Mqabba F.C.

Mqabba Football Club

Nickname(s)	Tal-Gebel, Hajduks
Founded	1957
Ground	Ta'Qali Stadium, Ta'Qali, Malta (Capacity: 18,000)
Chairman	Mario Borg
Manager	Clive Mizzi
League	Maltese Premier League
2010-11	Maltese First Division, 2nd

Mqabba F.C. is a Maltese football club from Mqabba, a small village in south-western Malta. They were founded in 1957, and currently play in the Maltese First Division

History of Mqabba FC

The history of football in Mqabba goes back to 1915/1916 during World War I, when a team used to play in an area of the village known as “il-Mentna”. However, following the end of the War, the interest in football in Mqabba disappeared for a long while. It was in 1944 at the end of World War II when a new team was formed in the village by Maltese soldiers stationed nearby. This early team had to be content to play with other Armed Forces teams and teams from neighbouring villages in friendly matches on a pitch whose land is now taken over by the Luqa Airport.

Due to mass emigration following World War II, the team lost several key players and was struggling to stay afloat until 1950 when the Mqabba Ramblers team was set up, consisting mainly of players from the village itself. Some of the earliest members of the Mqabba Ramblers Football Club Committee included Carmelo Bugeja, Francis Saliba and the President at the time, Anthony Zammit. Some of the first players in the early Ramblers line-up were Leonard Farrugia, Gerald Farrugia, Vincent Bugeja, Carmelo Fenech, Joe Sultana, Emmanuel Brincat, Tommy Attard, Paul Zammit and Tony Ellul, a local goalkeeper for whom alot of interest had been shown by other clubs.

During the season 1956/57, the team entered the Malta Amateur Football Association (MAFA). Following this, many players of a high calibre were acquired by the club, including the fullback Suda from Melita, the fullback A. Fitzgerald of Sliema, forward Billy Dalli of Floriana, and fullback Armeni of Hamrun Spartans, amongst others. With this high class of players, the Mqabba Ramblers were a serious challenge for the top spot in the MAFA league that season, only to lose out to Gharghur Juventus in the final match.

In 1957 another football club under the name of Mqabba Hajduks was set up. This name was proposed by the President Gulio Farrugia and seconded by Joseph Farrugia during the new team’s first General Annual Meeting in June 1957. For the next three years there was fierce rivalry between these two clubs in Mqabba, particularly when they competed head-to-head in the Inter Amateur Soccer Competition.

To some, the rivalry within the same village seemed unproductive for either club, hence the proposal for both clubs to be united into one team was put forward by the Mqabba Hajduks secretary of the time, Richard Spiteri; in a meeting on the 12th February 1961 with the Mqabba Ramblers. This proposal was accepted and the two teams were united under the name Mqabba Hajduks FC for the 1960/61 season in the MAFA second division.

The following year the first Mqabba Hajduks Minors team entered the M.F.A. and were set to win their section had it not been for the protests of Vittoriosa Stars, who made claims the Mqabba Minors fielded an ineligible player.

For several years between 1955 and 1962, Mqabba Hajduks applied to become part of the Malta Football Association. For unknown reasons, this application was turned down each time until finally, in the 1962/1963 season, the M.F.A. finally accepted their application; following in the fottsteps of other small village football clubs such as Dingli Swallows, Qrendi, Kirkop and Ghaxaq.

The first year in the M.F.A. League was quite a success with several wins over teams like Senglea, Balzan Youths and St. Venera. This achievement was in no small part due to the dedication of Mr. Richard Spiteri who was responsible for putting together a first class team. Others who had aided the Mqabba Hajduks side to the best of their ability at the time included Alfred Spiteri, Louis Farrugia, J.M. Borg, Joe Gauci, Reno Farrugia, Leonard Farrugia, Gerlad Farrugia, Harry Gallan, Angelo Briffa and Daniel Briffa.

Due to serious financial difficulties, the Hajduks committee had to take the drastic decision to disband the Minors team. Instead, the committee helped to set up a boy’s team at the local primary school. This team did well in the Inter Schools League, finishing First Runners Up.

In 1969, the Hajduks found themselves out of the M.F.A., and had to be contented playing in friendly matches and as a guest in the Amateur Cup of that year as organized by the M.A.F.A. The Mqabba Hajduks were not allowed to re-enter the M.F.A. Third Division until the 1972/73 season; and at this point a new committee was also formed. The coach at the time was Paul Farrugia, whose spirit and dedication inspired the players to work hard. The following season (1973/74), the Hajduks finished the season in fifth place with a total of 16 points in the league table.

The 1975/76 season was a great year for both the Hajduks and the Minors. The Minors team, under the guidance of Paul Farrugia as coach, won the Minors league with maximum points. The Hajduks finished the Third Division league in second place, only a point behind champions of that season Luqa F.C. The 1977/78 season saw the arrival of a new coach, Alfred Lapira, as well as several new players.For the first time in the history of the club, the Mqabba Hajduks were promoted to Second Division that season.

Unfortunately the following season, the club once more slipped back down into the Third Division. The team did not fare much better in this season either, with the exception of reaching the final of the knock-out competition that year. In 1980/81, the committee appointed Jimmy Briffa as the new player/coach. The Hajduks fared a little better and finished this season mid-table and once again reached the Knock-Out finals.

In the 1981/82 season, with Jimmy Briffa still on as player/coach, the Mqabba Hajduks found themselves finishing the season near the top of the table tied with Pieta Hotspurs. The decider match went in favour of the stronger Hajduks side, who won 2-0, confirming promotion back into the Second Division; in spite of losing the following Championship Decider with Tarxien Rainbows 1-0.

In the 1982/83 season, Mqabba Hajduks ended the season in third place with only 1 point between themselves and the promoted teams. In 1983/84, for the first time in the club’s history, the side was promoted into First Division as Champions, with a stunning record of 26 games with no losses that season and a total of 37 goals.

Following the re-organisation of the Maltese football leagues and the creation of the Premier League, they gained promotion to this division in 1990-1991,1992–1993 and 2006-2007. Mqabba F.C. has the merit of being one of the smallest Maltese localities to feature in the highest level of local football, especially since it has just been promoted once again (during season 2010-2011) to the Premier Division.

Players

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK Kris Calleja GK Kevin Ellul DF David Azzopardi DF Branislav Timotic DF Mauro Bonnici DF Andrew Scicluna DF Iro Curmi DF John Debattista DF Pierre Grima DF Mauro Grioli

No. Position Player MF Mark Anthony Psaila MF Advan Cakiqi MF Claudio Calleja MF Chris Cuschieri MF Shawn Magro MF Vilson Caushi MF Marlon Briffa FW Bojan Mamic FW John Paul Muscat FW Thiago Mazzitelli

References

External links

• Official Web Site