Europa Point F.C.

Last updated
Europa Point
Europa Point F.C.png
Full nameEuropa Point Football Club
Nickname(s)A Progressive Club
Founded2014;10 years ago (2014)
Ground Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar
Capacity2,000
ChairmanPär Magnus Roos
Head coach Martin Falkeborn
League Gibraltar Football League
2023–24 GFL, 4th
Website Club website

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.

Contents

History

The 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

SeasonDivisionLeague record Rock Cup
PWDLGFGAPtsPos
2014–15Second26203312420633rd Quarter-finals
2015–16Second2217507679561st↑ First round
2016–17 Premier27222313120810th ↓ Quarter-finals
2017–18 Second147343118244th Second round
2018–19 Second1813055026392nd Second round
2019–20 [lower-alpha 1] National187473538258th Quarter-finals
2020–21 National1810171073311th First round
2021–22 National18421217651410th Quarter-finals
2022–23 GFL1814131265711th First Round
2023–24 GFL25105103231354th First Round

Current squad

First team

Correct as of 31 August 2024.

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

No.Pos.NationPlayer
1 GK Flag of Finland.svg  FIN Johannes Ström
2 DF Flag of Sweden.svg  SWE Martin Falkeborn (captain)
3 DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Tyler Garratt
4 DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Sam Nicholson
5 DF Flag of Gibraltar.svg  GIB Antony Moulds
6 MF Flag of the Netherlands.svg  NED Justino Boldewijn
7 MF Flag of Norway.svg  NOR Thomas Drage
8 MF Flag of Poland.svg  POL Aleksay Boguslawski
10 MF Flag of Sweden.svg  SWE Joel Sundström
11 MF Flag of Gibraltar.svg  GIB Matthew Plumb
12 FW Flag of Gibraltar.svg  GIB Adam Gracia
13 GK Flag of Sweden.svg  SWE Albert Holm(on loan from Linense)
14 FW Flag of England.svg  ENG Alex Taylor
15 DF Flag of Ireland.svg  IRL Erik Oboli
No.Pos.NationPlayer
16 FW Flag of Gibraltar.svg  GIB Sachin Gupta
17 MF Flag of Sweden.svg  SWE Simon Silverholt
18 MF Flag of Sweden.svg  SWE Vincent Ericson
19 MF Flag of Gibraltar.svg  GIB Rafi Emrani
20 MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Peter Alarms
21 DF Flag of Germany.svg  GER Giuliano Hill
22 DF Flag of Gibraltar.svg  GIB Leon Avellano
23 DF Flag of Gibraltar.svg  GIB Evan Busto
24 FW Flag of Gibraltar.svg  GIB Javier Martinez
77 GK Flag of Gibraltar.svg  GIB Jesse Gonzalez
— MF Flag of Sweden.svg  SWE Nils Karlsson
— MF Flag of Gibraltar.svg  GIB Karim Mitchell
— MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Stevie Black
— FW Flag of Gibraltar.svg  GIB Kelvin Morgan

Club staff

PositionName
Club Management
Player-Head Coach Flag of Sweden.svg Martin Falkeborn
Assistant Coach Flag of Spain.svg Roberto Carrasco
Assistant Coach Flag of Spain.svg Cristopher Jackson
Physio Flag of Gibraltar.svg Gabriel Benatar
Board
Chairman Flag of Sweden.svg Pär Magnus Roos
Head of Youth Flag of Gibraltar.svg Seamus Byrne

Honours

Notes

  1. 1 2 Season abandoned due to COVID-19 pandemic. Results not officially recognised.

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References

  1. ↑ 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.
  2. ↑ "Gibraltar 2015/16". RSSSF . Archived from the original on 2022-08-30. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ Official Statement Archived 2021-11-09 at the Wayback Machine Europa Point FC. 8 November 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  5. ↑ Europa Point FC see off Angels FC after Extra Time Gibraltar FA. 20 April 2015 [ dead link ].
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