2017–18 Gibraltar Premier Division

The 2017–18 Gibraltar Premier Division was the 119th season of the top-tier national football league in Gibraltar, as well as the fifth season since the Gibraltar Football Association joined UEFA in 2013. The league was contested by ten clubs. It began on 26 September 2017 and ended on 3 June 2018.

Premier Division

The Victoria Stadium where each match was played
Season	2017–18
Dates	25 September 2017 – 3 June 2018
Champions	Lincoln Red Imps (23rd title)
Relegated	Manchester 62
Champions League	Lincoln Red Imps
Europa League	Europa St Joseph's
Matches played	135
Goals scored	421 (3.12 per match)
Top goalscorer	Enrique Carreño (19 goals)
Biggest home win	Lynx 9–0 Manchester 62 (3 June 2018)
Biggest away win	Manchester 62 0–9 Europa FC (30 May 2018)
Highest scoring	Glacis United 6–4 Manchester 62 (10 March 2018)
Longest winning run	11 matches Lincoln Red Imps
Longest unbeaten run	16 matches Lincoln Red Imps
Longest winless run	27 matches Manchester 62
Longest losing run	6 matches Manchester 62 Lynx
← 2016–17 2018–19 →

Europa were the defending champions, having ended a fourteen-year winning streak for Lincoln Red Imps.^[1] This season also saw three clubs from Gibraltar competing in European competition for the first time. Lincoln won their 23rd title on 19 May 2018 with two games to spare, after a 7–1 victory over Lions Gibraltar.

Format

The ten Premier Division clubs played each other three times for a total of 27 matches each.^[2] The tenth-placed team in the league would be relegated and the ninth-placed team in the league would enter a playoff with the second-placed team from the Second Division for a place in the 2018–19 Premier Division.^[2]

The champions earned a place in the preliminary round of the 2018–19 Champions League, and the second–placed club earned a place in the preliminary round of the 2018–19 Europa League.^[3] This season, the league entered a winter break from December to February while renovations took place on Victoria Stadium.

Teams

Victoria Stadium

Location of the stadium where all teams play

At the conclusion of the previous season, Europa Point was relegated.^[4] As the champions of the Second Division, Gibraltar Phoenix earned promotion to the league this season.^[5] Manchester 62 earned the right to stay in the Premier Division by winning a playoff at the end of the previous season.^[6]

Club	Finishing position 2016–17
Europa FC	1st (champions)
Gibraltar Phoenix	1st in Second division (Promoted)
Gibraltar United	7th
Glacis United	4th
Lincoln Red Imps	2nd
Lions Gibraltar	8th
Lynx	6th
Manchester 62	9th
Mons Calpe	5th
St Joseph's	3rd

Personnel and kits

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
Europa	Juan José Gallardo (interim)	Javi Muñoz	Jako	Alwani Group
Gibraltar Phoenix	Albert Ferri	Francisco Javier Moreno	Luanvi	Gourmet Grill
Gibraltar United	Manolo Nuñez Sánchez	Kyle Goldwin	Kappa	Turicum Bank
Glacis United	Mariano Marcos Garcia	Daniel Guererro	Nike	Atlantic Financial Group
Lincoln Red Imps	Yiyi Perez (interim)	Roy Chipolina	Joma	Mansion.com
Lions Gibraltar	Rafael Bado	Kalian Perez	Erreà	Enterprise Insurance
Lynx	Albert Parody	Mohamed Badr	Nike	Verralls
Manchester 62	Jonathan Sodi	Aarón Durán	Joma	CEPSA GIB
Mons Calpe	Luis Manuel Blanco	Rubo Blanco	Givova	Tokamóvil
St. Joseph's	Raúl Procopio Baizán	Iván Lobato	Kromex	Propability Ltd

Managerial Changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Lynx	Albert Parody	Resigned	2 June 2017	Pre-season	Allen Bula	2 June 2017
Glacis United	Manuel Perez		15 June 2017		Mariano Marcos Garcia	9 July 2017
Europa	Juanjo Gallardo	Promoted to Sporting Director	24 July 2017		Johnny	24 July 2017
Gibraltar Phoenix	Albert Ferri	Resigned	9 July 2017		Jaime Molina	9 July 2017
Mons Calpe	Mauro Ardizzone	Mutual consent	14 August 2017		Albert Ferri	14 August 2017
Lynx	Allen Bula	Sacked	27 October 2017	10th	Albert Parody (interim)	27 October 2017
Mons Calpe	Albert Ferri		4 December 2017	8th	Luis Manuel Blanco	9 January 2018
Gibraltar Phoenix	Jaime Molina		13 December 2017	7th	Sergio Mena	1 January 2018
Manchester 62	Kiko Prieto		1 January 2018	10th	Jonathan Sodi	1 January 2018
Lynx	Albert Parody	End of interim spell	24 January 2018	9th	Daniel Peluas	24 January 2018
	Daniel Peluas	Mutual consent	18 February 2018		Albert Parody	19 February 2018
Gibraltar Phoenix	Sergio Mena	Sacked	18 March 2018	8th	Albert Ferri	19 March 2018
Lincoln Red Imps	Julio César Ribas	Mutual consent	9 April 2018	1st	José Carlos Tello	16 April 2018
	José Carlos Tello	Sacked	20 April 2018		Yiyi Perez (interim)	21 April 2018
Europa	Johnny		21 May 2018	2nd	Juanjo Gallardo (interim)	21 May 2018

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Lincoln Red Imps (C)	27	21	2	4	71	19	+52	65	Qualification for the Champions League preliminary round
2	Europa FC	27	19	3	5	67	20	+47	60	Qualification for the Europa League preliminary round
3	St Joseph's	27	17	3	7	53	30	+23	54
4	Gibraltar United	27	16	5	6	45	27	+18	53
5	Mons Calpe	27	14	2	11	48	35	+13	44
6	Gibraltar Phoenix	27	8	6	13	34	47	−13	30
7	Glacis United	27	7	5	15	34	44	−10	26
8	Lions Gibraltar	27	6	5	16	27	63	−36	23
9	Lynx (O)	27	6	4	17	22	48	−26	22	Qualification for the play-off
10	Manchester 62 (R)	27	0	7	20	20	88	−68	7	Relegation to the Gibraltar Second Division

Source: UEFA, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.^[7]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated

Results

Matches 1–18 Home \ Away EFC GPH GIB GLA LIN LGI LYN MAN MCA SJO Europa FC — 3–1 4–0 2–1 1–1 0–1 2–0 4–1 3–0 2–0 Gibraltar Phoenix 3–3 — 0–1 1–0 0–5 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–1 Gibraltar United 2–0 2–2 — 4–1 0–1 3–1 2–0 2–1 3–1 3–1 Glacis United 1–2 1–1 2–0 — 0–3 6–2 0–0 6–4 1–0 0–3 Lincoln Red Imps 3–1 1–0 4–0 4–0 — 3–1 2–0 3–0 1–3 2–0 Lions Gibraltar 2–1 1–6 0–0 0–1 1–4 — 0–0 2–2 2–1 0–2 Lynx 0–3 2–1 0–0 3–1 0–4 0–3 — 0–0 0–5 1–3 Manchester 62 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–3 2–4 1–2 — 0–3 1–2 Mons Calpe 0–1 1–2 1–3 2–1 0–1 3–1 3–0 4–2 — 3–1 St Joseph's 0–1 3–1 0–1 1–0 4–2 4–2 2–1 3–1 0–0 — Source: Gibraltar Football Association, UEFA Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 19–27 Home \ Away EFC GPH GIB GLA LIN LGI LYN MAN MCA SJO Europa FC — — 2–1 2–0 — — 1–2 — 1–0 — Gibraltar Phoenix 0–8 — — — 0–2 5–2 — 2–0 — — Gibraltar United — 2–1 — — 3–1 2–0 1–0 — — 1–1 Glacis United — 1–2 0–3 — — — 3–0 — 0–2 — Lincoln Red Imps 0–0 — — 1–0 — 7–1 — 6–0 — 0–3 Lions Gibraltar 0–5 — — 0–0 — — — 0–0 0–2 0–3 Lynx — 0–2 — — 0–1 0–1 — 9–0 — — Manchester 62 0–9 — 0–4 0–6 — — — — 0–3 0–5 Mons Calpe — 1–0 2–1 — 0–6 — 5–0 — — 2–4 St Joseph's 1–4 3–0 — 1–1 — — 2–1 — — — Source: Gibraltar Football Association, UEFA Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Promotion/relegation play-off

The ninth-placed team from the Premier Division played a play-off match with the second-placed Second Division club for a place in the 2018–19 Premier Division.^[2]

8 June 2018

20:00

Lynx	2–0	Olympique 13
Fernández 56', 84'

Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar

Season statistics

Scoring

As of 3 June 2018^[8]

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Enrique Carreño	Europa	19
2	Germán Cortés	Gibraltar Phoenix	15
	Kike Gómez	Europa
	Rubo Blanco	Mons Calpe
	Pibe	Mons Calpe
6	Falu Aranda	Lincoln Red Imps	12
7	Ayman Elghobashy	Gibraltar United	11
8	Boro	St Joseph's	9
	Antonio Cerezo	Glacis United
10	Dani Ponce	Gibraltar United	7
	Anthony Hernandez	Lincoln Red Imps
	Domingo Ferrer	St Joseph's

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Jean-Carlos Garcia	Lincoln Red Imps	Glacis United	4–0 (H)	27 September 2017
Falu Aranda	Lincoln Red Imps	Gibraltar Phoenix	5–0 (A)	15 October 2017
Antonio Cerezo	Glacis United	Lions Gibraltar	6–2 (H)	31 March 2018
German Cortes	Gibraltar Phoenix	Lions Gibraltar	6–1 (A)	5 April 2018
Enrique Carreño4	Europa	Lions Gibraltar	5–0 (A)	15 April 2018
Falu Aranda	Lincoln Red Imps	Manchester 62	6–0 (H)	7 May 2018
Antonio Cerezo4	Glacis United	Manchester 62	6–0 (A)	13 May 2018
Enrique Carreño6	Europa	Manchester 62	9–0 (A)	30 May 2018
German Cortes	Gibraltar Phoenix	Lions Gibraltar	5–1 (H)	31 May 2018
Franco Gargiulo	Lynx	Manchester 62	9–0 (H)	3 June 2018
Kevagn Robba	Lynx	Manchester 62	9–0 (H)	3 June 2018

Clean sheets

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Manuel Soler	Lincoln Red Imps	16
2	Javi Muñoz	Europa	12
3	Kyle Goldwin	Gibraltar United	9
4	Borja Gonzalez	Glacis United	7
5	Mateo Grasso	Mons Calpe	6
	Jamie Robba	St Joseph's
7	Edu Oliva	Lions Gibraltar	4
8	Goito	Gibraltar Phoenix	3
	José Miguel Gonzalez	Lions Gibraltar
	Joaquin Ketlun	Lynx
	Félix Romero	St Joseph's

See also

• 2017–18 Gibraltar Second Division