2013–14 Gibraltar Premier Division

The 2013–14 Gibraltar Premier Division (known as the Argus Insurance Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) is the 115th season of the national amateur football league in Gibraltar since its establishment - the highest level of football in Gibraltar. The league was expanded this season, and will be contested by eight clubs, a requirement for entry into UEFA competitions.[1] The season began on October 7, 2013, with Glacis United defeating Lions Gibraltar 3–2. Lincoln are the defending league champions, having sealed their 11th successive title win in 2012–13.

Premier Division
Season2013–14
ChampionsLincoln
20th title
RelegatedGibraltar Phoenix
Champions LeagueLincoln
Europa LeagueCollege Europa
Matches played56
Goals scored238 (4.25 per match)
Top goalscorerJohn-Paul Duarte
(15 goals)
Biggest home winLincoln 16–1 Gibraltar Phoenix
(15 February 2014)
Biggest away winGibraltar Phoenix 0–16 Lincoln
(8 February 2014)
Highest scoringLincoln 16–1 Gibraltar Phoenix
(15 February 2014)
Longest winning run11 games
Lincoln
Longest unbeaten run14 games
Lincoln
Longest winless run14 games
Gibraltar Phoenix
Longest losing run14 games
Gibraltar Phoenix
All statistics correct as of 5 April 2014.

Season summary

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The 2013–14 season of the Gibraltar Premier Division, the first since the GFA's acceptance into UEFA, began on October 7, 2013, with Glacis United defeating Lions Gibraltar 3–2. The two sides had finished level on points the previous season at the bottom of the table but remained in the division thanks to the league's expansion from 6 to 8 teams in order to meet the minimum requirements for entry into UEFA competitions. Reigning champions and heavy favourites Lincoln got off to a slow start, being held 0-0 and 1–1 in their opening fixtures to Lynx and College Europa, respectively. Both sides proved early season surprise packages and occupied the top two places for the majority of the early part of the season. The mid season break saw the first edition of the Gibraltar Premier Cup in which Lincoln came out victorious after defeating Manchester 62 in the final. Following this both sides continued long lasting unbeaten runs to reach the top two positions in the table, with Lincoln yet to suffer defeat as of March 31, 2014.

At the other end of the table, two sides suffered mass exoduses in pre-season and struggled for form as a result. St Joseph's, 2012-13 league runners up and reigning Rock Cup champions, saw themselves in particular trouble while the struggle to keep players meant that newly promoted Gibraltar Phoenix, who failed to pick up a single point in their first 10 games, were left struggling to even field a starting 11 by December. In the March 28 game between Lincoln and College Europa, an explosion caused a floodlight failure with 12 minutes to go and saw the match abandoned at 3–2 to the Red Imps. Because Victoria Stadium is the only current stadium in Gibraltar, evening games the rest of the weekend, including the game between St Joseph's and Glacis United, were postponed. However, daytime games including Lions Gibraltar's 1–0 victory over a much improved Gibraltar Phoenix, were permitted to go ahead. Both Lincoln and College Europa have appealed to replay the abandoned game. On April 2, the final 12 minutes were played out with 4-2 the result. Gibraltar Phoenix were relegated on April 7, 2014, after a 5–0 defeat to Manchester 62, having lost all 12 games of the season up to that point. Lincoln secured their title win with a 4–1 victory over Lions Gibraltar on April 14.

Teams

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Location of the stadium which all teams play in

After the 2012–13 season, no teams were relegated due to the expansion of the league. College Europa and Gibraltar Phoenix were promoted from the Second Division as champions and runners up, respectively.[1]

Club Finishing position 2012–13
College Europa 1st in Gibraltar Second Division (promoted)
Gibraltar Phoenix 2nd in Gibraltar Second Division (promoted)
Glacis United 6th
Lincoln Red Imps 1st (champions)
Lions Gibraltar 5th
Lynx 4th
Manchester 62 3rd
St Joseph's 2nd

European qualification

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This will be the first season of the league since Gibraltar were accepted as full members of UEFA. Gibraltar has been allocated one place in the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League, provided the qualifying club has received a UEFA licence.[2]

Personnel and kits

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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 Shirt sponsor
College Europa   Manolo Nuñez   Dylan Manasco Nike Cancer Relief Gibraltar
Gibraltar Phoenix   Matt Gore   Gary Lowe Adidas Digital Corner
Glacis United   Javier Sanchez Alfaro Nike
Lincoln   Mike McElwee   Roy Chipolina Joma OSG Security
Lions Gibraltar   Steve Cummings   Jansen Dalli Errea Mitsubishi
Lynx   Albert Parody Adidas Trends
Manchester 62   Aaron Asquez   Matt Reoch Joma CEPSA GIB
St. Joseph's   Jerry Aguilera   Jerry Aguilera Joma

League table

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The Europa League qualifying spot was unconfirmed after the cup and league finished.[3] UEFA regulations suggested College Europa as Cup runners-ups. GFA promised the spot to the league runners-up pre-season. Eventually College Europa were awarded the spot.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Lincoln (C) 14 11 3 0 66 6 +60 36 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2 Manchester 62 14 9 3 2 37 10 +27 30
3 Lynx 14 9 2 3 36 18 +18 29
4 Europa FC 14 5 4 5 31 20 +11 19 Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round
5 Glacis United 14 6 1 7 18 32 −14 19
6 Lions Gibraltar 14 4 2 8 23 33 −10 14
7 St Joseph's (O) 14 4 1 9 20 29 −9 13 Qualification for the play–off
8 Gibraltar Phoenix (R) 14 0 0 14 9 94 −85 0 Relegation to the Gibraltar Second Division
Source: 2013–14 Football league of Gibraltar
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated

Results

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Teams in the 2013–14 season will play each other twice, with the season starting on October 7, 2013, and ending on May 7, 2014.

Home \ Away EFC GPH GLA LIN LGI LYN MAN SJO
Europa FC 3–1 1–2 1–1 1–1 3–0 1–1 2–4
Gibraltar Phoenix 0–11 2–3 0–16 2–6 0–7 0–5 0–4
Glacis United 0–2 3–0 0–3 3–2 0–2 0–7 1–0
Lincoln 4–2 16–1 4–0 4–1 3–0 1–1 5–0
Lions Gibraltar 1–1 1–0 3–4 0–4 0–2 3–1 3–2
Lynx 3–2 8–2 4–1 0–0 1–0 1–1 3–1
Manchester 62 2–0 4–0 2–1 0–1 4–0 3–2 2–0
St Joseph's 0–1 6–1 0–0 0–4 4–2 2–3 0–3
Source: Soccerway: Gibraltar Premier Division Table
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation play-off

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St Joseph's won and remained in the Premier Division.

St Joseph's2–0Mons Calpe
Nathan Santos  
Bruninho Araújo  

Top goalscorers

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Rank Player Club Goals
1   John-Paul Duarte Lincoln 15
2   George Cabrera Lincoln 14
  Sergio Ginés Lynx
4   Christian Toncheff College Europa 10
5   Joseph Chipolina Lincoln 9
6   Robert Montovio College Europa 8
7   Tostao College Europa 7
8   Naoufal El Andaloussi Manchester 62 6
  Liam Clarke St. Joseph's / Lincoln
  Kyle Casciaro Lincoln
  Nathan Santos St. Joseph's

References

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  1. ^ a b "Gibraltar Premier Division to expand". Gibraltar Football. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  2. ^ "Strategic talks in Dubrovnik". UEFA. Archived from the original on 23 September 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  3. ^ "Storm brewing over which football team should go into the UEFA Europa League". panorama.gi. 13 May 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
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