Moving the Goalposts | ‘It will be magical’: Gibraltar Women ready to rock in competitive debut | OneFootball

“It’s one of those things that you don’t look back on until it’s gone,” the Gibraltar Women’s manager, Scott Wiseman, tells Moving the Goalposts. “One thing we say to the girls is to just go out there and enjoy every moment because you never know when it is going to be your last. You know when it’s your first … and you’re never going to get this moment again.”

The date of 21 February 2025 will soon be one etched into the young history of Gibraltar’s national women’s team. When the players step out on to the pitch in Moldova to begin their inaugural Women’s Nations League campaign, they will be playing in their nation’s first ever competitive women’s fixture.

For the players, past and present, it will feel like it has been a long time coming despite having played their first match – a friendly against Liechtenstein – as recently as 2021.

There have been frustrations and disappointments along the way. They have had to wait more than a decade since the men’s side were accepted into Uefa for the equivalent to happen. In 2023, the Gibraltar FA decided not to enter them into the first Nations League. The governing body stated that the decision had been made “in the interest of the long-term development of women’s football” but was met with disappointment.

Wiseman was appointed shortly after and says the players “took it on the chin” and used it in a positive way. A former Gibraltar international himself, he took on the role as women’s football development manager and head coach in May 2023 having finished his playing career in the country.

It has been a significant task to get them in a place to compete on the international stage. With a population of just under 40,000, the playing pool is narrow and there are logistical challenges in terms of recruitment. Wiseman and his team, however, have used this to their advantage.

“We’ve tried to turn the association into a kind of a football club for every girl that we had within the ranks,” he says. “We took everybody on board. We put on weekly training sessions on and off the pitch. We looked at our analysis work and psychology sessions.

“There are about 60 local or eligible women playing football in and outside of the country so we kind of know everybody,” he continues. “With regards to the local girls here, we try and work with everybody as an individual … and we really try to increase as much development as we can.”

The lack of a strong domestic league does not help, hampered in part by the understandable growing ambitions of players who tend to look to Spain where they can access more training and competition. The development of the league is a continuing priority supported by increased Uefa funding.

The news that they would be participating in the second edition of the Nations League came as a bit of surprise in terms of timing but was welcomed. “Arianne [Risso], the women’s development officer, called me and said: ‘You’re not going to believe it, but it starts in February,’” Wiseman recalls. “As you can imagine, everyone was messaging and the excitement just skyrocketed.”

They will face Moldova, the Faroe Islands and Slovakia, and preparations have been going “really well” according to their manager. With only a handful of international friendlies, they have had to “think outside the box” in relation to fixtures and Wiseman has taken his young side on “experience trips” that will help them in the long-term. Last year they visited St George’s Park, where they met England’s Lionesses before playing Wolves in a friendly. This year, they have played Tottenham, Hearts, Brighton and most recently Twente in the Netherlands and the German side SpVgg Vreden, as well as double-headers with Liechtenstein and Andorra.

“It’ll be fantastically tough for us,” Wiseman states. “We’ve always tried to play teams who are far above where we are in our development stage so that when we do come to those games, we’re a bit more prepared, especially mentally. Tactically, we are fine. We just lack that international game experience that comes over time.

“There’s a lot of self-belief. When I came in, there wasn’t much. That’s one of the things that we’ve been trying to build up and we’re really starting to see that. Our performances are a lot more consistent; our stats are a lot higher. We’re getting closer with the results, especially considering the opposition that we’re playing against.”

After their opener away, Gibraltar will then host the Faroes in what will be a memorable occasion at the Europa Point Stadium. “The men have moved away to play in Portugal so we’re actually going to have it on home soil in front of friends and family,” Wiseman says. “It will be on TV for the first time. It’s the first time the players will experience all these things. It is going to be a massive and magical moment for them. It’s my job to keep their feet on the ground and make sure that we do a job on the pitch.

“We know that excitement can actually have a negative effect. It’s just about controlling that especially over the first few rounds. When we get to the next campaign, I think that’s where we’ll really start to see the benefits.”

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Header image: [Photograph: Sipa US/Alamy]