Pietà Hotspurs F.C.

Pietà Hotspurs
Full namePietà Hotspurs Football Club
Nickname(s)Hotspurs
Founded1968 (1968)
GroundPieta' Hotspurs Ground
CapacityN/A
ChairmanMario Mallia
ManagerManuel Caruana
LeagueMaltese Challenge League
2022/2314th Premier League (relegated)

Pietà Hotspurs Football Club is a Maltese football club based in Pietà, founded in 1968, the club currently plays in the Maltese Challenge League.

History

Pietà Hotspurs had their league debut on 23 October 1934, but any success the club had hoped to achieve was postponed due to the outbreak of World War II. After the war's end, Pietà took part in the Anglo Maltese Football League, before joining the Third Division of the National Championships, where they spent ten seasons. Pietà Hotspurs, however, were replaced in the league with Pietà Atlanta in 1962, a team which later changed their name to Pietà Hotspurs in 1973, joining the Fourth Division in 1974. The team won the league and promotion, but spent ten years in the Third Division. They eventually won promotion in 1985, but were soon relegated again.[1] However, they bounced back up and won promotion again in 1988. In 1994 they finally won promotion to the Premier Division.[1]

The club's football nursery has acquired a fame of producing talented footballers such as Cleavon Frendo, Massimo Grima, Valeri Bojinov, Saviour Darmanin and Attila Filkor, as well as Jovica Milijić, a Maltese futsal player of Serbian descent.

Players

Current squad

As of 11 April 2023

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  MLT Reeves Cini
2 DF  MLT Samuel Okoh
3 DF  AUT Clinton Bangura
5 MF  NGA Temitope Ojo
6 DF  MLT Daniel Zerafa
7 MF  MLT Jake Ghio
8 MF  MLT Terence Agius
10 FW  MLT Kian Leonardi
11 MF  MLT Alan Wismayer
13 GK  MLT Jacob Farrugia
17 MF  MLT Kurt Briffa
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 DF  MLT Ivan Farrugia
19 MF  TUN Anis Ajroud
20 MF  MLT Gianluca Aquilina
21 DF  MLT Kaydon Catania
22 DF  MLT Zean Leonardi
24 DF  NGA Ganiu Ogungbe
30 MF  MLT Luca Gatt
47 MF  MLT Gabriel Xuereb
66 DF  MLT Lee Galea
77 FW  BRA Marinho
90 MF  BEL Ange Belibi
99 MF  JPN Takuma Yamaguchi

References

  1. ^ a b Baldacchino, Carmel (22 July 2010). "The birth and rise of Pietà Hotspurs". Times of Malta. Retrieved 23 February 2024.