Europa Point F.C.

Europa Point F.C. is a football team from Gibraltar. The club currently plays in the Gibraltar National League the top senior tier of association football in Gibraltar.[1] They also participate in the Rock Cup, the territory's primary cup competition.

Europa Point
Full nameEuropa Point Football Club
Nickname(s)A Progressive Club
Founded2014
GroundVictoria Stadium, Gibraltar
Capacity2,000
ChairmanPär Magnus Roos
Head coachGarry Lowe
LeagueGibraltar National League
2021–22Challenge Group: 4th
Overall: 10th
WebsiteClub website

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. 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]

In February 2022, West of Scotland Football League Premier Division side Rossvale announced new co-owner's, shareholder's and directors to their newly formed structure subject to SFA approval. Europa Point co-owners Mark Tivey[5] and Andrew Pritchard MSc[6] joined Chairman Dom McInally in forming the new structure of the club, subject to SFA approval. In doing so, the two clubs established a link with players moving between the two clubs.[7]


Seasons

Season Division League record Rock Cup
P W D L GF GA Pts Pos
2014–15 Second26203312420633rd Quarter-finals
2015–16 Second221750767956 1st promoted First round
2016–17 Premier272223131208 10th relegated Quarter-finals
2017–18 Second147343118244th Second round
2018–19 Second181305502639 2nd Second round
2019–20[lower-alpha 1] National187473538258th Quarter-finals
2020–21 National1810171073311th First round
2021–22 National18421217651410th Quarter-finals

Current squad

First team

Correct as of 8 September 2022.

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Spain ESP Daniel Tudela (captain)
2 DF Gibraltar GIB Antony Moulds
3 MF Gibraltar GIB Nazim Hughes
4 DF Sweden SWE Martin Falkeborn
5 DF Gibraltar GIB Dion Hammond
6 MF Gibraltar GIB Tristan Olivares
7 MF England ENG Reed Wilson
8 FW Gibraltar GIB Zane Holgado
9 FW Sweden SWE Kristoffer Krebs
10 FW Gibraltar GIB Ethan Perez
11 MF Gibraltar GIB Matthew Plumb
12 DF Gibraltar GIB Jesse Ballester
14 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Ryan McCarthy (player-assistant coach)
16 MF Italy ITA Federico Canteros
17 DF Gibraltar GIB Leon Thick
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 FW England ENG Stevie Black
20 MF England ENG Charlie Hardiman
21 FW Spain ESP Álvaro Ruiz
22 DF Gibraltar GIB Leon Avellano
23 MF Gibraltar GIB Kai Soithongsuk
25 MF Gibraltar GIB Hampus Orsing
26 DF Sweden SWE Jonathan Westerberg
27 DF Sweden SWE William Wallin
28 MF Gibraltar GIB Andrew Cruz
30 MF Gibraltar GIB Aiden Victor
31 MF Gibraltar GIB Omar El Yettefti
33 DF Gibraltar GIB Michael Zapata
34 MF Argentina ARG Germán García
77 GK Gibraltar GIB Jesse Gonzalez

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
24 MF Sweden SWE Modoumatarr Mbye (on loan at Piteå)
No. Pos. Nation Player

Club staff

Position Name
Club Management
Head coach Gibraltar Garry Lowe
Player-Assistant Coach
U23 Coach
Republic of Ireland Ryan McCarthy
Physio Gibraltar Gabriel Benatar
Board
Chairman
Team delegate
Sweden Par Magnus Roos

Honours

Gibraltar National League - Challenge Group
Gibraltar Second Division
Gibraltar Second Division Cup
  • Winners: 2014–15,[8] 2015–16

Notes

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

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. Tivey, Mark. "LinkedIn".
  6. Pritchard, Andrew. "LinkedIn".
  7. Wilson, Fraser (2022-02-09). "Rossvale in ambitious tie-up with Gibraltar Premier Division club Europa Point". Daily Record. Archived from the original on 2022-02-14. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  8. Europa Point FC see off Angels FC after Extra Time Gibraltar FA. 20 April 2015 .
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