Jesmond Zerafa (born 3 August 1965, in

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 former professional footballer and a manager. During his career, he played primarily as a striker.

International career

International goals

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

Manager career

Qormi

Zerafa joined the

Maltese First Division The Maltese Challenge League (referred to as the BOV Challenge League for sponsorship reasons) is the second-highest division in Maltese football, behind the Maltese Premier League. The First Division was the precursor of the present Premier L ...

side

Qormi Qormi ( mt, Ħal Qormi ; pronounced in the Qormi dialect), also known by its title Città Pinto, is a city in the Southern Region of Malta, southwest of Valletta in the centre of the island. It has a population of 16,324 (as of March 2018), mak ...

in the summer of 2007. The move was an instant success, as he led the club to a 3rd-place finish in the Maltese First Division. However, as the club had finished equal on points with 2nd placed

Mosta Mosta ( mt, Il-Mosta) is a small but densely populated city in the Northern Region of Malta. The most prominent building in Mosta is the Rotunda, a large basilica built by its parishioners' volunteer labour. It features the world's 3rd largest ...

, a decider was necessary to determine which team would earn promotion to the

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 ...

. Qormi came out on top, beating Mosta on penalties. The 2008–09 season saw Zerafa make a major reshuffle in the

playing staff, opting to go for experience, with the hope of remaining in the

. The season long loan of

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 ...

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 ...

Joseph Farrugia Dr Joseph Farrugia is a theologian, senior lecturer and Roman Catholic Monsignor who served as the representative of the Maltese Episcopal Conference to the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community. He currently serves as ...

was renewed for another season. The club also added Massimo Grima and Keith Fenech, who joined from

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit and capital city, capital of Malta. Located on the Malta (island), main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, i ...

on season long loan deals, as did

Marsaxlokk Marsaxlokk () is a small, traditional fishing village in the South Eastern Region of Malta. It has a harbour, and is a tourist attraction known for its views, fishermen and history. As at March 2014, the village had a population of 3,534. The ...

duo Reuben Gauci and Shawn Tellus. The club also made the permanent signings of

Chucks Nwoko Afraik Kaejtan "Chucks" Nwoko (born 21 November 1978) is a former professional association football, footballer who played at both professional and international levels as a midfielder. Born in Nigeria, he represented the Malta national football ...

from

and Roderick Sammut from

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 ...

spent the best part of the season languishing above the relegation zone, Zerafa added to the ranks with the signing of

defender Stephen Wellman. The gamble paid off for Jesmond, as

retained the

status after finishing in 7th position. Jesmond led

into the 2009–10 season, again making some shrewd acquisitions along the way,

's loan move was made permanent, and again

duo Massimo Grima and Keith Fenech's season long loan deals were extended for another season. Zerafa also signed

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian striker

Camilo Camilo is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Camilo Albornoz (born 2000), Argentine footballer * Camilo Cascolan (born 1964), Filipino law enforcement officer * Camilo Castelo Branco, Portuguese writ ...

were the surprise package of the season, exceeding expectations and even sitting top the division for some of the season. Jesmond's reign came to an end on 28 April 2010, when the club decided to release Zerafa following a breakdown in contract negations. Jesmond was rumored to not be willing to commit himself on a new contract for next season, and it is rumored that he will join his former club

for the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season.

Valletta F.C.

On 29 May 2010 he signed a deal with Valletta F.C., to become the team's new manager.

Gzira United

On 11 February 2019 Zerafa replaced Darren Abdilla as manager of Gżira United. After reaching the third place in the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

, he terminated his contract, being replaced by

Giovanni Tedesco Giovanni Tedesco (born 13 May 1972 in Palermo) is an Italian football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the current manager of Birkirkara Career Club career Despite being a native of Palermo, Tedesco was initially ...

Second spell at Valletta FC

In June 2020 Zerafa agreed to sign a two-years contract with

, coming back to the club where he spent the most part of his playing career and where he had a first spell between 2010 and 2012. His second spell at the helm of his former club only lasted a few months, and Zerafa resigned in November 2020.

References

External links

Jesmond Zerafa at MaltaFootball.com

Jesmond Zerafa
at Footballdatabase {{DEFAULTSORT:Zerafa, Jesmond Living people 1965 births Maltese footballers Malta international footballers Association football forwards Valletta F.C. players Maltese football managers Qormi F.C. managers Valletta F.C. managers