Lincoln Red Imps may sound like an ice hockey team from the east Midlands but they are the dominant force in Gibraltar football, having won the Gibraltar Premier Division for the past 14 years.
Celtic’s conquerors in the first leg of their Champions League qualifier on Tuesday night are a club of mostly part-timers, many of whom had to do a full day’s work before going out to play Brendan Rodgers’ side.
The Red Imps grew out of a youth side linked to the Gibraltar police in the mid-1970s and rose to the top flight by 1984. Since then they have dominated the 10-club Premier Division, lifting 22 titles in the next three decades. They have also won the treble of the League, the Rock Cup and the Senior Cup seven times.
Like the rest of the territory’s teams, the Red Imps play at the 5,000-capacity Victoria Stadium, located close to Gibraltar airport just off Winston Churchill Avenue. Thanks to the artificial pitch, this is also the venue of the annual Gibraltar Music Festival – this year’s line-up on the first weekend of September includes Bryan Ferry, Stereophonics, Ne-Yo, Jess Glynne, Travis, All Saints and ... Europe. The MCC also played there in 1993 against the Gibraltar cricket side.
With Gibraltar earning full membership of Uefa in 2013, Lincoln had the honour of being its first representative in the Champions League the following year. They lost 6-3 on aggregate to the Faroe Islands side HB in the first qualifying round but in 2015 knocked out Andorra's representatives Estadi Comunal d'Andorra la Vella with a 2-1 away win and the military policeman Lee Casciaro, who scored the winner against Celtic, getting one of their goals. In the second round they were beaten by the Danish champions FC Midtjylland but only 3-0 on aggregate.
Red Imps players form the backbone of the Gibraltar side which took part in qualifying for this year's European Championship, losing all 10 of their games and conceding 56 goals but getting their first goal in a competitive match in a 6-1 defeat by Scotland at Hampden Park in March 2015 – Casciaro again. The Enfield-born defender and club captain, Roy Chipolina, is also the Gibraltar captain as well as being a customs officer.
The man who masterminded Lincoln's humiliation of Celtic is the fiery former Uruguay international Julio Ribas, who is best known for two spells in charge of Peñarol. During the first he led the Montevideo side to a national title in 1999 but it was overshadowed a year later when he was jailed for eight days for his part in an on-field brawl involving players and coaching staff at the end of a derby against Nacional. Ribas later became Oman coach - but was sacked after three games.
(Guardian service)
