2017–18 Gibraltar Second Division

The 2017–18 Gibraltar Second Division was the fifth season of the second-tier football in Gibraltar since the Gibraltar Football Association joined UEFA. Like the previous season, this year the league was contested by 9 clubs. The season began on 26 September 2017, and ended in May 2018, with a mid-season break while Victoria Stadium underwent improvements. There was no Chesterton's Cup this season.

Second Division
Season2017–18
ChampionsBoca Gibraltar (1st title)
PromotedBoca Gibraltar
Matches played56
Goals scored237 (4.23 per match)
Top goalscorerSpain José Valdivia
(18 goals)
Best goalkeeperGibraltar Jordan Perez
(8 clean sheets)
Biggest home winEuropa Point 8-0 Hound Dogs
(16 April 2018)
Leo 8-0 Cannons
(29 April 2018)
Biggest away winCannons 0-16 FC Olympique 13
(8 May 2018)
Highest scoringCannons 0-16 FC Olympique 13
(8 May 2018)
Longest winning run4 matches
FC Olympique 13 / Boca
Longest unbeaten run7 matches
Europa Point / FC Olympique 13 / Leo
Longest winless run14 matches
Hound Dogs
Longest losing run11 matches
Hound Dogs
All statistics correct as of 22 May 2018.

Gibraltar Phoenix were the reigning champions, having won the league for the first time the previous season and earning promotion to the Premier Division. Boca Gibraltar won their first title this season, securing the title by a single point after a 1–1 draw with arch-rivals Bruno's Magpies on the final day of the season.

Format

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Clubs play each other twice for a total of 16 matches each. The Second Division winner is promoted while the second-placed team enters a playoff with the ninth-placed team from the Premier Division.[1] This season sees the continuation of the Home Grown Player (HPG) rule, requiring clubs to name 3 home grown players in their matchday squads with at least one of them on the field of play at all times. On 1 October, FC Olympique were awarded a 3–0 win over College 1975 after College fielded an ineligible player. The match had originally finished 2–1 to Olympique.

On 2 February 2018, Angels were expelled from the league due to violations of squad quota and Home Grown Player rules, with their record expunged.[2]

Teams

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Location of the stadium where all teams play

Gibraltar Phoenix were promoted to the 2017–18 Gibraltar Premier Division as champions last season. Bruno's Magpies lost their promotion playoff, so remain in the division. Europa Pegasus had applied to join the division for the coming season after their expulsion at the end of the 2015–16 season, but the Gibraltar Football Association turned down their request, citing new rules now forbidding feeder clubs from joining the Gibraltar football pyramid.

Club Manager Captain Kit supplier Sponsor 2016–17
Angels   Juan José Jiménez   José Antonio Gonzalez Sport City Eroski Center 8th
Boca Gibraltar   Juanjo Pomares   Liam Clarke Nike Coral 3rd
Bruno's Magpies   David Wilson   Ryan McCarthy Nike GVC Holdings
Chestertons
2nd
Cannons   Dani Gámez   Daniel Jimenez Falcon Joma Ocean Medical Clinic 4th
College 1975   Nolan Bosio   Nazim Hughes Joma Cosmopolitan 7th
Europa Point   Juan Molina   Ivan Ruiz Luanvi Sunborn Yacht Hotels 10th (GPD)
Hound Dogs   Chris Gomez   Ivan Borg Joma The Calpe Hounds 9th
Leo FC   Norberto Alonso Simón   Angelo Lavagna Errea 5th
Olympique 13   Lewis Fraser   Jordan Perez Uhlsport Hungry Monkey 6th

Managerial Changes

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Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Leo   Rogelio Ramagge Mutual Consent 15 June 2017 Pre-season   Catanha 15 June 2017
Angels   Lewis Fraser Resigned 21 June 2017   Juan José Jiménez 1 July 2017
Olympique 13   Garry Turner-Bone Mutual consent 1 July 2017   Lewis Fraser 21 July 2017
Cannons   Christian Olivares Moved to assistant manager   Dani Gámez 1 July 2016
Europa Point   Daniel Amaya Sacked 18 August 2017   Juan Molina 18 August 2017
College 1975   Juan Molina Signed by Europa Point   Nolan Bosio 20 August 2017
Leo   Catanha Resigned 24 August 2017   Norberto Alonso Simón 27 September 2017
  Norberto Alonso Simón Sacked 21 December 2017 9th   Norberto Alonso Simón1 12 January 2018

1 Norberto Alonso Simón was re-appointed by Leo in January after initially being dismissed by the new owners.

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or Qualification
1 Boca Gibraltar (C, P) 14 10 1 3 37 12 +25 31 Promotion to Premier Division
2 Olympique 13 (Q) 14 9 3 2 40 8 +32 30 Qualification to play-off
3 Bruno's Magpies 14 9 3 2 46 18 +28 30
4 Europa Point 14 7 3 4 31 18 +13 24
5 Leo 14 6 2 6 30 31 −1 20
6 Cannons 14 6 1 7 30 53 −23 19
7 College 1975 14 2 0 12 14 48 −34 6
8 Hound Dogs 14 0 1 13 9 49 −40 1
9 Angels (E) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Club expelled, record expunged
Updated to match(es) played on 21 May 2018. Source: Gibraltar FA
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (E) Eliminated; (P) Promoted; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Results

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Home \ Away ANG BOC BRU CAN COL EPO HOU LEO OLY
Angels
Boca Gibraltar 2–1 3–2 3–0 0–1 1–0 6–0 2–1
Bruno's Magpies 1–1 3–2 8–1 2–2 5–0 3–1 2–1
Cannons 3–2 3–8 4–2 2–3 1–0 3–1 0–16
College 1975 0–1 0–5 2–3 1–4 3–2 0–3 1–3
Europa Point 0–4 0–2 3–1 4–0 8–0 2–0 0–1
Hound Dogs 1–8 1–4 2–6 2–3 0–0 1–4 0–1
Leo 0–4 2–2 8–0 3–1 3–2 4–0 0–6
Olympique 13 2–0 2–0 0–0 3–0 2–2 1–0 1–1
Updated to match(es) played on 22 May 2018. Source: GFA
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

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Scoring

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As of 22 May 2018[3]

Top scorers

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Rank Player Club Goals
1   José Valdivia Boca Gibraltar 18
2   Robert Montovio FC Olympique 13 14
  Max Bothen FC Olympique 13
4   Conor Gaul Bruno's Magpies 9
  Orlando João Leo
6   Samuel Mescua Cannons 8
  Alexis Sanchez Europa Point
  Tirjon Dos Santos Leo
9   Javier Rivas Cannons 7
  Dani Figueroa1 Leo

15 goals for College 1975

Hat-tricks

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Player For Against Result Date
  José Valdivia Boca Gibraltar Leo 4–0 (A) 28 September 2017
  Robert Montovio FC Olympique 13 Leo 6–0 (A) 5 November 2017
  Yusuf Idali Bruno's Magpies College 1975 8–1 (H) 2 December 2017
  José Valdivia4 Boca Gibraltar Hound Dogs 8–1 (A) 3 April 2018
  Christian Nuñez4 Europa Point Hound Dogs 8–0 (H) 16 April 2018
  Conor Gaul4 Bruno's Magpies Cannons 8–3 (A) 22 April 2018
  José Valdivia Boca Gibraltar Europa Point 4–0 (A) 2 May 2018
  Conor Gaul Bruno's Magpies Hound Dogs 5–0 (H) 6 May 2018
  Robert Montovio5 FC Olympique 13 Cannons 16–0 (A) 8 May 2018
  Max Bothen8 FC Olympique 13 Cannons 16–0 (A) 8 May 2018

Clean sheets

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Rank Player Club Clean sheets
1   Jordan Perez FC Olympique 13 8
2   Alvaro Serrano Europa Point 4
  Francisco José Jimenez Angels
4   Javier Gomez Fernandez Boca Gibraltar 3
  Tom Hull Bruno's Magpies
  Carlos Carenote Leo
7   Emmanuel Sanchez Boca Gibraltar 2
  Jamie Carlin Boca Gibraltar
  Stefan Mascharenhas Cannons
10   Albert Chichon Cannons 1
  Juan Antonio Perez College 1975
  Salva Ballesteros Europa Point
  Juan Carlos El Abd Hound Dogs

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Premier Division:Season Rules". scoresway.com. Archived from the original on 20 October 2014. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  2. ^ Angels FC have their Domestic License Revoked by the GFA Archived 2018-02-03 at the Wayback Machine Gibraltar Football Association. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  3. ^ "Gibraltar Second Division Top Scorers". Archived from the original on 2017-10-15. Retrieved 2017-10-15.
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