Sliema Wanderers F.C.

Sliema Wanderers Football Club, nicknamed "tax-Xelin" (of the shilling),[2] is a professional Maltese football club.[3] It is the most successful team in Malta and hails from the seaside town of Sliema. It currently plays in the Maltese Premier League.

Sliema Wanderers
Full nameSliema Wanderers Football Club
Nickname(s)The Blues
The Wanderers
Founded3 November 1909 (1909-11-03)
GroundTigne Sports Complex,
Sliema,
Malta
Capacity1,000
ChairmanKeith Perry
ManagerAndrea Pisanu[1]
LeagueMaltese Premier League
2018–19Maltese Premier League, 5th

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
2 DF Michele Sansone
3 DF Claudio Zappa (on loan from Juventus)
4 MF Antonio Stelitano
5 MF Kurt Shaw
6 DF Jonathan Pearson
7 MF John Mintoff
8 MF Mark Scerri
9 FW Gabriel Duarte
10 FW Juri Cisotti
11 DF Nii Ashong
12 GK Entonjo Elezaj
14 FW Alexander Satariano
No. Position Player
15 DF Juan Gill
16 MF Stanimir Miloskovic
17 MF Peter Xuereb
18 MF Edmond Agius
19 MF Andrea Martinelli
20 DF Arthur Henrique (on loan from Gzira)
22 GK Jake Galea
23 MF Claudio Pani
24 DF Goran Adamović
28 FW Federico Vasilchik
30 FW Jean Paul Farrugia

European record
Season Competition Round Country Club Home Away Aggregate
1963–64 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Preliminary Round Borough United 0–0 0–2 0–2
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
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
1970–71 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1. Round Akademisk BK 2–3 0–7 2–10
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
1973–74 UEFA Cup 1. Round Lokomotiv Plovdiv 0–2 0–1 0–3
1974–75 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1. Round Lahti 2–0 1–4 3–4
1975–76 UEFA Cup 1. Round Sporting CP 1–2 1–3 2–5
1976–77 European Cup 1. Round TPS Turku 2–1 0–1 2–2(a)
1977–78 UEFA Cup 1. Round Eintracht Frankfurt 0–0 0–5 0–5
1979–80 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1. Round Boavista 2–1 0–8 2–9
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
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
1988–89 UEFA Cup 1. Round Victoria București 0–2 1–6 1–8
1989–90 European Cup 1. Round KF Tirana 1–0 0–5 1–5
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
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
1998 UEFA Intertoto Cup 1. Round Diósgyőr 2–3 0–2 2–5
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
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
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

Managerial history

See Sliema Wanderers F.C. Managers

Manager Period
Salvinu Schembri 1963–1964
János Bédl1 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 Gregory1999–2001
Augustine Eguavoen1 July 2000 – 30 June 2001
Jeff Wood 2000–2002
Lawrence Borg 2001–2002
Edward Aquilina2002–2006
Ray Farrugia2006–2007
Stephen Azzopardi1 November 2007 – 30 May 2010
Mark Marlow1 July 2010 – 30 June 2011
Danilo Dončić3 February 2011 – 27 May 2012
Clive Mizzi27 May 2012 – 7 August 2012
Alfonso Greco1 July 2012 – October 2014
Stephen AzzopardiOctober 2014 – December 2015
Alfonso Greco 1 January 2016 – May 2016
John ButtigiegJune 2016 – present
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Honours

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 FA Trophy Champions: 21
1934–35, 1935–36, 1936–37, 1939–40, 1945–46, 1947–48, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1955–56, 1958–59, 1962–63, 1964–65, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1973–74, 1978–79, 1989–90, 1999–2000, 2003–04, 2008–09, 2015–16

Maltese First Division Champions:
1983–84

Maltese Super Cup Champions: 3
1996, 2000, 2009

References
  1. "Pisanu named as Sliema Wanderers coach". Times of Malta. 13 February 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  2. Cassar Pullicino, J. (1956). "Social Aspects of Maltese Nicknames" (PDF). Scientia. 22 (2): 92.
  3. https://usa.laliga.es/en/news/laliga-the-best-show-in-malta-1
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.