George Mallia (born 10 October 1978 in

Sliema Sliema ( mt, Tas-Sliema ) is a town located on the northeast coast of Malta in the Districts of Malta#Northern Harbour District, Northern Harbour District. It is a major residential and commercial area and a centre for shopping, bars, dining, a ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

) is a retired professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who last played for

Maltese Premier League The Maltese Premier League, known as BOV Premier League for sponsorship reasons with Bank of Valletta (colloquially known as ''Il-Kampjonat Premjer''), is the highest level of professional football in Malta. Managed by the Malta Football Associa ...

side

Qormi FC Qormi Football Club is a Maltese football club from the city of Qormi, that currently plays in the Maltese National Amateur League. History Qormi Football Club was founded in 1961 after the amalgamation of Qormi Youngsters (from the parish of ...

as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Playing career

George made his debut with

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

in the

in the season 1995–1996. In the season 1998-1999 he joined

Floriana Floriana ( mt, Il-Furjana or ''Il-Floriana''), also known by its title Borgo Vilhena, is a fortified town in the South Eastern Region area of Malta, just outside the capital city Valletta. It has a population of 2,205 as of March 2014. Floriana i ...

. In 2002-2003 he joined

Birkirkara Birkirkara (abbreviated as B'Kara) is a city in the central region of Malta. It is the second most populous on the island, with 24,356 inhabitants as of 2020. The town consists of five autonomous parishes: Saint Helen, Saint Joseph the Worker, Ou ...

and became one of the best players on the team. At the end of the 2009–2010 season with

Birkirkara FC Birkirkara Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Birkirkara, on the island of Malta. The club was formed in 1950, following the amalgamation of Birkirkara United and Birkirkara Celtic. Birkirkara currently play in t ...

(where he won the

for the second time with Birkirkara), he signed a deal with

. George is a national team regular player and has also played at all levels with the Youth National Team.

International career

Mallia made his international debut in 1997, while he was still playing for

. He earned himself 62 caps, and has scored a total of 6 goals for the

Malta national football team The Malta national football team ( mt, Tim nazzjonali tal-futbol ta' Malta) represents Malta in international football and is controlled by the Malta Football Association, the governing body for football in Malta. The first official game playe ...

. He is remembered for his fantastic goal against

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

, where the game ended 1-1 (away), as well as an away goal against Denmark. In an August 2005 friendly against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

Mallia had an injury time penalty saved by

Maik Taylor Maik Stefan Taylor (born 4 September 1971) is a former Northern Ireland international football goalkeeper and, since July 2022, goalkeeping coach at Birmingham City. At club level, Taylor played non-League football for Petersfield Town, Basings ...

; had he scored it would have given Malta an unlikely win.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Malta's goal tally first.''

References

External links

George Mallia at MaltaFootball.com
* * 1978 births Living people Maltese footballers Malta international footballers Sliema Wanderers F.C. players Floriana F.C. players Birkirkara F.C. players Qormi F.C. players People from Sliema Association football midfielders {{Malta-footy-bio-stub