Calls for ‘Stand by me’

It was quite appropriate under an early morning sun (10am) that young Matt Caffer, one of Gibraltar’s goalkeepers sung “stand by me” to someone over a phone as he walked to the changing rooms.
The young keeper had, along with the rest of the national squad completed what was probably their last training session before the match against Macedonia today. Anthony Bardon, another of the young players expressed the mood of the squad as he turned and said “ready to rock and roll.”
Today Gibraltar plays it’s first official competitive match on home soil.
After decades battling the politics which prevented Gibraltarian players from competing in official competitive international matches. After years playing all it’s official home matches in Faro, Portugal, some 400km away, Gibraltar was bringing football home. The flags flying across the stadium not only highlighted that the Nations League had arrived, but also that football was “coming home.” … FULL STORY IN OUR PRINT AND E-EDITIONS