Football Club Magpies, also known as FC Magpies, is a semi-professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team from

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. They play in the

Gibraltar Football League The Gibraltar Football League is the only senior tier of association football in Gibraltar, founded in 2019 as the Gibraltar National League after a merger of the Gibraltar Premier Division, which served as the top division of football on the R ...

and the

Rock Cup The Rock Cup is Gibraltar's premier cup football competition, and is organized annually by the Gibraltar Football Association (GFA). From 1894/95 Gibraltar's Cup Competition was known as "The Senior Merchant's Cup". In 1935 a new trophy was prese ...

. From 1 June 2025, Calpe City became part of the club, following a merger with Calpe City, with the

new club The New Club is a private social club in the New Town, Edinburgh, New Town area of Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded in 1787, it is Scotland's oldest club. The club occupied premises on St Andrew Square from 1809 until 1837, when it moved to purpo ...

commencing play in the 2026–27 season.

History

The club was formed in 2013 as Football Club Bruno's Magpies, initially as a group of friends who drank at the Bruno's Bar & Restaurant (a bar in

). The club derive their nickname ''The Magpies'' from

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

. In its first two seasons, the club achieved respectable mid-table finishes in the

Gibraltar Second Division The Gibraltar Second Division was the second tier of association football, football in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, run by the Gibraltar Football Association (GFA). The league was founded in 1909 after the expansion of the Gibra ...

. Mick Embleton was appointed the first manager of the team and was instrumental in the initial setting up, organising and managing of the squad. With the introduction of Chestertons, a Gibraltarian real estate agent, as the sponsor in 2015–16, the intent grew more serious, with moves to professionalise the club and establish a fanbase with the introduction of matchday programs and incentives for fans who attended games. The club finished fourth in that season and were the runners-up in the Second Division Cup, losing in extra time to Second Division champions

Europa Point Europa Point ( Spanish and Llanito: Punta de Europa or Punta Europa) is the southernmost point of Gibraltar. Although not the southernmost point of the Iberian Peninsula, Europa Point defines the boundary between the Straits of Gibraltar in th ...

. In October 2016, the club appointed

Davie Wilson David Wilson (10 January 1937 – 13 June 2022)Gibraltar national football team The Gibraltar national football team represents Gibraltar in men's international football competitions, and is controlled by the Gibraltar Football Association. Gibraltar applied for full Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) membersh ...

and had recently departed

Gibraltar Premier Division The Gibraltar Premier Division was a football league established by the Gibraltar Football Association (GFA) in 1905, and the top tier of football in Gibraltar. It originally contained eight member clubs, but it has grown over the years. In 1 ...

side

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is se ...

. The club enjoyed a dominant start to the campaign, however a faltering winter saw them embroiled in a title race with the resurgent Gibraltar Phoenix. Ending the season in second place, they entered the play-off with Manchester 62, who finished 9th in the

2016–17 Gibraltar Premier Division The 2016–17 Gibraltar Premier Division (known as the Argus Insurance Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) was the 118th season of the national amateur and semi-professional football league in Gibraltar since its establishment - the highest ...

. However, a 3–1 defeat ensured that The Magpies remained in the Second Division for the following season. In August 2017, the club announced a new sponsorship deal with

GVC Holdings Entain plc, formerly GVC Holdings, is an international sports betting and gambling company. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It owns brands such as bwin, Coral, Ladbrokes, PartyPoker, and Spo ...

. The side finished 3rd in the league that season, however, in May 2019 they completed a league and cup double, securing the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

title while also winning the Second Division Cup. After the season concluded, the club announced that former

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

chairman and British Olympian

Haig Oundjian Haig Bertrand Oundjian (born 16 May 1949) is an English former figure skater. He is the 1971 European bronze medalist and a three-time British national champion. He competed at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, placing 17th, and at the 1972 ...

had purchased a stake in the club and become co-chairman with Louis Perry. The appointment of Nathan Rooney midway through the 2021–22 season saw a significant upturn in Magpies' fortunes in the league, with a 4th-place finish and a first

final. The next season, along with an overhaul of the club's image, saw more improvement, with a 3rd-place finish and victory in the

2022–23 Rock Cup The 2022–23 Rock Cup was a single-leg knockout tournament contested by clubs from Gibraltar, with twelve clubs participating. Lincoln Red Imps were the two-time defending champions, having defeated Bruno's Magpies in the final last season. T ...

. However, on 17 May 2023, Rooney announced his departure from the club, only to return as manager on 1 September. During this time, the club rebranded as FCB Magpies. A third place finish followed ensuring another season of European football. On 18 July 2024, Magpies knocked Derry City out of the UEFA Conference League qualifying rounds, but were then themselves knocked out in the next round by

F.C. Copenhagen Football Club Copenhagen (, ), commonly known as F.C. København, F.C. Copenhagen, Copenhagen, or simply FCK, is a Danish professional football club based in Copenhagen. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on top of Kjøbenhavns Boldklub ...

after losing 8–1 on aggregate. On 6 April 2025, after securing their second

victory against Lions Gibraltar the week prior, the club announced a merger with youth club Calpe City FC, with the new entity, Calpe City Magpies, officially launching on 1 June 2025. This launch was delayed by a year in June, however, meaning that the club would continue to operate as FCB Magpies for one more season, in order to allow the club to compete in UEFA competitions.

Current squad

First team

''As of 18 August 2024.''First Team Squad
Bruno's Magpies. Retrieved 10 July 2022.

Club staff

Honours

: 2 ::

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, 2024–25 *

Pepe Reyes Cup The Pepe Reyes Cup is the Gibraltarian football super cup, contested by the winners of the Gibraltar Football League and the Rock Cup at the Victoria Stadium. In the event that a team wins both the GFL and the Rock Cup, the GFL runners up will fa ...

: 1 :: 2023 *GFA Challenge Trophy: 1 ::

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

: 1 :: 2018–19 * Second Division Cup: 1 :: 2018–19

Club achievements

*Best league finish – 3rd,

, 2023–24 *Biggest win – 17–0 vs Hound Dogs, 15 February 2025

European record

:''Accurate as of match played 17 July 2025'' Legend: GF = Goals For. GA = Goals Against. GD = Goal Difference. ;Notes * 1Q: First qualifying round * 2Q: Second qualifying round

References

External links

* *
Matchday programme
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruno's Magpies Football clubs in Gibraltar Gibraltar National League clubs 2013 establishments in Gibraltar Association football clubs established in 2013