Football has been a popular part of sport in Gibraltar since its introduction by British military personnel in the 19th century.

[1] Football was introduced to the civilian population of Gibraltar by the British Armed Forces in the late 19th century.

The military had well-established league and cup competitions before this, but local civil teams were not allowed to compete in them.

The growing success of the league and cup competitions was reflected in the increasing number of new teams that were registering with the association.

At one point there was also a Fourth Division, however this was only thought to have lasted for one season in 1996-97 Years later, the Gibraltar Civilian Football Association changed its name to the Gibraltar Football Association; it has continued to organise league competitions and promote the sport within The Rock to this day.

The highlight of their existence to date was a draw with Real Madrid CF in 1949 at a time when the Spanish club were about to enter a period of European dominance.

[3] The Gibraltar national team play their matches, as do most of the clubs in the territory, at the 5,000 capacity FIFA approved and licensed Victoria Stadium.

This immediately drew a hostile reception from the Royal Spanish Football Federation, whose government strongly opposes any suggestion that Gibraltar is in fact a separate territory and not part of Spain.

[5] Spanish authorities waged a campaign of virulent opposition to their application, causing it to be rejected by officials on the grounds that it did not meet their criteria.

UEFA awarded the GFA associate member status along with Montenegro and deferred the matter to the 2007 Congress in Düsseldorf, Germany.