The 2020 All-Ireland Under-20 Football Championship was the third staging of the All-Ireland Under-20 Championship and the 57th staging overall of a Gaelic football championship for players between the minor and senior grades. The competition ran from 7 February to 19 December 2020.
The defending champion was ; however, the team was beaten by in the Munster final.
The final took place on 19 December 2020, between and . Galway won the match by 1âÂÂ11 to 0âÂÂ13 to win asixth title and a first since 2013.
's Ciarán Archer was the competition's top scorer with 1âÂÂ25. Galway captain Jack Glynn was named U20 Footballer of the Year.
At the start of the championship footballers aged under 20 cannot play for both their county's senior and under-20 championship teams. Initially a footballer must opt to play for either the senior or the under-20 team. Once a county's senior team exits the senior championship all of their under-20 players are then eligible to play for the county under-20 team.
This rule was introduced to prevent player burnout and avoid scheduling conflicts when the senior and under-20 championships are played in the same summer months as both county teams have distinct panels of players. Inevitably some county under-20 teams play without their best under-20 footballers as a result of the player eligibility rule.
Provincial Championships format
Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster each organise a provincial championship. Each province decides the format for their championship â the format can be straight knockout, double-elimination, a league, groups, etc. or a combination.
All-Ireland format
The four provincial winners play in two All-Ireland Under-20 Football Semi-finals, with the winners of those matches playing in the All-Ireland Final.