Lincoln Red Imps Football Club is an association football club that is professional that is based in Gibraltar. They are part of the Gibraltar National League, and share Victoria Stadium with all other clubs from the region. They are the record-breaking country champions with 24 league titles. This includes 14 consecutive titles between 2003 and 2016. They also in 2014, were among the very first teams representing Gibraltar in the qualifying phase. On August 21, 2021 Lincoln made history as the only club in Gibraltar to ever make it to the group stage of the European club competition, after defeating their Latvian champions Riga FC in the play-off round of the UEFA Europa Conference League.
The club boasts Europe's longest consecutive unbeaten league with 88 matches played across 1,959-days starting in May 2009 until September 2014.
The football club was established in the year 1976, through Charles Polson and Charles Head who was the manager of the team. The players who were linked with the former Police youth team, known as"the "Blue Batons" and further supported by players who had been removed from Glacis United and St Jago's formed one of the initial Lincoln team to compete within the Gibraltar fourth division as a youth squad. They were named in honor of Lincoln City FC, who are known as the "Imps" due to the legend that was Lincoln Imp. Lincoln Imp. Lincoln Red Imps were received their name because they were sponsored by Reg Brealey, the former Sheffield United chairman and Lincoln resident who is close to Charles Polson.
When the Lincoln team reached the age to be considered Senior Football players It was decided to put the young team in the GFA second division. The team began to climb to the top of the second division in season 1981-82. They won the league and the division cup, and then gaining promotion to the first division of the GFA within a single season. The following year, Lincoln ended up in the middle of the table within the division. In 1983-84, Lincoln was crowned league champions and received was promoted up to Gibraltar Premier Division.
In 1984-85, Lincoln began their campaign within the Gibraltar Premier Division in which they shared the crown alongside Glacis United - the first of seven league titles that were achieved between 1984 and.
Lincoln has won fourteen Gibraltar Premier Division titles in between 2003 and 2016. This was more than previously held records of just nine titles in a row set by Glacis United in the 1960s. Lincoln also took home the national triple consisting of League, Rock Cup and Senior Cup in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 (2008) and in 2011.
In 2014, when Gibraltar joined UEFA with the status of the 54th member Lincoln was the very first Gibraltarian team to take part in the qualifying rounds in the UEFA Champions League. After winning a 1-1 draw in their home match the team lost 5-2 against Faroese side HB but were then eliminated from the first qualifying round.
Lincoln was the winner of each of the 2014 Rock Cup with a 4-1 win against Lynx F.C. as well as the 2015-2016 Gibraltar Premier Division championship by 16 points. Lincoln also played in the qualifying stages of The UEFA Champions League for with their second consecutive double. In the first Qualifying Round Lincoln were faced with FC Santa Coloma of Andorra. After a scoreless draw during the first game in Gibraltar The club was able to secure an 1-0 win in the Estadi Comunal d'Andorra la Vella to progress to the Second Qualifying Round , with goals scored by Anthony Bardon and Lee Casciaro. By winning, Lincoln was the only team from Gibraltar to make it through an additional round in UEFA Champions League qualification, making way for a meeting with the 2015 Danish winners FC Midtjylland, which Lincoln Red Imps were defeated at the aggregate score of 3-3.
In the year 2016 Lincoln scored a surprising victory over Scottish Premiership champions Celtic, winning 1-0 at home, following a last-minute strike by Lee Casciaro in the club's second round game at the UEFA Champions League qualifying stage. The game occurred as Brendan Rodgers first competitive fixture as the manager of Celtic. The Glasgow team was able to qualify by virtue of a 3-0 win in the return leg of the match at Celtic Park.
On the 26th August 2021 Lincoln was the very first club from Gibraltar to be selected for the group stage of an European Competition, as they defeated Riga FC by a score of 3-1 (4-2 aggregate) and progressed into the stage group of 2021-22 UEFA Europa Conference League.
Season | Division | League record | Rock Cup | Pepe Reyes Cup |
Europe | ||||||||
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P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Pos | Competition | Result | ||||
2013–14 | Premier | 14 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 66 | 6 | 36 | 1st | Winners | Runners-up | — | — |
2014–15 | Premier | 21 | 19 | 1 | 1 | 80 | 12 | 58 | 1st | Winners | Winners | Champions League | First qualifying round |
2015–16 | Premier | 27 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 130 | 9 | 76 | 1st | Winners | Winners | Champions League | Second qualifying round |
2016–17 | Premier | 27 | 23 | 3 | 1 | 100 | 16 | 72 | 2nd | Runners-up | Runners-up | Champions League | Second qualifying round |
2017–18 | Premier | 27 | 21 | 2 | 4 | 71 | 19 | 65 | 1st | Semi-finals | Winners | Europa League | First qualifying round |
2018–19 | Premier | 27 | 21 | 3 | 3 | 84 | 19 | 66 | 1st | Second round | Runners-up | Champions League
Europa League |
Preliminary round
Second qualifying round |
2019–20 | National | 17 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 68 | 15 | 39 | 3rd[a] | Abandoned | Runners-up | Champions League
Europa League |
Preliminary round
Second qualifying round |
2020–21 | National | 20 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 62 | 13 | 48 | 1st | Winners | — | Europa League | Second qualifying round |
2021–22 | National | 20 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 65 | 17 | 58 | 1st | Winners | Runners-up | Champions League
Europa League Europa Conference League |
Second qualifying round
Third qualifying round Group stage |
Lincoln is currently playing every league game on the 2,200-seat Victoria Stadium. Lincoln shares this stadium with the other clubs that are currently playing with the Gibraltar Premier Division, as also The Gibraltar Women's Football League, of which Lincoln has the team.
Because the stadium failed to conform to the standards set by the season 2017-18, Lincoln, along with Europa and St Joseph's were made to stage their European match in the Estadio Algarve in Portugal, as improvements were made to Victoria Stadium.
It is anticipated that the venue will be renovated and upgraded to become a stadium specifically designed for football that can hold 8000 in 2021.
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Lincoln's first qualifying round match of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League marked the first match played by a Gibraltarian club in UEFA competition. After converting a penalty, a second half goal was conceded and the game ended in a draw.
Competition | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UEFA Champions League | 19 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 22 | 29 | –7 |
UEFA Europa League | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 22 | –11 |
UEFA Europa Conference League | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 22 | –16 |
Overall | 40 | 9 | 7 | 23 | 39 | 73 | –34 |
Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate | Advance to next round |
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2014–15 | UEFA Champions League | 1Q | HB Tórshavn | 1–1 | 2–5 | 3–6 | |
2015–16 | UEFA Champions League | 1Q | Santa Coloma | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | |
2Q | Midtjylland | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–3 | |||
2016–17 | UEFA Champions League | 1Q | Flora Tallinn | 2–0 | 1–2 | 3–2 | |
2Q | Celtic | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–3 | |||
2017–18 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q | AEK Larnaca | 1–1 | 0–5 | 1–6 | |
2018–19 | UEFA Champions League | PR | La Fiorita | 2–0 | — | ||
Drita | 1–4 | — | |||||
UEFA Europa League | 2Q | The New Saints | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–3 | ||
2019–20 | UEFA Champions League | PR | Feronikeli | 0–1 | — | ||
UEFA Europa League | 2Q | Ararat-Armenia | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–4 | ||
2020–21 | UEFA Europa League | PR | Prishtina | 3–0 (awd.) |
— | — | |
1Q | Union Titus Pétange | 2–0 | — | — | |||
2Q | Rangers | 0–5 | — | — | |||
2021–22 | UEFA Champions League | 1Q | Fola Esch | 5–0 | 2–2 | 7–2 | |
2Q | CFR Cluj | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–4 | |||
UEFA Europa League | 3Q | Slovan Bratislava | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–4 | ||
UEFA Europa Conference League | PO | Riga | 3–1 (a.e.t.) | 1–1 | 4–2 | ||
GS | Copenhagen | 0–4 | 1–3 | 4th place | |||
PAOK | 0–2 | 0–2 | |||||
Slovan Bratislava | 1–4 | 0–2 | |||||
2022–23 | UEFA Champions League | 1Q | Shkupi | 2–0 | 0–3 | 2–3 | |
UEFA Europa Conference League | 2Q | Tobol | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0−3 |
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Players registered for the Gibraltar Intermediate League without senior squad numbers. First team players may also appear for this team
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Position | Name |
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Club Management | |
Head Coach | Raúl Castillo |
Goalkeeper Coach | Javi Muñoz |
Fitness Coach | Sergio Garcia Dominguez |
Strength & Conditioning Coach | Liam Mesilio |
Head Physio | Keith Ramirez |
Physio | Adam Oria |
Team Doctor | Francisco Moya |
Kit Man | José Manuel Corrales |
Team Delegate | Christian Fortuna |
Board | |
President | Dylan Viagas |
Director | Christian Laguea |
Director | Elton Duarte |
Sporting Director | Juan José Gallardo |
Secretary | Michael Ruiz |
In the case of Red Imps, which plays its games in the British overseas territory that is home to approximately 30,000 it's the largest performance in its history and this was accomplished with players who have full-time jobs that include everything from shippers to civil service.
You can stream Lincoln Red Imps FC on Amazon Fire TV with one of these streaming services: Sling.
Gibraltar National League
It is the Gibraltar Football League represents the only tier above the senior level of football association in Gibraltar formed in 2019, as it was the Gibraltar National League following an amalgamation with both the Gibraltar Premier Division,
Lincoln Red Imps Football Club is an association football team that is professional that is based in Gibraltar. They are part of the Gibraltar National League, and share Victoria Stadium with all other clubs from the territory.