Gibraltar United F.C.

Last updated

Gibraltar United F. C.
Gib Utd.png
Founded1943 (reformed 2014)
Ground Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar
Capacity2,000
OwnersPablo Dana
Michel Salgado
PresidentAdrian Ballestero [1]
ManagerPaco Luna
League Gibraltar Premier Division
2018–19 Gibraltar Premier Division, 6th

Gibraltar United F.C. is a football team from Gibraltar. Founded in 1943 in the midst of World War II, they play in the Gibraltar Football League's Premier Division. In 2011 Gibraltar United joined forces with fellow local club Lions Football Club, with the club's new name Lions Gibraltar FC who played in Gibraltar's Premier Division. In 2014 the club announced their reformation as an independent club and played in the Gibraltar Football League's second tier once again in the 2014–15 season, winning promotion as champions.

Contents

History

The club was founded by Aurelio Louis Danino a Gibraltarian journalist whose nom de plume was "Lubinox". The team was made up of local Gibraltarians who remained on the rock during the Second World War. As most of the civilian population was evacuated putting a halt to league football in Gibraltar over the war years, Gibraltar United would represent Gibraltarians and play against the UK based regiments and other military units serving in Gibraltar winning the Governor's Cup in their founding year of 1943. Once competitive football resumed on the Rock in 1946, United sealed their first league title. The club would dominate the next 10 years under Danino's presidency before entering a dry spell, winning a few more titles in the early 1960s with their last league title in 2001–02 - the last league title won by a side other than Lincoln Red Imps for 15 years before Europa's triumph in the 2016–17 season.

Despite the triumph in 2002 breaking nearly 50-year without success at the club (aside from 3 consecutive Rock Cup victories from 1999 to 2001), the club quickly began to see a decline in fortunes against the continued dominance of Lincoln, and rumours began to emerge that the historic club was close to ceasing operations, amidst talk of a rumour with lower-level club Lions FC to retain Gibraltar United's Premier Division place and adopt Lions' youth program. After merging with Lions in 2011 to form Lions Gibraltar, the club established itself as a mid-table Gibraltar Premier Division side. However, in 2014, after the Gibraltar Football Association was accepted into UEFA, the club became independent of Lions once again and competed in the Gibraltar Second Division. After a tight race with Angels and Europa Point, the club won the title and promotion to the Gibraltar Premier Division for the 2015–16 season, building a squad with strong focus on Gibraltarian footballers and hiring Manolo Sanchez Nuñez as manager. A difficult first season saw them finish narrowly above the relegation playoff, with an 8th-place finish securing safety.

In April 2017, the club entered partnerships with Turicum Bank and former Real Madrid defender Michel Salgado, with the latter becoming one of the new owners of the club along with Dubai-based businessman Pablo Dana. With survival confirmed at the end of the season with a 7th-place finish, it was announced that Salgado would oversee youth trials in June, as well as arranging all transfers in preparation for the next season. United overvalued their squad and did away with their 'local only' policy for the start of the 17/18 season though they still retained around 50% of the squad as local players with a fair number of both full and Under 21 and Under 19 Internationals. Manolo Hierro also joined the club as director of football soon after the 17/18 season started.

After a 4th-place finish in the 2017–18 season, manager Manolo left the club. Lucas Cazorla was hired in his place. In July 2018, Gibraltar United made international headlines when it became the first football club in the world to pay players in part with cryptocurrency, through a sponsorship with Quantocoin. [2] Pablo Domingo Fernandez and former Sevilla FC goalkeeper Antonio Notario Caro also joined the technical staff in July 2018. However, on 31 July 2019 it was reported that Dana had pulled his support from Gibraltar United and that several players had left the club, having not been paid for several months. [3] The club denied these reports later that day, though, stating that Dana was still a part of the club. [4] However, it was revealed on 7 August that the club had until the following Monday to repay all its debts or face expulsion from the newly formed Gibraltar National League. [5]

Current squad

Squad as of 23 February 2019 [6]

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

No.Pos.NationPlayer
5 DF Flag of Gibraltar.svg  GIB Erin Barnett (vice-captain)
6 MF Flag of Spain.svg  ESP Carlos Carrasco
7 FW Flag of the Netherlands.svg  NED Achraf Nait Brahim
9 FW Flag of Spain.svg  ESP Álvaro Castiella
10 MF Flag of Spain.svg  ESP Dani Ponce
14 FW Flag of Gibraltar.svg  GIB Nathan Santos
16 FW Flag of Spain.svg  ESP Francisco Álvarez
17 MF Flag of Spain.svg  ESP Chico Rubio
22 DF Flag of Spain.svg  ESP Moisés Suárez
No.Pos.NationPlayer
23 MF Flag of Gibraltar.svg  GIB Julio Bado
24 MF Flag of Gibraltar.svg  GIB Jamie Bosio (vice-captain)
26 FW Flag of Spain.svg  ESP Alberto Zapata
28 DF Flag of Uruguay.svg  URU Nicolás Márquez
35 GK Flag of Spain.svg  ESP José Miguel González
— GK Flag of Gibraltar.svg  GIB Christian Lopez
— GK Flag of Gibraltar.svg  GIB Jordan Perez
— MF Flag of Portugal.svg  POR Marco Meireles
— FW Flag of Portugal.svg  POR Miguel Oliveira

Club staff

PositionName
Club Management
Manager Flag of Spain.svg Paco Luna
Assistant Manager Flag of Spain.svg Javier Sanchez Alfaro
Physical Trainer Flag of Spain.svg Pablo Domingo Fernandez
Goalkeeping Coach Flag of Spain.svg Antonio Notario
Physiotherapist Flag of Gibraltar.svg Gavin Viñales
Team Delegate Flag of Gibraltar.svg Francis Huart
Intermediate Team Coach Flag of England.svg Graham Malcolm
Board
President Flag of Gibraltar.svg Adrian Ballestero
Director of Football Flag of Spain.svg Manolo Hierro
SecretaryTBC
Assistant Secretary Flag of Gibraltar.svg Jonathan McNeice
Flag of Spain.svg David Diez Espagne

Achievements

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lincoln Red Imps F.C.</span> Football club in Gibraltar

Lincoln Red Imps Football Club is a professional association football club from Gibraltar. They play in the Gibraltar National League, and share Victoria Stadium with all other clubs in the territory. They are the country's record champion with 24 league titles, including fourteen consecutive titles between 2003 and 2016, and in 2014 were the first team to represent Gibraltar in the UEFA Champions League's qualifying stage. In August 2021, Lincoln became the first club from Gibraltar to ever reach the group stages of a European club competition after defeating the Latvian champions Riga FC in the play-off round of the UEFA Europa Conference League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Joseph's F.C.</span> Association football club in Gibraltar

St Joseph's Football Club, created in 1912, is an association football club based in Gibraltar. It currently plays in the Gibraltar Football League. The club also has two Futsal teams and more than 10 youth teams. In 2013, they established links as a feeder club to Real Balompédica Linense. The club was granted an official UEFA licence in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glacis United F.C.</span> Association football club in Gibraltar

Glacis United Football Club is a professional football club from Gibraltar, founded in 1965 and a member of the Gibraltar Football Association (GFA). The club share the Victoria Stadium with all other teams in the territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liam Walker</span> Gibraltarian association football player

Liam Walker is a Gibraltarian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Lincoln Red Imps and the Gibraltar national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Europa F.C.</span> Association football club in Gibraltar

Europa FC is a football club from Gibraltar which plays in the Gibraltar National League. As with all other clubs in the territory, Europa FC currently shares the Victoria Stadium on Winston Churchill Avenue. The club also operates a women's team which competes in the Gibraltar Women's Football League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">F.C. Britannia XI</span> Futsal club in Gibraltar

FC Britannia XI is a futsal club from Gibraltar, which currently plays in the Gibraltar Futsal First Division, the second tier of futsal in Gibraltar. Until 2016, the club also operated an association football team who played in the Gibraltar Premier Division until its relegation and resignation at the end of the 2015–16 season. The club, like all others in the territory, play at the Victoria Stadium on Winston Churchill Avenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lions Gibraltar F.C.</span> Association football club in Gibraltar

Lions Gibraltar is a professional football club in Gibraltar. They play in the country's top-level league, the Gibraltar National League.

Rafael Jesús Bado Blanco is a Spanish-Gibraltarian former footballer who plays for Tercera Andaluza Cádiz side AD Taraguilla, and formerly represented the Gibraltar national team, as a central midfielder. From 2016 to 2018 he served as player-manager of Lions Gibraltar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mons Calpe S.C.</span> Sports club in Gibraltar

Mons Calpe S.C. is a professional football and sporting club from Gibraltar. Founded in 2013, the club's first team plays in the Gibraltar National League. Mons Calpe also has a U-23 squad, futsal teams and darts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leo F.C.</span> Association football club in Gibraltar

Leo F.C. was a football team from Gibraltar. They played in the Gibraltar Second Division and the Rock Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">F.C. Bruno's Magpies</span> Association football club in Gibraltar

FC Bruno's Magpies, also known as FC Magpies in UEFA competition, is a football team from Gibraltar. They play in the Gibraltar National League and the Rock Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">F.C. Boca Gibraltar</span> Association football club in Gibraltar

Boca Gibraltar was a football team from Gibraltar. They played in the Gibraltar National League until 2020, having previously played in the Gibraltar Premier Division and the Gibraltar Second Division and they also played in the Rock Cup. A futsal side still exists from the remnants of the club, competing in the Gibraltar Futsal Second Division.

The 2015–16 Gibraltar Premier Division was the 117th season of the national amateur and semi-professional football league in Gibraltar since its establishment - the highest level of football in Gibraltar. The league was contested by ten clubs, expanded from eight clubs in the last two seasons, including all clubs from last season and two promoted clubs from 2014–15 Gibraltar Second Division. The winner of the Gibraltar Premier Division, Lincoln Red Imps was allocated a spot in Champions League qualification, and as they won the Rock Cup a spot in the Europa League was given to the runners-up Europa FC.

The 2016–17 Gibraltar Premier Division was the 118th season of the national amateur and semi-professional football league in Gibraltar since its establishment - the highest level of football in Gibraltar. The league was contested by ten clubs, the top eight clubs from last season and two promoted clubs from 2015–16 Gibraltar Second Division. Lincoln Red Imps were the reigning champions, sealing a record 22nd title last season. The season began on 21 September 2016 and ended on 22 May 2017. Europa won the title, ending Lincoln's 14 title run and winning their first title since 1952.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Yome</span> Gibraltarian footballer

Michael Thomas Yome is a Gibraltarian footballer who plays for St Joseph's and the Gibraltar national team.

Sykes Al Garro is a Gibraltarian footballer who plays as a forward for Lions Gibraltar.

Evan James Green is an English-born Gibraltarian association footballer who currently plays for Lions Gibraltar, and the Gibraltar national football team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018–19 Gibraltar Premier Division</span> Football league season

The 2018–19 Gibraltar Premier Division was the 120th season of the top-tier state football league in Gibraltar, as well as the sixth season since the Gibraltar Football Association joined UEFA in 2013. The league was contested by ten clubs, and began on 13 August 2018.

The Gibraltar Futsal First Division is the top Gibraltarian futsal league organized by the Gibraltar Football Association (GFA). Since the 2013-14 season, the champion qualifies to enter the Preliminary Round of the UEFA Futsal Champions League.

The Gibraltar Football League is the only senior tier of association football in Gibraltar, founded in 2019 as the Gibraltar National League after a merger of the Gibraltar Premier Division, which served as the top division of football on the Rock since 1905, and the Gibraltar Second Division, which had existed since 1909. It was announced in August 2019 by the Gibraltar Football Association. The league is supported by the Gibraltar Intermediate League for U23 sides and Hound Dogs.

References

  1. ↑ PRESIDENTIAL CHANGE Gibraltar United F.C. 5 September 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  2. ↑ Cryptocurrency and football: the future or too volatile to be trusted? The Guardian. 29 July 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  3. ↑ Gibraltar United in turmoil Football Gibraltar. 31 July 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  4. ↑ Gibraltar United deny reports Gibraltar Chronicle on Twitter. 31 July 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  5. ↑ Pay Up or Leave for United Archived 7 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine Football Gibraltar. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  6. ↑ "gibraltarunitedfc". gibraltarunitedfc. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.