
November   David McMillan [29]

FIFA Puskás Award (nomination)

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Rank Player Team Opponent Score Competition Goal
  Jordan Flores[3]   Dundalk   Shamrock Rovers 2–3 2020 League of Ireland Premier Division nominated goal

Footnotes

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  1. ^ Celje played their second qualifying round home match against Dundalk at Szusza Ferenc Stadion, Budapest (Hungary), instead of their regular stadium Stadion Z'dežele, Celje, due to travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic between Slovenia and Ireland.[9]

References

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  1. ^ Fennessy, Paul. "President's Cup final unlikely to be rescheduled this season". the42.ie. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  2. ^ Malone, Emmet (14 February 2020). "Dundalk and Rovers look set to be the two leading horses again". The Irish Times. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b "THE FIFA PUSKÁS AWARD". fifa.com. Archived from the original on 3 November 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  4. ^ a b "FAI targets June resumption for League of Ireland season". rte.ie. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Leinster Senior Cup Abandoned". Extratime.ie. 19 July 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  6. ^ McDonnell, Daniel. "Ruaidhri Higgins leaves Dundalk to join Stephen Kenny's backroom team". independent.ie. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  7. ^ "Alan Reynolds named new Dundalk assistant manager". rte.ie. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  8. ^ "COVID-19: What you need to do". citizensinformation.ie. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  9. ^ a b "SPREMEMBA: Z Dundalkom na Madžarskem" [CHANGE: With Dundalk in Hungary]. nk-celje.si (in Slovenian). 9 August 2020.
  10. ^ "STATEMENT: Vinny Perth sacked by Dundalk". irishtimes.com. 20 August 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  11. ^ "'A lot of people are sceptical but I am not afraid' - Dundalk confirm arrival of little-known Italian Giovagnoli". The 42. 26 August 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  12. ^ "DUNDALK FC CONFIRM GILL AND REYNOLDS' DEPARTURE". extratime.com. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  13. ^ "MCMILLAN STRIKE SENDS US THROUGH!". extratime.com. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  14. ^ "LILYWHITES SHOOT DOWN SHERIFF!". extratime.com. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  15. ^ McDonnell, Daniel. "Dundalk's €3million bonanza as they win place in Europa League group stages". independent.ie. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  16. ^ "Dundalk beat Faroese KI to qualify for the Europa League group stages". The 42. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  17. ^ "LILYWHITES FALL TO MOLDE DEFEAT". extratime.com. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  18. ^ "ARSENAL 3-0 DUNDALK FC". extratime.com. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  19. ^ "RAPID WIEN 4-3 DUNDALK FC". extratime.com. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  20. ^ "DUNDALK 2-4 ARSENAL". extratime.com. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  21. ^ "Dundalk fined €50,000 by UEFA for 'shadow coaching'". rte.ie. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  22. ^ Buttner, Paul. "Dundalk demolish Athlone to set up Rovers final date". rte.ie. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  23. ^ Leahy, Ed. "Hat-trick hero McMillan secures Cup for Dundalk". rte.ie. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  24. ^ "Dundalk FC Squad 2020". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  25. ^ "Dundalk FC Squad". uefa.com. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  26. ^ "Premier Division 2020". Soccerway. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  27. ^ "2020/21 UEFA Europa League: all you need to know". UEFA.com. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  28. ^ "MURRAY NAMED SWAI PLAYER OF THE MONTH FOR OCTOBER". independent.ie. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  29. ^ "Dundalk's David McMillan named SWAI Player of the Month". irishtimes.com. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
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