Lions Gibraltar F.C.

Association football club in Gibraltar

Football club

Lions Gibraltar

Full name| Lions Gibraltar Football Club
Short name| Lions
Founded| 1966
Ground| Victoria Stadium,
Winston Churchill Avenue Gibraltar
Capacity| 5000
Chairman| Mark Palmer
Manager| David Wilson
League| Gibraltar Football League
2023–24| 10th
Website| Club website

Home colours

Away colours

|

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

They were created by a merger of Gibraltar United F.C. and Lions FC in 2011.[1] Aside from their first team, they also run an intermediate (under-23) team, several youth teams, futsal teams and a women's team.

## History

[edit]

Lions Gibraltar was founded as Lions Football Club in 1966 when a group of friends decided to take up a team after the euphoria of England winning the 1966 World Cup, thus the three lions on its club badge. After a quiet 45-year history, the club merged with league giants Gibraltar United in 2011 to create a much stronger side.

Their time together saw the side consistently compete in the Gibraltar Premier Division, and the side continued this upon the GFA's admittance to UEFA in 2013. The 2013–14 season, their final season united with Gibraltar United, saw them narrowly avoid a relegation playoff with a 6th-place finish. After this, Gibraltar United joined the Gibraltar Second Division and Lions restructured, with English coach Jeff Wood appointed manager with ambitions to challenge the top sides and qualify for the UEFA Europa League. In February 2015 the club announced plans to become a feeder club with Premier League club Swansea City, although these plans eventually fell through.

However, after a disappointing season in which the club finished bottom of the league (avoiding relegation due to the league's expansion), the club announced in July 2015 that it was to be taken over by Hercules Sports Promotion, Ltd, headed by Andrew Flowers (who had previously attempted to purchase Leeds United in 2013). Significant investment by the new ownership meant that Lions would now become a semi-professional club with the aim of toppling Lincoln Red Imps' dominance.[2] The following season saw immediate improvement, with the club finishing 4th, however they remained significantly off the pace compared to the region's top two sides Lincoln Red Imps and Europa.

On 31 May, the board announced former national team coach David Wilson as their new manager for the 2016–17 season. However, after the collapse of the club owners' other companies left Lions' future uncertain, Wilson resigned before the beginning of the season to take over at FCB Magpies and the previous season's co-caretaker Rafael Bado was announced as manager. A season spent primarily in the bottom two ended in safety, however, after an upturn in form from the beginning of 2017 despite only winning one game in the first 4 months of the season.

On 28 January 2024, it was announced that Solihull Moors CEO Mark Palmer had purchased a controlling stake in the club, becoming owner and chairman.[3]

On 5th June 2024, Lions Gibraltar FC announced The Online Betting Guide, OLBG as their lead partner and front-of-shirt sponsor on a multi-year deal.[4]

### Seasons (since UEFA acceptance)

[edit]

Season  | Division  | League record  | Rock Cup

|
|
|

P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Pos
2013–14 | Premier | 14 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 23 | 33 | 14 | 6th | Semi-final
2014–15 | Premier | 21 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 9 | 48 | 8 | 8th | Quarter-final
2015–16 | Premier | 27 | 14 | 3 | 10 | 49 | 44 | 45 | 4th | Semi-final
2016–17 | Premier | 27 | 4 | 9 | 14 | 17 | 54 | 21 | 8th | Quarter-final
2017–18 | Premier | 27 | 6 | 5 | 16 | 27 | 63 | 23 | 8th | Second round
2018–19 | Premier | 27 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 17 | 77 | 9 | 9th | Quarter-final
2019–20 | National | 20 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 13 | 33 | 16 | 6th[a] | Quarter-final
2020–21 | National | 20 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 13 | 33 | 16 | 6th | First round
2021–22 | National | 18 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 13 | 45 | 8 | 11th | Quarter-final
2022–23 | GFL | 18 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 25 | 37 | 19 | 8th | First round
2023–24 | GFL | 20 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 16 | 50 | 13 | 10th | Quarter-final

## Current squad

[edit]

### First team

[edit]

As of 18 August 2024[5]

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 |  POL | Konrad Skuza
2  | MF |  GER | Leon Volz
3  | DF |  GIB | Luke Bautista
4  | DF |  ENG | Connor Peters
5  | DF |  ALG | Adam Hamdi
6  | DF |  GIB | Shea Breakspear (captain)
7  | MF |  GIB | Kye Livingstone
8  | MF |  GER | Nico Theisinger
9  | FW |  SCO | Connor Flynn-Gillespie
10  | MF |  GIB | Ben Seaton
11  | MF |  GIB | Alan Parker
12  | DF |  AUT | Milan Ziric
13  | MF |  ENG | Raynner Silva
| No. | Pos. | Nation  | Player

|
|
|

14  | FW |  ENG | Mikael Ndjoli
15  | DF |  GIB | Leon Payas
16  | MF |  GIB | Hatim Smith
17  | MF |  ENG | Harvey Welch
18  | FW |  GER | Patrick Dulleck
20  | MF |  USA | Greyson Basso
21  | DF |  SCO | Mel-Jose Brown
22  | MF |  GER | Temilola Awoyale
23  | MF |  GIB | Evan Green
24  | MF |  GIB | Kiri McGrail
25  | GK |  GIB | Jordan Perez
-- | GK |  GIB | John Paul Hernandez
-- | DF |  ENG | Mark Edzes

## Club staff

[edit]

Position  | Name

|

Club Management
Head coach  |  David Wilson
Assistant coach  |  Peter Hyde
Head Physio  |  Kopi Godri
Sports Therapist  |  Luke Henshaw
Team delegate  |  Ángel Luis Chozas
Board
Chairman
CEO  |  Mark Palmer
Director  |  James Pickering
Darryl Eales
Sporting Director  |  Neale Marmon[6]
Club Secretary  |  Kadrian Bugeja
Head of Operations  |  Alex Grech
Head of Communications  |  Sharon Millar
Head of Facilities  |  Daniel Buhagiar

## See also

[edit]

* Lions Gibraltar F.C. Women

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Season abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Division Structure". footballgibraltar.wordpress.com. 2 October 2011. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
2. ^ LIONS GIBRALTAR TAKEOVER COMPLETE GibFootballTalk. 10 July 2015. Accessed 20 July 2015.
3. ^ Lions Gibraltar FC announce change of ownership Archived 29 January 2024 at the Wayback Machine Gibraltar Chronicle. 28 January 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
4. ^ "Lions Gibraltar x OLBG Sponsorship Announcement". OLBG. 20 June 2024. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
5. ^ Lions Gibraltar Squad Lions Gibraltar FC. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
6. ^ BREAKING: New Sporting Director Appointed Archived 14 June 2024 at the Wayback Machine Lions Gibraltar FC. 14 June 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2024.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website (archived 27 November 2017)
* Lions Gibraltar F.C. on X
* OLBG.com (sponsors)

* v
* t
* e

Gibraltar Premier Division/Gibraltar National League/Gibraltar Football League

2023–24 teams|

* Bruno's Magpies
* College 1975
* Europa FC
* Europa Point
* Glacis United
* Lincoln Red Imps
* Lions Gibraltar
* Lynx
* Manchester 62
* Mons Calpe
* St Joseph's

Seasons|

| Premier Division|

* ... 2011–12
* 2012–13
* 2013–14
* 2014–15
* 2015–16
* 2016–17
* 2017–18
* 2018–19

|

National League|

* 2019–20
* 2020–21
* 2021–22

Football League|

* 2022–23
* 2023–24

* v
* t
* e

Football in Gibraltar

Gibraltar Football Association

National teams|

* Men
* Results
* U-21
* U-19
* U-17
* Women
* U-19
* Futsal
* Women's futsal

League system|

* Gibraltar Football League
* Women's League
* Gibraltar Intermediate League

Domestic cups|

* Rock Cup
* Pepe Reyes Cup
* Gibraltar Intermediate Cup
* Women's Rock Cup

Defunct competitions|

* Gibraltar Premier Division
* Gibraltar Second Division
* Gibraltar Premier Cup
* Gibraltar Division 2 Cup

Futsal|

* First Division
* Second Division
* ~~Third Division~~
* ~~Fourth Division~~
* Cups
* Futsal Rock Cup
* Lousito Bonavia Trophy
* Women's League

* List of clubs
* Clubs in Europe
* Victoria Stadium
* List of international players
* List of national football team captains

*[P]: Played
*[W]: Won
*[D]: Drawn
*[L]: Lost
*[GF]: Goals for
*[GA]: Goals against
*[Pts]: Points
*[Pos]: Position
*[No.]: Number
*[Pos.]: Position
*[GK]: Goalkeeper
*[MF]: Midfielder
*[DF]: Defender
*[FW]: Forward
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template