Meet Jack Sergeant and Jamie Coombes, the Manchester student housemates lining up for Gibraltar
Jack Sergeant and Jamie Coombes are student housemates, living in Hulme in central Manchester. Jamie is in his final year at Manchester Metropolitan University studying business management, while Jack is in the final year of a fire and rescue management course at Blackburn College. On weekends, they play football.
So far, so normal. Except that rather than turning out for a university team, they play for West Didsbury and Chorlton in the North West Counties Premier Division, the ninth tier of the English football pyramid. Or at least, they would do, but they have spent the majority of the season on international duty, playing for Gibraltar.
Last month, Gibraltar-born-and-bred Jack and Jamie played their part in ending the British territory's long wait for a first competitive victory since being granted full Uefa recognition in 2013, beating Armenia in Yerevan. A second win, a 2-1 comeback against Liechtenstein, followed just three days later, in the shadow of Gibraltar's famous Rock.
Two wins, six points and, finally, a reward for five years of combining their studies and a semi-professional playing career with competing at the highest level. It has been a different challenge from simply getting out of bed for 9 o’clock lecture on a Monday morning or coming up against Congleton Town at 3 o’clock on a Saturday afternoon.
“The first game you play at international level is definitely a big step from local, domestic football, which is what most of us play back in Gibraltar,” Jamie says. “It's about getting used to it really, but I don't think we'll ever get used to the fact that the biggest names are out there are playing against us.”
Robert Lewandowski is perhaps the best individual player Jamie has faced thus far, in an 8-1 thrashing from Poland three years ago, while marking Toni Kroos in a 4-0 reverse against Germany sticks out in Jack’s memory. Could he, at the time playing his club football for Gibraltar’s Manchester 62, keep up with the Real Madrid midfielder? “I was trying!”, he protests.
And while internationals in the class of Lewandowski and Kroos can pick and choose their club destinations, the story of Jack and Jamie’s involvement with West Didsbury and Chorlton is slightly different. Jack approached the club himself in the summer of 2017, rather than them approaching him, and it began as a marriage of convenience.
“I was looking for a club that was near because I don't have a car or anything, I'd have to get Ubers, taxis, trains or the tram,” he explains. “They were the closest one.” Jamie followed his friend to West a year later, having just moved in with Jack, and the club were more than happy to have two internationals among their ranks.
The one downside is that their commitments with Gibraltar do not fit easily into the non-league calendar. Jamie has made only two substitute appearances for his new club while a combination on injury, international duty and paperwork issues mean Jack, named manager’s player of the year last term, is yet to play this season.
Still, the club could not be more supportive. “There are no problems whatsoever,” Jamie stresses, even though West sit second-bottom of the North West Counties. “They're always happy to let us go as it's a big opportunity for us to play for our own national team, so they'll never hold us back in that sense.”
The pair can therefore fully concentrate on the Nations League, a competition which has breathed new life into Europe’s minnows. “It's given us this opportunity to play against teams that are more at our level,” Jamie says, echoing Jack’s thoughts on the new tournament. “We're enjoying it, we're getting more football, more of the ball.”
The biggest difference, though, is winning football matches. “The changing room was blowing up,” Jamie says, thinking back to the win in Armenia. “Amazing. Very emotional,” Jack recalls. “We knew sooner or later we were going to get something because we'd been working hard towards it.”
The victory came that little bit easier, too, thanks to a gaffe by their Armenian hosts, who played Liechtenstein's anthem before kick-off rather than Gibraltar’s. “It didn't go down very well with us,” says Jack. “Our captain Roy [Chipolina] had a little word before we started, said it wasn't good what they'd done, but it allowed us to get that little bit more motivation.”
Both Jack and Jamie believe it was an honest mistake rather than an intentional sign of disrespect and the Armenian FA quickly apologised. Though as Jack points out, if Armenia made the mistake of showing a lack of respect, “I think after these two results, when they come up, they'll definitely show us a bit more.”
The only problem the pair have found with winning games is that expectations among friends, family and the remainder of Gibraltar’s 35,000-strong population inevitably rise. Jack could sense “a real pressure” before the Liechtenstein victory. Now, supporters who celebrated the win in Armenia will expect to see their heroes defeat the same opponents at home.
“I think naturally people on the outside think that we're expected to beat them now, but not players,” Jack says. “Everyone involved on the team side knows how hard it is going to be.” The squad is equally realistic about their hopes of topping their Nations League group and reaching the March 2020 play-offs, when a place at the finals will be at stake.
Yet to qualify for a major tournament, Gibraltar’s ultimate ambition, is arguably more realistic than ever following the expansion of the tournament to 24 teams, the new qualification route through the Nations League and Iceland’s success, albeit with a population 10 times the size of the territory's.
“It's definitely a dream,” Jamie admits. “Who doesn't want to compete in the Euros? Everyone's aiming for that. I'd say we have our feet firmly on the ground but are always looking at the bigger picture. If we can maybe get a few wins, through a bit of hard work, dedication and even some luck you never know what can happen.”
