Lee Henry Casciaro (born 29 September 1981) is a Gibraltarian footballer and police officer who plays as a forward for Lincoln Red Imps and the Gibraltar national team. With 60 titles won with Lincoln recognized by UEFA, he has the record for most titles with one club, most club titles, and most titles in association football.[2] From 2019 to 2022, he was also Gibraltar's all-time leading scorer since joining UEFA, with three goals.
A one-club man, Casciaro also has the joint-record for the player with most years at the same club, alongside Said Altınordu, with 27 years at Lincoln.
On 7 July 2015, Casciaro scored the winning goal as Lincoln Red Imps came from behind to win 2–1 away to FC Santa Coloma in the UEFA Champions League first qualifying round, advancing on aggregate by the same score to become the first Gibraltarian team to advance into the second qualifying round.[3] On 12 July 2016, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 Red Imps victory over Celtic in the first leg of the 2nd qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League.[4]
On 12 July 2022 he became the oldest player to score in any round of the Champions League or European Cup at the age of 40 years and 286 days. His record-breaking goal came against KF Shkupi in the first qualifying round.[citation needed]
On 7 September 2014, Casciaro made his international debut for Gibraltar in a UEFA Euro 2016 Group D qualifying match against Poland with Gibraltar losing 7–0 at the Estádio Algarve.[5] He had played for the official team since 2007, scoring 9 goals in 7 appearances, but these appearances were considered unofficial upon Gibraltar's entry to UEFA in 2013. On 29 March 2015, he scored Gibraltar's first ever goal in a full international competitive match; netting an equaliser against Scotland in a 6–1 European qualification loss at Hampden Park, Glasgow.[6] For his services to sport in Gibraltar, he was awarded the Gibraltar Medallion of Distinction in August 2019.[7] He captained Gibraltar for the first time against Liechtenstein on 10 October 2020, aged 39.
On 24 March 2023, a 41-year-old Casciaro became the oldest ever player to appear at a UEFA European Championship qualifying match in a 3–0 defeat to Greece, although the record had initially been misattributed to Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimović, who played the same day yet is 4 days younger than Casciaro,[8] but a 43-year-old Ildefons Lima of Andorra broke his record on 16 June 2023.[9]
Casciaro is a policeman for the Gibraltar Defence Police.[10] His brothers Kyle and Ryan have also played with Gibraltar's national side.[11]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gibraltar | 2014 | 4 | 0 |
| 2015 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 4 | 1 | |
| 2017 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 8 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 5 | 0 | |
| Total | 66 | 3 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29 March 2015 | Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland |  Scotland |
1–1 | 1–6 | UEFA Euro 2016 qualification | |
| 2 | 13 November 2016 | GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus |  Cyprus |
1–1 | 1–3 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification | |
| 3 | 15 October 2019 | Victoria Stadium, Westside, Gibraltar |  Georgia |
1–2 | 2–3 | UEFA Euro 2020 qualification |
Lincoln Red Imps[12]
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