The Gibraltar Premier Division was a football league established 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 i ...

(GFA) in 1905, and the top tier of

football in Gibraltar Football has been a popular part of sport in Gibraltar since its introduction by British military personnel in the 19th century. The Gibraltar Football Association, founded in 1895, is one of the ten oldest active football associations in the w ...

. It originally contained eight member clubs, but it has grown over the years. In 1909 the league was split into two divisions between which clubs can be promoted and relegated at the end of each season. In the 2013–14 season, the Premier Division contained eight clubs with the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

containing 12 clubs. For sponsorship reasons it is known as the Argus Insurance Premier Division. From the 2014–15 season, as a result of the territory's 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 ...

, the champions entered the first

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

qualifying round. The winners of Gibraltar's cup competition, 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 ...

, meanwhile, gained entry to the following season's

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

qualifying rounds. From the 2016–17 season, Gibraltar received an additional place in the Europa League qualifying round for the league runner-up. In 2019 the league merged with the Gibraltar Second Division and became the

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 ...

History

Football in Gibraltar Football has been a popular part of sport in Gibraltar since its introduction by British military personnel in the 19th century. The Gibraltar Football Association, founded in 1895, is one of the ten oldest active football associations in the w ...

dates from 1892, when military personnel in the territory started playing as

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

. By 1895 the number of clubs had grown to the point that the

was formed and a tournament (the predecessor to the Premier Division), the Merchants Cup, began, with

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 ...

winning the inaugural competition. By 1907 the Premier Division had officially taken shape with Prince of Wales winning the first full season of league football in Gibraltar. The side went on to win 19 league titles before folding some time in the 1950s. Since the league's formation, football has been played almost every season, along with the Gibraltar Second Division (founded 1909) and a national cup competition, the

. After the FA's admission to

, the Gibraltar Premier Cup was established in 2013 to provide more competitive games for the sides in the top tier. Due to the restricted and amateur nature of the league in the past, the competition has been prone to spells of dominance at certain times: for example, the early 20th century dominance by Prince of Wales and the 10 league titles in 11 seasons attained by Glacis United in the 1960s and 1970s. At present Lincoln Red Imps are the dominant side in the division, having won every season since 2000–01 with the exception of the 2001–02 season, until 2017. However, the UEFA acceptance and potential for increased professionalism in the league has opened the possibility of other sides closing the gap, with sides such as Manchester 62 and Lynx making inroads in the 2013–14 season. This came to pass in the 2016–17 season, when Europa FC won their first title in over 60 years. In 2018, the Gibraltar FA announced changes to the league involving an increase in the "Home Grown Player" quota to 3 players on the pitch, per team, at any one time, as well as introducing salary caps (to be introduced in the senior leagues from 2019) and the introduction of the Gibraltar Intermediate League, replacing the Reserves League and Under-18 League, in order to promote local player development. For the 2019–20 season, the Premier Division and the Second Division were merged to create a single division for Gibraltar, known as the

Premier Division 2018-19 season

Source:

League Champions

* Glacis United and Lincoln shared the 1985 title

Performance by club

Bold indicates club still playing in top division.
''Italics'' indicates club no longer active.

References

External links