Sliema Wanderers F.C.

Sliema Wanderers

Full name	Sliema Wanderers Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Blues The Wanderers
Founded	1909
Ground	Tigne Sports Complex, Sliema, Malta
Capacity	1,000
Chairman	Keith Perry
Manager	John Buttigieg
League	Maltese Premier League
2016–17	Maltese Premier League, 6th
Home colours Away colours

Sliema Wanderers Football Club, nicknamed "tax-Xelin" (of the shilling),^[1] are Malta's most successful football team hailing from the seaside town of Sliema, which currently plays in the Maltese Premier League.

History

The club was founded in 1909. The club competed in the first ever Maltese Premier League season in 1909–10 and finished in second position to Floriana after the five game season came to an end.

Ten years down the line Sliema Wanderers finally made their mark in Maltese football by winning the Maltese Premier League title in the 1919–20 season. Since then the team have gone on to win the title 26 times, a record for Malta; the last three being in 2002–03, 2003–04 and 2004–05.

Sliema Wanderers also hold the record for the most FA Trophy wins, with their first coming in 1935, when they overpowered Floriana with a 4–0 victory. The club have gone on to win this particular honour 20 times, most recently in 2000, 2004 and in 2009; the last title was won against Valletta 7–6 on penalties after the match finished 3–3 following extra time.

With all these honours, Sliema Wanderers are currently the most successful team in the history of Maltese football with approximately 113 honours. Sliema Wanderers train at the Tigne Sports Complex, in Sliema. Grant Tissot almost played for them, which would've been a major acquisition for such a club.

Sliema Wanderers also have a futsal team, which participates in Malta's top futsal league.

Supporters

Sliema Wanderers have their own supporters' group, the Sliema Wanderers Supporters Club. 2010 marked the club's 20th anniversary. The supporters' group was started by Joe Debono and Mario Avallone, and the group's clubhouse is in Manwel Dimech Street, known as 'The Lazy Corner'.

In 2008, a group of young Sliema fans formed the group known as Sliema Ultras Blue Gladiators 2008, better known as (Sliema Ultras '08 or SUBG'08). This young group is not only known to support the Blues at football but also water polo, futsal, rugby, hockey and many other sports that include the name Sliema.

The clubhouse is on Tower Street and welcomes visitors.

Players

Current squad

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Jake Galea 2 DF Alex Muscat 4 MF Matias Muchardi 5 MF Kurt Shaw 6 DF Jonathan Pearson 7 MF John Mintoff 8 MF Mark Scerri 9 FW Jefferson 10 MF Ryan Fenech 11 DF Nii Ashong 12 GK Timothy Aquilina 14 FW Frank Temile

No. Position Player 15 FW Andrea Martinelli 16 MF Michele Sansone 17 MF Peter Xuereb 18 MF Edmond Agius 19 FW Younes Bnou Marzouk (on loan from Lugano) 21 MF Ayrton Azzopardi 23 MF Claudio Pani 24 DF Goran Adamović 28 FW Kilian Amehi 30 FW Jean Paul Farrugia 33 DF Stefano Bianciardi

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

Season	Competition	Round	Country	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1963–64	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	Preliminary Round		Borough United	0–0	0–2	0–2
1968–69	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1. Round		US Rumelange	1–0	1–2	2–2(a)
		2. Round		Randers Freja	0–2	0–6	0–8
1969–70	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1. Round		IFK Norrköping	1–0	1–5	2–5
1974–75	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1. Round		Lahti	2–0	1–4	3–4
1979–80	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1. Round		Boavista	2–1	0–8	2–9
1982–83	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1. Round		Swansea City	0–5	0–12	0–17
1987–88	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1. Round		Vllaznia Shkodër	0–4	0–2	0–6
1990–91	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1. Round		Dukla Prague	1–2	0–2	1–4
1993–94	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	Qualifying Round		Degerfors	1–3	0–3	1–6

UEFA Intertoto Cup

Season	Competition	Round	Country	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1998	UEFA Intertoto Cup	1. Round		Diósgyőr	2–3	0–2	2–5

UEFA Cup | UEFA Europa League

Season	Competition	Round	Country	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1970–71	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	1. Round		Akademisk BK	2–3	0–7	2–10
1973–74	UEFA Cup	1. Round		Lokomotiv Plovdiv	0–2	0–1	0–3
1975–76	UEFA Cup	1. Round		Sporting CP	1–2	1–3	2–5
1977–78	UEFA Cup	1. Round		Eintracht Frankfurt	0–0	0–5	0–5
1980–81	UEFA Cup	1. Round		Barcelona	0–2	0–1	0–3
1981–82	UEFA Cup	1. Round		Aris Thessaloniki	2–4	0–4	2–8
1988–89	UEFA Cup	1. Round		Victoria București	0–2	1–6	1–8
1995–96	UEFA Cup	Preliminary Round		AC Omonia	1–2	0–3	1–5
1996–97	UEFA Cup	Preliminary Round		Margveti Zestafoni	1–3	3–0	4–3
		Qualifying Round		Odense BK	0–2	1–7	1–9
1999–00	UEFA Cup	1. Qualifying Round		FC Zürich	0–3	0–1	0–4
2000–01	UEFA Cup	1. Qualifying Round		FK Partizan	2–1	1–4	3–5
2001–02	UEFA Cup	1. Qualifying Round		Matador Púchov	2–1	0–3	2–4
2002–03	UEFA Cup	1. Qualifying Round		Polonia Warsaw	1–3	0–2	1–5
2006–07	UEFA Cup	1. Qualifying Round		Rapid București	0–1	0–5	0–6
2007–08	UEFA Cup	1. Qualifying Round		Litex Lovech	0–3	0–4	0–7
2009–10	UEFA Europa League	2. Qualifying Round		Maccabi Netanya	0–0	0–3	0–3
2010–11	UEFA Europa League	1. Qualifying Round		Šibenik	0–3	0–0	0–3
2013–14	UEFA Europa League	1. Qualifying Round		Khazar Lankaran	1–1	0–1	1–2
2014–15	UEFA Europa League	1. Qualifying Round		Ferencváros	1–1	1–2	2–3

UEFA Champions League

Season	Competition	Round	Country	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1964–65	European Cup	Preliminary Round		Dinamo București	0–2	0–5	0–7
1965–66	European Cup	Preliminary Round		Panathinaikos	1–0	1–4	2–4
1966–67	European Cup	Preliminary Round		CSKA Sofia	1–2	0–4	1–6
1971–72	European Cup	1. Round		ÍA Akranes	0–0	4–0	4–0
		2. Round		Celtic	1–2	0–5	1–7
1972–73	European Cup	1. Round		Górnik Zabrze	0–5	0–5	0–10
1976–77	European Cup	1. Round		TPS Turku	2–1	0–1	2–2(a)
1989–90	European Cup	1. Round		KF Tirana	1–0	0–5	1–5
2003–04	UEFA Champions League	1. Qualifying Round		Skonto Riga	2–0	1–3	3–3(a)
		2. Qualifying Round		Copenhagen	0–6	1–4	1–10
2004–05	UEFA Champions League	1. Qualifying Round		FBK Kaunas	0–2	1–4	1–6
2005–06	UEFA Champions League	1. Qualifying Round		Sheriff Tiraspol	1–4	0–2	1–6

Managerial history

See Sliema Wanderers F.C. Managers

Manager	Period
Salvinu Schembri	1963 – 1964
János Bédl	1 July 1964 – 30 June 1966
Victor Scerri	1968 – 1978
Edward Aquilina	1979 – 1983
Robbie Buttigieg	1981 – 1982
Tony Formosa	1982 – 1986
Lawrence Borg	1987 – 1989
Martin Gregory	1999 – 2001
Augustine Eguavoen	1 July 2000 – 30 June 2001
Jeff Wood	2000 – 2002
Lawrence Borg	2001 – 2002
Edward Aquilina	2002 – 2006
Ray Farrugia	2006 – 2007
Stephen Azzopardi	1 November 2007 – 30 May 2010
Mark Marlow	1 July 2010 – 30 June 2011
Danilo Dončić	3 February 2011 – 27 May 2012
Clive Mizzi	27 May 2012 – 7 August 2012
Alfonso Greco	1 July 2012 – October 2014
Stephen Azzopardi	October 2014 – December 2015
Alfonso Greco	1 January 2016 – May 2016
John Buttigieg	June 2016 – present

Achievements

Maltese Premier League Champions: 26
1919/20, 1922/23, 1923/24, 1925/26, 1929/30, 1932/33, 1933/34, 1935/36, 1937/38, 1938/39, 1939/40, 1948/49, 1953/54, 1955/56, 1956/57, 1963/64, 1964/65, 1965/66, 1970/71, 1971/72, 1975/76, 1988/89, 1995/96, 2002/03, 2003/04, 2004/05

Maltese Premier League Runners-Up:
1909/10, 1916/17, 1921/22, 1924/25, 1926/27, 1928/29, 1930/31, 1931/32, 1934/35, 1944/45, 1945/46, 1954/55, 1957/58, 1958/59, 1966/67, 1967/68, 1969/70, 1972/73, 1974/75, 1976/77, 1979/80, 1980/81, 1981/82, 1987/88, 1989/90, 1994/95, 1999/00, 2000/01, 2005/06

Maltese Cup Champions: 21
1935, 1936, 1937, 1940, 1946, 1948, 1951, 1952, 1956, 1959, 1963, 1965, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1979, 1990, 2000, 2004, 2009, 2016

Maltese Cup Runners-Up:
1938, 1939, 1945, 1949, 1953, 1958, 1964, 1971, 1972, 1980, 1982, 1987, 1991, 1993, 1996, 2002, 2003, 2014

Maltese First Division Champions:
1983/84

MFA Super Cup: 3
1996, 2000, 2009

References

External links

• Official Website
• MaltaFootball Club Profile
• SoccerWay Club Profile