Mgarr United F.C.

Mgarr United

Full name	Mgarr United Football Club
Founded	1967
Ground	Centenary Stadium, Ta'Qali, Malta (Capacity: 5,000)
Manager	Vesko Petrovic
League	Maltese Second Division
2010/11	Maltese Second Division, 12th (Relegeted)
Home colours Away colours

Mgarr United F.C. is a Maltese football club, currently playing in the Maltese Second Division. The club was founded in 1967 following the dissolution of Mgarr Eagles F.C. The clubs first success came in 2006-2007 when they won the BOV Premier League 3rd Division

History

The History of Mgarr United F.C. begins in 1967 when after the dissolution of Mgarr Eagles F.C,an under 16 team called Mgarr Juvenals founded by Mr. France Debono went on to become Mgarr United F.C. It was decided that the colours where to be white and green and the first training sessions were held in Golden Bay. With the co-operation of the Mgarr Oratory director Dun Guzepp Vella, Mgarr United F.C. started club meetings and training in these premises.

The club's first coach was the legendary Lolly Debattista and renowned people who gave a helping hand to this new born club were Fr. Hilary Tagliaferro and the late Salvu Cuschieri. The first competition the club had taken part in was the ASCC with the first game on the 1 November 1968 being played at Manoel Island against ta'Giorni Wolves with a 2-0 win both goals being scored by Joe Muscat a.k.a Terry.

In the 1969/70 season Mgarr United F.C. thanks to the persistence of Mr. John Mary Vella took part in the MFA minors league with the first game being played on the 4 October 1969 against Vittoriosa Stars with a 1-0 win, thanks to a penalty converted by Louis Vella. In 1971 the premises were moved to the Mgarr square thanks to a property made available by Mr. Pio Vassallo and training sessions were held at th Mgarr Primary school.

In 1974 after an agreement between Zebbiegh Wolves and Mgarr United F.C. both sides added their forces and for the first time took part in the MFA 4 division. Under the then President Mr. John Bezzina the first official game was held on the 12 October 1974 at Pace Grasso under the guidance of Mr. Marcel Scicluna, a game with the Mgarr side lost by 1-0. In 1980 the then committee after some good work done by Mr. Carmel Muscat and the late Joe Schembri, the club had new premises at a new ground nearby. At the time the club was equipped as a professional team. It was in the 1987/88 that the club saw its first honour when after a very difficult season Mgarr United F.C. obtained promotion to the 2nd Division of the M.F.A. under the guidance of coach Mr. Paul Barbara. Unfortunately Mgarr United F.C. were relegated to 3rd Division the following season.

Season 1997/98 had been a busy one for the football community in Mgarr thus after the Mgarr Youth Nursery was founded, Mgarr United F.C. achieved for the second time a promotion to the Second division after a string of 11 wins from 12 games. For the second time it was only 1 season Mgarr United in the Second Division after being relegated with the team achieving promotion with us a year earlier Birzebbuga SP.

From 2000 to 2004 Mgarr United saw its hardest time ever, passing these years in the bottom places of the Third Division.The only positive feature in 2003 was the forming of the U/19 after some good work and the guidance of Mr. Saviour Caruana .On their first outing against Zejtun Corinthians winning by 5-3 going on to finish in the 3rd place failing promotion by a whisper. After an Annual General Meeting on the 15th November 2004 Mgarr United entered a new era with a new committee with Mr. Joe Schembri installed as the new President of the club. It was going to be hard for the new committee taking over with the team on bottom of the table with no points. But after the appointment of Mr. Joe Gech as coach the team responded well getting 12 points from the rest of the season and avoiding the bottom places that mean re-registration. In the same season the U/19 team came 4th in the league and again failing promotion.

Season 2005/6 was to written in Mgarr United's history seeing the senior team finish in the 8th place and the u/19 team achieving the double after being crownd champions of Youths Section D and winning the Knock Out B final at the National Stadium Ta'Qali against B'bugia with a 4-0 score. This season saw the youth achieving 12 straight wins a record for the club.

2006/7 was another season to be remembered with the senior team in the 3rd Division 06/07, the Youths were for the first time playing in Section C and the Mgarr football community saw the birth of the Mgarr United Ladies Team for the first time playing in the National First Division Women's League with the guidance of coach and founder Mr. Patrick Ebejer. The first competitive game was against St. Venera on the 26th September 2006 with a 6-2 scoreline. This season kept with the promise of being remembered with the U/19 side getting promoted for the second time in two years from Section C to Section B of the MFA Youths League. The seniors team made history by being crowned for the first time as Champions winning the 2006/07 Third Division and remaining unbeaten all season.

Season 2007/08 was another impressive season for Mgarr United Senior team and the U/19. The senior team was competing in the 2nd Division 07/08 and the U/19 in the Youth League Section B.The U/19 side finished in 2nd place and therefore clinched promotion to the highest tier, Section A. This was to be the 3rd straight promotion for the U/19. They also won the Knock-Out B with a 2-1 win in the final against St.Andrews U/19. It was also a good season for the senior teams as for the first time they managed to maintain their Second Division status. They finished the season in 10th place out of 12.One must note that had it not been for Zurrieq who had had 5 points deducted, Mgarr would had been relegated. But still Mgarr had work to do as they had compete in the Relegation-Promotion play-offs. They managed to beat Xghajra Tornadoes 1-0 and Attard with the same score in the Final. This meant that Mgarr United had maintained its Second Division status for the first time. Mgarr also managed to reach the semi-finals of the 2nd,3rd Div knock-out.

Season 2008/09 was a season to be forgotten for the Senior team but a season to be remembered for the U/19 side who were competing in Section A for the first time. The Mgarr senior team finished the 2008-09 season in 11th place and therefore were relegated after two seasons in the Second Division. Midway through the season Joe Grech, senior and U/19 coach, resigned after a string of poor results. Joe Grech had achieved plenty of things with Mgarr United, winning the 2006-07 Third Division and guiding the U/19 squad to three straight promotions and 2 knock-outs. Joe Grech was replaced with Vesko Petrovic for the senior team and Darren Muscat for the U/19. Petrovic could not do anything to avoid relegation. Although a poor season for the senior team it was a magnificent season for the U/19 side. They were playing in Section A for the first time and in their first game they played against Hibs U19 and managed to win 2-1. Hibs went on to win the league. Their second game finished in a 0-0 draw against San Gwann and after they beat Birkirkara 3-2.The U/19 squad finished the season in 7th place out of 10, with 23 points from 18 games and 7-2-9 record. They also managed to reach the semi-finals of the Knock-Out A.They were eliminated 3-1 by Hibs in extra time.

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 Kevin Ellul GK Jason Ghio GK Luca Grech DF Clive Bugeja DF William Camilleri DF Daniel Schembri DF Alex Portelli DF Chris Gauci (captain) DF Gordon Said DF Chris Ghio DF Anthony Muscat DF Calum Muscat MF Johann Said MF Stephen Camilleri MF Karl Vella

No. Position Player MF Neil Busuttil MF David Muscat MF Paul Fenech MF Julian Camilleri MF Jonathan Ebejer MF Eman Grech MF Owen Vassallo MF Malcolm Bugeja FW Josef Micallef FW Steve Aquilina FW Luke Muscat FW Brian Deguara FW Mamu FW Simon Mizzi

External links

• Mgarr United official website (Maltese and English).