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Lincoln Red Imps F.C.

Football club in Gibraltar

Lincoln Red Imps F.C.

Football club in Gibraltar

FieldValue
clubnameLincoln Red Imps
imageLincoln Red Imps FC logo.svg
image_size200px
fullnameLincoln Red Imps Football Club
foundedas Blue Batons
short nameLincoln
nicknameThe Red Imps
groundVictoria Stadium
capacity5,000
chrtitleOwner
chairmanDylan Viagas
mgrtitleHead coach
managerJuanjo Bezares
leagueGibraltar Football League
season2024–25
positionGibraltar Football League, 1st of 11 (champions)
website
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pattern_ra1_lincoln2223h
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shorts1FFFFFF
socks1FF0000
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pattern_b2_lincoln2223a
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current2025–26 Lincoln Red Imps F.C. season

Lincoln Red Imps Football Club is a professional football club from Gibraltar. They play in the Gibraltar Football League, and share Victoria Stadium with all other clubs in the territory. They are the country's record champion with 29 league titles, including fourteen consecutive titles between 2003 and 2016, and in 2014 were the first team to represent Gibraltar in the UEFA Champions League's qualifying stage. In August 2021, Lincoln became the first club from Gibraltar to ever reach the group stages of a European club competition after defeating the Latvian champions Riga FC in the play-off round of the UEFA Europa Conference League.

The club has won 7 domestic trebles and 4 doubles in its history. They hold the record for Europe's longest men's chronological unbeaten league run of 88 matches over 1,959 days from May 2009 to September 2014.

History

The football club was formed in 1976 by Charles Polson and managed by Charles Head . A group of players associated to the old Police youth team called the "Blue Batons" and complemented by players that had been released by Glacis United and St Jago's joined forces to form the first Lincoln team that played in the Gibraltar fourth division as a youth team. The team was named after Lincoln City FC, who are nicknamed the "Imps" after the legend of the Lincoln Imp. Lincoln Red Imps received their name after they were sponsored by Reg Brealey, the former Sheffield United chairman and Lincoln resident who is friends with Charles Polson.

When this Lincoln team became old enough to play Senior Football, it was decided to place the young team into the GFA second division. The team started to climb to the top in the second division in the season 1981–82 winning the league, the division cup and gaining promotion to the GFA's first division after only one season. The next year Lincoln finished in mid table in the first division. In 1983–84 Lincoln won the league and promotion to the Gibraltar Premier Division.

In 1984–85 Lincoln played their first season in the Gibraltar Premier Division in which they were joint champions with Glacis United – the first of seven league titles which were won between 1984 and 1994.

Lincoln won 14 Gibraltar Premier Division titles in a row from 2003 to 2016, bettering the previous record of nine in a row held by Glacis United in the 1960s. They also won the national treble of League, Rock Cup and Senior Cup in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2011.

In 2014, after Gibraltar had joined UEFA as the 54th member, Lincoln became the first Gibraltarian team to play in the qualifying stages of the UEFA Champions League. After claiming a 1–1 draw in the home match, they lost 5–2 at Faroese team HB and were eliminated in the first qualifying round.

File:Lincoln Red Imps squad, May 2014.jpg|Lincoln Red Imps squad in May 2014 File:Michel Platini with Lincoln Red Imps, 2014.jpg|UEFA President Michel Platini at the 2014 Rock Cup presentation File:Lincoln Red Imps Captain Lifting 2014 Rock Cup from Michel Platini.jpg|Lincoln Red Imps Captain lifting 2014 Rock Cup from Platini File:Lincoln Red Imps players with trophies, 2014.jpg|Lincoln Red Imps players with 2014 silverware File:Joseph Chipolina holding plaque, 2014.jpg|Joseph Chipolina holding plaque commemorating club's Rock Cup victory

Lincoln won both the 2015 Rock Cup with a 4–1 victory over Lynx F.C. and the 2014–15 Gibraltar Premier Division championship by 16 points, again playing in the qualification stages for the UEFA Champions League for with their second straight double. In the First Qualifying Round Lincoln were drawn against FC Santa Coloma of Andorra. After a scoreless draw in the first leg in Gibraltar, the club earned a 2–1 victory at the Estadi Comunal d'Andorra la Vella to advance to the Second Qualifying Round with goals coming from Anthony Bardon and Lee Casciaro. With the victory, Lincoln became the first club from Gibraltar to reach the second round of UEFA Champions League qualification, setting up an encounter with 2015 Danish champions FC Midtjylland, which Lincoln Red Imps lost on aggregate 0–3.

In 2016 Lincoln pulled off a surprise victory against Scottish Premiership champions Celtic, with a 1–0 victory at home after a 48th-minute strike from Lee Casciaro in the club's second round match of the UEFA Champions League qualifying stage. The match was Brendan Rodgers first competitive fixture as manager of Celtic. The Glasgow side still comfortably qualified with a 3–0 victory in the return leg at Celtic Park. It is still seen as one of Celtic's worst moments.

On 26 August 2021, Lincoln became the first team from Gibraltar to qualify for the group stage in a European Competition, as they defeated Riga FC by a score of 3–1 (4–2 aggregate) and advanced to the group stage of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League.

On 28 August 2025, Lincoln Red Imps qualified for the 2025–26 UEFA Conference League league phase after defeats in the 2025–26 UEFA Europa League play-off round to Braga, making it their second time in European group stage competition. On 23 October 2025, they made history by becoming the first team from Gibraltar to win a match in the European group stage by beating Polish champions, Lech Poznań, 2–1 at home.

Seasons (since UEFA acceptance)

SeasonDivisionLeague recordRock CupPepe Reyes
CupEuropePWDLGFGAPtsPosCompetitionResult2013–142014–152015–162016–172017–182018–192019–202020–212021–222022–232023–242024–25
Premier141130666361stWinnersRunners-up——
Premier2119118012581stWinnersWinnersChampions LeagueFirst qualifying round
Premier2725111309761stWinnersWinnersChampions LeagueSecond qualifying round
Premier27233110016722ndRunners-upRunners-upChampions LeagueSecond qualifying round
Premier2721247119651st[](2017-18-rock-cup)WinnersEuropa LeagueFirst qualifying round
Premier2721338419661st[](2019-rock-cup)Runners-upChampions LeagueEuropa LeaguePreliminary roundSecond qualifying round
National1713046815393rdAbandonedRunners-upChampions LeagueEuropa LeaguePreliminary roundSecond qualifying round
National2015326213481stWinners—Europa LeagueSecond qualifying round
National2019106517581stWinnersRunners-upChampions LeagueEuropa LeagueEuropa Conference LeagueSecond qualifying roundThird qualifying roundGroup stage
National2017126814521stRunners-upWinnersChampions LeagueEuropa Conference LeagueFirst qualifying roundSecond qualifying round
National2521228615651stWinnersRunners-upChampions LeagueEuropa Conference LeagueFirst qualifying roundThird qualifying round
National252131687661stSemi-finalsRunners-upChampions LeagueEuropa LeagueConference LeagueSecond qualifying roundThird qualifying roundPlay-off round

Stadium

Victoria Stadium

Lincoln currently plays all league games at the 2,000-seat Victoria Stadium. The club share this ground with all clubs currently participating in the Gibraltar Premier Division, as well as the Gibraltar Women's Football League, of which Lincoln also runs a team.

Due to the ground's failure to meet guidelines in the 2017–18 season, Lincoln, along with Europa and St Joseph's, were forced to play their European competition matches at the Estadio Algarve in Portugal, while improvements were carried out on Victoria Stadium.

It is expected that the ground will be renovated and expanded to a football specific stadium with a capacity of 8,000 by 2021.

Honours

Lincoln Red Imps fans at the Victoria stadium in 2014.
  • Gibraltar Premier Division & Gibraltar Football League: 29 :: 1984–85, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25
  • Rock Cup: 20 :: 1985–86, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1992–93, 1993–94, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2021, 2021–22, 2023–24
  • Pepe Reyes Cup: 13 :: 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2022, 2025
  • Gibraltar League Senior Cup: 18 :: 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14

European record

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.

Overall

CompetitionPldWDLGFGAGDOverall6515114060132–72
UEFA Champions League2993172951–22
UEFA Europa League173591535–20
UEFA Conference League2033131646–30

Matches

SeasonCompetitionRoundOpponentHomeAwayAggregateY/N2014–152015–162016–172017–182018–192019–202020–212021–222022–232023–242024–252025–26
UEFA Champions League1QFaroe Islands HB Tórshavn1–12–53–6[[File:Symbol delete vote.svg17px]]
UEFA Champions League1QAndorra Santa Coloma0–02–12–1[[File:Symbol keep vote.svg17px]]
2QDenmark Midtjylland0–20–10–3[[File:Symbol delete vote.svg17px]]
UEFA Champions League1QEstonia Flora Tallinn2–01–23–2[[File:Symbol keep vote.svg17px]]
2QScotland Celtic1–00–31–3[[File:Symbol delete vote.svg17px]]
UEFA Europa League1QCyprus AEK Larnaca1–10–51–6[[File:Symbol delete vote.svg17px]]
UEFA Champions LeaguePRSan Marino La Fiorita2–0style="text-align:center;"[[File:Symbol keep vote.svg17px]]
Kosovo Drita1–4style="text-align:center;"[[File:Symbol delete vote.svg17px]]
UEFA Europa League2QWales The New Saints1–11–22–3[[File:Symbol delete vote.svg17px]]
UEFA Champions LeaguePRKosovo Feronikeli0–1style="text-align:center;"[[File:Symbol delete vote.svg17px]]
UEFA Europa League2QArmenia Ararat-Armenia1–20–21–4[[File:Symbol delete vote.svg17px]]
UEFA Europa LeaguePRKosovo Prishtina3–0
(awd.)[[File:Symbol keep vote.svg17px]]
1QLuxembourg Union Titus Pétange2–0[[File:Symbol keep vote.svg17px]]
2QScotland Rangers0–5[[File:Symbol delete vote.svg17px]]
UEFA Champions League1QLuxembourg Fola Esch5–02–27–2[[File:Symbol keep vote.svg17px]]
2QRomania CFR Cluj1–20–21–4[[File:Symbol delete vote.svg17px]]
UEFA Europa League3QSlovakia Slovan Bratislava1–31–12–4[[File:Symbol delete vote.svg17px]]
UEFA Europa Conference LeaguePOLatvia Riga3–11–14–2[[File:Symbol keep vote.svg17px]]
GSDenmark Copenhagen0–41–34th place[[File:Symbol delete vote.svg17px]]
Greece PAOK0–20–2
Slovakia Slovan Bratislava1–40–2
UEFA Champions League1QNorth Macedonia Shkupi2–00–32–3[[File:Symbol delete vote.svg17px]]
UEFA Europa Conference League2QKazakhstan Tobol0–10–20−3[[File:Symbol delete vote.svg17px]]
UEFA Champions League1QAzerbaijan Qarabağ1–20–41–6[[File:Symbol delete vote.svg17px]]
UEFA Europa Conference League2QBye[[File:Symbol keep vote.svg17px]]
3QKOS Ballkani1–30–21–5[[File:Symbol delete vote.svg17px]]
UEFA Champions League1QMLT Ħamrun Spartans0–11–01–1 (5–4 p)[[File:Symbol keep vote.svg17px]]
2QAZE Qarabağ0–20–50–7[[File:Symbol delete vote.svg17px]]
UEFA Europa League3QBLR Dinamo Minsk2–10–22–3[[File:Symbol delete vote.svg17px]]
UEFA Conference LeaguePONIR Larne2–11–33–4[[File:Symbol delete vote.svg17px]]
UEFA Champions League1QFRO Víkingur1–03–24–2[[File:Symbol keep vote.svg17px]]
2QSRB Red Star Belgrade0–11–51–6[[File:Symbol delete vote.svg17px]]
UEFA Europa League3QARM Noah1–10–01–1 (6–5 p)[[File:Symbol keep vote.svg17px]]
POPOR Braga0–41–51–9[[File:Symbol delete vote.svg17px]]
UEFA Conference LeagueLPBIH Zrinjski Mostar0–526th place[[File:Symbol_delete_vote.svg17x17px]]
POL Lech Poznań2–1
CRO Rijeka1–1
MLT Ħamrun Spartans1–3
CZE Sigma Olomouc2–1
POL Legia Warsaw1–4

;Notes

  • PR: Preliminary round
  • 1Q: First qualifying round
  • 2Q: Second qualifying round
  • 3Q: Third qualifying round
  • PO: Play-off round
  • GS: Group stage
  • LP: League phase

Players

First team

Club staff

PositionName
Head coachESP Juanjo Bezares
Assistant coachGIB Daniel Segovia
Goalkeeper coachESP Miguel Ángel Bazán
Fitness coachESP Álvaro Echevarne Gómez
U23 Head coachGIB Ryan Casciaro
U23 Assistant coachGIB Kyle Goldwin
Head physioGIB Keith Ramirez
Team doctorESP Francisco Moya
KitmanESP Alberto Torremocha
Performance AnalystITA Diego Bartoli
Board
PresidentGIB Dylan Viagas
DirectorGIB Christian Laguea
DirectorGIB Elton Duarte
Sporting directorESP Juan José Gallardo
SecretaryGIB Michael Ruiz

Notes

References

References

  1. Brookfield, Saul. (2016-07-12). "Lincoln Red Imps, the Gibraltar part-timers who embarrassed Celtic". The Guardian.
  2. "Lincoln Red Imps".
  3. "OUR STORY SO FAR".
  4. "Where did Liverpool's run rank with greats?". BBC Sport.
  5. (2016-07-13). "Red Imps invite Gibraltarian Red Imps to celebrate victory". [[BBC]].
  6. (15 December 2021). "The story behind Gibraltarian football club Lincoln Red Imps". lincolnshirelive.
  7. (13 July 2016). "Imps invite namesakes after Celtic win". BBC News.
  8. "Club history". lincolnredimps.com.
  9. (8 July 2014). "Five-goal HB hold off Lincoln comeback". UEFA.
  10. "2015 Rock Cup Final Match Report". Gibraltar FA.
  11. "201/15 Gibraltar Premier Division". Soccerway.
  12. (June 2015). "Gibraltar double for Rock Cup winners Lincoln". UEFA.
  13. (22 June 2015). "Qualifying round draws start road to Milan". UEFA.
  14. "Red Imps vs. FC Santa Coloma Match Report 1". UEFA.
  15. "Lincoln Red Imps vs. FC Santa Coloma Match Report 2". UEFA.
  16. "Lincoln Make History!". 5point4sports.com.
  17. (12 July 2016). "Lincoln Red Imps 1 Celtic 0". BBC Sport.
  18. "Lincoln Red Imps FC vs Riga FC – Europa Conference League stats, H2H, lineups".
  19. Stephen Ignacio. (23 October 2025). "Lincoln Red Imps grab first three points in League Phase against Polish side Lech Poznan".
  20. Events, UKi Media &. (2018-06-26). "New Gibraltar national stadium plans revealed".
  21. "Gibraltar – List of Champions".
  22. "Gibraltar – List of Cup Winners".
  23. "PEPE REYES CUP". footballgibraltar.
  24. "History – Senior Cup TITLES". Lincoln Red Imps FC.
  25. (2 July 2014). "Hanssen leveller denies Lincoln dream start". [[UEFA]].
  26. [http://lincolnredimpsfc.co.uk/teams/FIRST-TEAM/Players FIRST TEAM] {{Webarchive. link. (21 June 2019 Retrieved 21 June 2019.)
  27. [http://www.lincolnredimpsfc.co.uk/teams/FIRST-TEAM First Team] {{Webarchive. link. (13 October 2020 Lincoln Red Imps FC.)
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