It was big night for Damien Duff's Shelbourne as they drew St Joseph's 1-1 in the second leg of their Europa Conference League first round qualifier tonight, and advanced to the second round of the competition 3-2 on aggregate.
However the fixture did not pass not without controversy.
The Gibraltar Broadcasting Company - the Rock's national broadcaster - shared a video to their Twitter account claiming Shelbourne fans were chanting 'Gibraltar Es Español'.
Irish fans take on the “Gibraltar es Español” chant at St Joseph's vs Shelbourne FC on the Rock.
The game ended in a 1-1 draw, with St Joseph's out of the UEFA Conference League Qualifiers. pic.twitter.com/1nMYULsIEI— GBC News (@GBCNewsroom) July 18, 2024
It was the same chant that caused ructions this week when performed by Euro 2024 player of the tournament Rodri before tens of thousands of people at Spain's victory homecoming in Madrid.
Rodri: “¡Es español, Gibraltar es español!”.
Morata: “Que tú juegas en Inglaterra, socio”.
Rodri: “Me da igual”.
HONOR🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/M3ttgub3zl— Unai Cano (@unaicano10) July 15, 2024
GBC's report includes a quote from a representative of the Gibraltar Federation Association who said they were 'appalled but not surprised' by the chant from Shels supporter section tonight.
The same representative blamed the incident on the "unacceptable and obnoxious effect of what happened on Monday in Madrid."
GBC also approached the UEFA delegate about the chanting but he refused to comment.
Gibraltar remains a British overseas territory and has been in British possession since 1713 despite sitting at the southern tip of Spain. Gibraltar's government said it was deeply offended by the chanting from Rodri on Monday night, and the Gibraltar FA has vowed to write to UEFA about it.
“This is a totally unnecessary mixing of a great sporting success with discriminatory political statements that are hugely offensive to Gibraltarians," the government said.
Shelbourne celebrate
There were brilliant scenes at fulltime as Shelbourne marked their return to European football after 18 years away in emphatic fashion.
The Reds in Europe 🇪🇺 pic.twitter.com/QO2GocXM2X
— Shelbourne FC (@shelsfc) July 18, 2024
Sam Bone's goal in the thirty-fourth minute ultimately saw Shels over the line in a match that finished one-all. Each team received a straight red card during second half injury time, and Sean Gannon's dismissal will rule him out of their next European fixture.
The reward for Shelbourne is a meeting with FC Zurich in the second round.
