FC Bruno's Magpies, also known as FCB Magpies, is a semi-professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team from

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

. 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 association football, football competition, and is organised annually by the Gibraltar Football Association (GFA). From 1894/95 Gibraltar's Cup Competition was known as "The Senior Merchant's Cup". In 1935 ...

History

The club was formed in 2013, 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 an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

. 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 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 Gibraltar Premier Division ...

. 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 language, Spanish and Llanito: Punta de Europa or Punta Europa), is the southernmost point of Gibraltar (the southernmost point of the Iberian Peninsula being Punta de Tarifa 25 km southwest of Gibraltar). At the end of ...

. In October 2016, the club appointed Davie Wilson as manager, who has previously been assistant-manager the

Gibraltar national football team The Gibraltar national football team represents Gibraltar in international football competitions, and is controlled by the Gibraltar Football Association. Gibraltar applied for full UEFA membership and was accepted by the UEFA Congress in May ...

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 19 ...

side

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

. 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. 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 borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

chairman and British Olympian Haig Oundjian 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. However, on 17 May 2023, Rooney announced his departure from the club, only to return as manager on 1 September. On 18 July 2024, Bruno's Magpies, knocked

Derry City Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

out of the UEFA Conference League qualifying rounds.

Current squad

First team

''As of 25 July 2024.First Team Squad
Bruno's Magpies. Retrieved 10 July 2022.

Out on loan

Intermediate team

Players registered to play in the

Gibraltar Intermediate League The Gibraltar Intermediate League is a semi-professional football league administered by the Gibraltar Football Association, launched in June 2018 as a replacement for the Gibraltar Reserves Division and the Under 18 Division in an effort to im ...

. First team players over the age of 23 may sometimes play in games.

Club staff

Honours

: 1 ::

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 b ...

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 b ...

* Second Division Cup: 1 :: 2018–19

Club achievements

*Best league finish – 3rd,

European record

:''Accurate as of match played 1 August 2024'' 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