2016–17 Gibraltar Premier Division

Premier Division
Season	2016–17
Champions	Europa (7th title)
Relegated	Europa Point
Champions League	Europa
Europa League	Lincoln Red Imps; St Joseph's
Matches played	135
Goals scored	443 (3.28 per match)
Top goalscorer	Kike Gómez (30 goals)
Biggest home win	Europa FC 13–1 Europa Point; (19 March 2017)
Biggest away win	Europa Point 0–15 Lincoln Red Imps; (23 January 2017)
Highest scoring	Europa Point 0–15 Lincoln Red Imps; (23 January 2017)
	← 2015–16 2017–18 → All statistics correct as of 22 May 2017.

The 2016–17 Gibraltar Premier Division (known as the Argus Insurance Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) was the 118th 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, the top eight clubs from last season and two promoted clubs from 2015–16 Gibraltar Second Division. Lincoln Red Imps were the reigning champions, sealing a record 22nd title last season. The season began on 21 September 2016 and ended on 22 May 2017. Europa won the title, ending Lincoln's 14 title run and winning their first title since 1952.

Format

As with the previous season, each of the ten Premier Division teams played each other three times for a total of 27 matches each.^[2] The tenth-placed team was relegated while the ninth-placed team from the Premier Division entered a playoff with the second-placed team from the Second Division for a spot in the 2017–18 Premier Division.^[2]

Starting from this season, Gibraltar are granted two spots instead of one in the Europa League.^[3] The season also saw the introduction of a Home Grown Player (HGP) rule, forcing clubs in both of Gibraltar's divisions to have at least 3 Gibraltarian players in their matchday squads, with at least one on the field of play at all times.

Teams

Victoria Stadium

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Location of the stadium where all teams play

After the previous season, Angels and Britannia XI were both relegated to the Second Division; Europa Point and Mons Calpe were promoted in their places.

Club	Finishing position 2015–16
Europa FC	2nd
Europa Point	1st in Second division (Promoted)
Gibraltar United	8th
Glacis United	7th
Lincoln Red Imps	1st (champions)
Lions Gibraltar	4th
Lynx	5th
Manchester 62	6th
Mons Calpe	2nd in Second division (Promoted via play-off)
St Joseph's	3rd

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Europa	Juan José Gallardo	Javi Muñoz	Jako	Grand Home Care
Europa Point	Daniel Amaya	Kivan Castle	Luanvi	Malaga City Academi
Gibraltar United	Manolo Nuñez Sánchez	Robert Montovio	Nike	Sunborn / Turicum Bank
Glacis United	Manuel Jimenez Perez	Leandro Pereyra	Nike	Atlantic Financial Group
Lincoln Red Imps	Julio César Ribas	Roy Chipolina	Joma	U-Mee
Lions Gibraltar	Rafael Bado	Kalian Perez	Erreà
Lynx	Albert Parody	Robert Guilling	Erreà	DS Group
Manchester 62	Kiko Prieto	Aaron Payas	Joma	CEPSA GIB
Mons Calpe	Mauro Ardizzone	Hugo Colace	Daen	Reygada Sports Group
St. Joseph's	Raúl Procopio Baizán	Javier López	Joma	Neptune Marine

Managerial Changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Lions Gibraltar	David Wilson	Resigned	14 September 2016	Pre-season	Rafael Bado	15 September 2016
Manchester 62	Juan Carlos Camacho	Sacked	14 September 2016	Pre-season	Gabino Rodríguez	15 September 2016
Europa Point	George Jermy	Sacked	15 December 2016	10th	Daniel Amaya	15 December 2016
St Joseph's	Alfonso Cortijo	Signed by Beijing Guoan	19 December 2016	3rd	Raúl Procopio Baizán	19 December 2016
Mons Calpe	William	Sacked	16 January 2017	5th	Mauro Ardizzone	17 March 2017
Manchester 62	Gabino Rodríguez	Sacked	8 February 2017	8th	Carlos Inarejos	8 February 2017
Manchester 62	Carlos Inarejos	Resigned	17 March 2017	8th	Kiko Prieto	21 March 2017

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Europa FC (C)	27	24	1	2	93	18	+75	73	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round^[a]
2	Lincoln Red Imps	27	23	3	1	100	16	+84	72	Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round
3	St Joseph's	27	16	6	5	53	18	+35	54	Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round
4	Glacis United	27	12	8	7	42	34	+8	44
5	Mons Calpe	27	13	3	11	44	35	+9	42
6	Lynx	27	8	4	15	34	45	−11	28
7	Gibraltar United	27	4	9	14	20	43	−23	21
8	Lions Gibraltar	27	4	9	14	17	54	−37	21
9	Manchester 62 (O)	27	4	5	18	27	60	−33	17	Qualification for the play-off
10	Europa Point (R)	27	2	2	23	13	120	−107	8	Relegation to the Gibraltar Second Division

Source: UEFA, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.^[4]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:

^ Europa FC qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2017 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

Matches 1–18

Teams played each other twice.

Home \ Away	EFC	EPO	GIB	GLA	LIN	LGI	LYN	MAN	MCA	SJO
Europa FC	—	2–1	3–0	4–3	1–0	2–1	3–1	8–0	2–0	1–1
Europa Point	1–4	—	1–0	1–3	0–15	1–1	0–3^[a]	2–1	1–4	0–3
Gibraltar United	0–1	3–0^[b]	—	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–1	3–1	2–2	0–1
Glacis United	0–2	5–0	0–0	—	0–5	1–0	2–0	1–0	3–0^[c]	0–2
Lincoln Red Imps	3–1	4–0	2–0	7–0	—	4–1	5–0	2–0	4–1	2–2
Lions Gibraltar	0–7	2–0	0–0	1–1	0–5	—	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–3
Lynx	0–7	3–0	0–1	1–1	1–2	7–2	—	2–2	0–4	1–3
Manchester 62	0–4	4–0	2–2	0–3	1–6	5–1	0–4	—	0–2	0–1
Mons Calpe	0–3	2–0	3–1	1–3	1–2	1–0	2–0	3–0	—	2–0
St Joseph's	1–4	6–0	4–1	1–1	1–2	2–0	2–1	2–0	2–0	—

Source: Gibraltar Football Association, UEFA
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 19–27

Teams played each other once.

Home \ Away	EFC	EPO	GIB	GLA	LIN	LGI	LYN	MAN	MCA	SJO
Europa FC	—	13–1	7–0	—	1–4	1–0	—	—	—	2–1
Europa Point	—	—	—	1–6	—	0–1	0–3	0–6	1–6	—
Gibraltar United	—	2–2	—	2–1	0–1	—	—	—	—	0–0
Glacis United	0–2	—	—	—	—	—	1–0	1–1	1–0	—
Lincoln Red Imps	—	9–0	—	3–3	—	4–0	1–0	—	2–2	—
Lions Gibraltar	—	—	0–0	0–0	—	—	2–1	—	—	0–3
Lynx	0–1	—	1–1	—	—	—	—	1–0	2–0	—
Manchester 62	0–4	—	3–0	—	0–3	0–1	—	—	—	0–0
Mons Calpe	0–3	—	2–1	—	—	2–0	—	3–0	—	0–1
St Joseph's	—	9–0	—	0–0	0–1	—	2–0	—	—	—

Source: Gibraltar Football Association, UEFA
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

^ Match awarded 3–0 to Lynx; the match originally finished 2–1 to Lynx.^[5]
^ Match awarded 3–0 to Gibraltar United due to Europa Point failing to raise a team for the match.^[6]
^ Match awarded 3–0 to Glacis United due to Mons Calpe breaching league rules; the match originally finished 0–0.^[7]

Promotion/relegation play-off

At the end of the season, the ninth-placed team from the Premier Division will enter a play-off with the second-placed team from the Second Division for a spot in the 2017–18 Premier Division.^[2] FCB Magpies finished second in the Second Division after their win on May 8, 2017.

30 May 2017

20:00 CEST

Manchester 62	3–1	FCB Magpies
Diaz 6' Payas 29' Pacheco 35'	Report	Busumbru 70'

Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar

Referee: Yaroslaff Borg

Top goalscorers

As of 22 May 2017^[8]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Kike Gómez	Europa FC	30
2	Joseph Chipolina	Lincoln Red Imps	17
3	John-Paul Duarte	St. Joseph's	15
	Guillermo Roldán	Europa FC
	Liam Walker	Europa FC
6	Lee Casciaro	Lincoln Red Imps	14
7	George Cabrera	Lincoln Red Imps	13
8	Salvador Carrasco Lopez	Glacis United	11
8	Juan Pablo Pereira Sastrie	Mons Calpe	11
10	Tulio Etchemaite	Lincoln Red Imps	10