We caught up with Gibraltar international Jamie Bosio to get his reaction on Gibraltar United withdrawing from the league, his continuos battle over unpaid medical expenses and his future in football.

Yesterday it was announced that Gibraltar United would be withdrawn from the Gibraltar National League after ongoing financial issues, Bosio gave us his reaction to the news – “Given the way things have escalated in the last few months, to be honest, it’s not surprising whatsoever. Obviously, you try to be hopeful but in this case it was something that everyone could see coming. When players are owed two months wages from the season before going into a new preseason, that’s a sign that things aren’t right. I’m disappointed because I’ve spent three years with Gibraltar United and many people in the local community have an affiliation to this club which had been in existence for a combined total of 75 years. So yes it’s a sad day, but yes the writing was on the wall.”

Salgado and Dana took over at Gibraltar United in April 2017, a move at that time which was massive but would end up leaving a sour taste in the mouths of people in GIbraltar. We asked Bosio if he ever thought a situation like this would have ever come about after their ownership, “When the new investors came in you try to be optimistic and they seemed legitimate. They sold themselves very well at the start and basically told the old owners everything they wanted to hear. Because of Michel Salgado putting his reputation on the line and becoming “the face” of the club we expected nothing but the best. However, that was the first and last time we saw him. Pablo Dana was always in contact with the board and players initially but this is something that started to deteriorate as time went by.”

Late payments became a normal occurence for many of the players but days turned into weeks and now leaves them three months unpaid. We asked Bosio what kind of impact this has had on his former team-mate, “Most of my teammates are obviously distraught, especially those from last season who had put in endless hours of hard work and sacrifice with no reward. It’s not fair that players give up so much (especially those with family and children abroad) to be treated in this way. Especially now so close to the start of the new season, it’s also going to be difficult for them to find new clubs as most teams are probably set on their final squad numbers by now.”

A serious injury last season forced Jamie Bosio to seek medical treatement abroad – on his return, the club refused to reimburse him which resulted in almost taking up the situation in court – Bosio told us more, “My injury is something that they mismanaged from the time it happened in October last year. At that moment, when a club stops caring for a players health is when I knew my relationship with them could end very badly. Unfortunately, that is what happened… To this day I have spent out of pocket over £16,000 in medical fees, that include my operation, consultations, scans and physio sessions. The club itself doesn’t have any player medical insurance. I was told that things would be taken care of yet here we are nearly a whole year later with not a penny received. And now, it’s looking highly unlikely that any of that will ever be paid back to me. If a club cannot care for its players in the human aspect then it shouldn’t be selling itself as a “professional” set up.”

312 days later, Bosio’s recovery goes from stride to stride but still no payment in sight from Gibraltar United – we asked if the club has made any type of confirmation regarding the payment, “I’ve been waiting for months for a meeting to try to settle the debts amicably or try to some sort of compromise but to no avail. To his credit, Adrian Ballestero has tried his best but this and much more issues at the club go beyond him and can only be dealt with by the owners and directors. If the club owes players (not just me) money then someone surely should be held accountable, or is it ok for them to walk away from their problems and leave this mess behind? Surely the GFA need to look into the investors of local clubs that come from abroad and make sure they are legit in what they are offering.”

After the season kicked off last night, it’s a last minute rush for his team-mates and him to make arrangements with other clubs – we asked what the future holds for the 27-year old, “At the moment I’m completely disillusioned with football in Gibraltar. The serious injury has been mentally draining on myself but this added to it has been awful. I’m strongly considering my next move, ignoring all financial aspects and looking to go somewhere where I will enjoy playing football again. I’m focusing on getting myself match fit again and keeping on top of my rehabilitation programme above all else.”

Following the news of Gibraltar United withdrawing from the Gibraltar National League, we got social media’s, as well as former player’s reaction to the news.

A historic club which is so well known around Gibraltar has today withdrawn from the Gibraltar National League and as a result, have had licenses rescinded with immediate effect. Consequently, as per GFA Regulations, neither Club will be able to re-apply for membership of the GFA for a minimum period of five years.

FG approached Quantocoin for a statement regarding the withdrawn agreement but at the time of writing, did not answer.

Time to think very carefully about the next step. Completely disillusioned with football. Time to start enjoying myself again, good vibes only! 💷❌⚽️

— Jamie Bosio (@JamieBosio21) August 12, 2019

End of a brilliant 4 years @GibraltarUnited where I have made friends which I will have for a life time. Football has taught me many things one of them stay true and humble to what you believe in. End of a chapter and beginning of the next Bring it on 👍👍👍👍🐫🐫🐫🐫🐫🐫🐫

— gavin vinales (@GavinVinales) August 12, 2019

@GibraltarUnited @AdrianBalleste1 @jsanchez1975 @GavinVinales @FootballGib pic.twitter.com/yDGt6dkhrD

— ErinBarnett15 (@ErinBarnett7) August 12, 2019

Chino, who captained the side last season, told FG “Incredibly sad to see the club dissapear after so much hard work has gone into it.”

Former Gibraltar United captain Andrew Lopez spoke to FG about the news, “Regarding the situation with Gibraltar United, I feel disgraced. Gibraltar is a club I have played for winning the premier league back in 2001 as an 18-year-old under one of the best managers around at the time Richard Duarte. I managed to stay on for a couple of more years back then, holding the fort with several others including Kenneth Asquez, who had love and passion for this club. I hand on as player/manager and played for both premier and reserves team back then, but this was not good enough as the club disappeared after several years of fighting and persuading players. Later, some of the ex-players such as Damian Rocca, Daniel Wahnon and a few others decided to put together a meeting and revive the Gibraltar United legacy. We managed to register the team and bring back all the young local players who used to play for this club and had a lot of love and passion for this team, without a doubt they returned to us. We were all locals, and this was our motto! And believe me some great local players involved which gave us enough strength and ‘amor propio’ to get us through the first every 2nd Division league after Gibraltar joined UEFA. Some very strong teams in 2nd division, probably the hardest league of the lot. Gibraltar United won the league and were automatically promoted, I can proudly say I captained the side yet again and we made the dream come true. Money was now the issue and unfortunately the staff did not respect our willingness to continue as ‘Only Gibraltarians’ after working so hard for this club. I was pushed out as captain and then the rest of the locals followed as a domino effect, leaving those who really had passion for the club in no other option but to leave to other teams and compete against Gib Utd. Gibraltar have now been several years fighting for a UEFA spot under the new regime ‘SALGADO/DANA’ who offered payments via BITCOIN. As we all well know now, Gib Utd have missed out on a UEFA spot for several years and have not proved their worth, there was no passion in this team anymore, filled with foreigners and locals who prefer money rather than fighting for the red and white colors. The ‘Investors’, have now pulled out and Gibraltar has yet again disappeared, I feel this is well-deserved due to depending on people who don’t really care about the club just wanted to find a sort of investment or other reasons to input monies into this club, goes to show how it has sadly ended. As last real Gibraltarian Captain of this club, (apart from Chino who signed later and held on after me), I feel disgraced, sad and sorry to see my club disappear yet again. This is football now a days!”

Kenneth Asquez, son of Pepe Asquez who was President of the club during the early 80’s to mid 90’s, said “Its is sad for local football to hear that team with such a historic and rich heritage like Gibraltar United is folding as a result of financial issues with foreign investors coming into football for the wrong reasons.

On a personal note the matter is compounded due to having spent a substantial amount of my life attached to the club, as was my father. I have very good friends still there and feel for them.

I hope those investors will come out publicly now and give us an explanation, everyone deserves one, due to the heritage of this club.

These individuals need to be held accountable after all the exposure they made in local and international media using international stars like Michel Salgado and Roberto Carlos to give themselves credibility in an industry they clearly knew nothing about.

Its now time for the League and Association to work together and that is what they must do. The GFA and the clubs should sit down and decide how they want to move forward perhaps going back to the basics from pre UEFA Climate days. There is a structure in place under the auspices of the League Association it’s about time to empower the individuals who have the best interests of the game and our children at heart. Crucial for me, and have been saying it since before a ball was even kicked after gaining entry into UEFA, is to agree on a formula to share the prize money from competing in European Competitions.

Lets bring football back home!”