The 2020–21 Gibraltar National League season is the second season of the new
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 ...
in
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 ...
, and the 122nd season of football on the territory overall. There are no reigning champions this season, as the previous season was declared abandoned as a result of 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 ...
.
The league is due to kick off on 16 October 2020. Instead of qualifying for the
2021–22 UEFA Europa League
The 2021–22 UEFA Europa League was the 51st season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 13th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.
Eintracht Frankfurt defeated Rangers ...
, teams placed 2nd, 3rd and the
2021 Rock Cup winners will qualify for the inaugural
UEFA Europa Conference League
The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...
.
Format
The structure of the league will follow that of the previous season. Teams will play 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 football competition, and is organized annually by the Gibraltar Football Association (GFA).
From 1894/95 Gibraltar's Cup Competition was known as "The Senior Merchant's Cup". In 1935 a new trophy was prese ...
. The league paused after the game on 20 December between
Bruno's Magpies and
St Joseph's, but resumed on 22 February 2021 with
Lions Gibraltar defeating
College 1975 3-2.
Teams
The following 12 teams began the 2020–21 Gibraltar National League. League positions from the previous season represent where teams stood when the season was abandoned.
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Managerial Changes
League table
Results
Forfeits for Home Grown Player violations
The season suffered early controversy when several teams were forced to forfeit games for violations of the Home Grown Player rule, due to confusion over the new rules regarding time limits for changes if a Home Grown Player is sent off. Below are the games that have been forfeited for rule breaches.
Additionally, Boca Gibraltar failed to field a team on 5 December 2020 against
Mons Calpe, subsequently forfeiting the tie. After doing so again on 9 December, they were expelled from the league.
FC Boca Juniors Gibraltar will not fulfil their Gibraltar National League fixture scheduled for this evening.
Gibraltar FA. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
Championship and Challenge groups
After 11 games (reduced to 10 after Boca Gibraltar were expelled) the league splits into two groups: the top 6 into the Championship Group, and the bottom 6 (later reduced to 5) into the Challenge Group. The Championship Group will compete for the league title and European qualification places, while the Challenge Group will compete for the GFA Challenge Trophy.
Championship Group
Championship Group results
Challenge Group
Challenge Group results
Season statistics
Scoring
Top scorers
Hat-tricks
Clean Sheets
Awards
Player of the week
Monthly awards
See also
* 2020–21 Gibraltar Intermediate League
* 2020–21 Gibraltar Women's Football League
References
External links
Gibraltar Football Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:2020-21 Gibraltar National League
Gibraltar National League seasons
Gib
Gib or GIB may refer to:
Places
* Gibraltar, British overseas territory
** Gibraltar International Airport, IATA code GIB
** Gibraltar national football team, FIFA code GIB
* Mount Gibraltar, known as The Gib, New South Wales, Australia
* Gib ...
1