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Gibraltar Football League

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Gibraltar Football League
Founded2019
CountryGibraltar
ConfederationUEFA
Number of teams11
Level on pyramid1
Domestic cup(s)Rock Cup
International cup(s)UEFA Champions League
UEFA Conference League
Current championsLincoln Red Imps (4th title)
(2023–24)
Top goalscorerKike Gómez
(90)
TV partnersGibraltar FA TV
Website
Current: 2024–25 Gibraltar Football League

The Gibraltar Football League is the only senior tier of association football in Gibraltar, founded in 2019 as the Gibraltar National League after a merger of the Gibraltar Premier Division, which served as the top division of football on the Rock since 1905, and the Gibraltar Second Division, which had existed since 1909. It was announced in August 2019 by the Gibraltar Football Association.[1] The league is supported by the Gibraltar Intermediate League for U23 sides and Hound Dogs.

Format

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Rumours of the new league began in 2018, when the Gibraltar FA announced plans for a single tier format in its league constitution for the 2018–19 Gibraltar Premier Division.[2] On 1 August 2019, the GFA confirmed details of the restructure of domestic football in Gibraltar, and the format of the new 16 team league.[3] After 4 teams left the league, the remaining 12 teams are to follow the same league format.[4] For the first 4 editions of the competition, teams played one round of games as a single league, before splitting into two groups: the Championship Group contested by the top 6 sides, and the Challenge Group between the bottom 6 sides. The winners of the Challenge Group will receive the GFA Challenge Trophy and receive a bye to the second round of the next season's Rock Cup. Hound Dogs, who participated in the final season of the Gibraltar Second Division, were granted special dispensation to compete in the Gibraltar Intermediate League.

The first season of the Gibraltar National League had no champion, as the season was declared null and void by the Gibraltar FA as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, the Gibraltar FA announced that every game of the 2021–22 Gibraltar National League season would be streamed online through a broadcasting deal with Footters.[5]

In July 2022, the league rebranded as the Gibraltar Football League, with a new identity and logo.[6] The following year saw a change of format for the league. Instead of a single round-robin before the league split, the league instead returned to a double round robin format, with each team playing each other twice. At the end of the regular season, only the top 6 progressed to the next stage, entering the GFL Championship Group to decide the champion.[7]

Teams

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Of the 17 teams that formed the initial league, three founder teams withdrew before the inaugural season started: Gibraltar Phoenix, Gibraltar United, and Leo. Additionally, Olympique 13 were expelled from the league after forfeiting the first two matches of the 2019-20 season.[8] Hound Dogs, while a founding member, opted not to join the National League, instead competing in the Gibraltar Intermediate League for financial reasons. In December 2020, Boca Gibraltar were also expelled from the league. As such, the following 11 teams currently contest the competition.

Current clubs
Team Formed Joined Previous season Premier Division titles GFL titles GFA Challenge Trophies Head coach
FCB Magpies 2013 2019 3rd 0 0 1 England Nathan Rooney
College 1975 1975 2019 11th 0 0 0 Spain Óscar León
Europa 1925 2019 8th 7 0 0 Italy Michele Di Piedi
Europa Point 2014 2019 4th 0 0 0 Sweden Martin Falkeborn
Glacis United 1965 2019 9th 17 0 0 England Michael Bakare
Lincoln Red Imps 1976 2019 1st 24 4 0 Spain David Campaña
Lions Gibraltar 1966 2019 10th 0 0 0 Scotland David Wilson
Lynx 2007 2019 7th 0 0 0 Gibraltar Albert Parody
Manchester 62 1962 2019 6th 7 0 1 England Jamie McDonough
Mons Calpe 2013 2019 5th 0 0 1 Spain Juan Marí Sánchez
St Joseph's 1912 2019 2nd 1 0 0 Spain Abraham Paz
Former clubs
Team Formed Joined Last season
Gibraltar Phoenix 2011 2019 N/A[a]
Gibraltar United 1943 2019 N/A[a]
Leo 2004 2019 N/A[a]
Olympique 13 2013 2019 2019–20[b]
Boca Gibraltar 2012 2019 2020–21[b]
  1. ^ a b c Club folded before start of first season.
  2. ^ a b Club was expelled during the season.

List of winners

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Table includes top three of the Championship Group (top half of table) and Challenge Group (bottom half of table)

Season Championship Group Challenge Group
Champions Runners Up Third Place First Place Second Place Third Place
2019–20 none awarded[a]
2020–21 Lincoln Red Imps Europa St Joseph's Bruno's Magpies Glacis United Manchester 62
2021–22 Lincoln Red Imps Europa St Joseph's Manchester 62 College 1975 Lynx
2022–23 Lincoln Red Imps Europa Bruno's Magpies Mons Calpe Manchester 62 Lions Gibraltar
2023–24 Lincoln Red Imps St Joseph's Bruno's Magpies Not awarded[b]
  1. ^ The season was abandoned and declared null and void due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[9]
  2. ^ The GFA Challenge Trophy was discontinued after the 2022–23 season.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Restructuring of the Domestic Men's Senior League Archived 1 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine Gibraltar FA. 1 August 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  2. ^ "Senior League Rules" (PDF). GFA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 April 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  3. ^ Key changes to the domestic league revealed to clubs Gibraltar Chronicle. 1 August 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  4. ^ "FC Olympique expelled from all GFA competitions". Gibraltar Football Association. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  5. ^ Gibraltar National League to launch with new historic partnerships Gibraltar FA. 15 October 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  6. ^ Introducing a new identity for the Gibraltar Football League Gibraltar FA. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  7. ^ Mens Domestic Football Season to Kick off on Friday 15th September with the traditional Pepe Reyes Memorial Cup Gibraltar FA. 2 August 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  8. ^ "FC Olympique expelled from all GFA competitions". Gibraltar Football Association. 11 September 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  9. ^ "Gibraltar National League Season Declared Null and Void". Gibraltar Football Association. 7 May 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
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