June 1997
Sat 28
- UEFA Intertoto Cup Floriana lost 1-2 to Austrians SV Keli Reid in their first match in the Intertoto Cup. Floriana suffered a goal in the 23rd minute but 2 minutes in the second half, Nenad Veselji equalised. However Keli Reid scored another goal to make it 2-1. For this match, the Greens could make use of only one foreigner, Nenad Veselji because according to the competition rules, teams are bound to play with the 1996/97 squad and last year's other foreigner, Victor Egere has already been released.
Wed 25
- Although not forming part of the squad who will be going for the training camp in Yugoslavia, Kris Laferla will return to the national team. In the meantime, the favourite to fill the post of national coach is Yugoslavia's Under 21 team, Milan Zivadinovic.
Mon 23
- The following players were chosen for the training camp in Novi Sad: Valletta: Agius, Debono, Lino Galea, Giglio, Zammit; B'Kara: Zahra, Galea; Sliema: George Mallia, Suda, Turner; Hamrun: Sultana, David Camilleri; Hibs: Attard, Carabott, Muscat; Pieta`: Saviour Darmanin, Kevin Farrugia, Massimo Grima; Melita: Michael Galea
Sun 22
- Robert Gatt resigned from his post of Malta's Under 21 National Team coach to team up with Alfred Cardona as the coaching duo of B'Kara. The Stripes earlier on this week signed Julian Holland as their team manager.
Sat 21
- The Planning Authority approved the MFA's plan to build a new ground with synthetic pitch at Ta' Qali where the Second and Third Division Leagues together with the Under 21 and Youths' Leagues could be played. The site is the current car-park next to the ASM race-track. The cost will amount to Lm200,000.
Thu 19
- Gilbert Agius (Valletta) won the Footballer of the Year Award 1996/97 with 146 points. The runner-up was Ivan Zammit with 138 points. The other three in the top five places were Antoine Zahra (B'Kara - 117 points), Charlie Scerri (Hibs - 109 pts.) and John Buttigieg (Floriana - 100 pts.).
- Leonard Farrugia, Dragan Zivkovic and Josef Ilic will guide the Maltese national team in a training camp in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia. Rumours have it that the new national coach will be once again a coach from Yugoslavia. Ex-coach Milorad Kosanovic is being consulted by MFA President Joe Mifsud on the choice of the new coach.
- Third Division clubs Qrendi and Kalkara United may fold up after suffering from heavy financial losses.
Tue 17
- Valletta stopper Darren Debono was suspended for two months starting 10th July 1997 (up to 10th September both days included) after resulting positive in the doping test after the Valletta - B'Kara match played on 16/3/97. He was found guilty of taking a substance containing pseudo-ephedrine. Valletta were fined Lm100.
Sat 14
- The reason for which the MFA are considering the possibility of withdrawing its membership from the MOC because, according to the MFA, the MOC did not take seriously into consideration the possibility of having the Maltese Under 23 team participate in the Mediterrenean Games in Bari, Italy. The Malta Olympic Committee replied that since officially the MFA has an A-team and an Under 21 team, the MFA did not carry out the necessary preparations to have an Under-23 team.
- Facts and figures emerged from a seminar held by the Malta Football Association: There was an overall reduction in the attendances for league matches The average attendance for league matches in the respective divisions was 617 spectators each Premier League match (a reduction of 28%), 155 for each Division 1 match (a reduction of 10.7%), 44 for each Division 2 match (a reduction of 25.3%) and ridiculous number of 13 spectators for each Division 3 match which means a reduction of 54%. Almost all Premier clubs suffered financial deficits while clubs in the lower Divisions managed to balance their accounts.
Fri 13
- Dione Lautier (Victoria H.), top scorer in the GFA Premier League, was voted Gozo Player of the Year.
Thu 12
- According to Yugoslav news agency Tanjug, Milorad Kosanovic resigned from the post of Maltese national coach, to join Red Star Belgrade in Yugoslavia.
- Ivan Zammit (Valletta) won the Player of the Month Award for May 1997.
- MFA President Joe Mifsud resigned from his post in the Executive Committee
- of the Malta Olympic Committee (MOC). Many are considering this fact as the first step in the direction of withdrawing the MFA's membership in the MOC. This would mean that the MFA would no longer benefit from the protocols between the MOC and the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI). From this protocol, several football players suffering from serious injuries, benefited by receiving free medical treatment at the CONI centre in Rome.
Mon 9
- The four clubs which will meet Floriana in the UEFA-Intertoto Cup are Austrians SV Keli Reid, FC Merani from Georgia, Torpedo Moscow from Russia and HeraklisThessaloniki from Greece. Against Keli Reid and Torpedo Moscow, the Greens will be playing at the Victor Tedesco Stadium in Hamrun while against Merani and Heraklis, they will be playing in Georgia and Germany respectively.
Sun 8
- World Cup Qualifiers Group 6 Malta lost once again against Faroe Islands 2-1 in the return match at the Svangaskaro Stadium in Toftir. Uni Arge opened the score for the Faroes after only 6 minutes and four minutes from half-time, Todi Jonsson doubled the score. In the second half after only one minute, the Maltese were awarded a penalty, which Gilbert Agius converted, and the Faroes had a player sent off. Nine minutes from time, Malta also finished in 10 when Lawrence Attard was sent off.
Thu 5
- Birkirkara FC were officially registered as a public limited company with a capital of Lm125,300. The shareholders in B'Kara Plc amount to 217.
Wed 4
- Edward Darmanin is no longer the coach of Xghajra Tornadoes. It is not known by whom he will be replaced.
Mon 2
- League top scorer Danilo Doncic is even closer to joining Bulgarian side Lokomotiv Sofia for the sum of about Lm45,000.
Sun 1
- In a friendly match at Ta' Qali, Malta were once again defeated , this time 2-3 against Scotland. The Maltese performance was quite good, however they ruined everything in the last 9 minutes when they conceded the third goal and a couple of minutes later, midfielder Noel Turner was sent off. Scorers: 5' Christian Dailly, 17' Hubert Suda, 45' Darren Jackson, 57' Stefan Sultana, 81' Darren Jackson