St Joseph's F.C.

St Joseph's
Full nameSt Joseph's Football Club Gibraltar
Nickname(s)The Saints
Founded20 January 1912 (20 January 1912)
GroundVictoria Stadium,
Winston Churchill Avenue, Gibraltar
Capacity2,000
OwnerMike Garlick
Head coachAbraham Paz
LeagueGibraltar Football League
2024–25GFL, 2nd
Websitehttp://www.stjosephsfcgib.co.uk

St Joseph's Football Club is a professional football club based in Gibraltar. Founded in 1912, it currently plays in the Gibraltar Football League. The club also has two futsal teams and more than 10 youth teams.

History

Formed in 1912, St Joseph's are Gibraltar's oldest still existing football club, with the next oldest, Manchester 62, formed 50 years later. They have consistently competed in the Gibraltar Premier Division in that time. However, they have only won the title once: in the 1995–96 season. They have seen considerably better fortunes in the Rock Cup, however, with 10 titles in their history, including a league and cup double in 1996. Their last Rock Cup triumph came in 2013. In 2013, they established links as a feeder club to Real Balompédica Linense.

Since Gibraltar became a member of UEFA, the Saints initially endured more mixed fortunes, including narrowly avoiding relegation in the 2013–14 season, ending up in the relegation play-off and narrowly beating Mons Calpe to retain their Premier Division status. Since that near miss, they have consistently finished in the top half of the league, and in 2017 qualified for the UEFA Europa League for the first time with a 3rd-place finish, after Gibraltar had been given an additional spot in the competition. However, their maiden campaign would be short-lived as they suffered a resounding 10-0 aggregate defeat to AEL Limassol of Cyprus. In August, the club were hit when two players, club captain Esteban Montes and Alberto Montaño, were imposed with five and three year bans from football in Gibraltar, respectively, for breaching rules on betting. Both players were immediately released from the club.[1]

The club quickly established themselves at one of the "Big Three" of Gibraltarian football in the UEFA era before running into financial difficulties in early 2022. As a result of this, in June that year, former Burnley owner and chairman Mike Garlick purchased the club, with Weymouth owner Mark Palmer also joining the board.[2]

Seasons (since UEFA acceptance)

Season Division League record Rock Cup Pepe Reyes
Cup
European competitions Top league scorer(s)
P W D L F A Pts Pos Competition Result Player Goals
2013–14 Premier Division 14 4 1 9 20 29 13 7th Second round Winners Nathan Santos 6
2014–15 Premier Division 21 12 2 7 36 18 38 4th Semi-final Runners-up José Luis Romero 11
2015–16 Premier Division 27 14 3 10 50 37 45 3rd Second round José Verdejo 9
2016–17 Premier Division 27 16 6 5 53 18 54 3rd Semi-final John-Paul Duarte 15
2017–18 Premier Division 27 17 3 7 53 30 54 3rd Quarter-final UEFA Europa League First qualifying round Boro 9
2018–19 Premier Division 27 17 4 6 69 29 55 3rd Quarter-final UEFA Europa League Preliminary round Boro 21
2019–20 National League 17 14 2 1 58 15 44 2nd[a] Semi-final[b] UEFA Europa League First qualifying round Juanfri 24
2020–21 National League 20 14 3 3 71 20 45 3rd Quarter-final UEFA Europa League Preliminary round Juanfri 22
2021–22 National League 20 11 2 7 45 27 35 3rd Quarter-final UEFA Europa Conference League First qualifying round Juanfri 14
2022–23 Football League 20 10 2 8 36 25 32 5th Semi-final UEFA Europa Conference League Second qualifying round Boro 8
2023–24 Football League 25 20 3 2 62 16 63 2nd Semi-final Pablo Rodríguez 15
2024–25 Football League 25 21 3 1 65 15 66 2nd Quarter-final Winners UEFA Conference League First qualifying round Pablo Rodríguez 10
  1. ^ The 2019–20 Gibraltar National League season, and the 2020 Rock Cup, were abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with results declared null and void.
  2. ^ St Joseph's had won their quarter final match before the 2020 Rock Cup was abandoned.

Achievements

1995–96
1956, 1979, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1992, 1996, 2012, 2013
2013, 2024
2007

Current squad

First team

As of 7 July 2025[3]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  GIB Bradley Banda
2 DF  GIB Ethan Jolley
3 DF  GIB Jayce Olivero
4 DF  ESP Javi Paul
5 MF  ESP Marco Rosa
6 MF  ESP Manolín
7 FW  ESP Javi Forján
8 MF  NIG Hassane Amadou
9 FW  ESP Pablo Rodríguez
10 FW  ESP Álvaro Rey
11 MF  GER Leon Volz
12 DF  ESP Ángel Martínez
13 GK  ARG Marcos Zappacosta
14 DF  GIB Erin Barnett
No. Pos. Nation Player
15 DF  GIB Ethan Santos
16 FW  GIB Michael Yome
17 MF  GIB Mitchell Gibson
18 MF  SWE Hugo Jesslén
19 FW  ESP Juanfri
20 DF  URU Gabri Cardozo (vice-captain)
21 DF  GIB Alain Pons
22 MF  ESP Juanma González (captain)
23 FW  ARG Facu Álvarez
24 DF  ESP Geovanni Barba
25 FW  ESP Adrián Armental
30 GK  ARG Gonzalo Paz
DF  ENG Will Sanders

On loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player

Club staff

Position Name
Club Management
Manager Abraham Paz
Assistant coach Eloy Bolaños
Fitness coach Juan Carlos Galindo
Goalkeeping coach Félix Romero
Head physio Jaime Rojas Boy
Head Analyst
Coach
Fernando Rosado
Kit manager Christian Hook
Board
Chairman Mike Garlick
President Stuart Rodriguez
Technical Director John Paul Hendrick
Secretary David O'Flaherty
Head of Youth Kane Forster
Chisum Sanchez
Youth co-ordinator Christopher Gonzalez

European record

Accurate as of match played 18 July 2024
Competition Played Won Drew Lost GF GA GD Win%
UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League 9 1 3 5 6 25 −19 011.11
UEFA Conference League 7 1 2 4 3 17 −14 014.29
Total 16 2 5 9 9 42 −33 012.50

Legend: GF = Goals For. GA = Goals Against. GD = Goal Difference.

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
2017–18 UEFA Europa League 1Q AEL Limassol 0–4 0–6 0–10
2018–19 UEFA Europa League PR B36 Tórshavn 1–1 1–1 2–2, 2–4 (p)
2019–20 UEFA Europa League PR Prishtina 2–0 1–1 3–1
1Q Rangers 0–4 0–6 0–10
2020–21 UEFA Europa League PR B36 Tórshavn 1–2
2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League 1Q FCI Levadia 1–1 1–3 2–4
2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League 1Q Larne 0–0 1–0 1–0
2Q Slavia Prague 0–4 0–7 0–11
2024–25 UEFA Conference League 1Q Shelbourne 1–1 1–2 2–3
2025–26 UEFA Conference League 1Q Cliftonville
Notes
  • PR: Preliminary round
  • 1Q: First qualifying round

References

  1. ^ Official St Joseph's Statement Re: GFA Betting Rule Breaches GibFootballTalk. 17 August 2017.
  2. ^ Former Burnley FC chairman takes over St Joseph Archived 7 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine Gibraltar Chronicle. 24 June 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  3. ^ 2023/24 Squad Archived 2 November 2023 at the Wayback Machine St Joseph's FC. 13 September 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.