2020–21 Gibraltar National League

Gibraltar National League
The Victoria Stadium where each match will be played
Season2020–21
Dates16 October 2020 – 16 May 2021
ChampionsLincoln Red Imps
1st National League title
25th Gibraltar title
Champions LeagueLincoln Red Imps
Europa Conference LeagueEuropa
St Joseph's
Mons Calpe
Matches played104
Goals scored418 (4.02 per match)
Top goalscorerKike Gómez (24 goals)
Best goalkeeperChristian Lopez (11 clean sheets)
Biggest home winSt Joseph's 13–1 College 1975
(12 December 2020)
Biggest away winEuropa Point 0–9 Europa
(25 October 2020)
Manchester 0–9 Europa
(13 December 2020)
Highest scoringSt Joseph's 13–1 College 1975
(12 December 2020)
Longest winning run7 matches
Europa
Longest unbeaten run10 matches
Europa
Longest winless run10 matches
College 1975
Longest losing run10 matches
College 1975
All statistics correct as of 20 March 2021.

The 2020–21 Gibraltar National League season is the second season of the new Gibraltar National League in Gibraltar, and the 122nd season of football on the territory overall. There are no reigning champions this season, as the previous season was declared abandoned as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] The league is due to kick off on 16 October 2020. Instead of qualifying for the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League, teams placed 2nd, 3rd and the 2021 Rock Cup winners will qualify for the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League.

Format

The structure of the league will follow that of the previous season.[2] Teams will play one round of games as a single league, before splitting into two groups: the Championship Group contested by the top 6 sides, and the Challenge Group between the bottom 6 sides. The winners of the Challenge Group will receive the GFA Challenge Trophy and receive a bye to the second round of the next season's Rock Cup. The league paused after the game on 20 December between Bruno's Magpies and St Joseph's, but resumed on 22 February 2021 with Lions Gibraltar defeating College 1975 3-2.[3]

Teams

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Location of the stadium where all teams play

The following 12 teams began the 2020–21 Gibraltar National League. League positions from the previous season represent where teams stood when the season was abandoned.

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 2019–20
Boca Gibraltar Gibraltar Aaron Edwards England Lennie Armstrong Forever 17 Plug-N-Go 10th
Bruno's Magpies Spain Johnny Parrado Spain Rubén Díaz Joma GVC Holdings
Chestertons 		5th
College 1975 Spain Ángel Espinosa Gibraltar Nazim Hughes Joma 12th
Europa Spain Rafa Escobar Gibraltar Liam Walker Kappa La Parrilla
Betfred 		1st
Europa Point England Craig Cowell Gibraltar Kailan Perez Hope + Glory Marbella Ketones (front)
Eco Wave Power (back)
AKHS Management (sleeve) 		8th
Glacis United Spain Javier Sánchez Alfaro Argentina Miguel Londero Nike 11th
Lincoln Red Imps Gibraltar Mick McElwee Gibraltar Roy Chipolina adidas Mansion.com 3rd
Lions Gibraltar Spain Alberto Ferri Gibraltar Jay Bosio Macron 6th
Lynx Gibraltar Albert Parody Gibraltar Chuky González Givova Grupo Casais 4th
Manchester 62 Scotland David Wilson Gibraltar Robert Montovio Joma CEPSA GIB 9th
Mons Calpe Uruguay César Vega Argentina Christian Fraiz Givova FanPlay 365 7th
St Joseph's Spain Raúl Procopio Baizán Spain Boro Hope + Glory 2nd

Managerial Changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Lincoln Red Imps Spain Germán Crespo Mutual consent 20 May 2020 Pre-season Brazil William 28 May 2020[4]
Bruno's Magpies Spain Juan Maria Sánchez 31 May 2020 Spain Johnny Parrado 23 July 2020
Boca Gibraltar England Craig Cowell Moved to U23 Manager 1 June 2020 England Stephen Vaughan Jr. 1 June 2020[5]
Boca Gibraltar England Stephen Vaughan Jr. Denied license by GFA 9 August 2020 Gibraltar Aaron Edwards 9 August 2020
Glacis United Italy Michele Di Piedi Promoted to Director of Football 1 September 2020 Nigeria Paul Aigbogun 1 September 2020
Mons Calpe Argentina Luis Manuel Blanco Mutual consent 16 September 2020 Uruguay César Vega 16 September 2020
Europa Point England Ian Hendon 1 October 2020 Spain Dani Amaya 1 October 2020
Lincoln Red Imps Brazil William 5 October 2020 Gibraltar Mick McElwee 5 October 2020
Glacis United Nigeria Paul Aigbogun Signed by Nigeria Football Federation 23 October 2020 7th Spain Javier Sánchez Alfaro 25 October 2020
Europa Point Spain Dani Amaya Mutual consent 2 November 2020 11th England Steve Cummings 2 November 2020
England Steve Cummings Sacked 19 March 2021 12th England Craig Cowell 19 March 2021

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[a]
1 Europa 10 9 1 0 44 5 +39 28 Qualification for the Championship Group
2 Lincoln Red Imps 10 8 1 1 33 7 +26 25
3 St Joseph's 10 7 1 2 49 11 +38 22
4 Lynx 10 6 1 3 26 10 +16 19
5 Mons Calpe 10 6 1 3 21 13 +8 19
6 Lions Gibraltar 10 4 3 3 12 10 +2 15
7 Bruno's Magpies 10 4 2 4 14 16 −2 14 Qualification for the Challenge Group
8 Glacis United 10 3 0 7 10 18 −8 9
9 Manchester 62 10 2 0 8 8 44 −36 6
10 Europa Point 10 1 0 9 7 38 −31 3
11 College 1975 10 0 0 10 8 60 −52 0
12 Boca Gibraltar (E) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Club expelled, record expunged
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(E) Excluded
Notes:
  1. ^ Teams play each other once (10 matches), before the league splits into two groups (the top six and the bottom five) for the last 10 respectively 8 matches.

Results

Home \ Away BOC BRU COL EFC EPO GLA LIN LGI LYN MAN MON SJO
Boca Gibraltar
Bruno's Magpies 1–3 4–0 0–0 3–2 0–3
College 1975 0–3 1–3 1–5 0–8 1–7 0–6
Europa 9–0 1–0 2–2 3–1 3–0
Europa Point 0–9 1–6 0–1 2–4
Glacis United 0–1 3–0 0–3 0–3 0–1 0–5
Lincoln Red Imps 3–0 3–0 2–0 4–2
Lions Gibraltar 3–2 0–1 3–0 0–3
Lynx 1–1 3–0 2–0 5–0 0–1 1–4
Manchester 62 3–2 0–9 3–1 0–2 0–4
Mons Calpe 4–1 0–2 0–0 5–0 0–5
St Joseph's 13–1 1–4 4–0 1–1 11–0
Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Forfeits for Home Grown Player violations

The season suffered early controversy when several teams were forced to forfeit games for violations of the Home Grown Player rule, due to confusion over the new rules regarding time limits for changes if a Home Grown Player is sent off.[6] Below are the games that have been forfeited for rule breaches.

Date Original score GFA decision
31 October 2020 Bruno's Magpies 1–0 Boca Gibraltar 3-0 win to Bruno's Magpies
1 November 2020 Glacis United 1–1 Lynx 3-0 win to Lynx
21 November 2020 Glacis United 1–1 Europa Point 3-0 win to Glacis United
28 November 2020 Europa Point 1–2 Boca Gibraltar 3-0 win to Europa Point

Additionally, Boca Gibraltar failed to field a team on 5 December 2020 against Mons Calpe, subsequently forfeiting the tie.[7] After doing so again on 9 December, they were expelled from the league.[8]

Championship and Challenge groups

After 11 games (reduced to 10 after Boca Gibraltar were expelled) the league splits into two groups: the top 6 into the Championship Group, and the bottom 6 (later reduced to 5) into the Challenge Group. The Championship Group will compete for the league title and European qualification places, while the Challenge Group will compete for the GFA Challenge Trophy.

Championship Group

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Lincoln Red Imps (C) 20 15 3 2 62 13 +49 48 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2 Europa 20 15 2 3 66 14 +52 47 Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round[a]
3 St Joseph's 20 14 3 3 71 20 +51 45
4 Mons Calpe 20 10 2 8 36 35 +1 32
5 Lynx 20 8 2 10 36 40 −4 26
6 Lions Gibraltar 20 4 4 12 13 33 −20 16
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Goal difference; 5) Goals scored
(C) Champions
Notes:
  1. ^ Since the winners of the 2021 Rock Cup, Lincoln Red Imps, qualified for the Champions League based on league position, the Europa Conference League berth awarded to the Cup winners was transferred to the fourth-placed team.

Championship Group results

Home \ Away EFC LIN LGI LYN MON SJO
Europa 0–3 3–0 3–0 2–0 0–2
Lincoln Red Imps 3–1 3–0 1–0 5–1 0–1
Lions Gibraltar 0–2 1–1 0–1 0–4 0–2
Lynx 0–6 0–7 4–0 2–2 0–5
Mons Calpe 0–3 0–4 1–0 3–1 0–4
St Joseph's 1–1 2–2 1–0 3–2 1–4
Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Challenge Group

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Bruno's Magpies 18 10 2 6 46 27 +19 32 GFA Challenge Trophy and bye in 2021–22 Rock Cup
2 Glacis United 18 10 0 8 35 27 +8 30
3 Manchester 62 18 5 2 11 25 60 −35 17
4 College 1975 18 2 2 14 23 81 −58 8
5 Europa Point 18 1 0 17 10 73 −63 3
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Goal difference; 5) Goals scored

Challenge Group results

Home \ Away BRU COL EPO GLA MAN
Bruno's Magpies 3–0 7–0 1–5 4–0
College 1975 1–8 4–1 0–2 0–0
Europa Point 0–4 0–6 0–3 1–4
Glacis United 4–1 4–1 3–1 4–1
Manchester 62 1–4 3–3 4–0 4–0
Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

Rank Player Club Goals
1 Philippines Kike Gómez Lincoln Red Imps 24
2 Spain Juanfri St Joseph's 22
3 Spain Rubo Blanco Bruno's Magpies 19
4 Spain Adrián Gallardo Europa 14
5 Spain Boro St Joseph's 13
6 Gibraltar Dylan Borge Europa 11
Spain Aritz Hernández Lynx
Argentina Diego Díaz Mons Calpe
9 Spain Luisma Gallardo College 1975 9
Gibraltar Liam Walker Europa

Hat-tricks

Player For Against Result Date
Philippines Kike Gómez4 Lincoln Red Imps College 1975 8–0 (A) 19 October 2020
Spain Alberto Caravaca Lions Gibraltar Glacis United 3–0 (H) 24 October 2020
Gibraltar Liam Walker Europa Europa Point 9–0 (A) 25 October 2020
England Luke Wall Boca Gibraltar College 1975 6–1 (H) 25 October 2020
Spain Aritz Hernández Lynx Manchester 62 5–0 (H) 27 October 2020
Argentina Diego Díaz4 Mons Calpe College 1975 6–0 (A) 2 November 2020
Spain Juanfri4 St Joseph's Manchester 62 11–0 (H) 21 November 2020
Philippines Ángel Guirado4 St Joseph's College 1975 13–1 (H) 12 December 2020
Spain Boro St Joseph's College 1975 13–1 (H) 12 December 2020
Spain Adrián Gallardo4 Europa Manchester 62 9–0 (A) 13 December 2020
Brazil Andre Dos Santos4 Mons Calpe Europa Point 4–2 (A) 14 December 2020
Gibraltar Kelvin Morgan Bruno's Magpies Europa Point 4–0 (H) 6 March 2021
Nigeria Darlington Nwosu Glacis United College 1975 4–1 (H) 20 March 2021
Spain Rubo Blanco Bruno's Magpies College 1975 8–1 (A) 9 April 2021
Belgium Elyakim Musoni Mons Calpe Lions Gibraltar 4–0 (A) 11 April 2021
Gibraltar Adam Gracia4 College 1975 Europa Point 6–0 (A) 18 April 2021
Spain Juanfri4 St Joseph's Lynx 5–0 (A) 27 April 2021
Spain Rubo Blanco4 Bruno's Magpies Europa Point 7–0 (H) 30 April 2021
Spain Adrián Gallardo Europa Mons Calpe 3–0 (A) 15 May 2021

Clean Sheets

Rank Player Club Clean sheets
1 Gibraltar Christian Lopez Europa 11
2 Gibraltar Jamie Robba St Joseph's 9
3 Gibraltar Kyle Goldwin Lincoln Red Imps 8
4 Argentina Christian Fraiz Mons Calpe 7
5 Gibraltar Bradley Banda Lynx 6
6 Spain Borja Valadés Lions Gibraltar 5
7 Scotland Alan Martin Bruno's Magpies 4
Argentina Marcos Zappacosta Glacis United
9 Gibraltar Jordan Perez Bruno's Magpies 3
Spain Manuel Soler Lincoln Red Imps
Gibraltar Ayden Viñales Manchester 62

Awards

Player of the week

Monthly awards

Month Player of the Month Manager of the Month Reference
Manager Club Player Club
October Spain Albert Ferri Lions Gibraltar Philippines Kike Gómez Lincoln Red Imps [20]
November Spain Juanfri St Joseph's Spain Rafa Escobar Europa [21]
December League paused 20 December–22 February
January
February
March

See also

References

  1. ^ "Gibraltar National League Season Declared Null and Void". gibraltarfa.com. Gibraltar Football Association. 7 May 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  2. ^ Restructuring of the Domestic Men's Senior League Archived 1 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine Gibraltar FA. 1 August 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  3. ^ Gibraltar National League will restart on Monday 22 February 2021 Gibraltar FA. 18 February 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  4. ^ Club Statement - New Head Coach Appointed Lincoln Red Imps FC. 28 May 2020. 28 May 2020.
  5. ^ New Technical Team Announced Archived 30 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine Boca Gibraltar. 1 June 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  6. ^ http://footballgibraltar.com/2020/11/magpies-lynx-awarded-wins-via-forfeit/ Archived 10 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine Magpies and Lynx awarded wins via forfeit] Football Gibraltar. 10 November 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  7. ^ FC Boca Gibraltar advise they will not fulfil National League fixture Gibraltar FA. 5 December 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  8. ^ FC Boca Juniors Gibraltar will not fulfil their Gibraltar National League fixture scheduled for this evening. Gibraltar FA. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  9. ^ FG Team of the Week: Matchday 1 Football Gibraltar. 22 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  10. ^ FG Team of the Week: Matchday 2 Football Gibraltar. 29 October 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  11. ^ FG Team of the Week: Matchday 3[permanent dead link‍] Football Gibraltar. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  12. ^ FG Team of the Week: Matchday 5 Football Gibraltar. 26 November 2020. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  13. ^ FG Team of the Week: Matchday 6[permanent dead link‍] Football Gibraltar. 3 December 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  14. ^ FG Team of the Week: Matchday 7 Football Gibraltar. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  15. ^ FG Team of the Week: Matchday 8 Football Gibraltar. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  16. ^ FG Team of the Week: Matchday 9 Football Gibraltar. 24 December 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  17. ^ FG Team of the Week: Matchday 10 Football Gibraltar. 1 March 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  18. ^ FG Team of the Week: Matchday 11 Football Gibraltar. 7 March 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  19. ^ Mustapha Yahaya is FG Player of the Week Football Gibraltar. 16 March 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  20. ^ Kike and Ferri win FG Monthly Awards in October Archived 13 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine Football Gibraltar. 7 November 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  21. ^ Juanfri and Escobar win FG Monthly Awards in November Archived 9 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine Football Gibraltar. 13 December 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.