FCB Magpies coach seeks to take down Crusaders and set up FC Basle tie

It's been a fairytale few months for Nathan Rooney. He has taken a one-time pub team from Gibraltar into Europe then got married to a Liverpool right-back. Come Thursday it could get even better.

Rooney is the former Blackburn Rovers and Crawley Town coach who is now managing FCB Magpies and, on Thursday night, they face Northern Ireland's Crusaders in the first leg of their Europa Conference League qualifier. The prize for the winners is a glamour tie with Swiss side FC Basle.

'This was the dream when I came here,' say the 32-year-old who only took over in January. 'Fingers crossed it goes well, as to be playing in a game like this gives us a great platform.'

Not that he's been short of the limelight lately, although that's mainly down to his new wife, Liverpool and Wales defender Rhiannon Roberts.

It was inevitable at the reception of their recent nuptials, that a girls v boys kickabout amongst guests ensued and Rhiannon, still resplendent in her white wedding dress, played a one-two with her Liverpool team-mate Jasmine Matthews before nutmegging the goalkeeper to score. Footage went viral with over 240,000 views on social media, causing a stir even in neighbouring Spain.

'I'm glad I put my father-in-law in goal,' laughs Rooney, 'but it was a fantastic day. We'd been planning the wedding for over three years but kept having to put it off because of Covid so you can see the elation of the day in that clip when everyone is celebrating.'

After a quick honeymoon in Rome though, Mr and Mrs Rooney are back to their respective football lives. For Rhiannon it's pre-season training and for Nathan the small matter of putting Magpies on the European football map.

The club was only formed in 2013 by a group of friends who drank at