The Gibraltar Football Association (GFA) was formed as the Gibraltar Civilian Football Association in 1895, changing to its current name in later years. It is one of the oldest football associations in the world. Image File history File links Gfatotal. ... Year 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The Federation of International Football Associations(French: Fédération Internationale de Football Association), commonly known by its acroymn, FIFA, is the international governing body of association football. ... The Union of European Football Associations, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... Year 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

The GFA was formed as an increasing number of football clubs were coming into existence in Gibraltar, and the association was designed to bring some form of organisation to the game there. Between the association's formation and 1907 the only football competition in Gibraltar was the Merchant's Cup. However, in 1907 the GFA established a league to complement the existing cup competition. Football (soccer) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Year 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The Gibraltarian Football League was established by the Gibraltar Football Association (GFA) in 1905. ...

By 1901 the GFA had established a representative "national" team, competing against military teams. This representative team continued to play down the years, their highlight probably being a draw against Real Madrid in 1949. 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Real Madrid Club de Fútbol is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ...

The GFA affiliated with The Football Association in 1909, but is currently trying to become a full member of UEFA so that its national team can compete in the European Football Championship and the Football World Cup. This attempt has met with the fierce opposition of the Spanish Football Federation. The Football Association (The FA) is the governing body of football in England and the Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. ... 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... The Union of European Football Associations, almost always referred to by the acronym UEFA (pronounced (you-AY-fuh) or (oo-Ay-fuh) or ), is the administrative and controlling body for European football. ... First international Sevilla FC 2 - 0 Gibraltar (Spain; 15 April 1923) not FIFA regulated Biggest win Gibraltar 19 - 0 Sark (Guernsey, Channel Islands; 29 June 2003) not FIFA regulated Biggest defeat Sevilla FC 5 - 0 Gibraltar (Spain; 18 April 1923) not FIFA regulated Greenland 5 - 0 Gibraltar (Isle of Wight... The UEFA European Championship is the main football competition of the mens national football teams governed by the UEFA. Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the European Nations Cup, changing to the name European Football Championship... The FIFA World Cup Trophy, which has been awarded to the world champions since 1974. ... Categories: Football (soccer) stubs | Football (soccer) governing bodies | Spanish football ...

In August 2006, the world's highest sporting court (CAS) ruled that Gibraltar had to be allowed as a full UEFA and FIFA member. No protest was possible against this decision, which meant that Gibraltar was now likely to join UEFA. It should be noted that current FIFA and UEFA members include several federations which cannot be said to represent independent nations, such as Puerto Rico, Chinese Taipei (which is only recognized by 25 countries and not by the United Nations), and the Faroe Islands. French Guiana and Guadeloupe each have national teams which, despite not being FIFA members, are allowed to compete at the CONCACAF confederation level. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; Tribunal Arbitral du Sport or TAS in French) is an arbitration body set up to settle disputes related to sports. ... CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) is the continent-wide governing body for association football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean. ...

On 8th December 2006, it was announced that Gibraltar had become a provisional member of UEFA. On the 26th of January 2007 in the UEFA Congress held in Dusseldorf, Germany, Gibraltar's application to become a full member of UEFA was rejected, 45 votes against to 3 votes in favour. The 3 favourable votes came from England, Scotland and Wales. (4 votes were undecided).^[1] Düsseldorf in Germany The Düsseldorf Coat of Arms Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. ...

This was after intense lobbying of the member nations by the Spanish Football Federation president Angel Maria Villar to vote against the inclusion of Gibraltar on the grounds that the Spanish government claimed Gibraltar as Spanish. He admitted it was a political issue and referred to the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713. It is expected that Gibraltar will resort to further legal action to try and put right what it sees as an injustice. The Royal Spanish Football Federation (Spanish: , RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. ... A map depicting the major changes in Western Europes borders as a result of the Treaties of Utrecht and Rastatt. ...

References

January 27 is the 27th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...

External links

• GFA Website
• Website campaigning for GFA to become full UEFA and FIFA member
• Sportgibraltar with references to Herald Tribune etc.
• Sportgibraltar with references to Gibraltar Chronicle
• Spanish Football Federation interfering at UEFA
• BBC report on entry to UEFA
• BBC report on GFA's provisional status entry UEFA