General Category
Nadur and Ghajnsielem kick off men’s 2023/24 senior season
Published: Fri 01 Sep 2023, 13:11
The men’s senior 2023/24 football season kicks off officially on Sunday in Gozo with the Super Cup, which will reach his 33rd edition. Two neighbours and eternal rivals, 2022/23 Gozo champions Nadur Youngsters and GFA Cup finalists Ghajnsielem, will set the ball running in what promises to be another interesting football season on the Maltese islands. We dig a little bit more into the history of this cup competition, which is the second longest running competition in Gozo, behind the GFA Cup, overtaking the abolished Independence Cup, which counted 32 editions between 1964/65 and 2012/13.
The Super Cup in Gozo is a competition which started in 1989 with Xaghra United as first winners. The season after, 1989/90, the format was changed with the top four finishers in the league played a semi-final followed by a final, a system which worked out well during the next 17 seasons as an exciting end-of-season culmination. Therefore, to the contrary of the Super Cup in Malta, the Final did not always represent the league winners of that certain season, as the champions could have been eliminated in the semis, which happened only occasionally. In 2007, the format changed into an encounter between the Gozo Champions and GFA Cup winners, with this final being switched from an end-of-season match into a season opener in 2016. As the Gozitan season has been forced twice to abandon prematurely due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Final could not be played on two occasions.
Xaghra United and Victoria Hotspurs played the Super Cup Final during the first three season, with the Hotspurs setting the tone by beating Xaghra twice. The club from the capital also won the fourth edition, this time against Xewkija Tigers (1-0), their third of in total nine Super Cup wins as they are, to date, the club in Gozo who won this coveted Cup most with nine victories. Interestingly, seven of these nine were won during the initial twelve years of the competition (1989-2000). For the winner of the very first edition, Xaghra United, this win meant ironically the only time ever in there illustrious history they lifted the Super Cup, despite playing the final on seven occasions.
Ghajnsielem, who won their fifth Super Cup last season, were remarkably absent from any final during the first ten editions, but made up for it by winning the competition on four occasions between 1999 and 2004, but then again had to wait nearly 20 years to lift another Super Cup. Due to a slight format change (top three first tier plus the winner of the second tier league), the Blacks’ 6-2 victory over Xaghra United in 1999 is not only special score-wise, but it was the only time the competition was won by a second tier club.
Nadur’s first victory dates to 1993, winning the competition with regular intervals on eight occasions, the last one being the 2019 edition. After losing two finals in the process (1992 and 2003), Xewkija Tigers had to wait until 2005 to lift this Cup for the very first time, followed by a second win in 2012 and three consecutive victories between 2015 and 2017. Sannat Lions won the Super Cup twice, Kercem Ajax and Qala St Joseph once.
The late entry of Chris Camilleri for Ghajnsielem as a substitute in last season’s final, meant his 11th Super Cup final appearance in Gozo, an absolute record. The former Valletta stalwart, who also played for several other clubs in the Malta Premier Division, won seven Super Cup titles. The number two on this list with nine matches is Xewkija’s Joseph Cefai, followed by Paul Camilleri, Melchior Cremona, Twannie Farrugia, Jason Portelli, Sabri Rais and the late Raymond Gafa’, who all made eight Super Cup final appearances through the years.
Chris Camilleri is also heading the all-time Super Cup Final scorers list with eight goals, an honor which he shares with Dione Lautier, who however only needed 5 matches to reach that total. With Thierry Tazemeta, who scored all three Xewkija goals in their first Super Cup win against Ghajnsielem in 2005 (3-1), Lautier is only one of two players to have scored a hattrick in the final, scoring three in Victoria Hotspurs’ 5-2 victory over Nadur Youngsters way back in 1994.
With both clubs eager to add more silverware to their ever-increasing prizes cabinet, it promises to be an enthralling occasion on Sunday. The match at the Gozo Stadium kicks off at 18h.
All-time records
Results of the previous 32 Super Cup Finals in Gozo
1989 Xaghra United FC...3 Victoria Hotspurs FC...0
1990 Victoria Hotspurs FC...1 Xaghra United FC…0
1991 Victoria Hotspurs FC...2 Xaghra United FC...2 a.e.t. (4-2 after penalty kicks)
1992 Victoria Hotspurs FC...1 Xewkija Tigers FC...0
1993 Nadur Youngsters FC...2 Xaghra United FC...1
1994 Victoria Hotspurs FC...5 Nadur Youngsters FC...2
1995 Nadur Youngsters FC...0 Xaghra United FC...0 a.e.t. (4-3 after penalty kicks)
1996 Victoria Hotspurs FC...1 Nadur Youngsters FC...0 a.e.t.
1997 Victoria Hotspurs FC...2 Nadur Youngsters FC...1 a.e.t.
1998 Nadur Youngsters FC...2 Victoria Hotspurs FC...1
1999 Ghajnsielem FC...6 Xaghra United FC...2
2000 Victoria Hotspurs FC...2 Ghajnsielem FC...0
2001 Ghajnsielem FC...2 Zebbug Rovers FC...1 a.e.t.
2002 Ghajnsielem FC…2 Zebbug Rovers FC…0
2003 Nadur Youngsters FC…2 Xewkija Tigers FC…1
2004 Ghajnsielem FC…5 Victoria Hotspurs FC…1
2005 Xewkija Tigers FC…3 Ghajnsielem FC…1
2006 Kercem Ajax FC…2 Xewkija Tigers FC…0
2007 Nadur Youngsters FC…2 Ghajnsielem FC…1
2008 Qala St.Joseph FC…3 Nadur Youngsters FC…0
2009 Sannat Lions FC…1 SK Victoria Wanderers…1 a.e.t. (5-4 after penalty kicks)
2010 Victoria Hotspurs FC…1 Sannat Lions FC…0
2011 Sannat Lions FC…3 Nadur Youngsters FC…2
2012 Xewkija Tigers FC…3 Xaghra United FC…0
2013 Nadur Youngsters FC…2 Kercem Ajax FC…0
2014 Nadur Youngsters FC…2 Xewkija Tigers FC…0
2015 Xewkija Tigers FC…3 Oratory Youths FC…1
2016 Xewkija Tigers FC…5 Ghajnsielem FC…4
2017 Xewkija Tigers FC…2 Ghajnsielem FC…1
2018 Victoria Hotspurs FC…4 Xewkija Tigers FC…2
2019 Nadur Youngsters FC…3 Victoria Hotspurs FC…0
2020 not held due to Covid-19 pandemic
2021 not held due to Covid-19 pandemic
2022 Ghajnsielem FC…4 Nadur Youngsters FC…2
Super Cup Final appearances
11 - Chris Camilleri (Xaghra United/Nadur Youngsters/Sannat Lions/Xewkija Tigers /Ghajnsielem)
9 - Joseph Cefai (Xewkija Tigers)
8 - Paul-Anthony Camilleri (Nadur Youngsters/Qala St Joseph)
8 - Melchior Cremona (Victoria Hotspurs/Xaghra United)
8 - Twannie Farrugia (Victoria Hotspurs/Nadur Youngsters)
8 - Raymond Gafa (Xaghra United/Nadur Youngsters)
8 - Jason Portelli (Vict Hotspurs/Xewkija Tigers /Zebbug Rovers/Kercem Ajax)
8 - Sabri Rais (Victoria Hotspurs/Xewkija Tigers/Kercem Ajax/Sannat Lions)
Super Cup Final goals
8 - Dione Lautier (Victoria Hotspurs/Xaghra United/Qala St Joseph)
8 - Chris Camilleri (Xaghra United /Nadur Youngsters/Sannat Lions/Xewkija Tigers/Ghajnsielem)
4 - Elton da Silva (Nadur Youngsters/Victoria Hotspurs)
4 - John Camilleri (Sannat Lions/Xewkija Tigers/Ghajnsielem)
3 - Thierry Tazameta (Xewkija Tigers)
3 - Ndayi Kalenga (Ghajnsielem)
3 - Milos Stojanovic (Nadur Youngsters/Xewkija Tigers)
Many thanks to Kav. Joe Bajada and researcher John Formosa for the completion of this article.