Europa Point F.C. is a professional football club from Gibraltar. The club currently plays in the Gibraltar National League, the top tier of football in Gibraltar.[1] They also participate in the Rock Cup, the territory's primary cup competition.
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| Full name | Europa Point Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | A Progressive Club | ||
| Founded | 2014 | ||
| Ground | Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar | ||
| Capacity | 2,000 | ||
| Chairman | Pär Magnus Roos | ||
| Head coach | Martin Falkeborn | ||
| League | Gibraltar Football League | ||
| 2023–24 | GFL, 4th | ||
| Website | http://www.europapointfc.com/ | ||
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History
editThe club formed in 2014 amidst the growing interest in association football on the territory of Gibraltar. The club held trials specifically aimed at bringing in youth team players that had been released by professional sides in England and Spain with the goal of getting them back into competitive football, with club founder John Gontier having formerly worked with such players while working for League Football Education. Before their maiden season, the club also announced a partnership with Chesterfield in League One, where the English side has first option on any Europa Point player.
After a strong start to the season, including a tight promotion challenge against Gibraltar United, the club narrowly missed out on promotion, finishing third in the league despite having the strongest goalscoring record in the Gibraltar Second Division. Despite missing out on promotion on the final day of the season, the club did end the season with silverware as they beat promoted side Angels 5–3 in a thrilling Gibraltar Division 2 Cup final that went to extra time.
After missing out on promotion in 2014–15, Europa Point were crowned champions of the 2015–16 Gibraltar Second Division[2] after an unbeaten league campaign (W17 D5) and completed the double by retaining the Gibraltar Second Division Cup by beating Bruno's Magpies 3–2 A.E.T in the final. In preparation for the new season in the Premier Division they have signed many players including ex-Norwich City players George Jermy and Tom Walters. However, the players failed to impress and despite substantial changes in playing and coaching staff throughout the season, Europa Point finished bottom of the Premier Division and were relegated.
On 1 November 2017, it was announced that an American consortium headed by Peter Grieve and Corey Woolfolk had purchased a controlling stake in Europa Point. Woolfolk took over as chairman of the club, while John Gontier moved to CEO. On 10 November, Joaquin Rodriguez was announced as the new Head of Commercial and Football Operations. As part of the takeover, Europa Point became a partner club to Bantu Rovers in Zimbabwe.[citation needed] Gontier negotiated to re-take control of the club in early 2019, helping the club to a second-place finish in the league.[3]
In the inaugural season newly formed Gibraltar National League, Europa Point started poorly under former Gibraltar national football team manager Allen Bula. However, the appointment of ex-Leyton Orient boss Ian Hendon in late November 2019 saw a significant upturn in results, only for the season to be voided by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In July 2020, Andrew Pritchard purchased a majority stake in the club, while John Gontier stayed on as minority shareholder. Following the end of the 2020–21 season, Gontier sold his remaining stake in the club to focus on Gibraltar Women's Football League side Gibraltar Wave. In November 2021, former Charlton Athletic player and Kemi City chairman Mark Tivey was announced as the club's new co-owner and technical director.[4] However, this ownership was short lived and in July 2022, a Swedish consortium led by Pär Magnus Roos took over the club.
In July 2023, Swedish coach Dalibor Savić was appointed head coach, with player Ryan McCarthy becoming player-assistant manager. In his first season in charge, aided by a number of high-profile Scandinavian signings such as Johan Andersson, Johannes Ström and former Norway international Thomas Drage, Europa Point secured a top 6 finish in the Gibraltar Football League for the first time in their history.
Seasons
edit| Season | Division | League record | Rock Cup | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Pos | |||
| 2014–15 | Second | 26 | 20 | 3 | 3 | 124 | 20 | 63 | 3rd | Quarter-finals |
| 2015–16 | Second | 22 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 76 | 79 | 56 | 1st ↑ | First round |
| 2016–17 | Premier | 27 | 2 | 2 | 23 | 13 | 120 | 8 | 10th ↓ | Quarter-finals |
| 2017–18 | Second | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 31 | 18 | 24 | 4th | Second round |
| 2018–19 | Second | 18 | 13 | 0 | 5 | 50 | 26 | 39 | 2nd | Second round |
| 2019–20[a] | National | 18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 35 | 38 | 25 | 8th | Quarter-finals |
| 2020–21 | National | 18 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 10 | 73 | 3 | 11th | First round |
| 2021–22 | National | 18 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 17 | 65 | 14 | 10th | Quarter-finals |
| 2022–23 | GFL | 18 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 12 | 65 | 7 | 11th | First Round |
| 2023–24 | GFL | 25 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 32 | 31 | 35 | 4th | First Round |
Current squad
editFirst team
editCorrect as of 31 August 2024.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Club staff
edit| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Club Management | |
| Player-Head Coach |  Martin Falkeborn
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| Assistant Coach |  Roberto Carrasco
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| Assistant Coach | Cristopher Jackson
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| Physio |  Gabriel Benatar
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| Board | |
| Chairman | Pär Magnus Roos
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| Head of Youth | Seamus Byrne
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Honours
edit- Gibraltar National League – Challenge Group
- Gibraltar Second Division
- Winners (1): 2015–16
- Runners-up (1): 2018–19
- Gibraltar Second Division Cup
- Winners (1): 2014–15,[5] 2015–16
Notes
edit- ^ a b Season abandoned due to COVID-19 pandemic. Results not officially recognised.
References
edit- ^ Moitra, Soumalya (4 November 2016). ""I trained with the Argentinian National team, with the likes of Messi, Aguero, Di Maria" says Indian born Uday Arora". sportskeeda.com. Sportskeeda. Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
- ^ "Gibraltar 2015/16". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 2022-08-30. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
- ^ Julian Lopez impresses as Europa Point finish second Archived 2019-05-28 at the Wayback Machine Football Gibraltar. 26 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
- ^ Official Statement Archived 2021-11-09 at the Wayback Machine Europa Point FC. 8 November 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
- ^ Europa Point FC see off Angels FC after Extra Time Gibraltar FA. 20 April 2015 [dead link].
