The Gibraltar Football League is the only senior tier of

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

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, founded in 2019 as the Gibraltar National League after a merger of 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 ...

, which served as the top division of football on the Rock since 1905, and the

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 ...

, which had existed since 1909. It was announced in August 2019 by 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 ...

. The league is supported by the

Gibraltar Intermediate League The Gibraltar Intermediate League is a semi-professional football league administered by the Gibraltar Football Association, launched in June 2018 as a replacement for the Gibraltar Reserves Division and the Under 18 Division in an effort to im ...

for U23 sides and Hound Dogs.

Format

Rumours of the new league began in 2018, when the Gibraltar FA announced plans for a single tier format in its league constitution for the

2018–19 Gibraltar Premier Division The 2018–19 Gibraltar Premier Division was the 120th season of the top-tier state football league in Gibraltar, as well as the sixth season since the Gibraltar Football Association joined UEFA in 2013. The league was contested by ten clubs, and ...

. On 1 August 2019, the GFA confirmed details of the restructure of domestic football in Gibraltar, and the format of the new 16 team league. After 4 teams left the league, the remaining 12 teams are to follow the same league format. For the first 4 editions of the competition, teams played one round of games as a single league, before splitting into two groups: the Championship Group contested by the top 6 sides, and the Challenge Group between the bottom 6 sides. The winners of the Challenge Group will receive the GFA Challenge Trophy and receive a bye to the second round of the next season's

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 ...

. Hound Dogs, who participated in the final season of the

, were granted special dispensation to compete in the

. The first season of the Gibraltar National League had no champion, as the season was declared null and void by the Gibraltar FA as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In 2021, the Gibraltar FA announced that every game of the

2021–22 Gibraltar National League The 2021–22 Gibraltar National League season is the third season of the Gibraltar National League in Gibraltar, and the 123rd season of football on the territory overall. The league is due to kick off in October 2021. Lincoln Red Imps are the ...

season would be streamed online through a broadcasting deal with Footters. In July 2022, the league rebranded as the Gibraltar Football League, with a new identity and logo. The following year saw a change of format for the league. Instead of a single round-robin before the league split, the league instead returned to a double round robin format, with each team playing each other twice. At the end of the regular season, only the top 6 progressed to the next stage, entering the GFL Championship Group to decide the champion.

Teams

Of the 17 teams that formed the initial league, three founder teams withdrew before the inaugural season started: Gibraltar Phoenix, Gibraltar United, and

Leo Leo or Léo may refer to: Acronyms * Law enforcement officer * Law enforcement organisation * ''Louisville Eccentric Observer'', a free weekly newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky * Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity Arts an ...

. Additionally, Olympique 13 were expelled from the league after forfeiting the first two matches of the 2019-20 season. Hound Dogs, while a founding member, opted not to join the National League, instead competing in the

for financial reasons. In December 2020, Boca Gibraltar were also expelled from the league. As such, the following 11 teams currently contest the competition. * Bruno's Magpies * College 1975 *

Europa FC Europa FC is a football club from Gibraltar which plays in the Gibraltar National League. As with all other clubs in the territory, Europa FC currently shares the Victoria Stadium on Winston Churchill Avenue. The club also operates a women's ...

Europa Point Europa Point (Spanish language, Spanish and Llanito: Punta de Europa or Punta Europa), is the southernmost point of Gibraltar (the southernmost point of the Iberian Peninsula being Punta de Tarifa 25 km southwest of Gibraltar). At the end of ...

* Glacis United * Lincoln Red Imps * Lions Gibraltar *

Lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...

* Manchester 62 *

Mons Calpe The Rock of Gibraltar (from the Arabic name Jabel-al-Tariq) is a monolithic limestone promontory located in the British territory of Gibraltar, near the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula, and near the entrance to the Mediterr ...

* St Joseph's

List of winners

Table includes top three of the Championship Group (top half of table) and Challenge Group (bottom half of table)

References

External links

Gibraltar FA Website
RSSSF.com {{Football in Gibraltar 1 Top level football leagues in Europe 2019 establishments in Gibraltar Sports leagues established in 2019

Format

Teams

List of winners

See also

References

External links