The 2015–16 Gibraltar Premier Division (known as the Argus Insurance Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) was the 117th season of the national amateur and semi-professional football league in Gibraltar since its establishment - the highest level of football in Gibraltar. The league was contested by ten clubs, expanded from eight clubs in the last two seasons, including all clubs from last season and two promoted clubs from 2014–15 Gibraltar Second Division.[1] The winner of the Gibraltar Premier Division, Lincoln Red Imps was allocated a spot in Champions League qualification, and as they won the Rock Cup a spot in the Europa League was given to the runners-up Europa FC.[2]
| Season | 2015–16 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Lincoln Red Imps |
| Relegated | Angels Britannia XI |
| Champions League | Lincoln Red Imps |
| Europa League | Europa FC |
| Matches played | 135 |
| Goals scored | 509 (3.77 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Pedro Carrión Padial (29 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Lincoln Red Imps 13–1 Angels (30 April 2016) |
| Biggest away win | Britannia XI 1–16 Europa FC (7 May 2016) |
| Highest scoring | Britannia XI 1–16 Europa FC (7 May 2016) |
← 2014–15 2016–17 →
All statistics correct as of 16 May 2016. | |
Lincoln Red Imps were the reigning champions, sealing a record 21st title last season. The Gibraltar football season kicked off with the Pepe Reyes Cup between Lincoln and Europa FC, which Lincoln won 3–2 after extra time. The season proper kicked off on the following Friday, September 25, with St Joseph's facing Lions.
Format
editEach of the ten Premier Division teams will play each other three times for a total of 27 matches each.[3] It is expected that the tenth-placed team will be relegated while the ninth-placed team from the Premier Division will enter a playoff with the second-placed team from the Second Division for a spot in the 2016–17 Premier Division.[4]
Teams
edit
After the 2014–15 season no teams were relegated, and both Gibraltar United and Angels were promoted as champions and runners-up of the 2014–15 Gibraltar Second Division, when the league expands to ten teams this season.[1]
| Club | Finishing position 2014–15 |
|---|---|
| Angels | 2nd in Second division (Promoted) |
| Britannia XI | 7th |
| Europa FC[note 1] | 2nd |
| Gibraltar United | 1st in Second division (Promoted) |
| Glacis United | 6th |
| Lincoln Red Imps | 1st (champions) |
| Lions Gibraltar | 8th |
| Lynx | 3rd |
| Manchester 62 | 5th |
| St Joseph's | 4th |
- Notes
- ^ Club changed name from College Europa FC to Europa FC starting this season
League table
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lincoln Red Imps (C) | 27 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 130 | 9 | +121 | 76 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round[a] |
| 2 | Europa FC | 27 | 21 | 2 | 4 | 82 | 18 | +64 | 65 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | St Joseph's | 27 | 14 | 3 | 10 | 50 | 37 | +13 | 45 | |
| 4 | Lions Gibraltar | 27 | 14 | 3 | 10 | 49 | 44 | +5 | 45 | |
| 5 | Lynx | 27 | 11 | 2 | 14 | 37 | 40 | −3 | 35 | |
| 6 | Manchester 62 | 27 | 9 | 5 | 13 | 41 | 49 | −8 | 32 | |
| 7 | Glacis United | 27 | 10 | 2 | 15 | 40 | 67 | −27 | 32 | |
| 8 | Gibraltar United | 27 | 9 | 2 | 16 | 28 | 57 | −29 | 29 | |
| 9 | Britannia XI (R) | 27 | 8 | 2 | 17 | 35 | 84 | −49 | 26 | Qualification for the play-off |
| 10 | Angels (R) | 27 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 20 | 107 | −87 | 9 | Relegation to the Gibraltar Second Division |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.[5]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
- ^ Lincoln Red Imps qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2016 Rock Cup. However, since they already qualified for European competition based on their league position, the spot awarded to the cup winners was passed down the league.
Results
editMatches 1–18
editTeams play each other twice.
Matches 19–27
editTeams play each other once.
Top goalscorers
edit- As of 16 May 2016[6]
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Pedro Carrión Padial
|
Europa FC | 29 |
| 2 |  George Cabrera
|
Lincoln Red Imps | 24 |
| 3 |  Guido Abayián
|
Lincoln Red Imps | 20 |
| 4 | Sergio Gines
|
Lions Gibraltar | 19 |
| 5 | Kyle Casciaro
|
Lincoln Red Imps | 17 |
| Lee Casciaro
|
Lincoln Red Imps | ||
| 7 | Joseph Chipolina
|
Lincoln Red Imps | 16 |
| Cristian Toncheff
|
Manchester 62 | ||
| Juan Pablo Pereira Sastrie
|
Lynx/Glacis United | ||
| 10 | Robert Montovio
|
Gibraltar United | 15 |
Promotion/relegation play-off
editAt the end of the season, the ninth-placed team from the Premier Division, Britannia XI, entered a play-off with Mons Calpe, the second-placed team from the Second Division for a spot in the 2016–17 Premier Division. [2]
| Britannia XI | 1–2 | Mons Calpe |
|---|---|---|
Gilroy  2' |
Report | V. Gonzalez 50', 52' |
Mons Calpe are promoted to the 2016–17 Gibraltar Premier Division.
See also
edit- 2015–16 Gibraltar Second Division
References
edit- ^ a b "Season review: Gibraltar". UEFA. 3 July 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
- ^ a b "Premier Division 2015/2016: Season rules". Scoresway. Archived from the original on 25 November 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
- ^ "Premier Division Fixtures 2015-16". GibFootballTalk. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- ^ "2nd Division Fixtures 2015-16". GibFootballTalk. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- ^ "Premier Division 2015/2016 - Season rules". Scoresway. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
- ^ "Gibraltar Premier League-Top Scorers".
External links
edit- Season at soccerway.com
- Gibraltar Football Association Archived 17 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine