Floriana F.C.

History

Floriana Football Club was founded in 1894 with the inauguration of the football ground officiated by Queen Alexandra. The site was a cricket ground from 1890 until its conversion project. Together with St. George's FC, is one of the two oldest clubs in Malta. 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.

The club is affiliated to the Malta Football Association which in turn is a member of both UEFA and FIFA. 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. 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. 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.

The sports practised by the soldiers were mainly cricket, hockey and football. The British forces in Malta were mainly stationed in Floriana, Cospicua, Mtarfa, Marsa and Sliema. The locals who were influenced by the soldiers stationed in the area were introduced to these sporting activities. The most popular sport amongst the residents of Floriana was football, however some also practised cricket and hockey. 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. 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. At that time the Royal Dublin Fusiliers were stationed in Floriana. During that year, three friendly matches were held between this regiment and FFC. 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. The regiment left the Island for India in that same year. 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".

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". 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. 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. 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.

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.

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.

Domestic successes

Since the foundation of the Malta Football Association, in 1909, (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:

• England Ipswich Town
• Italy Inter Milan
• Netherlands Sparta Rotterdam
• Greece Panathinaikos
• Hungary Ferencváros
• Scotland Dundee United
• Portugal FC Porto
• Germany Borussia Dortmund
• Yugoslavia Hajduk Split
• Serbia Red Star Belgrade
• Wales Haverfordwest County

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. 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. 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. Football hooliganism and direct conflicts between supporters were something usual.

For some time the rivalry has declined. In 2016/17 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. However, since that final, the rivalry sparked again after a few years forward floriana won the FA trophy for the 21st time vs Valletta thus shared the record with the blues, the only 2 teams winning it for twenty-one times. Moving forward, after seven years in the 2023/24 season the two giants of the maltese football met again for the FA Trophy final where Sliema secured a record of winning the title for the 22nd time; making Sliema the most successful football club in Malta with 118 major domestic trophies

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. 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.

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

Non-playing staff

Administration

Historical list of coaches

• ENG Ted Phillips (1966-67)
• MLT Lolly Borg (1968-73)
• MLT Hugh Caruana (1973-74)
• MLT Tony Formosa (1975-81)
• MLT Hugh Caruana (1988-89)
• MLT Lolly Aquilina (1990-92)
• ENG Mark Miller (1992-94)
• MLT George Busuttil (1994)
• SCG Dragan Novčić (1995)
• ENG Ron Fenton (1995-97)
• SCG Vlada Pejović (1997-98)
• BUL Traiko Sokolov (1998)
• MLT Eric Schembri (1999)
• BUL Traiko Sokolov & ENG Mark Miller (1999-00)
• NZL Kim Wright (2000)
• MAR Karim Bencherifa (1 Jul 2000-30 June 02)
• BIH Zijad Švrakić (2002-04)
• MLT Willie Vassallo (2004-05)
• MLT Jimmy Briffa (2005-06)
• MLT Joseph Grech (2006-07)
• SRB Danilo Dončić (1 Jul 2007-30 Jun 08)
• SRB Zoran Popović (1 Jul 2008-9 Jan 09)
• BRA Antonio Carlos Vieira (1 Jul 2008-24 March 09)
• IRE Roddy Collins (1 Jul 2009-15 Dec 09)
• SRB Zoran Popović (2009-10)
• BUL Todor Raykov (1 Jul 2010-21 Feb 11)
• MLT Michael Woods (2010-12)
• MLT Joe Brincat (20 Mar 2012-12)
• ENG Mark Wright (18 Aug 2012-18 Oct 12)
• MLT Stephen Azzopardi (18 Oct 2012-25 Jan 13)
• ENG Iain Brunskill (29 Jan 2013-8 May 13)
• ENG Ian Dawes (9 May 2013-8 Apr 14)
• ITA Giovanni Tedesco (8 Apr 2014-8 May 15)
• BEL Luis Oliveira (14 Jun 2015-8 May 16)
• ITA Giovanni Tedesco (15 Jun 2016-4 Dec 17)
• ARG Nicolás Chiesa (15 Dec 2017-27 Aug 18)
• BEL Luis Oliveira (28 Aug 2018-14 Nov 18)
• ITA Guido Ugolotti (14 Nov 2018-15 May 19)
• ITA Vincenzo Potenza (15 May 2019-23 Dec 20)
• |MLT John Buttigieg (26 Dec 2020-11 Feb 21)
• MLT Darren Vella (11 Feb 2021-16 Feb 21)
• ITA Vincenzo Potenza (16 Feb 2021-14 Jun 21)
• ITA Gianluca Atzori (17 Jun 2021010 May 23)
• ITA Mauro Camoranesi (5 Jun 2023-15 May 24)
• MLT Darren Abdilla (20 May 2024-14 May 25)
• PRT Daniel Portela (1 Jul 2025-)

Honours

• Maltese Premier League
  • Champions (26) [[File:Star full.svg|20px]][[File:Star full.svg|20px]]: 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 (14): 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, 2023–24
• 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

European record

Matches

League and cup history

References

References

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7. (27 May 2020). "Charges expected against Floriana fans over mass celebration".
8. (2008). "Global and Local Football: Politics and Europeanization on the Fringes of the EU". Routledge.
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13. . (15 May 2019). ["Floriana appoint Potenza as coach"](https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20190515/football/floriana-appoint-potenza-as-coach.710053). *Times of Malta*.
14. Aquilina, Kurt. (2020-12-23). "Updated: Potenza resigns as Floriana coach". [[Times of Malta]].
15. Camilleri, Valhmor. (2020-12-26). "John Buttigieg appointed new Floriana coach". SportsDesk.
16. (2021-02-11). "John Buttigieg steps down as Floriana coach". [[Times of Malta]].
17. Busuttil, Antoine. (2021-02-13). "FLORIANA RETURN TO WINNING WAYS". MaltaFootball.
18. Camilleri, Valhmor. (2021-02-16). "I could never turn my back on Floriana, says Potenza". SportsDesk.
19. Busuttil, Antoine. (2021-06-17). "FLORIANA FC APPOINT GIANLUCA ATZORI AS THEIR NEW COACH". MaltaFootball.
20. Lia, Gianluca. (2020-08-19). "Watch: CFR Cluj need two second-half goals to knock out Floriana". SportsDesk.