Football in Gibraltar

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Football in Gibraltar
Rock of Gibraltar northwest.jpg
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory with a long tradition of football.
CountryGibraltar
Governing body Gibraltar Football Association
National team(s) Gibraltar
Nickname(s)Gib
First played1892
Clubs12
Audience records
Season Gibraltar National League

Football has been a popular part of sport in Gibraltar since its introduction by British military personnel in the 19th century. The Gibraltar Football Association, founded in 1895, is one of the ten oldest active football associations in the world. [1]

Contents

History

Winning team of the 1895 Merchants Cup of the Gibraltar Football Club. Gibraltar Football Club Merchants Cup Winners 1895.jpg
Winning team of the 1895 Merchants Cup of the Gibraltar Football Club.

Football was introduced to the civilian population of Gibraltar by the British Armed Forces in the late 19th century. It is not known exactly when the first civilian football teams were formed, but the earliest records mention that the Prince of Wales F.C. already existed in 1892, and the Gibraltar F.C. was formed in November 1893. [2]

Between 1895 and 1907, the only known football competition organised by the Gibraltar Civilian Football Association was the Merchants Cup. The cup was donated each year by the Merchants of Gibraltar. The first ever Cup Final was between the Gibraltar F.C. and the Jubilee F.C. and was witnessed by 1,500 spectators. [2]

In 1902, the military authorities in Gibraltar designated one of their four football grounds at North Front as a civilian ground. Before this there was no civilian football grounds in Gibraltar, so the only way the Gibraltar Civilian Football Association could practice outside the annual Merchants Cup was by playing friendly matches against the military teams whenever possible. [2]

Gibraltar Football League

The Gibraltar Football League was set up in October 1907. The military had well-established league and cup competitions before this, but local civil teams were not allowed to compete in them. The first league competition saw eight teams competing, with Prince of Wales F.C. being the winner. The growing success of the league and cup competitions was reflected in the increasing number of new teams that were registering with the association. Such was the increase in participating teams that a Second Division was added in 1909, and in 1910 the association was organising separate leagues and cup competitions for senior and junior divisions. This continuously growing interest in football in Gibraltar was also reflected in the association's affiliation with The Football Association in 1909. [2] Up until 2005–06, the league operated a Third Division, however the loss of several reserve teams that dominated the Second Division led to the two divisions merging. At one point there was also a Fourth Division, however this was only thought to have lasted for one season in 1996-97

Years later, the Gibraltar Civilian Football Association changed its name to the Gibraltar Football Association; it has continued to organise league competitions and promote the sport within The Rock to this day.

Golden era

The period between 1949 and 1955 is regarded as the "Golden era" for football in Gibraltar. It was during this time that world-renowned teams such as Real Madrid CF, Atlético Madrid, Real Valladolid and Admira Wacker among many others were arriving on The Rock to play against the national team who acquitted themselves admirably against professionals despite being amateurs. [2]

League system

Current system

LevelLeagues/Divisions
1 Gibraltar National League
(11 clubs)

Former system

LevelLeagues/Divisions
1 Gibraltar Premier Division
(10 clubs)
2 Gibraltar Second Division
(7 clubs)

National team

The Victoria Stadium is the home of the national football team of Gibraltar. Visita Platini Gibraltar Rock Cup 2014 10 (13967075189).jpg
The Victoria Stadium is the home of the national football team of Gibraltar.

The Gibraltar national football team has a long history, originally competing against teams of visiting British military personnel. The highlight of their existence to date was a draw with Real Madrid CF in 1949 at a time when the Spanish club were about to enter a period of European dominance. [2] On the most part though, they compete in smaller matches against non-sovereign national teams. Gibraltar won the championship at the 2007 Island Games, held in Rhodes (Greece). [3]

The Gibraltar national team play their matches, as do most of the clubs in the territory, at the 5,000 capacity FIFA approved and licensed Victoria Stadium. [1]

UEFA application

On 8 January 1997 the GFA applied for FIFA membership, and in March 1999 FIFA confirmed that the GFA fulfilled the requirements of Article 4.7 of the FIFA Statutes and consequently passed their file onto UEFA. [4]

On 12 April 1999 the GFA applied for membership in UEFA (Union of European Football Associations). [4] This would have allowed them to join the qualifiers for the European Football Championships and enter teams in European club competition. This immediately drew a hostile reception from the Royal Spanish Football Federation, whose government strongly opposes any suggestion that Gibraltar is in fact a separate territory and not part of Spain. [5] Spanish authorities waged a campaign of virulent opposition to their application, causing it to be rejected by officials on the grounds that it did not meet their criteria. [4] In 2002 UEFA had stipulated that future members would have to be sovereign nations, despite a number of their existing members failing to meet this requirement. [6] [7]

After a legal challenge, a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2006 insisted that UEFA had to accept the GFA as any other member, as the application had come before the new criteria had been put in place and the rejection had political overtones, which are strongly discouraged in sport. UEFA awarded the GFA associate member status along with Montenegro and deferred the matter to the 2007 Congress in Düsseldorf, Germany. [4]

Spanish delegates had for some months, by attempting to secure support for their position, even been threatening to withdraw Spanish teams from UEFA competitions if Gibraltar was approved. [8] This tactic was successful – winning the vote 45 to 3, with 5 abstentions. [4] Gibraltar's application was at this point thrown out, while Montenegro was unanimously granted membership.

On 3 October 2012, UEFA again granted Gibraltar provisional membership and deferred the matter about full membership to the next Congress, to be held in London in May 2013. The decision was taken to admit Gibraltar to UEFA. On 24 May 2013, Gibraltar became the 54th member of UEFA, with a team in the UEFA Champions League from the 2014/15 season. UEFA confirmed that due to the political dispute with Spain, the two countries would be kept apart in qualifying competitions. [9]

On 23 February 2014, Gibraltar were drawn against Germany, Poland, Scotland, the Republic of Ireland and Georgia in the qualifying rounds for UEFA Euro 2016

FIFA

On 13 May 2016, Gibraltar was granted FIFA membership so they can enter for the World Cup. They were placed in Group H along with Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Estonia, Cyprus. The first game Gibraltar played took place on 6 September 2016 at home to Greece. [10]

Women's football

The Women's Rock Cup is the top annual cup tournament for women's football in Gibraltar. It is the women's equivalent to the Rock Cup. The first known edition of the Women's Rock Cup was held in 2013, won by Manchester 62. Due to the lack of teams in Gibraltar, with the Gibraltar Women's Football League often only consisting of three teams, the format has often varied in order to ensure that it remains competitive.

List of champions

This list goes back to the earliest known edition of the tournament. It is not known if the Women's Rock Cup was contested before 2013. [11]

SeasonChampionRunner upNotes
2013 Manchester 62 Unknown
2014 Manchester 62 St Joseph's9-a-side
2015 Manchester 62 Lions Gibraltar 9-a-side
2016Lincoln Red Imps Lions Gibraltar 9-a-side
2017Lincoln Red Imps [12] Lions Gibraltar
2018Lincoln Red Imps Europa
2019 Lions Gibraltar [13] Lincoln Red Imps
2020Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021Not held
2021–22 Lions Gibraltar Lynx
2022–23 Lions Gibraltar Lynx
2024

Performance by club

RankTeamTitlesLast Title
1 Lions Gibraltar 32022–23
Lincoln Red Imps2018
Manchester 62 2015

National football stadium

StadiumCapacityCity
Victoria Stadium 5,000 Gibraltar

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UEFA</span> International governing body for association football in Europe

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of Gibraltar</span> Overview of the culture in Gibraltar

The culture of Gibraltar reflects Gibraltarians' diverse origins. While there are Spanish and British influences, a result of the territory's status as a British overseas territory and its proximity to Spain, the ethnic origins of most Gibraltarians are a mix of Andalusian Spaniards, Genoese, Maltese, Portuguese and British. The main religion is Christianity, the majority group being the Roman Catholic Church, then the Church of England. There is a long established Sephardic Jewish community, a number of Hindu Indians and a Moroccan Muslim population. Gibraltarians of Genoese origin came to The Rock in the 18th century, with the Maltese and Portuguese following in the 19th century, coming to work and trade in the British military base. Spanish Andalusian origins are the result of generations of intermarriage with inhabitants of surrounding towns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibraltar Football Association</span> Governing body of association football in Gibraltar

The Gibraltar Football Association or also Gibraltar FA (GFA) is the governing body for Gibraltarian football and futsal. It was formed as the Gibraltar Civilian Football Association in 1895, changing to its current name in later years. It is one of the oldest football associations in the world. From October 2012, the GFA were provisional members of UEFA and the Gibraltar national futsal team, under-19 and under-17 representative teams participated in the 2013/14 UEFA season competitions. At the XXXVII UEFA Congress held in London on 24 May 2013, Gibraltar was accepted as a full member of UEFA. Gibraltar were admitted to FIFA as a full member on 13 May 2016 at the 66th FIFA Congress in Mexico.

The Gibraltar Premier Division was a football league established by the Gibraltar Football Association (GFA) in 1905, and the top tier of football in Gibraltar. It originally contained eight member clubs, but it has grown over the years. In 1909 the league was split into two divisions between which clubs can be promoted and relegated at the end of each season. In the 2013–14 season, the Premier Division contained eight clubs with the Second Division containing 12 clubs. For sponsorship reasons it is known as the Argus Insurance Premier Division.

Football is the most popular sport in Spain. Spain has some of the most influential teams in Europe as well as many players and teams registered in all categories. Moreover, football is the sport that interests the majority of Spanish people (48%) and a total of 67% of the population said they were fans of or had a liking for a particular club.

This page indexes the individual year in association football pages. Each year is annotated with one or more significant events as a reference point.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar</span> Football stadium in Gibraltar

Victoria Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Gibraltar. It is currently used mostly for football matches, but also hosts the annual Gibraltar Music Festival. It is located close to Gibraltar Airport just off Winston Churchill Avenue. It was named after the wife of Gibraltarian philanthropist John Mackintosh.

The Gibraltar men's national football team represents Gibraltar in international football competitions, and is controlled by the Gibraltar Football Association. Gibraltar applied for full Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) membership and was accepted by the UEFA Congress in May 2013. It can therefore compete in the UEFA European Championship starting with the 2016 tournament for which the team competed in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying Group D. On 13 May 2016 Gibraltar became a member of FIFA at the governing body's 66th Congress which was held in Mexico City. Gibraltar is the second smallest UEFA member in terms of population and the smallest in terms of area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jersey official football team</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lincoln Red Imps F.C.</span> Football club in Gibraltar

Lincoln Red Imps Football Club is a professional association football club from Gibraltar. They play in the Gibraltar National League, and share Victoria Stadium with all other clubs in the territory. They are the country's record champion with 27 league titles, including fourteen consecutive titles between 2003 and 2016, and in 2014 were the first team to represent Gibraltar in the UEFA Champions League's qualifying stage. In August 2021, Lincoln became the first club from Gibraltar to ever reach the group stages of a European club competition after defeating the Latvian champions Riga FC in the play-off round of the UEFA Europa Conference League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Joseph's F.C.</span> Association football club in Gibraltar

St Joseph's Football Club, created in 1912, is an association football club based in Gibraltar. It currently plays in the Gibraltar Football League. The club also has two Futsal teams and more than 10 youth teams. The club was granted an official UEFA licence in 2015.

Sport plays a prominent role in Gibraltarian life. The range of sports practiced in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar is wide and varied in comparison to its size of less than 7 square kilometres. The Government of Gibraltar promotes sport within Gibraltar and supports many local sports associations financially. Gibraltar also competes in international sporting events, having competed in the Commonwealth Games since 1958, and in the biennial Island Games, which it hosted in 1995 and 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibraltar national football team results</span>

The Gibraltar national football team is the representative association football team of Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula. Its governing body is the Gibraltar Football Association (GFA) and it competes as a member of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). Organised football has been played in Gibraltar since the 19th century. The GFA first applied for UEFA membership in 1997 which was rejected, as UEFA would only allow membership for applicants recognised as sovereign states by the United Nations. They were unsuccessful in their second application in 2007 when only three of UEFA's 52 associations voted in their favour. In October 2012, they reapplied for membership which was granted in March 2013. Before 2018 the team's home ground, Victoria Stadium, did not meet UEFA's standards for competitive internationals, although it could be used for international friendlies. Gibraltar's first full international was played at the Estádio Algarve, located between Faro and Loulé, Portugal, which Gibraltar used as their home stadium for competitive matches between 2014 and 2018, and again from 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manchester 62 F.C.</span> Association football club in Gibraltar

Manchester 62 F.C. is a football club based in Gibraltar. The club currently competes in the Gibraltar Football League.

Prince of Wales Football Club was a Gibraltarian association football club. It had been founded by 1892 as one of the first civilian football clubs in Gibraltar. Although no longer in existence, up until 2014 it held the record for the most national championships in Gibraltar.

David Wilson is a Scottish football manager who is currently U23 coach for St Joseph's in the Gibraltar Intermediate League. From April 2013 to March 2015, he served as an assistant manager of the national team under head coach Allen Bula and held the position when the Gibraltar Football Association (GFA) was admitted to UEFA in May 2013. He has also managed Lions Gibraltar, Bruno's Magpies and Manchester 62.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibraltar national football team records and statistics</span>

The Gibraltar national football team represents Gibraltar in association football and is controlled by the Gibraltar Football Association (GFA), the governing body of the sport there. It competes as a member of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), which encompasses the countries of Europe. Organised football has been played in the country since the 19th century. Gibraltar first applied for UEFA membership in 1997 which was rejected, as UEFA would only allow membership for applicants recognised as sovereign states by the United Nations. In October 2012, Gibraltar reapplied for membership and it was granted in March 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibraltar national football team results (unofficial matches)</span>

The Gibraltar national football team represents the Gibraltar in association football and is controlled by the Gibraltar Football Association (GFA), the governing body of the sport there. It competes as a member of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), which encompasses the countries of Europe. Organised football has been played in the country since the 19th century. Gibraltar first applied for UEFA membership in 1997 but was rejected because of intense opposition from Spain. In October 2012, Gibraltar reapplied for full membership and it was granted in March 2013. On 13 May 2016 Gibraltar was accepted as a member of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA); this was after their original application in 2014 was denied.

References

  1. 1 2 "GFA introduction". Archived from the original on 22 April 2008. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "History of football in Gibraltar". Archived from the original on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2008.
  3. ↑ "Gibraltar takes gold in Rhodes". Archived from the original on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "GFA application for membership of UEFA". Archived from the original on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2008.
  5. ↑ Panorama – Gibraltar's UEFA bid worries Spain.
  6. ↑ "ESPN – Gibraltar hopes of UEFA membership crumble". Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2008.
  7. ↑ "Gibraltar Chronicle – Blow for GFA as UEFA approves new statutes". Archived from the original on 3 December 2002. Retrieved 28 May 2008.
  8. ↑ BBC – Spain threatens to pull out of UEFA if Gibraltar is allowed to join.
  9. ↑ "Gibraltar given full Uefa membership". BBC Sport.
  10. ↑ "Kosovo & Gibraltar become Fifa members". BBC Sport.
  11. ↑ "Gibraltar - List of Women Cup Finals". RSSSF . Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  12. ↑ Carmona, Álvaro (20 November 2017). "Fútbol en... Gibraltar". La Catedral del Deporte (in European Spanish). Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  13. ↑ "Ferro: "We set our minds out to win this game and we did"". Football Gibraltar. 27 February 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
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