December 2001
Mon 31
- Sliema Wanderers have rejected an offer by Birkirkara FC who had expressed the interest in signing Maltese international midfielder David Camilleri. This was confirmed by Stripes chairman Victor Zammit to the club's official web site www.birkirkarafc.com. Negotiations between the two clubs took place over the weekend but the two clubs failed to reach an agreement. David Camilleri seemed to be willing to leave the club, at least on loan for the rest of the season. Following the arrival of coach Jeff Wood this season, Camilleri failed to secure a place in the Wanderers' starting line-up, especially when the Blues signed Rupert Mangion from Hamrun Spartans. Camilleri's place in the national squad in also in danger.
Sun 30
- Rothmans Trophy Marsa vs Balzan Y. 6-0, Marsaxlokk vs Floriana 1-3, Rabat A. vs Mosta 2-1, St. Andrews vs Mosta 0-5
- Third Division Ta' Xbiex vs Ghaxaq 2-0, Gudja U. vs Kirkop U. 0-0
- Second & Third Division KO San Gwann vs Msida SJ 0-3, Luqa SA vs Dingli S. 2-2 (3-4 pen)
- The 11th International Christmas Football Festival organised by the Birkirkara FC Youth Nursery has come to an end on Sunday. Paola Hibs and Floriana FC are the winners of the Under 11 & 13 sections respectively. The finals were held on Sunday, in front of a sizeable crowd at the Infetti Training Grounds. In the Under 11 final, Paola Hibs beat Pieta H. 1-0, while in the Under 13 final Floriana beat Pieta H. 2-1. The other results are as follows: Under 11: Mosta FC vs St. Patrick FC 1-4, Mellieha SC vs Rabat de Piro 3-0 (pen), FC Flamurtari vs Floriana 0-3 (pen), San Gwann vs Sliema W. 3-2 (pen), Luxol St. Andrews vs Birkirkara FC 0-1. Under 13 section : Sta. Venera U. vs San Gwann 0-1, Mellieha SC vs Msida St. Joseph 1-0, St. Patrick FC vs Rabat de Piro 3-1, Mosta FC vs Poala Hibs 1-3, Sliema W vs Birkirkara FC 5-0.
Birkirkara Mayor Dr. Tonio Fenech presented trophies to the winners. Several guests of honour were present for the presentation ceremony amongst whom Youth FA secretary Joe Micallef, Vice Mayor Doris Borg, Richard Muscat and Dr. Michael Axiaq.
Sat 29
- Super 5 Cup Final Valletta vs Sliema W. 1-4, Final 3rd/4th place Hibernians vs Birkirkara 2-1
- Third Division Siggiewi vs Vittoriosa S. 1-2, Sta. Lucia vs Birzebbuga SP 0-5
Thu 27
- A number of clubs are working hard to strengthen their sides in time before the end-of-the-year transfer deadline. In fact clubs have up to next Monday to register new players. Champions Valletta will most probably release one of their foreigners in order to sign Nigerian striker Maczerob Okoro. If they decide to release a player, this could either be Pavel Mraz or Kamil Dvorak as Chris Oretan will definitely be retained. Okoro who had joined the Citizens for a trial in November, and has been training with them since then, was attracting the interest of another Premier side, Marsa FC. However the champions informed Marsa that they were not intentioned to loan the player as he himself expressed the wish to stay with Valletta.
Naxxar Lions, the team which changed its foreign line-up several times this season are expected to make an other change. A Yugoslav player is set to replace Nigerian striker Daniel Chimezie Nwoke who will therefore be released for the second time in a few weeks.
Floriana signed Cameroon midfielder Isaac Mopi who made a short appearance for Birkirkara in October. Mopi was registered an amateur player and will be eligible to play only with the Youth team since the Greens have already three foreigners on their books.
In Division 1, two teams will be signing new foreigners. Leaders Mosta, the only team without a foreign player so far, are expected to sign Nigerian striker Ferdinand Onovo. However Onovo would be eligible to play only in eight weeks' time as he has a recurring five-match suspension he had suffered while playing for Naxxar Lions early last season. After playing for Naxxar, he had moved to Gozo where he played for Sannat Lions. St. Andrews on the other hand will be releasing Nigerian defender Patrick Okoh. He will be replaced by another Nigerian player, midfielder Morgan Izuchukwo, who made two short appearances for Lija earlier this season. On the other hand, Nigerian defender Digger Okonkwo, who however holds Maltese citizenship, will be joining Gozo FC from Pietà Hotspurs.
Mon 24
- Marsa FC are interested in signing Nigerian striker Maczerob Okoro on loan till the end of the season. But they should be quick to act as next Monday is the final deadline for the signing of new players.
Okoro had joined Valletta for a trial in Novemeber and has been training with them since then. However since the Citizens already had the maximum limit of three foreigners on their books, they could not sign the Nigerian striker.
On the other hand, after releasing midfielder Minabo Asechemie, Marsa are the only team in the Premier League with just two foreigners. They had started their Premier League campaign with Nikolai Slavtchev, Sunday Eboh and Anthony Evi Parker but eventually the latter two were transferred to Birkirkara and Kirkop United respectively. Brazilian striker Fabio Cardoso do Nascimento is Marsa's other foreigner.
Members of the Valletta committee are determined to sign Okoro as one of their foreigners next season. But in the mean time, they are considering two options. Either keep him training with the club without playing or loaning him to another club till the end of the season. In fact, the Citizens had already informally offered Maczerob Okoro to Naxxar in a proposed exchange deal with Daniel Bogdanovic.
Okoro played in the Nigerian league and then for a short spell in South Africa before moving to Malta.
Sun 23
- Rothmans Trophy Naxxar L. vs Qormi 5-2, St. Patrick vs Hamrun S. 0-4, Pietà H. vs Xghajra T. 2-0, Gozo vs Lija A. 0-1
- Third Division San Gwann vs Gharghur 3-0, Zejtun C. vs Fgura U. 1-2
- Second & Third Division Knock-Out Zebbug R. vs Tarxien R. 3-0, Melita vs Senglea A. 0-2
- Gozo - First Division Nadur Y. vs Xewkija T. 0-0, Sannat L. vs Oratory Y. 6-3
Sat 22
- Super 5 Cup semi-finals Valletta vs Hibernians 2-1, Birkirkara vs Sliema W. 0-3
- Third Division Kirkop U. vs Mgarr U. 1-1, Sirens vs Pembroke A. 1-3
Fri 21
- Gilbert Agius scored a brace for Pisa in a friendly match as the nerazzurri prepare for the important league match against Reggiana. Pisa defeated amateur side Migliarino 8-0. Pisa coach Carlo Benedetti used two different teams for the first and the second half. In the first half, he used the regular players and then with the team already leading 3-0, he replaced all the players and used another set of players including Gilbert Agius. Agius scored the seventh goal on the 80th with a first-timer and the eight goal on the 83rd with a long-distance shot. According to a report by Italian daily, Il Tirreno, the excellent performance of the Maltese international should make Benedetti think seriously about including him on Sunday.
Thu 20
- Nigerian defender Chris Okoh is set to replace Michael Spiteri in the Birkirkara defence after the latter was ruled out for the rest of the season due to a cruciate-ligament injury. Pietà Hotspurs and Birkirkara reached an agreeement over the transfer of the player on loan till the end of the season in exchange for Roderick Briffa. Christopher Chinedu Okoh, who has also represented Malta in the national team as he holds Maltese citizenship, was being left out of the squad by Pietà Hotspurs coach Todor Raykov. Okoh had joined the Hotspurs this summer after a most successful spell with Naxxar Lions. When he arrived in Malta he played for a short period with Floriana before moving to Gozo.
- Although the Malta Football Association is yet to name the three teams which will be taking part in next February's Rothmans International Tournament, well informed sources close to the Football Associations of Moldova and Jordan confirmed that these two countries will be participating.
Malta had already met the two countries in past. Malta had hosted Jordan at the National Stadium on April 3rd, 1985. A hat-trick by Raymond Xuereb had given Malta a 3-1 win. On the other hand, Malta suffered two defeats in two friendlies with Moldova. On March 10th, 1999, Moldova won 2-0 at the National Stadium while seventeen months later, on August 16th, 2000, in Chisinau, Moldova won 10.
The quadrangular tournament will be played on the 9th, 11th and 13th February.
Wed 19
- Pietà Hotspurs filed a protest on Tuesday morning against the result of last Sunday's Premier League match against Sliema Wanderers. The Hotspurs allege that referee Marco Borg committed a technical error when he sent off Welsh midfielder Paul Seaman on 50 minutes for a second yellow card.
However this yellow card was not the second one for Seaman. In fact the referee had mixed up Seaman with Bulgarian defender Metodi Metodiev who had received a yellow card after 19 minutes. On the official match report, the referee wrote that Seaman, rather than Metodiev, had received a yellow card on the 19th minute.
Pietà Hotspurs are demanding that the result of the game, a 3-0 for Sliema Wanderers, is declared null and that the match is played once again.
- Eight Premier League players were suspended for one match after being sent off or after receiving a fourth yellow card this weekend. The players are George Mallia (Floriana), Nikolai Kirilov (Hamrun), Walid Louvini and Alan Tabone (Lija), Paul Seaman (Pietà), Massimo Grima (Sliema), Kamil Dvorak and Rennie Forace (Valletta). Kirilov and Grima will miss the match Sliema-Hamrun while Dvorak and Forace will miss Valletta-Hibs, both matches scheduled for January 5. George Mallia will be unavailable for Floriana in their next league game against Marsa due on January 6 while Pietà's Paul Seaman will miss the game against Naxxar.
- Malta ended its commitments in 2001 in the 131st place in the FIFA World Ranking list as published on Wednesday. Malta fell one place from the November's ranking when Malta lied in the 130th place. This ranking means that after playing ten matches, winning one and losing nine, Malta goes down twelve places from the rankings as at the end of the year 2000. Malta stood in the 119th place.
Throughout this year, Malta lost 0-5 to Denmark, 1-4 to Iceland, 3-0 to Iceland, 2-1 to Denmark, 0-2 to Bulgaria, 3-2 to the Czech Republic and 0-1 to the Northern Ireland in the World Cup qualifiers. Malta also lost 0-3 to Sweden and 2-0 to Bosnia-Herzegovina in friendly matches. The only win for Malta arrived in November when Malta defeated Canada 2-1 in a friendly match at the Hibernians Ground.
Tue 18
- Sliema Wanderers signed Maltese-Australian goalkeeper Brian Maher. Maher. Maher, who enjoys dual citizenship, has already played for Malta at Under 16 level. The Blues were searching for a goalkeeper who would stand as a back-up for Reggie Cini when Murphy Akanji leaves Malta at the end of the month to join the Nigerian national team which will be preparing and then take part in the African Nations Cup.
Mon 17
- Gilbert Agius finally got a chance to play in a league match for Italian Serie C1 side Pisa when he was included as a substitute on Sunday in the 2-1 away defeat to Lecco. Agius replaced Alex Bolla twenty-five minutes in the second half when Lecco were already leading 2-1. This was the first league appearance for the Maltese international striker since September 30 when Pisa played against Spezia. After sustaining an injury during the World Cup qualifier against the Czech Republic early in October, he spent some weeks on the side-lines. But when he recovered full fitness, he still failed to win a place in the team's starting line-up especially after the arrival of new coach Carlo Benedetti. It was only twelve days ago that Agius was given the chance to play 90 minutes in the Coppa Italia match against Prato. Pisa are in deep relegation trouble with 14 points from 16 matches, one point ahead of wooden-spoonists Alzano.
Sun 16
- Premier League Lija A. vs Floriana 2-2, Pietà H. vs Sliema W. 0-3
- First Division Rabat A. vs Balzan Y. 1-2, Qormi vs Mqabba 1-1
- Second Division Luqa SA vs Senglea A. 0-2, Melita vs Zebbug R. 0-0
- Third Division Ghaxaq vs Gudja U. 0-1, St. George's vs Ta' Xbiex 4-0
- Women's League Mosta vs Birkirkara 0-2, Raiders vs Melita 1-6
- Gozo - First Division Sannat L. vs Nadur Y. 1-2, Ghajnsielem vs Victoria H. 4-0
Sat 15
- Premier League Marsa vs Valletta 1-0, Hamrun S. vs Birkirkara 1-2
- Third Division Fgura U. vs Sta. Lucia 0-0, Birzebbuga SP vs Siggiewi 2-0
- Gozo - Second Division Qala SJ vs St. Lawrence S. 4-0, SK Victoria W. vs Kercem A. 1-3
- Nigeria coach Shaibu Amodu named a 34-man squad to start training ahead of the African Nations Cup which kicks-off on January 19 in Mali. Amodu has kept faith with the tried and trusted players who qualified Nigeria for the 2002 World Cup. The team is expected to start training on December 28 with the final 22-man squad being announced before the team leaves for their last warm-up match against the Ivory Coast in Bouke on January 12.
This means that if Akanji is selected for the Nations Cup, he will be unavailable for Sliema between the last week of December and February 10. He will therefore miss the Super 5 Cup matches and the league games against Hamrun, Birkirkara, Naxxar and Valletta.
Fri 14
- Naxxar Lions released Yugoslav goalkeeper Nicola Pejvic and are expected to replace him by Tarxien Rainbows goalkeeper Mark Vella. In fact, the 25-year old goalkeeper, who had also attracted the interest of national coach Sigi Held in July and had trained for some time with the national team, is expected to join Naxxar on loan till the end of the season.
Earlier this season, Sliema Wanderers had also expressed their interest in Vella before they eventually signed Reggie Cini as their second goalkeeper.
Pejvic joined Naxxar in October and played his first match in the Lions' 1-5 defeat to Birkirkara. However after playing four league matches, his place was taken by Omar Borg who had defended the Naxxar posts in the earlier part of the season.
Releasing Pejvic means that Naxxar will be searching for another foreigner to partner with Hungarian defender Attila Horniak and Nigerian striker Daniel Chimezie Nwoke before the final deadline of December 31. Naxxar have already used six foreign players this season, the others being Nigerians Daddy Augustine Okeke, Jude Amin Utulu and Chima Dozie. The Lions have another three foreign players, Paul Sixsmith, Edmond Lufi and Daniel Bogdanovic. However these are not considered as foreigners since they are in possession of Maltese citizenship.
Thu 13
- Second Division Zurrieq vs Attard 1-2, Tarxien R. vs Gzira U. 6-2
- Third Division Pembroke A. vs Zejtun C. 2-2, Vittoriosa S. vs San Gwann 1-0
- Gozo - GFA Cup Final Nadur Y. vs Xewkija T. postponed
- Rabat Ajax midfielder Donovan Friggieri joins Marsa on loan for the rest of the season. The Red-Blues will then have the option of retaining the player at the end of the season.
Friggieri was a regular choice for Rabat Ajax since joining them in 1997. Last season he was particularly impressive although the Magpies were relegated to Division 1 at the end of the season. In summer, he was linked to a move to a number of clubs including Marsa and Lija Athletic but following a meeting with club officials, he had decided to stay with Rabat. However after playing five matches for Rabat in the First Division, he expressed his wish to join another club. Also interested in Friggieri were Floriana.
Meanwhile after releasing Nigerian striker Anthony Evi Parker for the second time, who has now joined the Youths team of Kirkop United, Marsa signed once again Brazilian striker Fabio Cardoso do Nascimento. Fabio Nascimento had already played for Marsa in November against Sliema Wanderers and in the derby against Hamrun Spartans. However the club not satisfied with his performance and re-signed once again Evi Parker as his apparent move to the Youth side of Italian Serie A side Chievo failed to materialise due to visa problems. Earlier Marsa had released the other Nigerian player, Minabo Asechemie, who had joined the club in November.
Wed 12
- Marsa FC were awarded a 2-0 win over Hamrun Spartans when the MFA Protests' Board upheld a protest against the result of the first round game which was played on November 28 regarding the ineligibility of Michael Degiorgio.
Marsa complained that the registration of Michael Degiorgio which was filed two days earlier was irregular. In fact one of the signatures appearing on the registration form was not according to the MFA regulations.
In the game, Degiorgio was surprisingly named on the starting line-up but was then substituted after 45 minutes. Hamrun won 1-0 with a goal by Stefan Sultana.
Thanks to these three points, Marsa move to the sixth place on the 12-point mark, just two behind Hamrun and one ahead of Floriana who are now in the Relegation Pool zone.
- Eight Premier League players were suspended by the MFA Disciplinary Commissioner on Wednesday with Lija Athletic and Valletta being the clubs worst hit. Lija defender Liam Mangion was suspended for three matches after trying to assault referee E.R. Zammit when he was shown a second yellow card for a trivial foul. Defender Augustine Daddy Okeke and midfielder Gordon Camenzuli were suspended for one match each. The three of them will miss next Sunday's match against Floriana while Mangion will also miss the matches against Birkirkara and Marsa. Valletta also had three players suspended. Pavel Mraz, who was sent off, together with Jeffrey Chetcuti and David Carabott, who collected their fourth yellow card, will miss the match against Marsa on Saturday. Another two players, Miguel Mifsud of Hibernians and Graham Bencini of Hamrun Spartans, were also handed a one-match ban. Mifsud misses the game against Valletta and Bencini, the game against Birkirkara.
Tue 11
- Central Cigarette Co. Ltd. through their brand Rothmans gave deserved acknowledgement to Malta's ex-footballers by organising the Rothmans Annual Football Veterans re-union which was held at the Roulette Pub.
This activity which has taken root in recent years serves veteran players to renew their friendship and recall past days. This year the special guests for the occasion were the veteran referess whose past contribution to the game was vital.
- Birkirkara FC chairman Victor Zammit denied reports appearing in some sections of the local media regarding the transfer of two or more Birkirkara players. In one particular web site, it was claimed that Birkirkara were trying to sell three players in order to solve financial difficulties. The players mentioned in this report were Joe Brincat, Hubert Suda and Michael Spiteri. Another report claimed that the Stripes were willing to transfer Hubert Suda and Michael Spiteri. However Victor Zammit denied these rumours and said that the club had no intention to transfer these players. Birkirkara FC secretary John Borg, described as a lie, the allegation that he had offered the players mentioned to Sliema president Robert Arrigo or to any other Sliema official.
Meanwhile Birkirkara defender Michael Spiteri has been ruled out for the rest of the season as it was discovered that he had suffered an injury in the cruciate ligament.
Mon 10
- In-form Naxxar Lions striker Daniel Bogdanovic could join champions Valletta FC in the coming days. The Yugoslav striker, who also holds Maltese citizenship, was particularly impressive in Naxxar's recent outings, scoring six goals in eight matches. Valletta are proposing a player-exchange deal which would involve Nigerian striker Maczerob Okoro who arrived in Malta last month for a trial with the Citizens. The Nigerian player was due to replace one of Valletta's three foreigners. However as the three of them - Nigerian striker Chris Oretan and Czech midfielders Pavel Mraz and Kamil Dvorak - were all doing quite well, the Citizens are considering the possibility of loaning him to another club and signing him next year.
Naxxar seem to be interested in accepting Valletta's offer although Bogdanovic is currently one of their key players. In such case, Okoro joins Naxxar for the rest of the season while Bogdanovic makes a permanent move to the capital.
Daniel Bogdanovic arrived in Malta in October 1998 together with his father Milosar Bogdanovic who coached Hamrun Spartans for a short period during season 1998/99. Bogdanovic moved to Gozo and later played in Tunisia. In the mean time, he was also included in the Malta Under 21 squad. The Yugoslav striker joined Sliema mid-way through last season after a short trial with Floriana. This summer, Bogdanovic had joined Vasas SC in Hungary on a free-transfer together with Orosco Anonam. After playing, and scoring regularly, in friendly matches, he only made a couple of short appearances in league matches before having to return back to Malta when the bankrupt club was no longer able to honour his contract and pay his salary.
- Floriana goalkeeper Justin Haber seems to be on top of the list as Sliema Wanderers as they search for a another goalkeeper. Haber is the Greens' second goalkeeper as Matthew Camilleri is currently their first choice.
The Blues are resigned to losing Nigerian goalkeeper Murphy Akanji for around a month as he should be one of the players to be selected in the Super Eagles squad for the African Nations Cup to be held in Mali between January 19 and February 10. Before the tournament, Nigeria was due to play friendly matches against Jamaica, Senegal, Cameroon and Egypt but for some reason or another, all these friendlies were cancelled. But still, Akanji is expected to join his team-mates early in January.
Another target for Sliema is Zurrieq goalkeeper Mark Farrugia who was already linked with a move to Sliema earlier this season when they eventually signed Reggie Cini from Valletta.
Meanwhile if Murphy Akanji manages to win a regular place in the starting line-up for Nigeria in the Nations Cup and especially in the World Cup, he would stand a much better chance to securing a contract with some European club. Right now, four Italian clubs and another two Spanish clubs have expressed their interest in the Nigerian goalkeeper.
Nigeria will be meeting Mali, Liberia and Algeria in the first round of the Nations Cup. On the other hand, the Super Eagles were drawn with England, Argentina and Sweden in the first round of the World Cup, which begins May 31.
Sun 9
- Premier League Hibernians vs Naxxar L. 3-2, Valletta vs Lija A. 4-0
- First Division Gozo vs Mosta 2-5, Xghajra T. vs St. Andrews 1-0, St. Patrick vs Marsaxlokk 0-5
- Second Division Mellieha vs Sta. Venera L. 0-1, Senglea A. vs Msida SJ 2-2
- Third Division Gudja U. vs St. George's 1-3, Gharghur vs Kirkop U. 0-2
- Women's League Raiders vs Mosta 0-1, Hibernians vs Rabat A. 4-0
- Michael Mifsud played the whole 90 minutes in Kaiserslautern Amateure's 1-0 defeat away to Darmstadt 98. This defeat leaves Kaiserslautern's amateur side in the 16th place with 18 points out of 21 matches, three points behind Stuttgarter Kickers, four ahead of VfB Stuttgart Amateure and seven ahead of Borussia Fulda.
In Italy, Gilbert Agius returned back to the bench for the Serie C1 A game against Triestina. Despite being one of the best players in the Coppa Italia match against Prato on Wednesday, Pisa coach Corrado Benedetti left the Maltese international striker on the bench. During the season which is turning out to be a nightmare for Agius, he only made three short league appearances playing a total of 105 minutes. Pisa are currently 15th with 14 points out of 15 matches. They trail Albinoleffe, Reggiana and Monza by one point. Arezzo are on 14 points as well while Padova and Alzano lie at the bottom with 13 points each.
Meanwhile CSKA Sofia, the club for whom Malta international midfielder Stefan Giglio plays, has appointed a new coach. He is the former Inter coach Gigi Simoni. Simoni takes over the team officially on the 1st January. He replaces Asparuh Nikodimov who was sacked by the management of the Bulgarian club. Technical director Stoine Manolov and assistant coach Krasimir Bezinski resigned from their posts. CSKA Sofia are currently leading the table with 39 points. Champions Levski Sofia are joint-leaders, besides having a game in hand. Liteks Lovetch, who also have a game in hand, are in third-place, two points behind the leaders.Simoni was sacked by Inter in November 1998. His last club was Torino from where he was sacked in October 2000. Stefan Giglio is still ruled out after undergoing a surgery. He is expected to be back in three months' time.
Sat 8
- Premier League Hamrun S. vs Pietà H. 2-1, Birkirkara vs Floriana 3-1
- Second Division Luqa SA vs Melita 1-2, Dingli S. vs Zebbug R. 5-0
- Third Division Ta' Xbiex vs Sirens 0-6, Mgarr U. vs Ghaxaq 0-1
- Gozo - Second Division Kercem A. vs St. Lawrence S. 1-2, Xaghra U. vs Gharb R. 3-1
Fri 7
- Stephen Azzopardi is the new Birkirkara FC coach. Azzopardi, who has been coaching First Division side Balzan Youths, obtained the UEFA A-Licence following a course at the FIGC Centre in Coverciano. Next week, Azzopardi is going to a three-day visit in Turin with Juventus.
Stephen Azzopardi was able to join Birkirkara thanks to the strong links between Balzan Youths and Birkirkara especially thanks to Balzan president Dr John Zammit Montebello, who is also the medical doctor of Birkirkara FC.
Mario Borg, head-coach of the Birkirkara Youth Nursery, will be assisting him as assistant coach after being appointed as caretaker coach on Wednesday. Azzopardi will formally take over at the end of next week and therefore Mario Borg will be guiding the team in the game against Floriana.
Birkirkara's first target was that of former national coach Pippo Psaila as the new coach. However he could not accept their offer as he holds the post of Director of Sport at the Malta Olympic Committee.
Thu 6
- Lija Athletic goalkeeper Simon Agius was voted as the Rothmans Player of the Month for November 2001. The 23-year old goalkeeper was one of the key players behind the 0-0 draw with Sliema Wanderers and the 3-2 win over Naxxar Lions.
Agius started his career with Birkirkara with whom he won the Under 18 League Championship in season 1995-96. In 1996-97, he moved to Lija Athletic with whom he made his Premier League debut. During the same season he was voted as the Best Under-18 Player. Last season, he won promotion to Premier Division with Lija and crowned an excellent season by winning the club's Best Player Award and the MFA Division 1 Player of the Year award. Simon Agius considers the highest points in his career the promotion to the Premier Division last season with Lija Athletic and the Under 18 Championship with Birkirkara.
His ambition is now to play for a bigger club and to play for the national team. Among his other interests and hobbies are current affairs and going to movies.
- Mario Borg, head-coach of the Birkirkara Youth Nursery, has been appointed as caretaker coach of Birkirkara until the club finds a new coach. Birkirkara were interested in appointing former national coach Pippo Psaila as the new coach. However he could not accept their offer as he holds the post of Director of Sport at the Malta Olympic Committee. The club now seems intentioned in approaching Balzan Youths coach Stephen Azzopardi who is due to get the UEFA A-Licence coach after a course at the FIGC Centre in Coverciano.
- Floriana midfielder Etienne Barbara was suspended for two matches by the MFA Disciplinary Commissioner. Besides being banned for one match after receiving a fourth yellow card, he was suspended for another game following an incident that occurred just after last Saturday's match against Valletta. Barbara will miss the next tow matches against Birkirkara and Lija Athletic. Floriana coach Ziya Yildiz was also fined Lm25 for passing on remarks to the referee after the game.
Another two Premier League players were suspended for one game: Naxxar Lions player-coach Edmond Lufi and Pietà Hotspurs defender Pierre Aquilina. Lufi collected a fourth yellow card and will now miss the next league game against Hibernians. On the other hand, Aquilina, who was sent off in the match against Birkirkara, will be unavailable for Hamrun-Pietà.
Wed 5
- Gilbert Agius returned back for Pisa after over two months when he played for the Serie C1 A side in the second leg of the eighth-finals of the Coppa Italia di Serie C against Prato. Pisa coach Corrado Benedetti included Agius in the starting line-up which was mainly made up of youths and players who are not usually part of the first team. Pisa tied 1-1 and were therefore eliminated on the away-goals rule after that the two teams tied 0-0 in Prato.
The last game Gilbert Agius had played for Pisa was the Serie C match against Spezia on the 30th September. Since then he no longer played for the nerazzurri as he was recovering from an injury sustained during the World Cup qualifier against the Czech Republic early in October. But when he recovered full fitness, he still failed to win a place in the team's starting line-up especially after the arrival of the new coach.
- Maltese assistant referee Philip Agius will be assisting Italian referee Pierluigi Collina in the Champions League Second Phase match between Nantes and Bayern Munich at the Stade La Beaujoire on Wednesday.
Philip Agius was already selected as one of assistant referees for the Champions League match between Manchester United and Olympiakos at Old Trafford. There he assisted Portuguese referee Victor Manuel Perreira.
If Agius does well in such appointments, he stands a good chance of making it to the 2002 FIFA World Cup Finals in June. Another Maltese assistant referee Emmanuel Zammit had the opportunity to be selected as one of the assistant referees for the World Cup 1998 in France and the EURO 2000 in Belgium and Holland.
- Hibernians midfielder Miguel Mifsud was selected to form part of the national team squad by national coach Siegfried Held. Mifsud was a member of the Ray 'Zazu' Farrugia's Under 21 side.
Mifsud is a product of Hibernians although he also played for one season with Xghajra Tornadoes in Division 1. Mifsud is the second Hibs player to be called to form part of the national squad after striker Adrian Mifsud.
Tue 4
- Birkirkara coach Alfred Cardona resigned from his post due to health
problems. Cardona felt ill on Sunday just after Birkirkara's 1-1 draw with
Pietà Hotspurs and had to be hospitalized. In fact this seems to have
prompted him to quitting the job. However Cardona will not leave Birkirkara as he is expected to form part of the club's technical board.
To replace Cardona, the Stripes could now move in for Karim Bencheriffa who was sacked from his post at Floriana last month. The Moroccan coach is expected back in Malta in the coming days where he will be having discussions with Floriana regarding the compensation due following the termination of the contract. Bencheriffa is willing to take another job with one of the top local clubs. Former Valletta coach Krassimir Manolov, currently coach of Bulgarian side Botev Plovdiv, has also been linked with a possible new job at Birkirkara.
Marsaxlokk vs Floriana is the main fixture in the Rothmans Trophy First Round draws that were held on Tuesday. The Seasiders are the most consistent side in the Rothmans First Division and are currently leading the table together with Mosta. Taking part in the draw were six teams from the Premier League - Floriana, Hamrun Spartans, Pietà Hotspurs, Naxxar Lions, Marsa and Lija Athletic - plus the ten teams in the First Division.
Pietà were drawn to meet Xghajra Tornadoes that were relegated from the Premier League last season while Naxxar and Hamrun will be meeting Qormi and St. Patrick respectively. Marsa, champions of the First Division last season, meet Balzan Youths while Lija Athletic face Gozo FC. The other two matches puts four teams from the First Division against each other: Rabat Ajax vs Mqabba and St. Andrews vs Mosta. The First Round matches will be played on the 23rd and 30th December.
- Birkirkara will be meeting Sliema Wanderers while champions Valletta face Hibernians in the semi-finals of the Super 5 Cup after the draws which were held on Tuesday. The semi-finals of this competition reserved for the teams placing first to fourth in the previous year's league campaign are scheduled for the 22nd December. The finals will be held on the 29th December.
- The draws of the Rothmans Second & Third Division Knock-Out Quarter-Finals were held on Tuesday. Taking part in the draws were seven teams from the Second Division and one, San Gwann, from the Third Division. The draws resulted as follows: Zebbug R. vs Tarxien R., San Gwann vs Msida SJ, Luqa SA vs Dingli S. and Melita vs Senglea A.
Mon 3
- It was a busy weekend for Malta international striker Michael Mifsud as he made a short appearance for the senior side of Kaiserslautern in the Bundesliga on Saturday and then playing for the amateur side in the Regionalliga on Sunday.
On Saturday, Kaiserslautern coach Andreas Brehme utilized Mifsud as a substitute ten minutes from time when he replaced Olaf Marschall in FCK's 3-0 win over Freiburg. Kaiserslautern are fourth in the table with 31 points, five behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen, three behind Borussia Dortmund and just one behind Bayern München.
On Sunday, Michael Mifsud played the whole 90 minutes for 1FC Kaiserslautern Amateure in the Regionalliga Sud. Kaiserslautern suffered a 1-3 defeat at home to Eintracht Trier with the Maltese international striker scoring the Red Devils' only goal on 44 minutes when the visitors were already leading 3-0. The team is currently 16th with 18 points, one behind SpVgg Ansbach, four ahead of VfB Stuttgart Amateure and eight ahead of wooden-spoonists Borussia Fulda.
- During the next few days, Replay will be filming in Pisa, Italy to prepare a feature on Maltese international Gilbert Agius. A TV crew made up of Sandro Micallef and Roberto Runza are set to visit Pisa on Wednesday. During their stay at Pisa, Micallef and Runza will interview Gilbert Agius and also Pisa's coach Benedetti asking him why Agius has not yet gained a regular place in the team. Gilbert Agius will be also featured during his Italian lifestyle at Pisa. Net TV will broadcast this feature on the 23rd of December, in a special edition of Replay. It is understood that Agius will be given another chance to perform at his utmost next Wednesday 5th December when Pisa host Prato in the second leg of the quarter finals of the Coppa Italia.
Net TV's crew will also make a short visit to Genoa and interview Maltese international youngster David Camenzuli who plays for the Allievi Nazionali of Sampdoria. David Camenzuli former Pietà Hotspurs player is in his second year with Sampdoria's youth team. This season is crucial for the Maltese talented youngster because at the end of May he has the possibility to be called up to form part of the Primavera squad and thus leading Camenzuli to extend his stay in the region of Liguria.
Sun 2
- Premier League Naxxar L. vs Marsa 2-0, Pietà H. vs Birkirkara 1-1
- First Division Balzan Y. vs Qormi 1-3, Mqabba vs Mosta 1-1
- Second Division Attard vs Tarxien R. 0-3, Sta. Venera L. vs Zurrieq 1-2
- Third Division San Gwann vs Birzebbuga SP 4-2, Siggiewi vs Fgura U. 1-1
- Women's League Hibernians vs Melita 1-0, Rabat A. vs Birkirkara 0-4
Sat 1
- Premier League Sliema W. vs Hibernians 2-0, Floriana vs Valletta 1-2
- Second Division Gzira U. vs Senglea A. 0-1, Zebbug R. vs Mellieha 0-0
- Gozo - First Division Victoria H. vs Sannat L. 2-5
- Gozo - Second Division SK Victoria W. vs Gharb R. 4-1
- Marsa FC have filed a protest against the result of last Wednesday's Premier League match against Hamrun Spartans regarding the alleged ineligibility of Hamrun player Michael Degiorgio. Hamrun Spartans won 1-0. Marsa are claiming that his registration was not correct according to the MFA regulations.
Degiorgio joined the Spartans earlier this week after being sacked from his post as coach of First Division side Marsaxlokk. He was included in the starting line-up for Hamrun before being substituted in half-time by David Galea.