Europa Point

Europa Point F.C. is a football team from Gibraltar. The club, known for its "Stepping Stone Club" philosophy, currently plays in the Gibraltar National League the top senior tier of association football in Gibraltar. They also participate in the Rock Cup, the territory's primary cup competition. The club formed in 2014 amidst the growing interest in association football on the territory of Gibraltar. Led by chairman John Gontier, 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. 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 FC 5–3 in a thrilling final that went to extra time. After missing out on promotion in 2014–15, Europa Point FC were crowned champions of the 2015–16 Gibraltar Second Division after an unbeaten league campaign (W17 D5) and completed the double by retaining the Gibraltar Second Division Cup by beating FC Brunos 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 players George Jermy and Tom Walters. Canadians Will Sykes and Uday Arora as well as Charles Mallmann and Álvaro Arias Pérez. 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.