Stuck in a queue, the traffic halted — deliberately, they suspected — Gibraltar’s players stepped off their team bus and traipsed towards the Spanish border on foot, lugging kitbags, balls and luggage; a sticky, if appropriate, start to life as a footballing nation.
Nothing has been easy for them and, given their size and status, nothing ever will, but Scott Wiseman can chuckle. “We’re our own country and there isn’t anything Spain can do about it,” he says.
Theirs is an unlikely story, but laughter and tears have featured prominently. An application for full Uefa membership was accepted last year, making them and their 30,000 population the smallest territory under the governing body’s jurisdiction.
Tomorrow they play a European Championship fixture against Poland, and Scotland, Ireland and Georgia are also in their group. So, too, are Germany, the world champions.
Their debut friendly fixture, a goalless draw with Slovakia last November, was played in Faro, Portugal, where home games will continue to be staged while a stadium, complete with the Rock’s only grass pitch, is constructed.
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“It took me by surprise,” Wiseman, the Preston North End defender, says. “I didn’t realise how emotional it was going to be for the country. For me to be a part of that was very special.
“I was looking around and people were in floods of tears during the national anthem. It brought it home how much it meant to everybody. I’d gone into it a bit naive, but I didn’t realise the struggles they’ve gone through. The release of emotion was incredible and the celebrations after our draw were immense. There was such pride. Unbelievable.
“It was strange, because until then I didn’t have an emotional connection to the country, but it gave me that. The UK-based players needed to have that, to realise what it was all about. We have been made to feel so welcome. It feels like a huge part of me now. It’s a second chance. I didn’t think I’d ever get a chance like this again.”
Simply reaching Faro had been challenging. “Getting the football team was really important to Gibraltar in terms of confirming their identity,” Wiseman says. “It meant they were on the map, that it wasn’t just a little place next to Spain or a bit of land that belonged to the UK. The fact Spain have kicked off about it has made them even more proud and determined and Portugal coming to their aid is even more fantastic.
“Spain complained about Uefa giving us recognition. They complain about everything to do with Gibraltar. They slowed the border crossing down when we left for the Slovakia game. We were on a coach and had to get off, walk across with all our bags because the backlog was too much, so it was easier to walk through one by one. It is what it is. They refused to play us in the Euros.”
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Wiseman is the only serving Football League player in Allen Bula’s squad — Danny Higginbotham, Bula’s nephew, retired this year — and his attachment to Gibraltar, which was ceded to Britain in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, is not one of convenience. Ken, his grandfather, was stationed there with the navy and Michelle, his mother, was born there.
“I’ve only been once or twice, but my mum and grandad go back regularly,” Wiseman says. “It’s exciting for them to see me playing for a place that means so much to them. I’ve not had a good look around, but I’ve wandered through the town and it’s really nice. The people are fantastic. When I walked through the town centre, everybody immediately knew who I was because I’d been on the back page of the paper once.”
In their five matches, Gibraltar have beaten Malta, drawn with Slovakia and Estonia and lost to Estonia and the Faroe Islands. “We’re not pushovers,” Wiseman says. “We’re not going to be anybody’s whipping boys, we’re not going to be like San Marino. The lads are at a good standard. I don’t expect to get absolutely tonked.” Wiseman, 28, admitted that Gibraltar has “reinvigorated me”. He made three appearances for England’s under-20 team — playing alongside Tom Huddlestone, Steven Taylor and Wayne Routledge — but “long ago lost aspirations of playing international football”. After breaking into the Hull City side, he moved to Boston United, Rotherham United, Darlington, Rochdale and Barnsley.
He has begun his coaching badges but recently established his own business. “It’s a finance company that does mortgages, loans, car leasing and investments, and we mainly speak to sportsmen,” Wiseman says.
“I knew I had to do something after football because I was never going to earn enough money to retire at 35. It isn’t there in the lower leagues — young players need to learn it’s not all rosy.”
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Compared with most of his Gibraltar team-mates, Wiseman leads a gilded existence. “The guys work full-time jobs and then meet for training at night, but there’s one artificial pitch out there and all the clubs are fighting for it,” he says. “It’s a case of having to wait your turn to get an hour on the pitch or running up the Rock to try and keep fit.
“It’s sobering, the struggle they have. They don’t get paid for it. Frightening, really. It’s them I’m happy for.”