The Gibraltar Women's Football League is the top level amateur women's football championship of

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. Due to the lack of resources available for women's football, the league has been contested by five teams since 2021, and the league is treated as a development competition. This status means that, as of the 2021 season, clubs are ineligible to enter the

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. ...

History

The earliest known record of the competition dates back to 1999, when three teams (

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is se ...

and Victoria United) took part. However, the league was seemingly abandoned mid-season with Manchester United top of the table. After that, the league was not held for several years, aside from an edition held in 2003 between five middle schools. The league was revived fully in 2005, with Manchester United winning the title. Aside from 2008 to 2010, and the 2011–12 season, the league has been held every year since with a fluctuating number of teams - generally between 3 and 5, with a high of 8 teams participating in 2007. The Women's Rock Cup was introduced in 2013, generally played in the post-season.

Format

As of the 2021–22 season, teams play each other 3 times. With the league only having development status, players as young as 12 are permitted to play and the league has been known to permit roll-on substitutes. As a result, teams are ineligible to qualify for the

. Each club is permitted to sign up to 3 overseas players without home-grown player status.

2023–2024 Teams

The 2023–2024 season is set to be played by the following five teams. All matches are played at Victoria Stadium. In 2020 it was announced that

Europa Point Europa Point ( Spanish and Llanito: Punta de Europa or Punta Europa) is the southernmost point of Gibraltar. Although not the southernmost point of the Iberian Peninsula, Europa Point defines the boundary between the Straits of Gibraltar in th ...

intended to enter the league for the 2020–2021 season, subject to ratification by the GFA. However, a number of factors including the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

meant that they postponed (and eventually abandoned) their plans, while Lincoln Red Imps withdrew their side.

Lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...

announced their women's team in December 2020. It was announced in March 2021 that a new independent team, Gibraltar Wave, would join the league, initially entering the 2021 futsal league. Manchester 62 subsequently returned to the league in September 2021. In August 2023, it was announced that Hercules FC, who had previously entered the Women's Futsal League, entered the league in affiliation with College 1975. *

Europa Europa may refer to: Places * Europa (Roman province), a province within the Diocese of Thrace * Europa (Seville Metro), Seville, Spain; a station on the Seville Metro * Europa City, Paris, France; a planned development * Europa Cliffs, Alexan ...

* Gibraltar Wave *

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

* Lions Gibraltar *

* Manchester 62

List of champions

Senior champions of the last year. The years before only school championships or five-a-side tournaments were held. Note: 2013–14 season was played as a nine-a-side league to encourage more clubs to register a team. 2014–15 and 2015–16 were nine-a-side as well.

Performance by club

Bold indicates club still playing in top division.

References

External links

Football Association
{{UEFA women's football leagues Top-level women's association football leagues in Europe

Women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...

Women's sports leagues in Gibraltar