Teams, tales and tips – a guide to the local game
Football in Gibraltar is on the up. In May 2024, UEFA agreed that the Gibraltar Football Association could use Europa Point for autumn’s Nations League games after years of trekking across southern Iberia to play in Portugal. Two weeks after the decision, at the Estádio Algarve on the outskirts of Faro, the Gibraltarians held Wales to a 0-0 draw, following a creditable 2-0 defeat to Scotland.
Qualifiers for the European club tournaments, too, can now be played at this former cricket oval. The pitch had only been laid three days earlier when Bruno’s Magpies, literally formed as a pub team in 2013, beat top Irish side Derry City in the Europa Conference League in July 2024. Favourable results achieved by fellow Gibraltarians Lincoln Red Imps and St Joseph’s set up the prospect of visits to the Rock by European stalwarts FC Copenhagen, FC Zürich and Qarabag in the next qualifying rounds.
Europa Point is the southernmost tip of this British Overseas Territory, set at the gateway to the Mediterranean from the Atlantic. This strategic promontory was successfully claimed by the British in the early 1700s and, despite sieges, referendums and pressure from neighbouring Spain, has belonged to the Crown ever since.
Exactly three centuries after the treaty that had sealed the deal, not long after Spanish officials had delved into the small print from 1713 to dissuade UEFA from admitting Gibraltar, the local FA was confirmed as the 54th member of Europe’s football family. In 2016, Gibraltar became the 211th country to become part of FIFA, granting access to the World Cup.
A pattern was duly set. Friendly internationals were played at Gibraltar’s only football ground back then, Victoria Stadium, beside the airport and the disputed border with Spain, where all domestic league and cup fixtures have long taken place. As UEFA had ruled against its use for competitive qualifying matches – Scotland, Ireland, Poland and Germany were early opponents – a solution was found for Gibraltar to play at the Estádio Algarve, a white elephant built in no man’s land outside Faro for Euro 2004.
Spain was obviously a no-no, even though La Linea’s stadium just inside the border is literally steps from Gibraltar Airport. Real Balompédica Linense are a regular fixture in Spain’s third tier.
Spectators in Faro were either following the visiting team, fans enjoying a mini-break around a routine victory in the sun, or Algarve expats in need of some live football. Crowds were usually measured in three figures – for Gibraltar’s very first game in 2013, 350 watched a 0-0 draw with Slovakia.
For the home side, veteran defender Danny Higginbotham, once of Derby and Stoke, had qualified as Gibraltarian through his grandmother. Alongside him, Enfield-born Roy Chipolina, raised in Gibraltar, would go on to enjoy a long career with the national side and regular domestic champions Lincoln Red Imps, integral to their progress on the international stage.
But Chipolina had played for Gibraltar in the pre-UEFA days when it was a non-FIFA nation, pitted against Jersey, Shetland and Greenland in the Island Games. These games in the 1990s and early 2000s were a full century after organised football was first played on the Rock. A British outpost and military base, Gibraltar set up a football association in 1895, before every FA in continental Europe bar Denmark and Holland.
A team, Prince of Wales FC, had already been formed separate from the military in 1892, local civilians also involved in setting up Gibraltar FC and Jubilee FC. In a story similar to those of many football clubs in England, local cricketers needed something to do in the winter, so by 1895 there were enough participants for a league and a knock-out competition, the Merchant’s Cup.
Gibraltar FC were inaugural champions but were soon usurped by Prince of Wales, who went on to win the Gibraltar Football League a record number of times until the advent of Lincoln Red Imps in more recent seasons. Before dissolving at some point after the war, in 1949 Prince of Wales won the Rock Cup, successor of the Merchant’s Cup. Since 2000, the winners of the league and cup have met to contest the Pepe Reyes Cup, named after a former Gibraltar FA president.
Gibraltarian teams also played friendlies against top Spanish ones, particularly before the mid-1950s when Europe’s major club competitions arrived. By then, Victoria Stadium had opened, though, like the other pitches around the military area of North Front by the frontier with Spain, it was not for civilian use. Teams were restricted to requesting a designated one from the authorities each time.
The dominant clubs before and after the war, Europa FC, Glacis United and Gibraltar United, existed right up until the dissolution of the Gibraltar Premier Division in 2019 and creation of the Gibraltar National League, a merger of the top two tiers. With it came regulations whose benefits are being felt today, including a minimum number of home-grown players per team and the introduction of an Intermediate League for under-18s and reserves. There was stricter financial oversight, including salary caps.
In the early 2000s, Gibraltar had become a mecca for betting firms thanks to favourable tax laws, echoing its status as a hub of financial services. An economic boom led to a programme of land reclamation to expand Gibraltar’s modest territory, attracting foreign investors.
In 2017, Gibraltar United, formed in 1943 by Gibraltarians seeing out the war on the Rock, was bought by a Dubai-based entrepreneur, along with the former Real Madrid star Antonio Salgado. Initially paying players and staff in cryptocurrency, United failed to balance the books and blipped out of existence just before the pandemic.
But other businesses went from strength to strength. Robvia is a plant, lorry hire and demolition company founded in 2000, whose director, Dylan Viagas, owns Gibraltar’s most successful football club, Lincoln Red Imps. Starting small in the 1970s, Lincoln became the dominant force in the domestic game, winning 14 titles on the bounce during the boom years, the last one in 2016 granting passage to the Champions League for a third successive time.
A win over Flora Tallinn set up a dream tie with Celtic. Captained by Roy Chipolina, with his cousins Joseph at left-back and Kenneth coming off the bench, as well as the Casciaro brothers up front, the Gibraltarians held off the former European Cup winners in front of 1,632 spectators at Victoria Stadium.
Not only had Celtic just won six straight Scottish titles, they were led by Brendan Rodgers in his first competitive fixture in charge of the Hoops. A solitary goal from veteran Lee Casciaro, the most successful one-club player in world football, settled matters. The so-called ‘Shock of Gibraltar’ remains the greatest achievement in the local game.
Casciaro, who made his Lincoln debut in 1998, was still playing for club and country in 2024, coming off the bench for the last half-hour against Scotland that June.
Between the Celtic triumph and the Scottish defeat, three major developments had happened in Gibraltarian football. The newly established, single-division Gibraltar National League is now rebranded the Gibraltar Football League, with a new double round-robin format before the split to a Championship group to decide the spoils.
A more streamlined division of 11 clubs, after stragglers had fallen by the wayside, makes for a neat 20-game regular season. Lincoln Red Imps still dominate but 2023-24 saw St Joseph’s push them close, and Bruno’s Magpies, formed by mates who frequented Bruno’s Bar Restaurant near Victoria Stadium, claim a European place.
Secondly, the refurbishment of Europa Point has seen its major landmarks upgraded to become visitor attractions, although the original plan to build a football stadium here was seen off by the Save Europa Point protest group.
This, in turn, led to the Gibraltar FA buying Victoria Stadium from the government of Gibraltar in order to redevelop it for international use. This process, sidelined by the pandemic, began in 2023, which is why international friendlies, such as the ones against Scotland and Wales, were switched to Faro.
From the summer of 2024 onwards, European and domestic fixtures will take place at Europa Point at Gibraltar’s far southern tip for an indefinite period. Note that this isn’t a stadium as such, but training pitches within a sports complex accommodating a modest number of spectators – for their Conference League fixture in July 2024, Shelbourne were allocated just over 200 tickets despite demand for nearly 700.
As and when it is ready, with no provisional date yet set, the Victoria Stadium will be very impressive indeed, a sleek, compact arena of 8,070 seats, with the FA offices, shops and business outlets built into it. Right alongside, of course, is Gibraltar’s Airport and the border with Spain, its ease of access still entangled in red tape following Britain’s exit from the EU despite a near 100% local vote to Remain.
Getting Around
Arriving in town, local transport and timings
Gibraltar Airport is so close to town, passengers literally cross the runway to Winston Churchill Avenue, the main road from Spain to Gibraltar town centre a short walk away. Victoria Stadium is right by the airport but the ground won’t be in use for until 2026 at least. During its reconstruction, Europa Point is being used, at Gibraltar’s southern tip, for which you’ll need a bus or taxi.
Two companies run the network of local buses: the Gibraltar Bus Company and Citibus, which looks after the X5, 5 and 10 from the frontier/airport to Market Place, the main stop in town. Tickets are valid for any bus operated by both companies, either a single (£1.60/€2.40) or the all-day Hopper (£6.60/€9), valid from 8am-9pm. Route 2 operated by GBC runs from Market Place to Europa Point (Mon-Fri every 15mins, Sat-Sun every 30mins) 15mins away. Note that the last services in either direction set off at 9pm, every day.
There are taxi ranks at the airport and at main Casemates Square. Taxis (+350 2007 0027) are often used to tour the Rock but can be used for single journeys. Note that cars drive on the right in Gibraltar.
The local currency is the Gibraltar pound, pegged at par value to British sterling, which is also in circulation. The euro is also used at many outlets.
Where to Drink
The best pubs and bars for football fans
Wherever you drink, around the Ocean Village marina close to Victoria Stadium and the airport, or further into Town around Casemates Square, you’ll not escape the feeling that you’re trapped in provincial England surrounded by the sea.
Waterfront views are a big plus, however, such as at The Ship overlooking Marina Bay, a modern bar/restaurant that shows also games, The Hendrix, with its many screens and terrace dining, and O’Reilly’s, an Irish pub, steakhouse and casino, again with outdoor tables and screens inside.
Here, too, you’ll find Bruno’s Bar Restaurant, a popular eatery and nightspot whose regulars formed Bruno’s Magpies in 2013, now major players in the domestic game. Packed at weekends, they keep the party going all week with twofer cocktails and happy hours between 4pm-7pm. TV football plays on two big screens.
More steakhouse than pub, Charlie’s dates back to the start of Gibraltar’s boom years a quarter of a century ago – if you’re not here for a sit-down meal (there’s Indian food, too), its bar areas offer pool, darts and TV sport on 4k screens.
To sample a little luxury, Sunborn sells itself as ‘the world’s first five-star floating yacht hotel’, but it’s really a cruise ship moored by Marina Village, with two bars – they’ll serve you upscale drinks but you’ll have to bring your own atmosphere.
By Casemates Square, traditional All’s Well appeals more to the rugby crowd but shows football, too, with karaoke and Sunday roasts another attraction for some. Pleasant outdoor seating overlooks Gibraltar’s showcase square once used for military parades.
Further south along pedestrianised Irish Town, The Clipper allows you to combine food and football on several screens around a light, family-friendly interior. Pavement tables, too.
Further south on Main Street, towards Trafalgar Cemetery, the Angry Friar feels like a pub, football shown on two big screens. Drinking outside means taking advantage of its location on a shaded square.
The other side of the cemetery, by the cable-car station, the Trafalgar Sports Bar offers ten screens, the half-and-half scarves on display evidence of games involving Gibraltar and leading local clubs. The best place to watch any game, it also opens for hearty breakfasts.
With Europa Point now the focus for football in Gibraltar, there’s nothing of the busy bar scene typical of games at Victoria Stadium. Nearby Bistro Point might have amazing sea views through its wraparound floor-to-ceiling windows, but it’s only open for breakfast, lunch and private events. Maybe it may be opportune for someone to open a suitable pub or bar nearby?
Where to stay
The best hotels for the ground and city centre
Visit Gibraltar has a database of the many local hotels.
The nearest accommodation to Europa Point is the wonderfully old-school Rock Hotel on Europa Road. Needless to say, Winston Churchill stayed here, along with Sean Connery, plus John & Yoko… it still feels like a film set from Poirot, yet it has been thoroughly modernised, with an outdoor pool and wonderful sea views from the terrace restaurant. It all comes at a price but advance rates, if booked direct, are relatively reasonable considering breakfast comes with.
Just the other side of Trafalgar Cemetery on Cathedral Square, the Bristol Hotel dates back even further, to 1894, and now has a swimming pool to complement the affordable, mid-range rooms.
The impressive Eliott Hotel on Governor’s Parade is the only one of the O’Callaghan group of four-stars outside Dublin, with its own rooftop pool, alfresco solarium and Veranda bar and terrace.
To push the boat out, literally, Sunborn Gibraltar offers rooms aboard a superyacht overlooking Ocean Village, near Victoria Stadium and the airport. It’s all silly expensive, of course, even with direct-booked advance purchases, but you’re getting an infinity spa and an upscale North African restaurant.
The familiarity, there’s a modern Holiday Inn Express on Devil’s Tower Road near the airport, all very business-like with private parking.
