Gibraltar: The new face of European Football

Gibraltar Football Club Merchants Cup Winners 1895

Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula gained access to fullmembership from UEFA on 24th May, 2013, making Gibraltar Football Association the 54th member of UEFA. The province has asmall population of 30,000 with majority of the players influenced by Spanish football culture.

Gibraltar’s status as an independent UEFA member was often a subject to dispute due to the interference from the RoyalSpanish football Federation. All ready a disputed territory, Spain fought hard in making sure Gibraltar FootballAssociation is denied any kind of acceptance by the UEFA, as they feared Basque and Catalonia would soon follow theprecedence.

After an endless petition since 1999, Gibraltar became eligible to play in 2016 Euro qualifications. The fruits of thismembership falls right at the foots of Football Leagues in Gibraltar as well. The team which wins the Gibraltar PremierDivision will move to the UEFA Champions League qualification round from the 2014-2015 season.

Gibraltar pillar box ,a tribute to the GFA’s success in becoming a member of UEFA on 24 May 2013

However like Armenia – Azerbaijan and Russia – Georgia, UEFA have confirmed that due to the political dispute with Spain, the two countries will be kept apart in qualifying competitions.

The footballing culture in Gibraltar was introduced by the British Armed Forces in the late 19th century. With over a century passed, GFA continues to bring various methods of sustaining development with the players and their respective teams. GFA are well poised to be granted an FIFA member status and with criticism across the globe regarding their emergence as an independent football team, they face a mammoth task in keeping up with the top teams in the world.

The rise of Gibraltar as an international football teams have unfurled numerous questions. Allen Bula a former MFK Košice academy head coach was appointed as the manager of the Gibraltar national team in 2010. These are the signs that Gibraltar is looking forward to building a team for the future rather than concentrating on immediate results.

A football nation with such clear ideas and not panicking to bring in a foreign coach is just the right thing for a team who has just started its official journey. As seen over the years, that no foreign manager has helped a team in winning the World Cup, Gibraltar National Football team has taken up a correct decision. Allen Bula a local from The Rocks will understand the mentality of his players and will be able to set up the best scouting and youth development programmes. To formulate such ideologies, Allen Bula is just the right man in charge.

Allen Bula

The period between 1949 to 1955 is regarded as the “Golden era” for football in Gibraltar and to emulate such a feat, would be Allen Bula’s prime objective. Renowned teams such as Real Madrid C.F., Atlético Madrid, Real Valladolid and Admira Wacker were arriving on The Rock where the Gibraltarian fought bravely to win its well deserved status.

Whatever a manager plans strategically and what his teams are able to do on the pitch are two completely different horizons. With more than 4 years of experience with the Gibraltar football team, Bula understands his team pretty well . Drastic difference in the game play of the teams in this part of the world, it would be interesting to see whether Gibralter follows the English aggressive playing style or grows the culture of possession play.