2023–24 Gibraltar Football League

Gibraltar Football League
The Victoria Stadium where each match is played
Season2023–24
Dates16 September 2023 – 12 May 2024
ChampionsLincoln Red Imps
4th GFL title
28th overall
Champions LeagueLincoln Red Imps
Conference LeagueFCB Magpies
St Joseph's
Matches played125
Goals scored411 (3.29 per match)
Top goalscorer Juanfri
(17 goals)
Best goalkeeper Bradley Banda
(13 clean sheets)
Biggest home winManchester 62 7–0 Lions Gibraltar
(5 November 2023)
Lincoln Red Imps 7–0 College 1975
(17 December 2023)
Biggest away winManchester 62 1–10 Lincoln Red Imps
(21 April 2024)
Highest scoringManchester 62 1–10 Lincoln Red Imps
(21 April 2024)
Longest winning run9 games
Lincoln Red Imps
Longest unbeaten run11 games
St Joseph's
Longest winless run16 games
College 1975
Longest losing run7 games
Lions Gibraltar
Glacis United

The 2023–24 Gibraltar Football League season is the fifth season of the Gibraltar Football League in Gibraltar (and second under its current name), and the 125th season of football on the territory overall. The league began on 16 September 2023. Lincoln Red Imps are the reigning champions, winning their third successive title in April 2023. Due to the league's fall down the UEFA coefficient rankings, this season only 2 teams qualified for the UEFA Conference League.

The winners (Lincoln Red Imps, their sixth consecutive title win and twenty-eighth overall) qualified for the 2024–25 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round. The runners-up (St Joseph's) and third-placed team (FCB Magpies) qualified for the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League first qualifying round.

Format

The 2023–24 season sees a change in the format of the GFL.[1] Instead of playing one round of fixtures before splitting, teams will instead play each other twice for a total of 20 games this season. After the second round of games, the top 6 enter the GFL Championship Group, where each team plays each other once to decide the league champion. However, the Challenge Group has been scrapped.

Controversy

In November 2023, it was reported that Lynx were planning to report the Gibraltar Football Association to UEFA and FIFA after it was revealed that Lincoln Red Imps had fielded an ineligible player (believed to be Ibrahim Ayew) in their opening league match, which Lincoln won 3-2. The GFA's ruling was that though the player was suspended, Lincoln would not be punished for the mistake. This was despite the fact that Mons Calpe had been punished for a similar infraction the previous season. This led to complaints of bias and corruption within the GFA which formed the basis of the Lynx complaint.[2]

Lynx subsequently finished 7th in the league, missing out on the Championship Group by a single point.

Teams

Location of the stadium where all teams play

The following clubs compete in the 2023–24 season.

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Club sponsor 2022–23
FCB Magpies Nathan Rooney Paco Zúñiga Macron Chestertons 3rd
College 1975 Leo Vela Jamie-Luke McCarthy Joma 10th
Europa Michele Di Piedi Antonio Bello Kappa Situs Construction 2nd
Europa Point Ryan McCarthy (interim) Martin Falkeborn Custimoo Bull Casino 11th
Glacis United Claudio Racino Julio Bado Macron LOBO 6th
Lincoln Red Imps Javi Muñoz Roy Chipolina Givova Damex 1st
Lions Gibraltar Adrian Parral Antonio Cintas Macron 9th
Lynx Albert Parody Jesse Victory Joma Grupo Casais 4th
Manchester 62 Jamie McDonough Ethan Santos Joma Concussion Legacy Foundation 8th
Mons Calpe Juan Marí Sánchez Christian Fraiz Givova FanPlay 365 7th
St Joseph's Abraham Paz Juanma González Legea 5th

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
FCB Magpies Nathan Rooney[3] Resigned 17 May 2023 Pre-season Alfonso Cortijo 1 June 2023[4]
Manchester 62 Jamie McDonough Appointed assistant coach 31 May 2023 Anthony Limbrick 20 June 2023[5]
Europa Point Garry Lowe[6] Signed by Bruno's Magpies 6 July 2023 Dalibor Savic 12 July 2023[7]
Glacis United Michele Di Piedi Sacked 16 August 2023 Claudio Racino 1 September 2023
Europa Miguel Ángel Berlanga Mutual consent 25 August 2023 Mario Pérez 25 August 2023
FCB Magpies Alfonso Cortijo Promoted to Director 1 September 2023[8] Nathan Rooney 1 September 2023
Mons Calpe David Guti Sacked 2 October 2023[9] 8th Juan Marí Sánchez 3 October 2023
Manchester 62 Anthony Limbrick Resigned 23 November 2023 6th Allen Bula (caretaker) 3 December 2023
Europa Mario Pérez Sacked 6 December 2023 10th Ángel Espinosa (caretaker) 6 December 2023
Manchester 62 Allen Bula End of caretaker spell 14 December 2023 4th Jamie McDonough 15 December 2023
Europa Ángel Espinosa 1 January 2024 10th Michele Di Piedi 1 January 2024
College 1975 Luis Manuel Blanco Resigned 17 February 2024 10th Leo Vela 18 February 2024
Europa Point Dalibor Savic End of contract 30 April 2024[10] 6th Ryan McCarthy (interim) 1 May 2024

Regular season

During the regular season, each team faced each other twice (once at home at once away), before the league is split into two (with only the top six teams advancing to the GFL Championship Group).

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification[a]
1 Lincoln Red Imps 20 17 1 2 63 12 +51 52 Qualification for the GFL Championship Group
2 St Joseph's 20 16 2 2 49 15 +34 50
3 FCB Magpies 20 13 3 4 52 28 +24 42
4 Mons Calpe 20 8 5 7 31 28 +3 29
5 Manchester 62 20 9 1 10 39 41 −2 28
6 Europa Point 20 8 4 8 27 22 +5 28
7 Lynx 20 8 3 9 29 31 −2 27
8 Europa 20 6 2 12 25 34 −9 20
9 Glacis United 20 5 1 14 21 47 −26 16
10 Lions Gibraltar 20 3 4 13 16 50 −34 13
11 College 1975 20 3 2 15 21 65 −44 11
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Fair Play
Notes:
  1. ^ Teams play each other twice (20 matches), before the top six teams advance to the GFL Championship Group.

Results

Home \ Away FCB COL EFC EPO GLA LIN LGI LYN MAN MON SJO
FCB Magpies — 7–2 3–1 2–2 3–0 0–0 3–1 2–1 2–0 3–1 2–4
College 1975 2–6 — 2–3 0–5 1–1 0–6 2–1 0–2 2–4 1–3 0–3
Europa 4–3 0–3 — 0–1 3–2 1–4 1–2 1–3 0–1 3–1 0–1
Europa Point 0–1 4–0 1–0 — 2–0 1–2 0–0 0–1 1–5 1–1 1–0
Glacis United 1–2 1–0 0–1 3–1 — 2–8 3–1 2–0 0–1 2–1 1–3
Lincoln Red Imps 3–0 7–0 2–1 1–0 3–1 — 2–0 3–2 5–0 2–1 1–2
Lions Gibraltar 0–2 1–1 0–5 1–3 1–0 0–2 — 0–4 2–1 0–0 1–5
Lynx 1–0 2–3 0–0 1–1 2–1 0–3 4–1 — 1–3 2–1 1–2
Manchester 62 1–5 4–1 1–1 0–2 5–0 0–7 7–0 5–1 — 1–2 0–3
Mons Calpe 2–4 1–0 1–0 3–1 5–1 0–2 2–2 1–1 2–0 — 1–1
St Joseph's 2–2 4–1 3–0 1–0 4–0 1–0 3–2 2–0 4–0 1–2 —
Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

GFL Championship Group

The top six teams from the regular season contest the GFL Championship Group to decide the league champion. Results from the regular season were carried over into this round.

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Lincoln Red Imps (C) 25 21 2 2 86 15 +71 65 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2 St Joseph's 25 20 3 2 62 16 +46 63 Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round[a]
3 FCB Magpies 25 14 4 7 55 36 +19 46
4 Europa Point 25 10 5 10 32 31 +1 35
5 Mons Calpe 25 9 6 10 37 39 −2 33
6 Manchester 62 25 9 2 14 44 64 −20 29
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Fair Play
(C) Champions
Notes:
  1. ^ The 2023–24 Rock Cup winners also qualified for the Conference League first qualifying round. Since the cup winners (Lincoln Red Imps) qualified based on league position, the Conference League spot was passed to the third-placed team.


Results

Home \ Away FCB EPO LIN MAN MON SJO
FCB Magpies — — 0–3 3–1 — —
Europa Point 0–0 — — — — 0–3
Lincoln Red Imps — 4–0 — — 5–1 —
Manchester 62 — 1–3 1–10 — — 0–5
Mons Calpe 2–0 1–2 — 2–2 — 0–2
St Joseph's 2–0 — 1–1 — — —
Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

As of 12 May 2024.

Rank Player Club Goals
1 Juanfri Lincoln Red Imps 17
2 Hugo Jesslén Europa Point 16
3 Pablo Rodríguez St Joseph's 15
4 Connor Flynn-Gillespie Lynx 14
5 Labra Europa 12
6 Víctor Villacañas Lincoln Red Imps 10
7 Aldair Ruiz Manchester 62 9
8 Facu Álvarez FCB Magpies 8
Seba Díaz FCB Magpies
José Giráldez FCB Magpies
Tjay De Barr Lincoln Red Imps
Ahmed Salam Manchester 62
Hugo Bartkowiak[a] Mons Calpe
  1. ^ Includes 4 goals for College 1975.

Hat-tricks

Player For Against Result Date
Manny Duku Manchester 62 Lions Gibraltar 7–0 (H) 5 November 2023
Hugo Jesslén4 Europa Point College 1975 5–0 (A) 25 November 2023
Seba Díaz FCB Magpies Glacis United 3–0 (H) 8 December 2023
Labra4 Europa Lions Gibraltar 5–0 (A) 16 December 2023
Juanfri Lincoln Red Imps College 1975 7–0 (H) 17 December 2023
Connor Flynn-Gillespie Lynx Lions Gibraltar 4–0 (A) 28 January 2024
Facu Álvarez FCB Magpies College 1975 7–2 (H) 17 February 2024
Juanfri4 Lincoln Red Imps Manchester 62 10–1 (A) 21 April 2024
Manuel Caballero St Joseph's Manchester 62 5–0 (A) 3 May 2024

Clean sheets

Rank Player Club Clean sheets
1 Bradley Banda St Joseph's 13
2 Nauzet Santana Lincoln Red Imps 11
3 Johannes Ström Europa Point 9
4 Christian Lopez FCB Magpies 5
Bradley Avellano Lynx
6 Marcos Zappacosta Europa 3
Borja Valadés Lions Gibraltar
Daniel Tudela Mons Calpe
9 Walid Birrou Glacis United 2
Dayle Coleing Lincoln Red Imps
Fernando Canto Manchester 62
Alan Martin Manchester 62
Christian Fraiz Mons Calpe

See also

References

  1. ^ "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.
  2. ^ Lynx FC criticises the GFA and will go to UEFA and FIFA following the case of undue alignment of Lincoln Red Imps (in Spanish) Al Sol de la Costa. 30 November 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  3. ^ Nathan Rooney departs Magpies Bruno's Magpies. 17 May 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  4. ^ Alfonso Cortijo Returns Bruno's Magpies. 1 June 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
  5. ^ Anthony Limbrick appointed manager Manchester 62. 20 June 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  6. ^ Thanks for all your hard work Garry Europa Point FC. 6 July 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  7. ^ Officiellt: Dalibor Savic till Europa Point FC Fotbolltransfers. 12 July 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  8. ^ Official Announcement Bruno's Magpies. 1 September 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  9. ^ David Guti deja de ser el entrenador del Mons Calpe SC Al Sol de la Costa. 2 October 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  10. ^ Officiellt: Dalibor Savic lämnar Europa Point FC fotbolltransfers. 30 April 2024. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
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