.jpg) Aerial view of Victoria Stadium. | |
 Interactive map of Victoria Stadium | |
| Location | Gibraltar |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 36°8′57.68″N5°21′1.23″W / 36.1493556°N 5.3503417°W /36.1493556; -5.3503417 |
| Owner | Gibraltar Football Association (2017–Present) |
| Operator | Gibraltar Sports and Leisure Authority (GSLA) |
| Capacity | 5,000 |
| Surface | Artificial turf |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1926 (British Military use only) 1970 (Incl. Civilian Use) |
| Renovated | 1991; 2024 (Expected) |
| Tenants | |
| Gibraltar national football team All Gibraltar football clubs Gibraltar national rugby union team (2013–2018) | |
Victoria Stadium is amulti-purpose stadium inGibraltar. It is currently used mostly forfootball matches, but also hosts the annualGibraltar Music Festival. It is located close toGibraltar Airport just offWinston Churchill Avenue. It was named after the wife ofGibraltarian philanthropistJohn Mackintosh.
Victoria Stadium was constructed at the foot of theRock of Gibraltar and next toGibraltar Airport in theNorth District.[1] It was first opened in 1926 as a British military sports ground.[2] In 1970, the stadium was rebuilt by theRoyal Engineers as 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 Utrecht which ceded Gibraltar to theUnited Kingdom in 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 Nations ofEngland,Wales andScotland voted in favour of them joining.[1]
Despite initial plans to replace the stadium in the 2010s, theGibraltar Football Association purchased the stadium from theGovernment of Gibraltar in April 2017 in order to improve and renovate it.[5] The redevelopment of the stadium began in 2023, with thenational team announcing they will playUEFA andFIFA games inFaro,Portugal.[6][7]
The Gibraltar national team planned to play their2022–23 UEFA Nations League relegation playoffs at Victoria Stadium, but this match was moved to theEstádio Algarve after the redevelopment of the Victoria Stadium began.
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Victoria Stadium is mostly used forassociation football matches. All clubs in theGibraltar Football League play 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 ofUEFA in May 2013, UEFA vetoed Gibraltar using Victoria Stadium as their home ground as it did not meet UEFA standards and as theGovernment of Gibraltar owned it. As a result of this lack of ownership, the Gibraltar Football Association did not have the power to improve it.[10] This was because 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 Algarve inFaro, Portugal however they were permitted to play friendly matches there.[10] The Government of Gibraltar and theChief Minister of Gibraltar,Fabian Picardo stated 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 League games with an example of this being whenLincoln Red Imps used it to host their2016–17 UEFA Champions League match 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 League during 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 Stadium to 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 Barracks however theGibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society opposed this citing that theMinistry of Defence would have to give up land that had been designated by theEuropean Union Habitats Directive as 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 aUEFA Category 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 Festival being held at the stadium that year, football games in August and September would be played at Lathbury Barracks.[19]
The ground has also hosted cricket matches since 1993. Victoria Stadium hosted its first cricket match whenMarylebone Cricket Club visited Gibraltar in 1993 betweenGibraltar and the MCC.[20] It has also been used by theGibraltar national rugby union team.[21] Victoria Stadium has anOlympic standard 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's European Tour.
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