2017–18 Gibraltar Second Division

Second Division
Season	2017–18
Champions	Boca Gibraltar (1st title)
Promoted	Boca Gibraltar
Matches played	56
Goals scored	237 (4.23 per match)
Top goalscorer	José Valdivia; (18 goals)
Best goalkeeper	Jordan Perez; (8 clean sheets)
Biggest home win	Europa Point 8-0 Hound Dogs; (16 April 2018); Leo 8-0 Cannons; (29 April 2018)
Biggest away win	Cannons 0-16 FC Olympique 13; (8 May 2018)
Highest scoring	Cannons 0-16 FC Olympique 13; (8 May 2018)
Longest winning run	4 matches; FC Olympique 13 / Boca
Longest unbeaten run	7 matches; Europa Point / FC Olympique 13 / Leo
Longest winless run	14 matches; Hound Dogs
Longest losing run	11 matches; Hound Dogs
	← 2016–17 2018–19 → All statistics correct as of 22 May 2018.

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.

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

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

Victoria Stadium

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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

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	1 July 2017		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	18 August 2017		Nolan Bosio	20 August 2017
Leo	Catanha	Resigned	24 August 2017		Norberto Alonso Simón	27 September 2017
Leo	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

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

Home \ Away	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

Scoring

As of 22 May 2018^[3]

Top scorers

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

¹5 goals for College 1975

Hat-tricks

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

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Jordan Perez	FC Olympique 13	8
2	Alvaro Serrano	Europa Point	4
2	Francisco José Jimenez	Angels	4
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

References

^ "Premier Division:Season Rules". scoresway.com. Archived from the original on 20 October 2014. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
^ 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.
^ "Gibraltar Second Division Top Scorers". Archived from the original on 2017-10-15. Retrieved 2017-10-15.

External links

Gibraltar Football Association

[fixtures-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.

[topscorer-3] "Gibraltar Second Division Top Scorers". Archived from the original on 2017-10-15. Retrieved 2017-10-15.

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