June 1999
Wed 30
- The draws of the UEFA competitions took place today in Geneva, Switzerland. Valletta were drawn to meet Welsh champions Barry Town. In the UEFA Cup, Birkirkara's opponents are Lyngby FC of Denmark while Sliema will meet FC Zürich of Switzerland.
Tue 29
- Floriana reached an agreement with Hamrun Spartans regarding the use of the Victor Tedesco Stadium for the second leg of the Intertoto Cup Second Round which will be played on the 10th July.
Sun 27
- Floriana have been faced with a big problem just after managing to qualify to the Second Round of the Intertoto Cup, not having a stadium where to play the match. After having played the match against Aberystwyth at the Hibernians Ground, the management charged the Greens Lm500 but to play another match would cost them Lm1,200. Therefore they are looking for another venue. This would probably be the Gozo Stadium since the MFA prefers not using the National Stadium until late July.
Sat 26
- UEFA Intertoto Cup - First Round Floriana FC vs Aberystwyth Town (WAL) 2-1
- The Law Courts blocked the transfer of Hamrun midfielder David Camilleri upon request of an ex-committee member. The reason behind this is that the club owes him the sum of around Lm15,000 which the ex-committee member had loaned to the club.
Fri 25
- The Malta Football Association announced that the new sponsors for the Premier League are Rothmans. Central Cigarettes, through Rothmans, already sponsor the First, Second and Third Division Leagues, the Trophy, the Super Cup and the Second & Third Division Knock-Out. Rumours have it that the three-year long sponsorship will provide Lm20,000 a year, of which the 10 clubs would get a remarkable percentage. Coca-Cola has sponsored the competition for the past 18 years.
Thu 24
- UEFA Regions Cup - Group 5 Macedonia (GRE) - Gozo 8-2
Wed 23
- UEFA announced the new date for the EURO 2000 Qualifying Round Group 8 match between Croatia and Malta. The match which was due to be played on the 31st March but was postponed because of the Kosovo crisis, is now scheduled for the 21st August. This means that the Premier League which was due to kick-off on the same date will start at a later stage.
- Birkirkara midfielder, Chucks Nwoko's seven-month suspension was reduced to just three months by the Appeals Board. He is now suspended till the 2nd September and then for the next three competitive matches after that date. Zoran Antic had a three-match suspension also reduced to two.
Tue 22
- UEFA Regions Cup - Group 5 Israel Amateur - Gozo 6-0
Mon 21
- UEFA Regions Cup - Group 5 Zapadne Srbije (YUG) - Gozo 4-0
Sun 20
- UEFA Intertoto Cup - First Round Aberystwyth Town (Wales) vs Floriana 2-2
Sat 19
- Valletta midfielder Nicky Saliba won the MFA Footballer of the Year Award. Saliba obtained a total of 153 points. Another Valletta player, Gilbert Agius placed second with 144 points. Ernest Barry (Sliema), David Carabott (Hibs) and Chucks Nwoko (B'Kara) placed third to fifth with 139, 136 and 113 points respectively. In the other leagues: Matthew Camilleri (Tarxien R.) was voted Best Player in Division 1, Martin Pace (Zebbug R.) Best Player in Division 2 and Joseph Camilleri (Gharghur), Ludvic Fardell (Zejtun) and John Paul Muscat (Kirkop) Best Players in Division 3. Darren Bellizzi (M'Xlokk) won the Best Under 21 Player Award, Daniel Zammit won the Award for Best Youth Player and Rebecca D'Agostino Best Female Player.
- Croatia vs Malta will probably be played on the 21st August. This would mean that the Premier League kick-off which was scheduled for the same date will have to be delayed or anticipated.
Wed 16
- Nicky Saliba (Valletta), Ernest Barry (Sliema), Gilbert Agius (Valletta), David Carabott (Hibs) and Chucks Nwoko (Birkirkara) are the finalists of the MFA Footballer of the Year Award.
- Malta climbed three places in the FIFA World Rankings. The Maltese national team moves up from the 124th to the 121st place.
- Floriana coach Traiko Sokolov named the squad for the first leg of the Intertoto Cup First Round match against Aberystwth Town in Wales. Included are four foreigners: Bulgarians Todor Zaytzev, Krassmir Kolev and Ivan Stefanov Vassilev and Congolese Rufin Oba. Missing are John Holland, Charles Sciberras, Antoine Zahra and John Buttigieg: the first three injured while Buttigieg has already left the club. Goalie Matthew Camilleri was drafted in after that Kolev suffered an injury.
Mon 14
- In a friendly match, Floriana beat the Nigeria Selection made up of Nigerian players playing in Malta, 4-3. Rufin Oba, Richard Buhagiar, David Galea and Jean Pierre Triganza scored for Floriana while Graham Unah and Chucks Nwoko (2) replied for the Nigerian XI.
- Gozo FC coach Alfred Cardona named the 18-man squad which will travel to Thessaloniki to play in the UEFA Regions Cup Group 5 next week. They will be facing Zapadne Srbije (Yugoslavia), Israel XI and Macedonia (Greece) on the 21st, 22nd and 24th June respectively.
Sun 13
- During a one-day seminar, the MFA announced that as from May 2000, it will put in action the regulations regarding the status and licences of member clubs. Clubs will be granted Semi-Professional or Amateur status licences which are necessary for participation in the MFA leagues an competitions. Among the items discussed in the seminar were the nurseries and the importance that these should be given and the problems in clubs' administration.
Sat 12
- MAFA President Joe Compagno died yesterday at the age of 66 years. He dedicated most of his life to the main amateur football association on the island, being its president for over 18 years.
- The following Premier League players had their suspensions carried over for next season: Zoran Antic (Birkirkara - 3 matches); Mario Muscat and Darren Attard (both Hibs - 2 matches); William Camenzuli and Richard Buhagiar (both Floriana - 1); Nikolai Kirilov (Zurrieq - 1); Michael Micallef (Rabat - 1); Lazar Tonozliev (Pietà - 1) and Simon Sammut (Birkirkara - 1).
Tue 8
- EURO 2000 Qualifying Round Group 8 Yugoslavia vs Malta 4-1
- Under 21 European Championships Group 8 Yugoslavia vs Malta 7-0
Fri 4
- National coaches Josif Ilic and Ray Farrugia announced the senior and Under 21 squads which will be facing Yugoslavia next Tuesday. A new player in the senior squad is Naxxar midfielder Digger Okonkwo, a Nigerian with Maltese citizenship. The complete squad is made up of: Barry and Busuttil (Sliema), Muscat, Carabott and Sultana (Hibs), Buttigieg, Said and Buhagiar (Floriana), Chetcuti, Debono and Saliba (Valletta), Brincat, Cutajar and Nwoko (Birkirkara), Okonkwo (Naxxar), Camilleri (Hamrun) and Mifsud (Rabat). Due to several absences the Under 21 squad which will be made up of just 17 players, namely Camilleri and Mamo (Tarxien), Darmanin and Galea (Pietà), Azzopardi (Rabat), Camenzuli, Holland and Mattocks (Floriana), Dimech, Grima, Bonnici, Mifsud and Sammut (Sliema), Scicluna (St. Patrick), Ciantar (Hibs), Giglio (Valletta) and Debono (St. Andrews).
- Four players won the Player of the Month Award by the Gozo FA. Martin Cremona (Xaghra) won the award for January, Mario Bonello (Nadur) for February, Noel Borg (Victoria H.) that for March and Joseph Grech (Nadur Y.) won the award for April/May.
Thu 3
- The MFA has banned Premier Division side Hibernians and Division 1 side St. Patrick from negotiating any transfer of players due to the several debts which the two clubs have.
- The MFA announced that 32 teams will be participating in the Centenary Cup, a competition celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Malta Football Association. All Premier League and Division 1 clubs will be taking part with most matches being played mid-week.
- Joe Brincat, Gilbert Agius and Silvio Vella are doubtful for next week's Malta's EURO 2000 qualifier against Yugoslavia.
Wed 2
- Three Birkirkara players were suspended by the MFA Disciplinary Commissioner. Chucks Nwoko was hit by a 7-month suspension (till the end of December 1999) while Zoran Antic and Simon Sammut were suspended for 3 matches and 1 match respectively. Birkirkara will be appealing against the suspension of Nwoko and Antic.
- Gozo FC's opponents in the UEFA Regions Cup are going to be Zapadne Srbije from Yugoslavia, Israel Amateur and Macedonia Amateur from Greece. The matches will be played in Greece on the 21st, 22nd and 24th June.
Tue 1
- Birkirkara midfielder Antoine Zahra won the Player of the Year Award by local daily "In-Nazzjon". Michael Mifsud (Sliema) was voted Most Promising Player, Sinisa Radak (Naxxar) Best Foreigner and Krassmir Manolov (Valletta) Best Coach. Chucks Nwoko (Birkirkara) won the Player of the Year Award by NET TV.
- The European Union asked UEFA to expel Yugoslavia from EURO 2000, just a week before Malta meets Yugoslavia in a Group 8 match which will be played in Greece.