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Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar

Coordinates:36°8′57.68″N5°21′1.23″W/ 36.1493556°N 5.3503417°W/36.1493556; -5.3503417
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Victoria Stadium
Aerial view of Victoria Stadium.
Map
LocationGibraltar
Coordinates36°8′57.68″N5°21′1.23″W/ 36.1493556°N 5.3503417°W/36.1493556; -5.3503417
OwnerGibraltar Football Association(2017–Present)
OperatorGibraltar Sports and Leisure Authority (GSLA)
Capacity5,000
SurfaceArtificial turf
Construction
Opened1926 (British Military use only) 1970 (Incl. Civilian Use)
Renovated1991; 2023 (Expected)
Tenants
Gibraltar national football team
All Gibraltar football clubs
Gibraltar national rugby union team(2013–2018)

Victoria Stadiumis amulti-purpose stadiuminGibraltar.It is currently used mostly forfootballmatches, but also hosts the annualGibraltar Music Festival.It is located close toGibraltar Airportjust offWinston Churchill Avenue.It was named after the wife ofGibraltarianphilanthropistJohn Mackintosh.

History

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View of the Victoria Stadium's West stand

Victoria Stadium was constructed at the foot of theRock of Gibraltarand next toGibraltar Airportin theNorth District.[1]It was first opened in 1926 as a British military sports ground.[2]In 1970, the stadium was rebuilt by theRoyal Engineersas a sports ground for use by both the military forces and the civilian population of Gibraltar.[3]In 1991, the Government of Gibraltar financed improvements of Victoria Stadium's pitch and athletics track.[4]

The construction of the stadium was controversial as it was built on thedisputed isthmus between Gibraltar and Spain.[1]When the Gibraltar Football Association applied for membership of UEFA in 2007, Spanish-led opposition caused FIFA officials to look at the wording of theTreaty of Utrechtwhich ceded Gibraltar to theUnited Kingdomin 1713. In it, they claimed that there was a loophole in the treaty which they claimed violated FIFA regulations in that the national stadium had to be built on undisputed land. As Victoria Stadium was built on the isthmus which was not mentioned in the Treaty of Utrecht but ceded later and this fact was pointed out to UEFA members, Gibraltar's application was voted by UEFA's member associations to be rejected.[1]Only theHome NationsofEngland,WalesandScotlandvoted in favour of them joining.[1]

Despite initial plans to replace the stadium in the 2010s, theGibraltar Football Associationpurchased the stadium from theGovernment of Gibraltarin April 2017 in order to improve and renovate it.[5]The redevelopment of the stadium began in 2023, with thenational teamannouncing they will playUEFAandFIFAgames inFaro,Portugal.[6][7]

The Gibraltar national team planned to play their2022-23 UEFA Nations League relegation playoffsat Victoria Stadium, but this match was moved to theEstádio Algarveafter the redevelopment of the Victoria Stadium began.

Football

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Victoria Stadium during the2014 Rock CupFinal

Victoria Stadium is mostly used forassociation footballmatches. All clubs in theGibraltar Football Leagueplay their matches at Victoria Stadium.[8]As such, it is also used to host the Final of theRock Cup.[9]Prior to membership ofFIFA,it had been used as theGibraltar national football team's home ground for unofficial internationals.

Following theGibraltar Football Association's admittance as a full member ofUEFAin May 2013, UEFA vetoed Gibraltar using Victoria Stadium as their home ground as it did not meet UEFA standards and as theGovernment of Gibraltarowned it. As a result of this lack of ownership, the Gibraltar Football Association did not have the power to improve it.[10]This was owing to the fact that Victoria Stadium did not meet UEFA standards for international matches, which meant that the Gibraltar national football team was obliged to play their "home" matches in UEFA and FIFA qualifying tournaments atEstádio AlgarveinFaro, Portugalhowever they were permitted to play friendly matches there.[10]The Government of Gibraltar and theChief Minister of Gibraltar,Fabian Picardostated that they were not going to spend Gibraltarian taxpayer's money on renovating the stadium without the site having UEFA approval stating "It would have been the worst possible bargain for the people of Gibraltar to have pursued the GSD’s approach of putting taxpayer’s money into Victoria against the wishes of UEFA at the time".[11]

Victoria Stadium did meet the UEFA criteria as a Category 2 Stadium[12]for UEFA intercontinental club matches such asUEFA Champions Leaguegames with an example of this being whenLincoln Red Impsused it to host their2016–17 UEFA Champions Leaguematch against Scottish teamCeltic.[13]However, in 2017, UEFA stated that Victoria Stadium could not be used for all of Gibraltar's representatives in the UEFA Champions League andUEFA Europa Leagueduring the 2017–18 season. This was owing to an increase in the number of Gibraltarian representatives in the competitions and due to failing a UEFA pitch inspection.[14]

The Gibraltar Football Association proposed to build theEuropa Point Stadiumto replace the Victoria Stadium as Gibraltar's national stadium.[15]Owing to opposition, the Europa Point Stadium plans were scrapped by the Government of Gibraltar. An alternative plan for replacement of Victoria Stadium was put forward for a new stadium to be built atLathbury Barrackshowever theGibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Societyopposed this citing that theMinistry of Defencewould have to give up land that had been designated by theEuropean Union Habitats Directiveas a Special Area of Conservation for the proposed site.[16]In April 2017, the Gibraltar Football Association announced its purchase of the stadium in order to redevelop it into aUEFACategory 4 stadium at a cost of £16.5 million given to the GFA by UEFA and FIFA.[5]The proposed new stadium sites at Lathbury and Europa Point would be developed into multi-sports facilities by the Government of Gibraltar.[17]The GFA announced it would invest £15 million into the stadium after purchasing it owing to grants from UEFA and FIFA.[17]As a result of the GFA's purchase of Victoria Stadium, UEFA dropped their objections to the stadium providing works to expand the stadium to 8,000 capacity were complete by 2018 then they would be permitted to use the stadium for their home games in UEFA sanctioned international competition matches.[18]In January 2018, it was announced that due to theGibraltar Music Festivalbeing held at the stadium that year, football games in August and September would be played at Lathbury Barracks.[19]

Other sports

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The ground has also hosted cricket matches since 1993. Victoria Stadium hosted its first cricket match whenMarylebone Cricket Clubvisited Gibraltar in 1993 betweenGibraltarand the MCC.[20]It has also been used by theGibraltar national rugby union team.[21]Victoria Stadium has anOlympicstandard 400-metre-six lane athletics track surrounding it and is used to host athletics meets.[22][23]In 2019, following the redevelopments, Victoria Stadium was used as the main stadium as Gibraltar host the2019 Island Games.[24]Since 2013, the stadium has annually hosted the Gibraltar Darts Trophy as part of thePDC'sEuropean Tour.

See also

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References

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  1. ^abcd"A rock in defence".The Slow Journalism Magazine. 5 October 2016.Retrieved19 April2017.
  2. ^Maya Mahadevan (21 August 2016)."20 most beautiful football stadiums in the world".Yahoo News.Retrieved19 April2017.
  3. ^Colonial Office (1972).Gibraltar: Report.HM Stationery Office. pp. 34–37.
  4. ^"International standard facilities promised for Victoria Stadium".Panorama.Retrieved19 April2017.
  5. ^ab"Gibraltar to host international matches on home soil by 2018".Daily Times.Agence France-Presse. 21 March 2016.Retrieved19 April2017.
  6. ^Mulligan, Richard (24 March 2023)."Gibraltar's new stadium backed by planning commission".Portugal Resident.Retrieved29 March2023.
  7. ^Bruxo, Michael (13 October 2022)."Gibraltar to play Euro 2024 home matches in Faro".Portugal Resident.Retrieved14 October2022.
  8. ^20 Jun (20 June 2016)."Celtic's Champions League opener 'will not worry Brendan Rodgers'".BBC Sport.Retrieved19 April2017.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^"Lincoln Wins Rock Cup".Your Gibraltar TV. 12 May 2014.Retrieved22 April2017.
  10. ^ab"Six things you didn't know about Gibraltar's national football team".Metro. 19 November 2013.Retrieved19 April2017.
  11. ^"GSD's stadium plan was 'worst possible bargain' for Gib, Picardo says".Gibraltar Chronicle.Retrieved13 May2017.
  12. ^"Gibraltar FA Welcomes Victoria Stadium Upgrades But Stresses Improvements Won't Turn It into A Cat 3 Venue".Your Gibraltar TV. 25 April 2014.Retrieved19 April2017.
  13. ^"Celtic to receive 960 tickets as Red Imps clash stays in Gibraltar".STV. 7 July 2016.Retrieved19 April2017.
  14. ^Duggan, Joe (13 April 2017)."UEFA bans Gibraltar football teams from playing European ties at Victoria Stadium".Gibraltar News Olive Press.Retrieved19 April2017.
  15. ^Doyle, Paul (23 May 2013)."Gibraltar set to be new kids on the Rock as Uefa votes on its future".The Guardian.London.Retrieved24 May2013.
  16. ^"GONHS expresses concern over Lathbury Barracks stadium".GBC. 22 May 2016.Retrieved13 May2017.
  17. ^ab"Gibraltar Football Association to purchase Victoria Stadium to develop as national stadium".GBC. 20 March 2017.Retrieved19 April2017.
  18. ^"Gibraltar to 'come home' with 8,000-seater stadium deal".Sky Sports.Retrieved19 April2017.
  19. ^Ignacio, Stephen (17 January 2018)."GFA and Govt set to finalise agreement on Victoria Stadium soon".Gibraltar Chronicle.Archived fromthe originalon 17 October 2018.Retrieved18 October2022.
  20. ^"Marylebone Cricket Club in Gibraltar 1993–94".Cricket Archive.Retrieved19 April2017.(subscription required)
  21. ^"Gibraltar v Finland; Victoria Stadium; Gibraltar 22–17 Finland".Gibraltar Chronicle.Retrieved19 April2017.
  22. ^wladmin (3 November 2015)."Victoria Stadium – Gibraltar".White Line Services.Retrieved22 April2017.
  23. ^"Summer athletics at Victoria Stadium".Gibraltar Chronicle.Retrieved22 April2017.
  24. ^"Stadium sale triggers 'unprecedented' investment in sport".Gibraltar Chronicle.Retrieved19 April2017.
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