Lions Gibraltar F.C.

Lions Gibraltar is a professional football club in Gibraltar. They play in the country's top level league, the Gibraltar Premier Division.

Lions Gibraltar
Full nameLions Gibraltar Football Club
Short nameLions
Founded1966
GroundVictoria Stadium,
Winston Churchill Avenue Gibraltar
Capacity2,000
Board of DirectorsAlexander Grech (President)
Daniel Buhagiar (Vice President)
Kadrian Bugeja (Secretary)
ManagerAlbert Ferri[1]
LeagueGibraltar National League
2019–20Championship Group: 6th
Overall: 6th[lower-alpha 1]
WebsiteClub website

They were created by a merger of Gibraltar United F.C. and Lions FC in 2011.[2]

History

Lions Gibraltar was founded as Lions Football Club in 1966 when a group of friends decided to take up a team after the euphoria of England winning the 1966 World Cup, thus the three lions on its club badge. After a quiet 45-year history, the club merged with league giants Gibraltar United in 2011 to create a much stronger side. After 3 years, however, Gibraltar United broke away to form their own side once again in 2014.

Their time together saw the side consistently compete in the Gibraltar Premier Division, and the side continued this upon the GFA's admittance to UEFA in 2013. The 2013-14 season, their final season united with Gibraltar United, saw them narrowly avoid a relegation playoff with a 6th-place finish. After this, Gibraltar United joined the Gibraltar Second Division and Lions restructured, with English coach Jeff Wood appointed manager with ambitions to challenge the top sides and qualify for the UEFA Europa League. In February 2015 the club announced plans to become a feeder club with Premier League club Swansea City, although these plans eventually fell through.

However, after a disappointing season in which the club finished bottom of the league (avoiding relegation due to the league's expansion), the club announced in July 2015 that it was to be taken over by Hercules Sports Promotion, Ltd, headed by Andrew Flowers (who had previously attempted to purchase Leeds United in 2013). Significant investment by the new ownership meant that Lions would now become a semi-professional club with the aim of toppling Lincoln Red Imps' dominance.[3] The following season saw immediate improvement, with the club finishing 4th, however they remained significantly off the pace compared to the region's top two sides Lincoln Red Imps and Europa.

On 31 May, the board announced former national team coach David Wilson as their new manager for the 2016–17 season. However, after the collapse of the club owners' other companies left Lions' future uncertain, Wilson resigned before the beginning of the season to take over at FCB Magpies and the previous season's co-caretaker Rafael Bado was announced as manager. A season spent primarily in the bottom two ended in safety, however, after an upturn in form from the beginning of 2017 despite only winning one game in the first 4 months of the season.

Seasons (since UEFA acceptance)
Season Division League record Rock Cup
P W D L GF GA Pts Pos
2013–14 Premier144282333146thSemi-final
2014–15 Premier21151594888thQuarter-final
2015–16 Premier27143104944454thSemi-final
2016–17 Premier2749141754218thQuarter-final
2017–18 Premier2765162763238thSecond round
2018–19 Premier273024177799thQuarter-final
2019–20 National League abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic Quarter-final

Current squad

First team
As of 2 July 2019

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF  GIB Thomas Hastings
4 DF  ESP Adrián Vera
5 MF  GIB Jay Bosio (vice-captain)
7 MF  GIB Kaylan Rumbo
8 DF  ESP Antonio Cintas
9 FW  ESP Abri Pomares
10 FW  ESP Alberto Caravaca (captain)
11 FW  ESP Jonas Luque
12 DF  GIB Craig Bossano-Anes
No. Pos. Nation Player
14 DF  ESP Iván Ruiz
21 DF  GIB Jared Buhagiar
23 MF  GIB John Charles Gaivizo
25 FW  ITA Martin Gándara
37 GK  ESP Juan Antonio Mateo Pérez
55 GK  ESP Francisco Pérez
— GK  ESP Borja Valadés
— DF  GIB Shea Breakspear
— MF  ESP Germán Cortés

Intermediate League squad

Players below are registered to play in the Gibraltar Intermediate League. Players from the first team may also appear for this team.

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
14 MF  ESP Álvaro Rodríguez López
16 MF  GIB Naseem Ben Youssef
26 DF  GIB Leon Ridley
27 DF  GIB Jayce Perez-Carreras
28 FW  GIB Jayce Marsh
29 DF  GIB Julian Garcia
30 MF  GIB Jamie Brunt
31 MF  GIB Julian Grech
32 MF  GIB Aiman Mkerreff
33 GK  GIB Lewis Victor
34 MF  GIB Nathan Fortunato
No. Pos. Nation Player
35 MF  GIB Richie Parral
36 MF  ESP Pedro Pablo Rosa Hernández
38 MF  GIB Callum Hellier
40 MF  GIB Nikolaj Forrester
41 MF  GIB Houssam Ohassan
42 DF  GIB Marouan Akhrif
43 DF  GIB Ryan Danino
44 MF  GIB Julian Serrano
45 MF  GIB Liam Yeo
47 MF  GIB Klayton Monteverde
49 MF  GIB Stefan Thorne

References
  1. Premier Division 2018-19 Season Preview Football Gibraltar. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  2. "Division Structure". footballgibraltar.wordpress.com. 2 October 2011.
  3. LIONS GIBRALTAR TAKEOVER COMPLETE GibFootballTalk. 10 July 2015. Accessed 20 July 2015.
  1. Season abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.