FC Hound Dogs is a football and futsal club from

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

. They play their football in the Gibraltar Intermediate League and the

Rock Cup The Rock Cup is Gibraltar's premier cup association football, football competition, and is organised annually by the Gibraltar Football Association (GFA). From 1894/95 Gibraltar's Cup Competition was known as "The Senior Merchant's Cup". In 1935 ...

; their Futsal team compete in the Futsal 1st Division. FC Hound Dogs offers young footballers in

the platform and opportunity to play football and futsal. The club operates a strict rotation policy where the focus is on giving everyone game time.

History

Formation

The club was founded in the summer of 2012 by Chris Gomez, Carl Bradford, David Bradford and Ercan Mehmet. The four of them set up the club from scratch, and later added Tyrone Smith to the backroom staff for the 2013–14 season. Chris and Tyrone had both been involved in coaching youth football for many years in Gibraltar, and as a result, had a group of young players interested in signing for them. The vast majority of this group of players had been involved with Chris and Tyrone at Lions Gibraltar F.C., and later SJ Corinthians where they played alongside Ercan during the 2011–12 season and gained invaluable experience playing in the

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 ...

. When SJ Corinthians folded at the end of the 2011–12 season, these young players had no club to play for, and as a result FC Hound Dogs was born. After raising money via the players and founder members they were able to register and enter a football team into

Gibraltar Second Division The Gibraltar Second Division was the second tier of football in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, run by the Gibraltar Football Association (GFA). The league was founded in 1909 after the expansion of the Gibraltar Premier Division ...

for the 2012–13 season; sponsorship was later secured via the Calpe Hounds Public House. The club started positively in their first season, finishing 4th.

After UEFA membership

The ascension of the

Gibraltar Football Association The Gibraltar Football Association or also Gibraltar FA (GFA) is the governing body for Gibraltarian football and futsal. It was formed as the ''Gibraltar Civilian Football Association'' in 1895, changing to its current name in later years. It is ...

to membership of

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 ...

led to a lot more money coming into football on the Rock, and as such, results began to decline for Hound Dogs with lower end of season finishes following in the coming seasons, although the club did provide a platform for young players such as Nick Castle, Etien Victory, Jamie Fortuna and Alan Wszeberowski to move to bigger clubs. Co-founder Ercan "Urge" Mehmet left the club in 2017, with a testimonial played in June that year. However, results and finances continued to lag behind the rest of the pack, and in 2019 Hound Dogs withdrew from the newly formed

Gibraltar National League The Gibraltar Football League is the only senior tier of association football in Gibraltar, founded in 2019 as the Gibraltar National League after a merger of the Gibraltar Premier Division, which served as the top division of football on the ...

, earning special dispensation to play in the Gibraltar Intermediate League along with U23 sides from other clubs in Gibraltar.

Current staff

Current football squad

''As of 12 September 2023.''Our squad for 2023/24
FC Hound Dogs. 12 September 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023.

Retired numbers

''(posthumous honour)''

References

External links

Official Website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hound Dogs Football clubs in Gibraltar Futsal clubs in Gibraltar 2012 establishments in Gibraltar Association football clubs established in 2012