The club in the shadow of the rock
Many visit Real Balompedica Linense for the stunning setting but there is so much more to this club.
You walk through the turnstiles and you just can’t help yourself, you reach for your phone and have to take a photo of the rock and the stadium.
For the uninitiated the turnstile is that of Real Balompedica Linense the fourth tier side who’s ground sits in the shadow of the rock of Gibraltar. The ground is a must for groundhoppers who want to capture that view but look beyond the rock and there is so much more to this club.
Many almost see visiting the ground as a right of passage on their groundhopping adventures and every other Sunday you can see people posting about their visit to Linense.
While the area is divided due to Gibraltar being a British overseas territory Linense since their inception in 1912 have always brought together both Spanish and Gibraltarians not to mention the ex-pat community who work in the Gambling industry in Gibraltar.
The club have spent the majority of their history in the fourth tier of Spanish football albeit they had six seasons in Segunda in the 50s. They have a loyal and passionate fanbase with the Preferencia stand being like a chicken run for the match officials and away team.
Linense are set in the city of La Linea which has a notorious reputation as the narco capital of Europe. The final frontier before Gibraltar and ultimately Africa in the shape of Morocco the city became a haven for smugglers firstly from Gibraltar and then from Morocco with drugs smuggling rampant.
La Linea suffered not only in terms of reputation but in funding and it felt like the town Spain forgot as it was left to ruin and to the control of the drug lords. There was no better representation of that than the Estadio Municipal Ciudad de La Linea. Built in 1969 after the closure of the border with Gibraltar under Franco, over the years the stadium started to show it’s age and while still charming and beautiful it needed much like the city reinvestment.
(Estadio Municipal Ciudad de La Linea in 2020)
The city though has seen better times of late with popular local mayor Juan Franco bringing a focus on the cities struggles and slowly rebuilding and working with Gibraltar to create a better environment following disputes post Brexit. The club also saw changes with the stadium being earmarked for redevelopment as part of the mayors work to restore the reputation of the city.
The work to redevelop the stadium was done stand by stand and has seen the stadium completely revamped and modernised while keeping the charm and most importantly for visitors the stunning views of the rock.
Linense meanwhile have dropped down to Segunda RFEF after a decade plus spent in the various guises of the third tier of Spanish football. As can often happen with so much focus on the infrastructure the sporting side of the club struggled and with a change of ownership from an Italian agent to local businessmen the sporting side took a backseat and was relegated.
With Gibraltar and Spain thrashing out the framework of a post-Brexit agreement in terms of the border Linense is something that people find unity on both sides of the border. Having stayed in Gibraltar the amount of people making the walk over the runway on Sunday morning like myself and heading to the game was a pleasant surprise.
Linense tracksuits were in popular demand on both sides of the border heading to the game in a sign of the potential the club has. The main Peña for foreign or Guiris as their known in Spain for fans of Linense is Pichigüey. The name comes from Balona fans chanting Prince of Wales based on a popular club in Gibraltar and the name grew arms and legs with the Spanish pronunciation even though in reality Pichiguey isn’t just for the Guiris or even created by foreign fans as is commonly thought.
The ultras can often be heard chanting “Pichigüey” at matches with the Peña returning the chant. The influence of the ex-pat community in the Costa del Sol but also the influence of the border with Gibraltar is visible everywhere once you start looking.
This season’s top scorer is ex Malaga and Racing Santander hitman Jack Harper who grew up in Fuengirola to Scottish parents. Linense’s usual left back is Connor Ruane who was born in Manchester but grew up in Spain. Plenty of English can be heard spoken in the stands during the games,
Things work better in this part of Southern Spain when there is true collaboration between Gibraltar and Spain. A prime example of this is local boy done good Stoichkov who currently plays for Alaves.
The number 10 grew up in San Roque a town next to La Linea, his football education saw him take in spells at San Roque and Europa in Gibraltar before his breakthrough season at Linense which saw him earn a move to Mallorca.
This is not to say the relationship is one sided either nine players who were in the most recent Gibraltar squad for their Nations League qualifiers have spent time plying their trade in Spain including captain Liam Walker who had two spells at Linense and Joseph Chipolina who played over 100 times for Linense and has been capped 61 times.
The border matters here, more than most can imagine, 15,000 cross-frontier workers make the commute into Gibraltar from Spain daily and the any delays or extra checks can cause chaos. Since Brexit the amount of Gibraltarians able to cross has reduced significantly and it’s no coincidence the amount of Gibraltarians plying their trade in Spain has diminished.
The next generation of players coming through will find it more difficult to make the move over to Linense albeit now Gibraltar is part of FIFA and UEFA the pull of playing in European competitions has also helped stem the flow of players moving over the border to play for Linense.
With a new stadium, a link to the Marbella Football Center and a good and loyal fanbase plus a city that is starting to reap the benefit of years of trying to rehabilitate it’s reputation it feels like the future is bright for Linense.
There is so much more to this club that lives in the shadow of the rock.