St Joseph's F.C.

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St Joseph's
St Joseph's F.C. logo.png
Full nameSt Joseph's Football Club Gibraltar
Nickname(s)The Saints
Founded20 January 1912;113 years ago (20 January 1912)
Ground Victoria Stadium,
Winston Churchill Avenue, Gibraltar
Capacity2,000
OwnerMike Garlick
Head coach Abraham Paz
League Gibraltar Football League
2023–24 GFL, 2nd
Website http://www.stjosephsfcgib.co.uk

St Joseph's Football Club is a professional football club based in Gibraltar. Founded in 1912, it currently plays in the Gibraltar Football League. The club also has two futsal teams and more than 10 youth teams.

Contents

History

Formed in 1912, St Joseph's are Gibraltar's oldest still existing football club, with the next oldest, Manchester 62, formed 50 years later. They have consistently competed in the Gibraltar Premier Division in that time. However, they have only won the title once: in the 1995–96 season. They have seen considerably better fortunes in the Rock Cup, however, with 10 titles in their history, including a league and cup double in 1996. Their last Rock Cup triumph came in 2013. In 2013, they established links as a feeder club to Real Balompédica Linense.

Since Gibraltar became a member of UEFA, the Saints initially endured more mixed fortunes, including narrowly avoiding relegation in the 2013–14 season, ending up in the relegation play-off and narrowly beating Mons Calpe to retain their Premier Division status. Since that near miss, they have consistently finished in the top half of the league, and in 2017 qualified for the UEFA Europa League for the first time with a 3rd-place finish, after Gibraltar had been given an additional spot in the competition. However, their maiden campaign would be short-lived as they suffered a resounding 10-0 aggregate defeat to AEL Limassol of Cyprus. In August, the club were hit when two players, club captain Esteban Montes and Alberto Montaño, were imposed with five and three year bans from football in Gibraltar, respectively, for breaching rules on betting. Both players were immediately released from the club. [1]

The club quickly established themselves at one of the "Big Three" of Gibraltarian football in the UEFA era before running into financial difficulties in early 2022. As a result of this, in June that year, former Burnley owner and chairman Mike Garlick purchased the club, with Weymouth owner Mark Palmer also joining the board. [2]

Seasons (since UEFA acceptance)

SeasonDivisionLeague record Rock Cup Pepe Reyes
Cup
European competitionsTop league scorer(s)
PWDLFAPtsPosCompetitionResultPlayerGoals
2013–14Premier Division14419202913 7th Second round WinnersNathan Santos6
2014–15Premier Division211227361838 4th Semi-final Runners-up José Luis Romero 11
2015–16Premier Division2714310503745 3rd Second round
2016–17Premier Division271665531854 3rd Semi-final John-Paul Duarte 15
2017–18Premier Division271737533054 3rd Quarter-final UEFA Europa League First qualifying round Boro9
2018–19Premier Division271746692955 3rd Quarter-final UEFA Europa League Preliminary round Boro21
2019–20National League171421581544 2nd [a] Semi-final [b] UEFA Europa League First qualifying round Juanfri 24
2020–21National League201433712045 3rd Quarter-final UEFA Europa League Preliminary round Juanfri 22
2021–22National League201127452735 3rd Quarter-final UEFA Europa Conference League First qualifying round Juanfri 14
2022–23Football League201028362532 5th Semi-final UEFA Europa Conference League Second qualifying round Boro8
2023–24Football League252032621663 2nd Semi-final Pablo Rodríguez15
  1. The 2019–20 Gibraltar National League season, and the 2020 Rock Cup, were abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with results declared null and void.
  2. St Joseph's had won their quarter final match before the 2020 Rock Cup was abandoned.

Achievements

1995–96
1956, 1979, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1992, 1996, 2012, 2013
2013, 2024
2007

Current squad

First team

As of 10 July 2024 [3]

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

No.Pos.NationPlayer
1 GK Flag of Gibraltar.svg  GIB Bradley Banda
2 DF Flag of Gibraltar.svg  GIB Ethan Jolley
3 DF Flag of Gibraltar.svg  GIB Jayce Olivero
4 DF Flag of Spain.svg  ESP Javi Paul
5 MF Flag of Spain.svg  ESP Marco Rosa
6 MF Flag of Spain.svg  ESP Manolín
7 FW Flag of Brazil.svg  BRA Lucas Gaúcho
8 MF Flag of Spain.svg  ESP Bauti
9 FW Flag of Spain.svg  ESP Pablo Rodríguez
10 FW Flag of Spain.svg  ESP Álvaro Rey
11 MF Flag of Gibraltar.svg  GIB Liam Walker
12 MF Flag of Spain.svg  ESP Christian Aznar
13 GK Flag of Argentina.svg  ARG Marcos Zappacosta
No.Pos.NationPlayer
14 DF Flag of Gibraltar.svg  GIB Erin Barnett
15 DF Flag of Gibraltar.svg  GIB Ethan Santos
16 FW Flag of Gibraltar.svg  GIB Michael Yome
17 MF Flag of Gibraltar.svg  GIB Mitch Gibson
18 MF Flag of Sweden.svg  SWE Hugo Jesslén
19 FW Flag of Spain.svg  ESP Juanfri
20 DF Flag of Uruguay.svg  URU Gabri Cardozo (vice-captain)
21 DF Flag of Gibraltar.svg  GIB Alain Pons
22 MF Flag of Spain.svg  ESP Juanma González(captain)
23 FW Flag of Argentina.svg  ARG Facu Álvarez
24 MF Flag of Spain.svg  ESP Cristian Orihuela
25 FW Flag of Spain.svg  ESP Adrián Armental
30 GK Flag of Argentina.svg  ARG Gonzalo Paz

On loan

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

No.Pos.NationPlayer
18 FW Flag of Angola.svg  ANG Alberto Lubango(at Europa)

Club staff

PositionName
Club Management
Manager Flag of Spain.svg Abraham Paz
Assistant coach Flag of Spain.svg Eloy Bolaños
Fitness coach Flag of Spain.svg Juan Carlos Galindo
Goalkeeping coach Flag of Spain.svg Félix Romero
Head physio Flag of Spain.svg Jaime Rojas Boy
Head Analyst
Coach
Flag of Spain.svg Fernando Rosado
Kit manager Flag of Gibraltar.svg Christian Hook
Board
Chairman Flag of England.svg Mike Garlick
President Flag of Gibraltar.svg Stuart Rodriguez
Technical Director Flag of Gibraltar.svg John Paul Hendrick
Secretary Flag of Gibraltar.svg David O'Flaherty
Head of Youth Flag of Ireland.svg Kane Forster
Flag of Gibraltar.svg Chisum Sanchez
Youth co-ordinator Flag of Gibraltar.svg Christopher Gonzalez

European record

Accurate as of match played 18 July 2024
CompetitionPlayedWonDrewLostGFGAGDWin%
UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League 9135625−19011.11
UEFA Conference League 7124317−14014.29
Total16259942−33012.50

Legend: GF = Goals For. GA = Goals Against. GD = Goal Difference.

SeasonCompetitionRoundClubHomeAwayAggregate
2017–18 UEFA Europa League 1Q Flag of Cyprus.svg AEL Limassol 0–40–60–10
2018–19 UEFA Europa League PR Flag of the Faroe Islands.svg B36 Tórshavn 1–11–12–2, 2–4 (p)
2019–20 UEFA Europa League PR Flag of Kosovo.svg Prishtina 2–01–13–1
1Q Flag of Scotland.svg Rangers 0–40–60–10
2020–21 UEFA Europa League PR Flag of the Faroe Islands.svg B36 Tórshavn 1–2
2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League 1Q Flag of Estonia.svg FCI Levadia 1–11–32–4
2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League 1Q Ulster Banner.svg Larne 0–01–01–0
2Q Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Slavia Prague 0–40–70–11
2024–25 UEFA Conference League 1Q Flag of Ireland.svg Shelbourne 1–11–22–3
Notes

References

  1. Official St Joseph's Statement Re: GFA Betting Rule Breaches GibFootballTalk. 17 August 2017.
  2. Former Burnley FC chairman takes over St Joseph Archived 7 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine Gibraltar Chronicle. 24 June 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  3. 2023/24 Squad Archived 2 November 2023 at the Wayback Machine St Joseph's FC. 13 September 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.