It was almost a perfect night for the Scanlons when the 16-year-old Luca came on for his elder brother, James, to make his Gibraltar debut last month against the Faroe Islands, but there was a nagging problem. “I told him the night before not to play my position,” the older sibling jokes.
Only 57 days after Luca’s sweetest birthday, he became a full international. His plan was to be there to support James, alongside a plethora of other family members, but Gibraltar’s head coach, Scott Wiseman, invited him to train with men twice his age to see what he was about and saw enough to promote him from the under-21s. James is a right-footed winger who plays off the left and Luca is the opposite.
“It was a shock because I wasn’t expecting it,” says Luca, who is in the Burnley academy. “I came on for him, which he wasn’t too happy about.” But James, a Manchester United Under-21s player, has recovered from the upset. “I knew he’d be fine,” James says. “The players all liked him. They all knew what he was about as a player. I knew he had the backing from everyone.”
James has been a role model for Luca on the pitch, his 16 caps earned before he turned 19 last month and his international debut coming at the ripe old age of 17. He has played the Czech Republic and Croatia, whom he is set to face again on Sunday after Wednesday’s friendly against New Caledonia, and played in a momentous draw against Wales. James has gone toe‑to-toe with Luka Modric, who is more than twice his age.
Gibraltar is the smallest member state of Uefa, making the diaspora extremely important to the talent pool of a country whose first official match was a goalless draw against Slovakia in November 2013. The Scanlons were identified very early and held talks with Gibraltar’s then head of youth development, Jansen Moreno.
James attended an England camp but always knew there was a prospect of representing his mother’s country. “Playing men’s football was an important factor in me playing with them so young,” James says of his first call-up. “To do things that not many players ever have managed to do, play so many games internationally so young, it’s been really valuable for me.”
The brothers were on United’s books together for a number of years until last summer. James joined from Derby in 2021 and Luca moved from Nottingham Forest at a similar time when the family relocated from the East Midlands, where the brothers were born and brought up. Not since playing for Sutton Bonington primary school have they been in the same team and the wait is unlikely to end this month, Luca having been placed back with the under-21s, but it could next happen in a World Cup qualifier.
Childhood holidays were spent in Gibraltar, enjoying the beaches of the British overseas territory. “I nearly got snatched by a monkey as a baby,” says James with a smile of the Barbary macaques. When he plays home games for his country, about 30 family and friends usually attend.
Sporting pedigree is in the family: the boys’ mother, Gabriella, holds a Gibraltarian sprint record and their father, Rob, was a British Universities 1500m champion. It is a close-knit family and sibling rivalry helps to get the best out of the brothers, who have also benefited from parental sacrifice.
Being full internationals is the headline for the teenagers but they acknowledge club football is the bread and butter. James has made the United first-team bench once, in the Europa League against Real Sociedad. The next step for him is likely a loan and he and the club are waiting to learn of potential January suitors. His experience with Gibraltar will make him more desirable because he has proved he can compete in adult football. International colleagues regularly want insight into what it is like working with the United first team, and there are plenty of requests for signed shirts or tickets.
Luca is rare as a full international who is still growing and may need a bigger shirt the next time he represents his country. He will get his name on the Burnley honours board at Turf Moor, joining some of the club’s most esteemed players.
There is a wider picture of Gibraltar progress under Wiseman, who is making them more attractive, trying to win games rather than keep the score down. “I think it’s very exciting actually, to see how it’s changed, even whilst I’ve been in it,” James says. “I think you can see they’re always looking at how to improve as a whole organisation.”
A joy of starting early for a relatively new international team is that there are plenty of records in sight. Liam Walker has Gibraltar’s most caps (88) and goals (eight) but, at 37, does not have long to go. Luca will not reach that age for 21 years and there is sibling rivalry when it comes to accumulating caps.
“I think one of us is just hoping the other is going to be 40 and can’t move,” Luca says. “I think we’ll both be gutted if we get an injury because we might miss a couple of games.” James chips in: “I’m going to need all the ones I can get to,” aware his brother is in the rear-view mirror. “You’ve got a nice head start,” Luca says, “but I’m younger. I don’t like to compete with him too much, though.” Gibraltar may hope otherwise.
