Europa Point F.C.

Europa Point
Full nameEuropa Point Football Club
NicknameA Progressive Club
Founded2014 (2014)
GroundVictoria Stadium, Gibraltar
Capacity2,000
ChairmanPär Magnus Roos
Head coachClaudio Racino
LeagueGibraltar Football League
2025–26GFL, 8th of 12
Websitehttp://www.europapointfc.com/

Europa Point F.C. is a professional football club from Gibraltar. The club currently plays in the Gibraltar Football League, the top tier of football in Gibraltar.[1] They also participate in the Rock Cup, the territory's primary cup competition.

History

The club formed in 2014 amidst the growing interest in association football on the territory of Gibraltar. The club held trials specifically aimed at bringing in youth team players that had been released by professional sides in England and Spain with the goal of getting them back into competitive football, with club founder John Gontier having formerly worked with such players while working for League Football Education. Before their maiden season, the club also announced a partnership with Chesterfield in League One, where the English side has first option on any Europa Point player.

After a strong start to the season, including a tight promotion challenge against Gibraltar United, the club narrowly missed out on promotion, finishing third in the league despite having the strongest goalscoring record in the Gibraltar Second Division. Despite missing out on promotion on the final day of the season, the club did end the season with silverware as they beat promoted side Angels 5–3 in a thrilling Gibraltar Division 2 Cup final that went to extra time.

After missing out on promotion in 2014–15, Europa Point were crowned champions of the 2015–16 Gibraltar Second Division[2] after an unbeaten league campaign (W17 D5) and completed the double by retaining the Gibraltar Second Division Cup by beating Bruno's Magpies 3–2 A.E.T in the final. In preparation for the new season in the Premier Division they have signed many players including ex-Norwich City players George Jermy and Tom Walters. However, the players failed to impress and despite substantial changes in playing and coaching staff throughout the season, Europa Point finished bottom of the Premier Division and were relegated.

On 1 November 2017, it was announced that an American consortium headed by Peter Grieve and Corey Woolfolk had purchased a controlling stake in Europa Point. Woolfolk took over as chairman of the club, while John Gontier moved to CEO. On 10 November, Joaquin Rodriguez was announced as the new Head of Commercial and Football Operations. As part of the takeover, Europa Point became a partner club to Bantu Rovers in Zimbabwe. Gontier negotiated to re-take control of the club in early 2019, helping the club to a second-place finish in the league.[3]

In the inaugural season newly formed Gibraltar National League, Europa Point started poorly under former Gibraltar national football team manager Allen Bula. However, the appointment of ex-Leyton Orient boss Ian Hendon in late November 2019 saw a significant upturn in results, only for the season to be voided by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In July 2020, Andrew Pritchard purchased a majority stake in the club, while John Gontier stayed on as minority shareholder. Following the end of the 2020–21 season, Gontier sold his remaining stake in the club to focus on Gibraltar Women's Football League side Gibraltar Wave. In November 2021, former Charlton Athletic player and Kemi City chairman Mark Tivey was announced as the club's new co-owner and technical director.[4] However, this ownership was short lived and in July 2022, a Swedish consortium led by Pär Magnus Roos took over the club.

In July 2023, Swedish coach Dalibor Savić was appointed head coach, with player Ryan McCarthy becoming player-assistant manager. In his first season in charge, aided by a number of high-profile Scandinavian signings such as Johan Andersson, Johannes Ström and former Norway international Thomas Drage, Europa Point secured a top 6 finish in the Gibraltar Football League for the first time in their history.

Seasons

Season Division League record Rock Cup
P W D L GF GA Pts Pos
2014–15 Second26203312420633rd Quarter-finals
2015–16 Second221750767956 1st ↑ First round
2016–17 Premier272223131208 10th ↓ Quarter-finals
2017–18 Second147343118244th Second round
2018–19 Second181305502639 2nd Second round
2019–20[a] National187473538258th Quarter-finals
2020–21 National1810171073311th First round
2021–22 National18421217651410th Quarter-finals
2022–23 GFL1814131265711th First Round
2023–24 GFL25105103231354th First Round
2024–25 GFL2004161470411th First Round

Current squad

First team

Correct as of 17 August 2026.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  SWE Alex Jerner
2 GK  ESP Pablo Bustamante
3 DF  GIB Antony Moulds
4 DF  GIB Will Sanders
5 DF  SCO William Sandford (captain)
7 FW  POR Nuno Miguel
8 MF  GIB Leon Clinton
9 FW  SWE André Nader
11 FW  SWE Alexandar Mutić
12 DF  MAR Yassine Ait Elhaj
14 MF  SWE Johannes Layton
15 FW  SWE Dante Holmqvist
16 MF  GIB Max Bautista
18 MF  GIB Dylan Duo, Jr.
19 MF  ESP Javi Méndez
20 DF  GIB Adam Achhoud
No. Pos. Nation Player
21 FW  ESP José López
22 MF  JPN Riku Yamamura
24 FW  GIB Javier Martinez
25 DF  GIB Adam El Haouzi
26 MF  SWE Oliver Silverholt
28 MF  LBY Mohammad Kawan
61 FW  POL Hugo Bartkowiak
— GK  GIB Mikey Charvetto
— DF  SWE Viktor Krüger
— MF  ENG Peter Alarms
— MF  GIB Mark Chichon
— MF  DEN Alex Johannesen
— MF  LVA Taylor Kalinins
— FW  DMA Theo Jeremy
— FW  JPN Shinsho Yamahira

Club staff

Position Name
Club Management
Head Coach Argentina Claudio Racino
Assistant Coach Spain Pablo Quirós
Goalkeeper Coach Spain Cristopher Jackson
Physio Gibraltar Gabriel Benatar
Board
Chairman Sweden Pär Magnus Roos
Head of Youth Spain Roberto Carrasco

Honours

Notes

  1. 1 2 Season abandoned due to COVID-19 pandemic. Results not officially recognised.

References

  1. ↑ Moitra, Soumalya (4 November 2016). ""I trained with the Argentinian National team, with the likes of Messi, Aguero, Di Maria" says Indian born Uday Arora". sportskeeda.com. Sportskeeda. Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  2. ↑ "Gibraltar 2015/16". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 2022-08-30. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  3. ↑ "Julian Lopez impresses as Europa Point finish second". Football Gibraltar. May 26, 2019. Archived from the original on May 28, 2019. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  4. ↑ Official Statement Archived 2021-11-09 at the Wayback Machine Europa Point FC. 8 November 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  5. ↑ Europa Point FC see off Angels FC after Extra Time Gibraltar FA. 20 April 2015 .