The 2013–14

Gibraltar Premier Division The Gibraltar Premier Division was a football league established by the Gibraltar Football Association (GFA) in 1905, and the top tier of football in Gibraltar. It originally contained eight member clubs, but it has grown over the years. In 19 ...

(known as the Argus Insurance Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) is the 115th season of the national

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football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

league in

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since its establishment - the highest level of football in Gibraltar. The league was expanded this season, and will be contested by eight clubs, a requirement for entry into

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

competitions. The season began on October 7, 2013 with Glacis United defeating Lions Gibraltar 3-2.

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln ...

are the defending league champions, having sealed their 11th successive title win in 2012-13.

Season summary

The 2013-14 season of the Gibraltar Premier Division, the first since the GFA's acceptance into UEFA, began on October 7, 2013 with Glacis United defeating Lions Gibraltar 3-2. The two sides had finished level on points the previous season at the bottom of the table but remained in the division thanks to the league's expansion from 6 to 8 teams in order to meet the minimum requirements for entry into UEFA competitions. Reigning champions and heavy favourites Lincoln got off to a slow start, being held 0-0 and 1-1 in their opening fixtures to Lynx and College Europa, respectively. Both sides proved early season surprise packages and occupied the top two places for the majority of the early part of the season. The mid season break saw the first edition of the

Gibraltar Premier Cup The Gibraltar Premier Cup, also known as the Gibraltar Senior Cup, was an association football league cup in Gibraltar established in 2013 for the 8 teams that compose the Gibraltar Premier Division. It was created to coincide with the new league ...

in which Lincoln came out victorious after defeating Manchester 62 in the final. Following this both sides continued long lasting unbeaten runs to reach the top two positions in the table, with Lincoln yet to suffer defeat as of March 31, 2014. At the other end of the table, two sides suffered mass exoduses in pre-season and struggled for form as a result. St Joseph's, 2012-13 league runners up and reigning Rock Cup champions, saw themselves in particular trouble while the struggle to keep players meant that newly promoted Gibraltar Phoenix, who failed to pick up a single point in their first 10 games, were left struggling to even field a starting 11 by December. In the March 28 game between Lincoln and College Europa, an explosion caused a floodlight failure with 12 minutes to go and saw the match abandoned at 3-2 to the Red Imps. Because Victoria Stadium is the only current stadium in Gibraltar, evening games the rest of the weekend, including the game between St Joseph's and Glacis United, were postponed. However, daytime games including Lions Gibraltar's 1-0 victory over a much improved Gibraltar Phoenix, were permitted to go ahead. Both Lincoln and College Europa have appealed to replay the abandoned game. On April 2, the final 12 minutes were played out with 4-2 the result. Gibraltar Phoenix were relegated on April 7, 2014 after a 5-0 defeat to Manchester 62, having lost all 12 games of the season up to that point. Lincoln secured their title win with a 4-1 victory over Lions Gibraltar on April 14.

Teams

After the 2012–13 season, no teams were relegated due to the expansion of the league. College Europa and Gibraltar Phoenix were promoted from the Second Division as champions and runners up, respectively.

European qualification

This will be the first season of the league since Gibraltar were accepted as full members of UEFA. Gibraltar has been allocated one place in the

2014–15 UEFA Champions League The 2014–15 UEFA Champions League was the 60th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 23rd season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was pl ...

, provided the qualifying club has received a UEFA licence.

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under

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eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

League table

The Europa League qualifying spot was unconfirmed after the cup and league finished. UEFA regulations suggested College Europa as Cup runners-ups. GFA promised the spot to the league runners-up pre-season. Eventually College Europa were awarded the spot.

Results

Teams in the 2013-14 season will play each other twice, with the season starting on October 7, 2013 and ending on May 7, 2014.

Relegation play-off

St Joseph's won and remained in the Premier Division.

Top goalscorers

References

External links

Season
at soccerway.com {{DEFAULTSORT:2013-14 Gibraltar Premier Division Gibraltar Premier Division seasons

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