Season Review: Milestones, facts, figures and curiosities 2022/23

PLAYER MILESTONES, FACTS, FIGURES & CURIOSITIES MFA MEN'S SENIOR SEASON 2022/23
PART ONE: AUGUST-OCTOBER 2022

August 11
*Jake Grech’s goal against the Latvians of RFS in the 3^rd Qualifying Round of the UEFA Europa Conference League is his 100^th official senior career goal. Domestically, the nearly 25-year-old midfielder scored 63 of these in the Malta Premier Division, 13 in the 1^st Division, 9 in the 2^nd Division and 8 in the FA Trophy. The other seven were scored in the international scene with four goals in the European Cups and three for the Malta U21 team.

August 20
*Floriana captain Matias Garcia makes his 100th Premier Division appearance in Malta in their match against Pieta’ Hotspurs (2-0). The Argentinian born midfielder, who acquired Maltese citizenship earlier in 2022 and made his debut for the Malta national team last in a Friendly against Venezuela, made his MPL debut in a 2-2 draw with Sliema Wanderers while playing for Senglea Athletic (17.08.2017), his first Maltese club. He played 44 of the 100 in the colours of Senglea and 56 for Floriana.

August 27
*In their first league match of the season against Zabbar St Patrick, Pembroke Athleta field no less than eight players in their starting line-up who make their senior debut, aged between 17 and 21. The four substitutes used have also never been used in a senior football match in the MFA, which means a total of 11 players make their senior debut this day for Vince Carbonaro’s side, a record in MFA league football. Throughout the season, another seven youngsters were introduced to senior football by Pembroke.
*In their match against Kalkara United (0-2), Jean-Claude Cassar of Birzebbuga reaches the 100^th matches at third tier level, which means 2^nd Division and NAL combined. Cassar, aged 25, can be used in defence and midfield and is a one club player, coming from the St Peter’s youth ranks.

August 28
*Dylan Agius reaches the 200 official senior appearances in Zejtun’s opening match of the season against Attard (4-1). The versatile player, aged 25, had his first registration with Marsa but joined Pieta’ Hotspurs in 2010 where he made his senior debut during season 2013/14. He joined Zejtun in 2019 and returned briefly to Marsa in 2021 before re-joining the Corinthians in the summer of that same year.
*Michael Camilleri (29) makes his debut for Qrendi, which is the tenth club at senior level for the midfielder with Gozitan roots. The former Malta U17 and U19 international is coming through the youth ranks of Birkirkara and donned the jerseys of Birzebbuga St Peter’s, Vittoriosa Stars, Victoria Hotspurs, Qormi, Xewkija Tigers, Santa Lucia, Zabbar St Patrick and Mgarr United before signing for Qrendi last month.
*Sturdy Ghaxaq centre-back Clive Fenech makes his 100^th appearance in the 2^nd Division and NAL combined in their opening match of the season against Dingli Swallows (1-0). The defender starts his 17^th consecutive season in Maltese football and is coming from the Tarxien Rainbows youth nursery, the club with who he made his senior debut during their 2009/10 Premier Division campaign. Fenech played in all senior league categories and, apart from Ghaxaq and Tarxien, also had spells with Marsaskala, Gudja United, Kirkop United, Fgura United, Marsaxlokk and Mtarfa.

August 29
*Goalkeeper Clive Caruana starts between the sticks with Msida St Joseph in their draw versus Gharghur (2-2), which is the tenth club in the MFA for the 31-year-old. The custodian comes through the Valletta youth ranks but started his senior career with Balzan in the 2010/11 Premier Division campaign and after that had periods with Zebbug Rangers, Gharghur, Qrendi, Birzebbuga St Peter’s, Siggiewi, Marsa, Kalkara and Mtarfa before joining Msida last summer. 

September 3
*Balzan goalkeeper Jonathan Debono is reaching his 100th appearance in the Premier League. He made his MPL debut on 24th September 2006 in Marsa’s 4-1 defeat against Floriana. He also played with Mosta, Floriana, Tarxien Rainbows, Gudja United, Hamrun Spartans and Sirens in the top flight. With 191 appearances in the 1^st Division and 44 in the 2^nd Division, Debono is slowly approaching the 400 official career appearances.
*Mark Deguara (32) of Mdina Knights makes his 100^th appearance in the 2^nd Division and NAL combined in their match against Luqa St Andrew’s (1-5). Deguara is a Siggiewi FC youth nursery product, with who he made his senior debut at the end of their 2007/08 3^rd Division campaign, a few weeks before his 19^th birthday. For the next eight seasons he remained faithful to Siggiewi but changed club in 2015, joining Qrendi, which only last half a year. The defender, who is also comfortable in midfield, then joins Ghaxaq and also had short periods with Marsaskala, Gharghur and Qormi before joining the Knights this summer. He played over 200 official senior games in the lowest two divisions of the local game.

September 4
*Andrew Agius (Attard) plays his 300^th career match in their encounter with Mqabba (0-1). The 31-year-old midfielder re-joined Attard from Qrendi last summer and is in fact an Attard FC youth nursery product, who had his best days in the Premier Division with Tarxien Rainbows and, apart from 3 years Qrendi, also played a season for Pembroke Athleta.
*Former U17 and U19 Malta international Antoine Attard makes his 100^th appearance for Melita in their goalless draw with Mtarfa. The 26-year-old striker made his Melita debut aged 17 in their 2012/13 Premier Division campaign. He is a real one-club man, who played most of these hundred games, 55, in the 1^st Division/NCL. The other appearances were made in the third tier (32), two each in the Premier Division and Amateur Cup and nine in the FA Trophy.

September 7
*Jean-Matthias Vella keeps a clean sheet with Mtarfa in their goalless draw with Lija Athletic, which is the 200^th senior career appearance for the custodian, who turned 30 six days ago. The San Gwann youth academy product is an ex-U17, U19 and U21 Malta international, who made his senior debut with his apprentice club during season 2009/10 in the 1^st Division. The season after, Vella joined Vittoriosa Stars and already made his Premier Division debut, aged 18. After three and a half years with the Stars, Vella joined Msida for six months and after that also played for Zejtun, Qormi, Sirens, Rabat and Mqabba.

September 8
*Tyrone Fenech, who now plays for Mqabba, makes his 100 appearance in the second tier of Maltese football in the match against St Andrews (0-1). The hard-working midfielder, who will turn 27 years of age next month, is in his first season with Mqabba. In fact, it is the Pembroke Athleta youth nursery product’s first adventure outside his apprentice club. He played 97 of the 100 games at this level for Pembroke. 

September 11
*Melita midfielder Jean-Pierre Attard, plays his 200^th match for the club in the clash with Attard (4-2). The 29-year-old is a real one club man, making his debut for the Amateurs during season 2012/13 in the Premier Division. He played most of these 200 at the second tier of Maltese football (118), but also 49 in the 2^nd Division/NAL, 16 in the Premier, 14 in the FA Trophy and 3 in the Amateur Cup. Jean-Pierre is the brother of Antoine, who reached the 100 club appearances the previous weekend.

September 13
*Andre-Joe Cutajar plays his 100^th league match in the third tier of Maltese football against Xghajra Tornados (3-1). The Zabbar St Patrick striker sealed the occasion by scoring his side’s third goal. The 25-year-old forward also made his debut in this category, to be precise on the opening match day of the 2^nd Division 2013/14 with Marsaskala against Gharghur (1-4) at the Charles Abela Stadium, aged only 15. He also donned the jerseys of Kirkop United, Santa Lucia and Zurrieq.

September 16
*A remarkable come-back today in the match Msida St Joseph against Luqa St Andrew’s (2-0), as ex-Malta international Kevin Sammut made his first appearance in Maltese football since 2012. The 41-year-old midfielder, who played 38 times for Malta, was banned from any football related activity for 10 years but this, contrary of what many thought, did not mean the end of his football career.

September 17
*Former Malta Under-17 international Emmanuel Cutajar, aged 35, makes his 100^th appearance in the 2^nd Division and NAL combined in Ghaxaq’s match against Gharghur (1-0). The experienced defender, who is also quite comfortably to be used as a defensive midfielder, also played at this level for Santa Lucia, Siggiewi and Naxxar Lions. The Hibernians youth nursery product had also periods with Tarxien Rainbows and Marsa in the 1^st Division.

October 2
*In their match against Balzan, Jurgen Degabriele makes his 200th appearance in the Maltese Premier Division, celebrating the occasion by scoring both goals for his club Hibernians early in the first half. Jurgen, who will celebrate his 26^th birthday within eight days, made his MPL debut on 15 September 2013 against Rabat Ajax (4-1), coming on as a substitute and is a real one-club man, making all his senior appearances for Hibernians.
*Mark Fenech of Naxxar Lions reaches the 100 appearances at second level in Malta, the Challenge League and previously 1^st Division, in their match against Qrendi (3-0). The 23-year-old defender, who played for the Malta U19 and U21 teams, is a one-club man, having only played for Naxxar Lions in his career so far. He made his senior debut for the Reds in a 2015/16 Premier Division match against Hibernians, aged 16.
*Vittoriosa Stars striker Miguel Ciantar makes his 300^th career appearance in their match against San Gwann (1-3), scoring the only goal for his team. The nearly 32-year-old joined the Stars this summer, his twelfth team at senior level, a journey which started with his apprentice club Sliema Wanderers in 2008. The former U17, U19 and U21 Malta international then played for respectively Msida, Balzan, Tarxien, Zebbug, Senglea, Zejtun, Sirens, Mqabba, Pembroke and Zabbar St Patrick. Ciantar played 189 of these 300 in the Premier Division. 

October 8
*Erjon Beu rubberstamps his 200^th Lija Athletic match in the best possible way by scoring both goals in their 2-0 victory over Mqabba. The Albanian returned to Lija this season after a one-year loan with Hibernians. The 31-year-old is the seventh player to reach the 200 club games. The explosive winger made his Lija debut during season 2011/12 and also briefly played for neighbouring clubs Attard and Balzan.
*Marsaskala advanced player Ryan Spiteri reaches his 100^th appearance in the second tier of Maltese football in their 3-0 defeat against Naxxar Lions. The 27-year-old is in his first season with the seasiders after a wonderful career in which he donned the jerseys of his apprentice club Hamrun Spartans, Tarxien Rainbows, Sliema Wanderers, Zejtun Corinthians and Mqabba. He played a little over 250 matches in all MFA leagues and KO competitions, including 94 in the Premier Division.

October 9
*Japanese Melita striker Hiroya Konno scores a hattrick against Vittoriosa Stars (4-0), which is his third consecutive hattrick. The nippy forward did the same against Attard (4-2) on 11 September and in Melita’s 6-2 thrashing of neighbours St Andrews on October 2. For sure, a rare occasion in local domestic football.
*Jeremy Cassar makes his 100^th Fgura United appearance in their match against Zurrieq (1-4), Fgura’s first defeat of the season. The 25-year-old defender is a Birkirkara youth nursery product and signed for Fgura in 2017, making his senior debut in that 2017/18 season in the 2^nd Division. At senior level, Fgura is his one and only club.
*One month after reaching the 200 career appearances, Mtarfa goalkeeper Jean-Matthias Vella is playing his 100^th match at Malta’s second football tier in their match against Tarxien Rainbows, bagging the second win of the season (2-1). Apart from his current club Mtarfa, the 30-year-old custodian played for San Gwann, Vittoriosa Stars, Msida St Joseph, Qormi, Sirens, Rabat Ajax and Mqabba at this level.
*On his 37^th birthday, Timmy Thomas’ substitute appearance for Senglea against Mgarr United in the 1^st round of the Amateur Cup is his 400^th match at senior level. The easy scoring striker played most of these for his hometown team Senglea Athletic, but also turned out for Marsa, Vittoriosa Stars, Zebbug Rangers, Sliema Wanderers, Gudja United, St George’s, Kalkara, Marsaxlokk, Msida St Joseph and Zurrieq.

October 14
*Lincoln Micallef, aged 29, reaches the 100 league appearances at the third tier of Maltese football. The fast Kirkop United attacker is involved in the one all draw with Luqa St Andrew’s on Match Day 5 of the NAL in Group B. This is his fourth season with Kirkop, while the Msida St Joseph product also played for Marsa, Mellieha and Kalkara.

October 15
*Leon Muscat (Lija Athletic) seals his 100^th appearance in the second tier of Maltese football by scoring the opener in the match against Vittoriosa Stars (2-0). The 27-year-old defender is in his eight consecutive season with Lija after making his senior debut with Birkirkara in the 2014/15 FA Trophy. He joined the Birkirkara youth nursery aged 12 from the Rabat Ajax academy.
*Mauro Busuttil (31) makes a substitute appearance for St George’s against Rabat Ajax (0-0) which is his tenth club in his career. The former Malta U19 international started the season with Ta’ Xbiex and as well played for Hamrun Spartans, San Gwann, Msida St Joseph, Gharghur, Mtarfa, Santa Venera Lightnings, Siggiewi and Qormi. Busuttil played in all four league levels in Malta, including nine appearances in the Premier Division.

October 16
* Montenegrin Balzan striker Bojan Kaljevic makes his 200th Premier Division appearance in Malta in the goalless draw against Sirens. The 34-year-old centre forward arrived in Malta in 2013 and has scored an impressive 104 goals in the Maltese Premiership. Kaljevic played most of these 200 for his current club Balzan (107), but also played 59 MPL matches for his first club Mosta and 34 for Valletta.
*Michael Johnson (Santa Lucia) plays his 200^th official senior career match against Hibernians (2-3). The central defender is a St Andrews product, the club where he made his senior debut (2012/13) before joining Balzan in 2017. He was transferred to Santa Lucia this previous summer. The lanky 28-year-old played 137 matches in the Premier Division, 41 in the 1^st Division, 14 in the FA Trophy and one in the Super Cup. He played once for the Malta national team, twice for the U21s and during his Balzan period he played four matches in Europe.
*In the match against Melita (1-0), Gabriel Aquilina (26) plays his 100^th senior game for Sliema Wanderers. He made his senior debut also for the Blues, way back in season 2013/14. The midfielder also played for Gzira United, Tarxien Rainbows and Mosta, but returned to the Wanderers in 2020.
*In the match against Senglea Athletic (0-3), Mellieha defender Jake Farrugia plays his 100^th match in the National Amateur League and 2^nd Division combined. The club captain made his senior debut in 2013 and has only played for Mellieha SC in his career, coming from their youth ranks.

October 22
*Hibernians striker Jurgen Degabriele scores a brace against Gudja United (2-1) with the second one being his 100^th official (international and domestic) senior goal. The 26-year-old Malta international made most of these in the Malta Premier Division (81) but also scored 4 goals for the Malta national team, seven each in the various European Cups and the FA Trophy and also one for the Malta U21 team. 
*Mgarr wingback Kevin Camilleri plays his 100^th third tier league match (2^nd Div/NAL) in Malta in the match of the Northerners against Qormi (3-2). The 29-year-old was introduced in the Premier Division by his apprentice club Balzan in 2013 and played for respectively Gharghur, St George’s, Santa Lucia, Mqabba, again St George’s and Attard before signing for Mgarr in the summer of 2022.

October 28
*Naxxar Lions midfielder Joel Ellul makes his 100^th appearance in the second tier of Maltese football in their narrow victory over Mtarfa (1-0). The nearly 25-year-old is a real one club man, coming straight from the Naxxar youth nursery ranks. He made his debut for Naxxar in the Premier Division during season 2015/16.
*In their match against Zabbar St Patrick (0-8), Ta’ Xbiex midfielder Shamison Farrugia (27) plays his 100^th match in the 2^nd Division and NAL combined. The Santa Venera Lightnings youth nursery product made his senior debut for his apprentice club during their 2012/13 2^nd Division campaign and since then also donned the jerseys of Mellieha, Siggiewi, Luqa St Andrew’s and Msida St Joseph.

October 29
*Birzebbuga captain Christopher Cutajar plays his 100^th match at third tier level, all played for the Blues. The 26-year-old midfielder, a club youth nursery product, made his senior debut for St Peter’s during season 2015/16.

October 30
*Attard striker Bledi Alla makes his 100^th official club appearance in their match against Tarxien Rainbows (1-4), scoring the only goal for his team. The 24-year-old Albanian joined the club during their 2017/18 2^nd Division campaign and has been faithful to the club ever since.