The
The
of the Worlds oldest, dating back to 1895
This article describes a little of its history
and
background
and highlights the impasse in its attempts
to obtain
affiliation with Uefa caused by the
intransigence of the Spanish football
authorities
As a National Serviceman in the REME, I
was posted to
in the football scene there
I played for my Unit in the Military
league, then for the Combined Services in a series of games against the
Then, in the spring of 1954, I was one
of two Military personnel selected to play for the GFA against some of
the senior European teams that visited
the Rock
So I played for and against the GFA and
I became very impressed with the quality and natural ball skills of the
Gibraltarian and feel that they are
being unfairly treated by Uefa
An 1895
photograph of
First Military
versus Civilian match in 1901
Gibraltarians inherited their
love of football from kick about games with the British Garrison in the
late 1800’s. With a genetic mix of Spanish,
Italian (survivors from a shipwrecked Italian galleon
who settled at
garrison there since
1704)they took to the beautiful game with passionate enthusiasm
On the isthmus, the flat area
of land connecting Gib and
enclosing a grassed football
pitch and had their first competitive match against the military in 1901
A pre WW2
aerial photograph of the flat area of land connecting Gib to
The circular racetrack can be clearly seen, the football pitch is in the
centre of the track
The GFA flourished with
senior and junior leagues being formed, cup competitions and
representative games were
played against visiting teams and the Military, the first recorded match
with the Military was in 1901
All sport came to an abrupt
end with the onset of WW2 when the civilian population was evacuated
to the
Football ends with the onset of WW2 and the football pitch
is sacrificed in the
construction of a Military runway
In preparation for the
invasion of
military runway constructed,
running out well into the bay. A lot of
the ballast came from rubble
from the caverns and tunnels
that were excavated by the Tunnelling Company of the Royal
Canadian Engineers who, in
1941/42, dug out atotal of 150,000 tons of rock for an underground
hospital project at a place
called
The
runway, stretching out into the bay, built on the site of the old racetrack and
football pitch
with rock excavated by the tunnellers of
the Royal Canadian Engineers
Wartime view down the runway showing the planes
assembled, ready for the invasion of
They are parked on the
grassy area, alongside the runway strip
The war ends
and football returns to Gibraltar
A new stadium—Victoria
Stadium—was built not far from the Airport terminal buildings
and over the following years
the GFA expanded into a well structured organisation with the
National Side—the GFA Select
eleven— selected from a group of around 3000 registered
players
Its football style emulated
that being played by Continental Europe and
which was starting to cause
problems for the English International side which until then had
dominated the football world
and the GFAevolved into an effective and competitive team that
could punch well above its
weight
The GFA hosts visiting European teams and competes against the Military
From
the late 1940’s the GFA attracted visiting teams from Europe, including Real
Atletico
The RAF also sent its
including Ron Flowers from the Wolverhampton Wanderers and Ray Wood the Man United
goalkeeper
Against
these senior professional teams they did well, including a notable 2;2 draw
against
Real
It also played an annual
series of games against
—the Combined Services—and
with compulsory National Service in place there were many
thousands of young men to
choose from including a number of
I was fortunate to be
selected for the Combined Services in the series if five games in the
1953/54 season
This was me scoring against the GFA in the old
The
Stadium held several thousand paying spectators and the competition between the
Civil
and
Military teams had built up over the years and the games were fiercely
contested, as was
the
riposte between the civil and military spectators
The
Military lost the series by three games to two and I have to admit that they
were the
better side, although the speed and bounce of
the clay playing surface at Victoria Stadium
favoured the GFA and the referees, who were
all Gibraltarian were very patriotic!
The GFA eleven, pictured in 1953 at Victoria Stadium
They won the series against the Combined
Services by three games to two in the 1953/54 season
Blazer badge awarded to Combined
Services players after three representative games
The
new Victoria Stadium, built alongside the runway with a grassed pitch and
running track
On the far side of the Stadium are junior soccer pitches and a hockey
pitch
Gibraltar FA
applies for membership of Uefa
About ten years ago the GFA
formally applied for membership of Uefa, the controlling body for
European football
Membership would open up the
possibility of entering some of
attraction of games against
some of
would generate
Although minnows in the
football arena, in the company of teams from
who have similar populations,
they would not be out of place
Over time, they had their
organisation, playing standards and facilities checked and approved by
Fifa so there appeared to be
no reason why membership should not be granted
However, their application
has been “stymied” at every juncture by the Spanish football authorities
using their not
inconsiderable influence on the Uefa authorities, at one stage threatening to
withdraw
from any competition that
included
With
Gibraltar successfully appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport
Disputes of a sporting nature
in
duly found in
This was done and it was
taken for granted that at the next meeting of the Uefa committee, in
October2006, that the GFA’s
provisional membership would be ratified
On the basis of Spanish
claims that Victoria Stadium and the Airport is built on the isthmus, which
Is not in British Gibraltar
but on disputed land, ratification was postponed!
In response the GFA
President—Joe Nunez said:
“It is a quite scandalous manner
to behave for an International governing body and especially
one that advocates the need to comply
with Court of Arbitration for Sport rulings”
So there the matter rests
until the next Uefa ruling, it may be that with relations between Gib and
some future European cup
game—they may even manage a win!
Post script
I am sure that amongst the readers there are some who
think that the inclusion of teams, from the smaller
Football Associations, such as
Competitions are a waste of time.
I take the opposite view—these teams, when pitched
against the top European teams always seem to play
well above themselves and add a little flavour to what
is rapidly becoming an overly competitive and at
times a very fractious scene
Thanks to Ernest Falquero,
trevor_sidaway@hotmail.com Link to Home Page
Football in
Gibraltar (part 1)
Football in Gibraltar
(part 2)