Europa Point F.C. Explained

Clubname:Europa Point
Upright:0.85
Fullname:Europa Point Football Club
Nickname:A Progressive Club
Ground:Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar
Chairman:Pär Magnus Roos
Capacity:2,000
Mgrtitle:Head coach
Manager:Roberto Carrasco
League:Gibraltar Football League
Season:2023–24
Position:GFL, 4th
Website:http://www.europapointfc.com/
Pattern La1:_usa20H
Pattern B1:_usa20H
Pattern Ra1:_usa20H
Leftarm1:FFFFFF
Body1:FFFFFF
Rightarm1:FFFFFF
Shorts1:000080
Socks1:FFFFFF
Leftarm2:e22a02
Body2:e22a02
Rightarm2:e22a02
Shorts2:0000FF
Socks2:e22a02

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.

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] 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 recordRock Cup
width=20 scope=colwidth=20 scope=colwidth=20 scope=colwidth=20 scope=colwidth=20 scope=colwidth=20 scope=colwidth=20 scope=colwidth=40 scope=col data-sort-type=number
scope=row2014–15Second26203312420633rd
scope=row2015–16Second2217507679561st
scope=row2016–17Premier27222313120810th
scope=row2017–18Second147343118244th
scope=row2018–19Second1813055026392nd
scope=row2019–20National187473538258th
scope=row2020–21National1810171073311th
scope=row2021–22National18421217651410th
scope=row2022–23GFL1814131265711th
scope=row2023–24GFL25105103231354th

Current squad

First team

Correct as of 16 August 2024.

Club staff

PositionName
Club Management
Head Coach Roberto Carrasco
Assistant Coach Cristopher Jackson
Physio Gabriel Benatar
Board
Chairman Pär Magnus Roos
Head of Youth Seamus Byrne

Honours

Notes and References

  1. Web site: "I trained with the Argentinian National team, with the likes of Messi, Aguero, Di Maria" says Indian born Uday Arora. sportskeeda.com. Sportskeeda. Soumalya. Moitra. 4 November 2016. 30 March 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220330072616/https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/i-trained-with-the-argentinian-national-team-with-the-likes-of-messi-aguero-di-maria-says-indian-born-uday-arora. 30 March 2022.
  2. Web site: Gibraltar 2015/16. RSSSF. 2020-05-12. 2022-08-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20220830121655/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesg/gib2016.html. live.
  3. http://footballgibraltar.com/2019/05/julian-lopez-impresses-as-europa-point-finish-second/ Julian Lopez impresses as Europa Point finish second
  4. https://twitter.com/EuropaPointFC/status/1457724369900294150 Official Statement
  5. http://gibraltarfa.com/media-enquiries/news/20-04-2015/Europa%20Point%20FC%20see%20off%20Angels%20FC%20after%20Extra%20Time.%20 Europa Point FC see off Angels FC after Extra Time