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Leo FC appointments roar club’s challenge to others

With the appointment of a top Brazilian footballer as manager of its first XI and a new director of football with 20 years’ experience in the game in Andalusia, Second Division side Leo FC has put all clubs on notice that it means serious business this season.

In the luxurious setting of Sunborn Hotel’s conference room; Second Division side Leo FC announced at a press conference the appointments of Dani Herrera as Director of Football & Catanha as First Team Manager; moves which are great for Gibraltar football and also putting all clubs on notice that they mean serious business this season.

Henrique Guedes da Silva, known as Catanha, is a Brazilian born footballer but in the 1999/2000 season represented Spain at national level making three appearances. After starting off in lower teams in Brazil, he moved to Spain where he played for Malaga, Celta Vigo & Leganes.

This is Catanha’s first managerial job and President Karl Alecio was delighted with the appointment stating “Our main objective is to gain promotion to the Premier Division and no one better to guide us there than a top professional with the quality and experience that Catanha brings to the table.” This is the first time something as big as this has happened in the Second Division, let alone at Leo FC, and Mr Alecio was “looking forward” to learning from a great professional.

After months of preparation and endless meetings, the President of Leo told us he was very happy and relieved that all of this was completed and is looking forward to a very busy summer and an exciting season. At the end of our conversation he sent out a very bold message saying “We want to win the league.” Leo have slowly improved over the last few seasons and this is the kind of push they need to go that one step further in the league.

In Dani Herrera, Leo have appointed a Director of Football with 20 years of experience in the game, especially in the Andalucía area where he has represented clubs such as UD Marbella, CD San Roque and Linense to name just three. With his extensive knowledge of football in the area, it is expected that Leo will sign many players from the Campo area, which could make Leo a force to be reckoned with in the Second Division next season, as they look to follow the path of Mons Calpe, who got promoted from the Second Division and firmly established themselves as one of the stronger teams in Gibraltar last season.

With such a big change off the pitch, there is always a number of legal matters to deal with; to make sure there were no major bumps along the way, Leo enlisted the services of Nicholas Gomez, a lawyer from the Gibraltarian law firm Charles Gomez & Co. Gomez ensured the smooth progression of Leo’s appointments as they look to make major progress both on and off the field next season.

The Second Division already promised a lot of excitement and thrills as each of the nine teams try everything to gain promotion to the Premier Division, with its riches and European football on offer; Leo adding a former Spain international into the mix has only increased that as we head into the upcoming season.

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