Gibraltar became a full member of UEFA, the governing body of association football in Europe, on 24 May 2013. Teams from the territory can qualify for UEFA's two main continental competitions, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League, and have entered since the 2014β15 season.
Lincoln Red Imps have represented Gibraltar in four seasons of the Champions League, twice reaching the second qualifying round. In 2016, they won 1β0 at that stage against former European champions Celtic, but lost 3β1 on aggregate. The team Europa has represented the territory in the Europa League three times, their best performance being losing the second qualifying round to AIK of Sweden in 2016.
UEFA Champions League
Lincoln Red Imps, after winning the Gibraltar Premier Division for the 12th consecutive time, were the first team from the territory to enter a UEFA competition, the 2014β15 UEFA Champions League. They entered in the first qualifying round, where they were drawn against HB TΓ³rshavn, champions of the Faroe Islands. On 2 July 2014, they hosted the first leg at the Victoria Stadium, and took the lead through a penalty kick by Joseph Chipolina, but Levi Hanssen equalised in a 1β1 draw. Six days later in the second leg at TΓ³rsvΓΈllur, HB won 5β2 (6β3 aggregate).
In the 2015β16 UEFA Champions League, Lincoln again represented Gibraltar, and were drawn in the first qualifying round against FC Santa Coloma, the champions of Andorra. The first leg at home on 30 June 2015 was a goalless draw, then a week later they travelled to the second at the Estadi Comunal d'Andorra la Vella. Ildefons Lima put the hosts ahead before half time, but Lincoln responded with goals from Anthony Bardon and Lee Casciaro to win 2β1, becoming the first Gibraltarians to reach the second qualifying round. They lost there, 3β0 on aggregate to FC Midtjylland from Denmark.
Lincoln represented Gibraltar for a third consecutive time next season. In the first qualifying round, they were drawn against FC Flora from Estonia. In the first leg on 28 June at A Le Coq Arena in Tallinn, Chipolina scored an away goal in a 2β1 loss. Eight days later in the second leg, a Chipolina penalty and another goal by Antonio CalderΓ³n gave the team a 3β2 aggregate win. In the next round, Lincoln faced Celtic, champions of Scotland and 1967 European champions. They won the home leg 1β0 on 12 July, Casciaro scoring the only goal after 48 minutes, but lost 3β0 at Celtic Park eight days later.
Europa F.C. won the 2016β17 Gibraltar Premier Division to become the first team other than Lincoln Red Imps to play in the Champions League, and were drawn with Welsh champions The New Saints in the first qualifying round. They won the first leg 2β1 away but were eliminated after a 3β1 extra time loss at home in the second.
A new preliminary round was introduced in 2018β19 as a knockout tournament for the champions of Europe's four weakest leagues. Hosted at the Victoria Stadium, Lincoln defeated La Fiorita of San Marino but lost the final 4β1 after extra time to Drita of Kosovo.
Season | Team | Round | Opponent | Home | Away | Aggregate | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014β15 | Lincoln Red Imps | 1Q | HB | 1β1 | 2β5 | 3β6 | |
2015β16 | 1Q | FC Santa Coloma | 0β0 | 2β1 | 2β1 | ||
2Q | Midtjylland | 0β2 | 0β1 | 0β3 | |||
2016β17 | 1Q | Flora | 2β0 | 1β2 | 3β2 | ||
2Q | Celtic | 1β0 | 0β3 | 1β3 | |||
2017β18 | Europa | 1Q | The New Saints | 1β3 | 2β1 | 3β4 | |
2018β19 | Lincoln Red Imps | PR | La Fiorita | 2β0 | |||
Drita | 1β4 (a.e.t.) | ||||||
2019β20 | PR | Feronikeli | 0β1 | ||||
2020β21 | Europa | 1Q | Red Star Belgrade | 0β5 | |||
2021β22 | Lincoln Red Imps | 1Q | Fola Esch | 5β0 | 2β2 | 7β2 | |
2Q | CFR Cluj | 1β2 | 0β2 | 1β4 | |||
2022β23 | 1Q | Shkupi | 2β0 | 0β3 | 2β3 | ||
2023β24 | 1Q | QarabaΔ | 1β2 | 0β4 | 1β6 | ||
2024β25 | 1Q | Δ¦amrun Spartans | 1β0 | 0β1 (a.e.t.) | 1β1 (4β5 p) | ||
2Q | QarabaΔ | 0β2 | 0β5 | 0β7 |
- Notes
- PR: Preliminary round
- 1Q: First qualifying round
- 2Q: Second qualifying round
UEFA Europa League
College Europa, runners-up to Lincoln in the 2014 Rock Cup, became the first Gibraltarian club to enter the UEFA Europa League, losing 4β0 on aggregate in the first qualifying round to FC Vaduz of Liechtenstein.
The following season, Europa again qualified, as league runners-up. In the first qualifying round, they faced Slovan Bratislava of Slovakia and lost 9β0 on aggregate, including 6β0 at home in the first leg, conceding a hat-trick by Karol MΓ©szΓ‘ros.
For a third consecutive season, Europa represented Gibraltar in the Europa League. Despite losing the second leg 2β1 away in Armenia, the team defeated Pyunik 3β2 on aggregate to advance for the first time. In the second qualifying round, they lost each leg by a single goal to Sweden's AIK.
In the 2017β18 UEFA Europa League, Gibraltar's entries were upgraded to two: league runners-up Lincoln Red Imps and third-placed European debutants St Joseph's. Both were drawn with Cypriot opposition in the first qualifying round and lost heavily on aggregate: 6β1 to AEK Larnaca and 10β0 to AEL Limassol respectively.
Europa and St. Joseph's both entered for Gibraltar in 2018β19. While the former was beaten comprehensively by Kosovo's Prishtina in the first qualifying round, the latter took the Faroe Islands' B36 TΓ³rshavn to a penalty shootout, which they lost after a 2β2 aggregate draw. Lincoln Red Imps dropped from the Champions League to the second qualifying round, where they lost 3β2 on aggregate to Welsh champions The New Saints.
Season | Team | Round | Opponent | Home | Away | Aggregate | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014β15 | Europa | 1Q | FC Vaduz | 0β1 | 0β3 | 0β4 | |
2015β16 | 1Q | Slovan Bratislava | 0β6 | 0β3 | 0β9 | ||
2016β17 | 1Q | Pyunik | 2β0 | 1β2 | 3β2 | ||
2Q | AIK | 0β1 | 0β1 | 0β2 | |||
2017β18 | Lincoln Red Imps | 1Q | AEK Larnaca | 1β1 | 0β5 | 1β6 | |
St Joseph's | AEL Limassol | 0β4 | 0β6 | 0β10 | |||
2018β19 | Europa | PR | Prishtina | 1β1 | 0β5 | 1β6 | |
St Joseph's | B36 TΓ³rshavn | 1β1 | 1β1 | 2β2 (2β4p) | |||
Lincoln Red Imps | 2Q | The New Saints | 1β1 | 1β2 | 2β3 | ||
2019β20 | Europa | PR | Sant JuliΓ | 4β0 | 2β3 | 6β3 | |
1Q | Legia Warsaw | 0β0 | 0β3 | 0β3 | |||
Lincoln Red Imps | 2Q | Ararat-Armenia | 1β2 | 0β2 | 1β4 | ||
St Joseph's | PR | Prishtina | 2β0 | 1β1 | 3β1 | ||
1Q | Rangers | 0β4 | 0β6 | 0β10 | |||
2020β21 | Lincoln Red Imps | PR | Prishtina | 3β0 (Awarded) | N/A | 3β0 | |
1Q | Union Titus PΓ©tange | 2β0 | N/A | 2β0 | |||
2Q | Rangers | 0β5 | N/A | 0β5 | |||
St Joseph's | PR | B36 TΓ³rshavn | 1β2 | N/A | 1β2 | ||
Europa | 1Q | DjurgΓ₯rden | 1β2 | N/A | 1β2 | ||
2021β22 | Lincoln Red Imps | 3Q | Slovan Bratislava | 1β3 | 1β1 | 2β4 | |
2024β25 | 3Q | Dinamo Minsk | 0β2 | 2β1 |
- Notes
- PR: Preliminary round
- 1Q: First qualifying round
- 2Q: Second qualifying round
- 3Q: Third qualifying round
UEFA Europa Conference League
With the introduction of UEFA's third-tier continental competition, the UEFA Europa Conference League, enabling a league champion to qualify for its group stage by winning only two of the four ties they would face in qualifying, Lincoln Red Imps F.C. thus became the first Gibraltarian club to qualify for the group stages of a European competition, during the UEFA Europa Conference League's debut season.
Season | Team | Round | Opponent | Home | Away | Aggregate | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021β22 | Europa | 1Q | Kauno Ε½algiris | 0β0 | 0β2 | 0β2 | |
Mons Calpe | Santa Coloma | 1β1 | 0β4 | 1β5 | |||
St Joseph's | FCI Levadia | 1β1 | 1β3 | 2β4 | |||
Lincoln Red Imps | PO | Riga | 3β1 | 1β1 | 4β2 (a.e.t.) | ||
GS | Copenhagen | 0β4 | 1β3 | 4th | |||
PAOK | 0β2 | 0β2 | |||||
Slovan Bratislava | 1β4 | 0β2 | |||||
2022β23 | Europa | 1Q | VΓkingur | 1β2 | 0β1 | 1β3 | |
Bruno's Magpies | Crusaders | 2β1 | 1β3 | 2β4 | |||
St Joseph's | Larne | 0β0 | 1β0 | 1β0 | |||
2Q | Slavia Prague | 0β4 | 0β7 | 0β11 | |||
Lincoln Red Imps | Tobol | 0β1 | 0β2 | 0β3 | |||
2023β24 | Bruno's Magpies | 1Q | Dundalk | 0β0 | 1β3 | 1β3 | |
Europa | Dukagjini | 2β3 | 1β2 | 3β5 | |||
Lincoln Red Imps | 2Q | Bye | |||||
3Q | Ballkani | 1β3 | 0β2 | 1β5 | |||
2024β25 | St Joseph's | 1Q | Shelbourne | 1β1 | 1β2 | 2β3 | |
Bruno's Magpies | Derry City | 2β0 | 1β2 | 3β2 | |||
2Q | Copenhagen | 0β3 | 1β5 | 1β8 |
- Notes
- PR: Preliminary round
- 1Q: First qualifying round
- 2Q: Second qualifying round
- 3Q: Third qualifying round
- PO: Play-off round
- GS: Group stage
References
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- "Gibraltar becomes Uefa's 54th member despite Spain's past objections". The Guardian. Press Association. 24 May 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
- "Lincoln Red Imps 1β1 HB Torshavn". BBC Sport. 3 July 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
- "Five-goal HB hold off Lincoln comeback". UEFA. 8 July 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
- Fortuna, Julian (8 July 2015). "Historic win helps Lincoln's dream come true". UEFA. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
- Duggan, Joe (29 June 2016). "Joseph Chipolina nabs Champions League away goal as Lincoln Red Imps lose 2β1 at Flora Tallinn". The Gibraltar Olive Press. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
- Donohue, Eamon (12 July 2016). "Lincoln Red Imps FC 1β0 Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
- McLaughlin, Chris (20 July 2016). "Celtic 3β0 Lincoln Red Imps FC". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
- "Europa 1–3 The New Saints". BBC Sport. 4 July 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- "The New Saints look to take their Euro chance". Shropshire Star. 26 July 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
- "EL: Vaduz erwartungsgemΓ€ss ein Runde weiter" [Vaduz to a further round as expected] (in German). Sport Zeit. 10 July 2014. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
- Farrell, Dom (3 July 2016). "Europa League Review: Brondby ignite opening round with nine-goal thrashing". Goal.com. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
- "Pyunik 2β1 College Europa". ESPN. 7 July 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
- "AIK see off Europa at the Victoria". Football Gibraltar. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- "AEL 6–0 St Joseph's". UEFA. 6 July 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- "Lincoln Red Imps 1-1 TNS: Scott Ruscoe's side through to next round of Europa League qualification after aggregate victory over". Border Counties Advertizer. 3 August 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2018.