[FM2017] Gibraltar National Team - Rock On

[Clyde1998]

Epilogue: Starting Up

 

The Set-Up

I loaded all of the English, Scottish, Irish, Northern Irish and Gibraltarian leagues and the top flights of France, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Turkey and Wales in a large database, plus all of the current continental reputation players in each continent and all international players. This means that there are roughly 84,000 players in-game at the start. I have no managerial qualifications and have Sunday League experience set. I have Scottish first nationality and English second nationality.

Initial Expectations

Football Manager 2017 is the first game to include Gibraltar as a FIFA member and, thus, Gibraltar are able to take part in FIFA competitions for the first time. The GFA don't have any expectations at the start of the game, with Gibraltar in a World Cup Qualifying group with Belgium, Bosnia, Cyprus, Estonia and Greece, Realistically, only Cyprus and Estonia are sides that I feel I can get any points off in this group.

Background

While Gibraltar are one of the smallest countries in world football, they benefit from having strong a footballing history. The Gibraltar FA was set up in 1895 and became affiliated to the English FA in 1909, meaning that the British Overseas Territory did not have its own national team in the traditional sense. They played against British Military teams, due to there being British bases in Gibraltar. In 1896, the first major tournament for Gibraltarian clubs played out its first season, the Merchants Cup was won by Gibraltar FC. In 1907, the Gibraltar Football League was set up, with military side Prince of Wales winning the first season.

In 1997, following a number of other small European nations joining FIFA, such as San Marino and the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar applied to join themselves. In 2000, UEFA and FIFA conducted a review of Gibraltar's facilities, but in 2001 UEFA changed the requirements to join the organisation, following pressure from Spain. This meant that all applicants must be members of the United Nations - ruling Gibraltar out. Gibraltar was finally admitted to UEFA in 2013, following a number of legal cases, and they took part in the Euro 2016 qualification process - losing all their matches. The GFA became members of FIFA in 2016, allowing them to be added to the European section of the World Cup qualifiers.

The strongest two Gibraltarian clubs are Lincoln and Europa, both of which are the only two professional clubs in the country. Lincoln have won the league for the previous fourteen seasons, while Europa have finished second in the previous two. The Gibraltarian league is full of foreign players, particularly Spanish ones, meaning that a large number of the league's best players aren't eligible for the national team.

Long Term Goals

• Win a match
• Win a qualifying match
• Reach a qualifying play-off
• Qualify for a major finals
• Win a major finals

Initial Squad

The Gibraltar national team starts with a huge range of quality across the squad. The standout players are attacking midfielder Liam Walker, who used to play for Portsmouth, right-back Scott Wiseman, who's at Scunthrope, and goalkeeper Jordan Perez. The most concerning attribute in the squad is the age, with eleven players being over twenty-seven and five over thirty - most of the squads best players are the oldest. The players coming through don't have the potential the replace the better players in the country, although regens may balance this out over time. Most of the side is on a professional contract, which gives Gibraltar a great advantage to other small nations that don't have many professional players in their squads.

Fixtures

The first game that is scheduled is a friendly against Cyprus, who feature in my group, before a trip to Greece.

 

 

[K Sherlock]

Without manage a club in country i think this is impossible mate...

[Clyde1998]

6 hours ago, K Sherlock said:

Without manage a club in country i think this is impossible mate...

It's an added challenge, I guess. The one draw back that I find with Gibraltarian clubs is that you can't gain any additional European places - as Gibraltar has fixed places, so there's no real challenge in terms of improving the league. That was the main reason that I didn't manage a club as well.

[Sheriff7]

On 2/2/2017 at 00:59, Clyde1998 said:

It's an added challenge, I guess. The one draw back that I find with Gibraltarian clubs is that you can't gain any additional European places - as Gibraltar has fixed places, so there's no real challenge in terms of improving the league. That was the main reason that I didn't manage a club as well.

So did you play any game??

[Jimbokav1971]

I will be back managing in (GIB) when UEFA sort out what is going on with the coefficients and the allocation of fluid competition places. 

While I wish you good luck @Clyde1998, I fear you will soon grow tired of making little or no long-term progress because ultimately there is absolutely nothing in your power that can result in an improved level of (GIB) player being produced. Even with the restrictive static competitions places, you could still improve things managing a club, but Managing just the NT will see the situation exactly the same in 100 years as it is now.