Floriana F.C.

Floriana

Full name	Floriana Football Club
Nickname(s)	Tal-Irish, Il-Greens [1]
Founded	1894;130 years ago (1894)
Ground	Various
Manager	Darren Abdilla
League	Maltese Premier League
2023–24	Maltese Premier League, 2nd of 14
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Floriana Football Club is a Maltese professional football club in the town of Floriana that currently plays in the Maltese Premier League. ^[2] Floriana has won 26 national leagues and 21 FA trophies. It is also the only team from Malta to have qualified from the qualifying rounds to the first round proper of the UEFA Champions League, in the 1993–94 season.^{[ citation needed ]}

History

Floriana Football Club was founded in 1894 with the inauguration of the football ground officiated by Queen Alexandra. ^[3] The site was a cricket ground from 1890 until its conversion project. ^[3] Together with St. George's FC, is one of the two oldest clubs in Malta. ^[4] During that period, football in Malta was introduced by the British Servicemen who were stationed on the island, which was then a colony of the British Empire. ^[4]

The club is affiliated to the Malta Football Association which in turn is a member of both UEFA and FIFA. ^[5] The team's colours were green and red but after a friendly match against the Royal Dublin Fusiliers which plays in green and white, Floriana FC changed its colours to green and white. The team's nicknames are: Tal-Irish and Greens.

Floriana Football Club has won the major Maltese League championship 26 times and the FA Trophy 20 times.

Formation

Football was introduced in Malta at the end of the 19th century by the British troops stationed on the island. ^[3] At that time Malta formed part of the British Empire and, the Island was the base of British forces in the heart of the Mediterranean. ^[4] The forces' barracks, which were strategically located around the island of Malta, enjoyed large areas that were used as parade grounds, training areas and for sporting activities. ^[3]

The sports practised by the soldiers were mainly cricket, hockey and football. ^[3] The British forces in Malta were mainly stationed in Floriana, Cospicua, Mtarfa, Marsa and Sliema. ^[3] The locals who were influenced by the soldiers stationed in the area were introduced to these sporting activities. ^[4] The most popular sport amongst the residents of Floriana was football, ^[4] however some also practised cricket and hockey. ^[3] Floriana still has its hockey club, carrying the name Floriana Young Stars Hockey Club.

Club colours and mascot

Between 1894 and 1905 the club's colours were green/red quartered shirts, black shorts with green and red socks. ^[4] The official colours of the club as we know them today, green and white vertical striped shirts, white shorts and green/white horizontal striped socks, were introduced in 1905. ^[4] At that time the Royal Dublin Fusiliers were stationed in Floriana. ^[4] During that year, three friendly matches were held between this regiment and FFC. ^[4] At the end of the final match both teams exchanged their shirts and later the FFC changed their official colours to their green and white shirts. ^[4] The regiment left the Island for India in that same year. ^[4] The ties between Floriana and the Royal Dublin Fusiliers were so strong that the people hailing from Floriana were nicknamed after the Irish, "Tal-Irish". ^[4]

The club's mascot is the lion, which features prominently on the club's badge since 1936 together with the Latin motto "Ex Ludis Virtus", meaning "virtue out of the game". ^[6] In this regard the club's badge represents the fierceness of the lion together with the virtues of sportsmanship. The lion was chosen as the club's mascot for two general reasons attributed to history of Floriana.

First attribution is to the coat-of-arms of the Grandmaster of Order of St. John, Manoel de Vilhena, which has the lion on it. ^[6] Vilhena was the mastermind behind the construction of a fortification suburg of Floriana (originally known as Borgo Vilhena) to defend the capital city of Valletta from land attacks. ^[4] He even ordered the construction of a lion statue fountain, with his Grandmaster coat of arms being held by the lions hand, in the centre of Floriana's main square, St. Anne Square, which is still there today. ^[6]

Second attribution to the lion is the statue of St. Publius who is the patron saint of Floriana. The St. Publius' statue has a lion with it which shows how Publius was killed for his Christian preachings.

The first game won by the team was confirmed on the feast of the patron's village St. Publius, on 13 April 1910, which is to some considered a divine confirmation. ^[6]

2020 Win and COVID-19 national outrage

On 25 May 2020 Floriana FC were crowned champions of the BOV Premier League for the 26th title in their history and their first in 27 years, following a shortened season by a legal notice from the health authority in Malta to stop all contact sports on the Island because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2020 a vote was taken in the MFA Counsel and declared all those on top of the table in all participating divisions will be declared champions. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season was ultimately stopped earlier and Floriana was crowned champions of the league.

Celebrations were then hosted in the Fosos in Floriana, where a mass gathering of supporters broke social distancing rules and broke several Maltese laws by not staying in groups of six of less. The event sparked national outrage within the public in Malta and was featured on nearly all Maltese national newspapers. ^[7]

Domestic successes

Since the foundation of the Malta Football Association, in 1909, ^[8] (fiv)and local competitions the club won a total of 108 honours, which includes 26 league titles and 25 Cup knock out competitions. The club has also achieved a number of impressive feats, such as four consecutive league championships, ten doubles (League plus Cup) and a League title with maximum points.

UEFA competitions

Over the years FFC participated in the various competitions organised by the European football body, UEFA, such as the:

• UEFA Champions League
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
• Fairs Cities' Cup
• UEFA Europa League
• Intertoto Cup

In 1962, the club was the first to represent Malta in UEFA competitions in its Cup Winners' Cup against the Hungarian side Ujpest Dozsa. Over the years, FFC had the opportunity to meet some renowned European football clubs, including the likes of:

• Ipswich Town
• Inter Milan
• Sparta Rotterdam
• Panathinaikos
• Ferencváros
• Dundee United
• FC Porto
• Borussia Dortmund
• Hajduk Split
• Red Star Belgrade

On two occasions FFC made it to the next round, 1993–94 Champions Cup and Intertoto Cup 1999–00.

Youth sector

In 1987 the club founded its youth sector, Floriana FC Nursery (FFCN), which is affiliated to the Malta Youth Football Association. ^[9] The club's youth sector may also be considered one of the most successful organisations of its type on the Island; not only has it produced a number of some of the finest footballers, but it has also won a number of league titles organised by the Association. The following are some of the major honours won by FFCN:

06 / 07 UNDER 14 Knock out competition

• U/14 League Champions – twice
• U/16 League Champions – six times, four of which in a row, 1993 to 1997
• U/18 League Champions – six times, four of which in a row, 1996 to 2000

Today all the major six Premiership clubs in Malta have at least two players forming part of their squad, which have been raised by the Floriana Youth Nursery.

Rivalries

During their history Floriana has had three main rivals, these being St. George's FC, Sliema Wanderers and neighbors Valletta. ^[4] The rivalry against St. George's started from the beginnings of football in Malta circa 1890, before the rivalry with Sliema Wanderers FC developed (now referred to as the old firm rivalry).This rivalry peaked from 1922 onwards and lasted until the late 1970s, during which time both sides dominated the Maltese football scene. ^[4] Football hooliganism and direct conflicts between supporters were something usual. ^[4]

Today the rivalry has declined. Recently Floriana won their 20th FA Trophy against Sliema. This re-ignited the rivalry between both clubs, as Floriana won 9 finals in this cup competition against the Blues. ^[10]

The rivalry against Valletta is still alive, and is now considered the biggest fixture in the Maltese Premier League and one of the most classic derbies in Maltese football. ^[10] The rivalry stems from the close proximity of the two localities they represent, as well as the history and huge domestic success of both clubs. The matches between the two sides always attract big crowds to the stadium and the fans treat these clashes as cup finals. ^[10]

Players

Current squad

As of 15 September 2024 ^[11]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 4 DF   TUN Oualid El Hasni 7 MF   MLT Mattia Veselji 8 MF   MLT Jake Grech 9 MF   MLT Kemar Reid 11 MF   BRA Thiaguinho Santos 12 MF   MLT Dunstan Vella 17 DF   MLT Owen Spiteri 19 MF   MLT Luca Accarino 20 MF   MLT Matías García 21 MF   MLT Carlo Zammit Lonardelli

No. Pos. Nation Player 22 FW   MLT Kyrian Nwoko 25 GK   ESP Saúl Gracia 27 FW   NGA Franklin Sasere 37 GK   MLT Reece Cutajar 45 GK   CGO Christoffer Mafoumbi 55 DF   GRE Alexandros Kouros 70 DF   BRA Fernandinho 77 DF   MLT Aleandro Garzia 79 DF   CIV Guy Serge Yaméogo 97 MF   BRA Emerson Sousa

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 14 MF   MLT Eman Micallef(at Gudja United until 30 June 2024)

No. Pos. Nation Player

Non-playing staff

Administration

Position [12]	Name
President	Johann Said
Vice President, Head of Legal & International Relations	Dr Shazoo Ghaznavi
Vice President	Emmanuel Bezzina
Secretary & 1st MFA Delegate	Dr Jacques Grima
Treasurer	Edward Spiteri
Assistant Secretary	Anton Vella
Head of u/19's & 2nd MFA Delegate	Jordie Delia
Head of Media	Ryan Agius
Head of Marketing & Commercial Relations	Justin Muscat
Head of Events	Lisa Aquilina
Head of Supporters Club	Mark Edward Galea
Head of Nursery	Raymond Vella
Committee Member	Dione Borg
Clubhouse Manager	Kenny Roberts
Club Administrator	Julian Attard

Managerial positions

Name	Nat	From	To
Karim Bencherifa		1 July 2000	30 June 2002
Zijad Švrakić		2002	2004
Jimmy Briffa		2005	2006
Joseph Grech		2006	2007
Danilo Dončić		1 July 2007	30 June 2008
Zoran Popović		1 July 2008	9 Jan 2009
Antonio Carlos Vieira		1 July 2008	24 March 2009
Roddy Collins		1 July 2009	15 Dec 2009
Zoran Popović		2009	2010
Todor Raykov		1 July 2010	21 Feb 2011
Michael Woods		2010	2012
Joe Brincat		20 March 2012	2012
Mark Wright		18 Aug 2012	18 Oct 2012
Stephen Azzopardi		18 Oct 2012	25 Jan 2013
Iain Brunskill		29 Jan 2013	8 May 2013
Ian Dawes		9 May 2013	8 April 2014
Giovanni Tedesco		8 April 2014	8 May 2015
Luis Oliveira		14 June 2015	8 May 2016
Giovanni Tedesco		15 June 2016	4 December 2017
Nicolas Hernan Chiesa		15 December 2017	27 August 2018
Luis Oliveira		28 August 2018	14 November 2018
Guido Ugolotti		14 November 2018	15 May 2019
Vincenzo Potenza		15 May 2019 [13]	23 December 2020 [14]
John Buttigieg		26 December 2020 [15]	11 February 2021 [16]
Darren Vella		11 February 2021 [17]	16 February 2021
Vincenzo Potenza		16 February 2021 [18]	14 June 2021
Gianluca Atzori		17 June 2021 [19]	10 May 2023
Mauro Camoranesi		5 June 2023	15 May 2024
Darren Abdilla		20 May 2024

Honours

• Maltese Premier League
  • Champions (26) : 1909–10, 1911–12, 1912–13, 1920–21, 1921–22, 1924–25, 1926–27, 1927–28, 1928–29, 1930–31, 1934–35, 1936–37, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1954–55, 1957–58, 1961–62, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1976–77, 1992–93, 2019–20
  • Runners-up (13): 1922–23, 1925–26, 1935–36, 1937–38, 1953–54, 1955–56, 1965–66, 1968–69, 1971–72, 1975–76, 1991–92, 1993–94, 2010–11
• Maltese FA Trophy
  • Champions (21): 1937–38, 1944–45, 1946–47, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1960–61, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1971–72, 1975–76, 1980–81, 1992–93, 1993–94, 2010–11, 2016–17, 2021–22
  • Runners-up (12): 1934–35, 1935–36, 1955–56, 1959–60, 1964–65, 1973–74, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1987–88, 1988–89, 2005–06
• Maltese Super Cup
  • Champions (2): 1993, 2017
  • Runners-up (2): 1994, 2011, 2022
• Maltese First Division
  • Champions (1): 1985–86
• Centenary Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 2000

European record

Matches

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1961–62	European Cup Winners' Cup	Preliminary round	Újpest	2–5	2–10	4–15
1962–63	European Cup	Preliminary round	Ipswich Town	1–4	0–10	1–14
1965–66	European Cup Winners' Cup	First round	Borussia Dortmund	1–5	0–8	1–13
1966–67	European Cup Winners' Cup	First round	Sparta Rotterdam	1–1	0–6	1–7
1967–68	European Cup Winners' Cup	First round	NAC Breda	1–2	0–1	1–3
1968–69	European Cup	First round	Lahti	1–1	0–2	1–3
1969–70	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	First round	Dinamo Bacău	0–1	0–6	0–7
1970–71	European Cup	First round	Sporting CP	0–4	0–5	0–9
1972–73	European Cup Winners' Cup	First round	Ferencvárosi	1–0	0–6	1–6
1973–74	European Cup	First round	Club Brugge	0–2	0–8	0–10
1975–76	European Cup	First round	Hajduk Split	0–5	0–3	0–8
1976–77	European Cup Winners' Cup	First round	Śląsk Wrocław	1–4	0–2	1–6
1977–78	European Cup	First round	Panathinaikos	1–1	0–4	1–5
1978–79	European Cup Winners' Cup	First round	Internazionale	1–3	0–5	1–8
1981–82	European Cup Winners' Cup	First round	Standard Liège	1–3	0–9	1–12
1988–89	European Cup Winners' Cup	First round	Dundee United	0–0	0–1	0–1
1991–92	UEFA Cup	First round	Neuchâtel Xamax	0–0	0–2	0–2
1992–93	UEFA Cup	First round	Borussia Dortmund	0–1	2–7	2–8
1993–94	UEFA Champions League	Preliminary round	Ekranas	1–0	1–0	2–0
		First round	Porto	0–0	0–2	0–2
1994–95	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	Qualifying round	Sligo Rovers	2–2	0–1	2–3
1995	UEFA Intertoto Cup	Group 11	Tirol Innsbruck	0–4	—	5th
			Hapoel Petah Tikva	—	1–1
			Strasbourg	0–4	—
			Gençlerbirliği	—	0–3
1996–97	UEFA Cup	Preliminary round	Beitar Jerusalem	1–5	1–3	2–8
1997	UEFA Intertoto Cup	Group 12	SV Ried	1–2	—	5th
			Tbilisi	—	0–5
			Torpedo Moscow	0–1	—
			Iraklis	—	0–1
1999	UEFA Intertoto Cup	First round	Aberystwyth Town	2–1	2–2	4–3
		Second round	Jokerit	1–1	1–2	2–3
2000	UEFA Intertoto Cup	First round	Stabæk	1–1	0–2	1–3
2011–12	Europa League	Second qualifying round	AEK Larnaca	0–8	0–1	0–9
2012–13	Europa League	First qualifying round	Elfsborg	0–4	0–8	0–12
2017–18	UEFA Europa League	First qualifying round	Red Star Belgrade	3–3	0–3	3–6
2020–21	UEFA Champions League	First qualifying round	CFR Cluj	0–2 [20]	—	—
	UEFA Europa League	Second qualifying round	Linfield	—	1–0	—
		Third qualifying round	Flora	0–0 (2–4 p)	—	—
2022–23	UEFA Europa Conference League	First qualifying round	Petrocub Hîncești	0–0	0–1	0–1
2024–25	UEFA Conference League	First qualifying round	Tre Penne	3–1	1−1	4−2
		Second qualifying round	Vitória de Guimarães	0-1	0-4	0-5

League and cup history

Season	League	Top Scorer	Cup	Youths
Div.	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Name	Goals	Sect.	Pos.	Cup
2000–2001	1st	5th	28	13	4	11	54	48	27	Rufin Oba	12	SF	A	3rd	RU
2001–2002		5th	28	10	6	12	39	38	25	Eduardo 'Bizu' Do Nascimento	9	R2		1st	SF
2002–2003		8th	24	8	6	10	32	34	20	Grigol Gvazava Nicolò Baldacchino	6	SF		1st	R1
2003–2004		6th	28	8	7	13	41	51	18	Eduardo 'Bizu' Do Nascimento Nicolò Baldacchino	8	QF		2nd	W
2004–2005		6th	28	7	7	14	28	39	16	Nicolò Baldacchino	6	QF		4th	SF
2005–2006		7th	24	6	9	9	36	37	18	Adrian Mifsud	15	RU		6th	QF
2006–2007		7th	24	9	7	8	41	30	22	Adrian Mifsud	9	R1		5th	QF
2007–2008		5th	28	10	6	12	40	42	22	Ryan Darmanin	10	SF		6th	QF
2008–2009		6th	28	7	6	15	25	44	16	Ryan Darmanin	10	QF		8th	RP
2009–2010		7th	24	10	6	8	35	41	25	Ryan Darmanin	17	R2		4th	RU
2010–2011		2nd	28	14	5	9	46	32	34	Daniel Nwoke	13	W		4th	SF
2011–2012		4th	32	16	6	10	47	35	33	Christian Caruana Andre Grabowski	7	QF		5th	SF
2012–2013		7th	32	14	10	8	48	38	38	Igor Coronado	13	R4		7th	R2
2013–2014		7th	32	14	5	13	50	48	30	Igor Coronado	14	R4		9th	R2
2014–2015		5th	33	13	11	9	58	51	36	Matteo Piciollo	14	R4	B	7th	R3
2015–2016		5th	33	18	4	11	60	42	39	Mario Fontanella	20	QF		4th	SF
2016–2017		5th	33	15	9	9	51	37	54	Mario Fontanella	14	W		7th	R2
2017–2018		5th	26	12	10	4	48	18	46	Mario Fontanella	17	R3		9th	QF
2018–2019		8th	26	9	5	12	28	25	32	Arthur Oyama	5	R3	C	4th	R3
2019–2020		W	20	12	5	3	38	15	37	Tiago Adan	8	R3	C	4th	R3
2020–2021		12th	23	7	6	10	26	34	27	Kristian Keqi	5	QF	C	4th	QF
2021–2022		2nd	16	8	6	2	24	13	30	Andrei Ciolacu	4	R3	?	4th

References

1. Cassar Pullicino, J. (1956). "Social Aspects of Maltese Nicknames" (PDF). Scientia. 22 (2): 92. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 August 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
2. "LaLiga: The best show in Malta | News | Liga de Fútbol Profesional 2016". Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
3. Armstrong, Gary; Mitchell, Jon P. (2008). Global and Local Football: Politics and Europeanization on the Fringes of the EU. Routledge. pp. 23, 29, 68. ISBN   9781134269198. Archived from the original on 8 September 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
4. Armstrong, Gary; Mitchell, Jon P. (2008). Global and Local Football: Politics and Europeanization on the Fringes of the EU. Routledge. pp. 43–46. ISBN   9781134269198. Archived from the original on 8 September 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
5. Armstrong, Gary; Mitchell, Jon P. (2008). Global and Local Football: Politics and Europeanization on the Fringes of the EU. Routledge. p. 31. ISBN   9781134269198. Archived from the original on 8 September 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
6. Armstrong, Gary; Mitchell, Jon P. (2008). Global and Local Football: Politics and Europeanization on the Fringes of the EU. Routledge. pp. 44, 47, 50. ISBN   9781134269198. Archived from the original on 8 September 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
7. "Charges expected against Floriana fans over mass celebration". Times of Malta. 27 May 2020. Archived from the original on 19 June 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
8. Armstrong, Gary; Mitchell, Jon P. (2008). Global and Local Football: Politics and Europeanization on the Fringes of the EU. Routledge. p. 13. ISBN   9781134269198.
9. Armstrong, Gary; Mitchell, Jon P. (2008). Global and Local Football: Politics and Europeanization on the Fringes of the EU. Routledge. p. 81. ISBN   9781134269198. Archived from the original on 8 September 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
10. Armstrong, Gary; Mitchell, Jon P. (2008). Global and Local Football: Politics and Europeanization on the Fringes of the EU. Routledge. pp. 48–50. ISBN   9781134269198.
11. "Squad". Floriana FC. Archived from the original on 30 August 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
12. "FLORIANA FC 2020/21 CLUB ADMINISTRATION". Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
13. "Floriana appoint Potenza as coach". Times of Malta. 15 May 2019. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
14. Aquilina, Kurt (23 December 2020). "Updated: Potenza resigns as Floriana coach". Times of Malta . Archived from the original on 24 December 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
15. Camilleri, Valhmor (26 December 2020). "John Buttigieg appointed new Floriana coach". SportsDesk. Archived from the original on 26 December 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
16. "John Buttigieg steps down as Floriana coach". Times of Malta . 11 February 2021. Archived from the original on 12 February 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
17. Busuttil, Antoine (13 February 2021). "FLORIANA RETURN TO WINNING WAYS". MaltaFootball. Archived from the original on 13 February 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
18. Camilleri, Valhmor (16 February 2021). "I could never turn my back on Floriana, says Potenza". SportsDesk. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
19. Busuttil, Antoine (17 June 2021). "FLORIANA FC APPOINT GIANLUCA ATZORI AS THEIR NEW COACH". MaltaFootball. Archived from the original on 8 November 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
20. Lia, Gianluca (19 August 2020). "Watch: CFR Cluj need two second-half goals to knock out Floriana". SportsDesk. Archived from the original on 22 August 2020. Retrieved 19 August 2020.

External links

• Official Website