Qormi Football Club is a
Maltese
Maltese may refer to:
* Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta
* Maltese alphabet
* Maltese cuisine
* Maltese culture
* Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people
* Maltese people, people from Malta or of Malte ...
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
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 St. Sebastian) and Qormi United (from the parish of St. George),
[Axiaq, M. (2011), L-istorja ta' 95 sena futbol f'Ħal Qormi, u 50 sena amalgamazzjoni ta' Qormi FC. Qormi FC: Qormi, Malta. pp.19–21] which is from where the club acquired its motto ''Fl-Għaqda s-Saħħa'', ( en, Strength in Unity). The first club from Qormi dates back to the 1920s. The club thus celebrated the 50th anniversary in 2011. Qormi Football Club is affiliated with the Malta Football Association (MFA) which is the main football body in
Malta. The Qormi FC Youth Nursery is a sub-committee of Qormi FC and almost 200 youngsters are affiliated with the nursery.
Qormi Football Grounds (Thomaso Grounds) are situated in Valletta Road, Qormi and the amenities includes pitches, a conference hall, fitness centre, bar and the Qormi FC Youth Nursery Headquarters. Qormi's official colours are Yellow and Black. Qormi's biggest arch rivals are
Zebbug Rangers from neighbouring town of
Zebbug, Malta.
The club has spent some of its seasons
yo-yo-ing from one division to another, but has recently started to build a more solid pace, progressing slowly but steadily to the upper divisions. Season
2007–08 was the best ever season in the club's recent history. Qormi clinched a second position finish in the
Maltese First Division, following a hardly fought play-off penalty win against
Mosta, which acquired the club's accession to the
Maltese Premier League. Season
2008–09 will be the first season that Qormi will spend in the highest echelons of Maltese football since the old First Division was renamed the Premier League. To prepare for their first
Maltese Premier League campaign, Qormi brought in ten new signings and gave a new look to the club's image. The team performed well in pre-season friendlies. In a press release, the club's committee expressed its aim to stay in top flight and possibly even making it to the Championship Pool. Nevertheless, Qormi still struggled against relegation like most newly promoted teams in the Premier League. Promotion was only achieved on the last day of the league, with a 2–0 win on
Hamrun Spartans F.C.
Hamrun (; ) is a town in the Southern Region of Malta, with a population of 9,244 as of March 2014.
The people
The townspeople are traditionally known as ''Tas-Sikkina'' (literally meaning 'of the knife' or 'those who carry a knife') or as ' ...
Season
2009–10 saw Qormi achieving a historical stint in the Maltese top-flight, as well as in the
FA Trophy
The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...
. The success was especially aided with arguably the best signing in the club's history,
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 ...
. Camilo finished top scorer in the league with 24 goals in 22 appearances where Qormi finished in the third place. Qormi then had to play a decider match to determine the taker of the
Europa League spot for the next season, a match which Qormi lost to Sliema 0–2. Qormi also could have achieved a spot through the cup, however, albeit making it to the final, Qormi lost to Valletta 1–2.
After the departure of Camilo and other players, as well as coaches
Jesmond Zerafa
Jesmond Zerafa (born 3 August 1965, in Malta) 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.' ...
and Vincent Carbonaro, Qormi faced a difficult season the year after. Season
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 ...
saw Qormi retaining
Stefan Giglio and Matthew Bartolo, and acquiring the services of
George Mallia, Belgian
Jason Vandelannoite
Jason Lee Vandelannoite (born 6 November 1986) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Torhout 1992 KM. He previously played for Club Brugge, Bursaspor, A.F.C. Tubize, Sheffield United, Qormi, Hibernians, Valletta, U ...
, Nigerian
Abubakar Bello-Osagie
Abubakar Bello-Osagie (born 11 August 1988), commonly known as Abubakar or Abu, is a Nigerian football striker, who plays for Marsaskala in Malta.
Career
Born in Benin City, Edo State, in 2005, he left Bendel Insurance of his home city of Ben ...
, South Korean Kang Ho-Jung in the first half of the season, and Brazilian
Josue, Greek Christos Karamanolis, Guinea-Bissau Ibraima Sumaila Vaz Sani, and most notably, the
Maltese national football team captain
Michael Mifsud, in the second half of the season. Also notable was the change in technical staff at the beginning of the season, with Stephen Azzopardi heading the team. During the season, Azzopardi utilised various youth players coming up from the Youth Nursery. Qormi managed to finish eighth (only one team was relegated in Season 2010–11 however).
Qormi kept struggling season after season, with the occasional fluke in the
Maltese FA Trophy. Qormi reached the final three times, all as runners-up, in
2009–10,
2011–12 and
2012–13
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 ...
.
The yellow-blacks celebrated their 50th anniversary during season 2011–12. On the pitch, as already mentioned, Qormi reached the final match of the Maltese cup competition, while holding various celebration activities and issuing various memorabilia, including a book relating history of football in Qormi between 1961 and 2011.
The club kept on struggling to avoid relegation, while enthusiasm for football in the city of Qormi began to wane. Qormi finished 8th in season
2014–15, once again clearing itself from relegation on the last matchday.
It was then revealed that the club had financial problems during an Extraordinary General Meeting held on August 13, 2015. The members agreed that the executive committee had to revisit the club's budgets prior to the
2015–16 season.
Kit Evolution
Achievements
*
Maltese First Division Champions: 2017–18
*
Maltese First Division Runners-up: 2007–08
*
Maltese Second Division Champions: 1968–69, 1972–73, 2005–06
*
Maltese Second Division Section Winners: 1988–89
*
Maltese Second Division Runners-up: 1977–78
*
Maltese Second Division Knock-Out Finalists: 1966–67, 1972–73
*
Maltese Second Division Sons of Malta Cup Champions: 1969–70, 1973–74
*
Maltese Third Division Section Winners: 1962–63, 1963–64, 1982–83, 1988–89
*
Maltese Third Division Play-offs Winners: 2003–04
*
Maltese Third Division Knock-Out Winners: 1962–63
*
Maltese Cup Runners-up: 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13
Current squad
Players
Club Officials and Coaching Staff 2015–16
Club Officials and committee members (Elected 4 January 2016)
* President: Victor Camilleri (from 2017)
* Vice-President: Kyle Fenech
* Secretary: Joseph Cardona
* Assistant Secretary: Victor Agius
* Treasurer: Charles Frendo
* Member (Supporters):"' Kerstin Gatt
* Member (Youth Team Coordinator): Robert Farrugia
* Member: Gorg Azzopardi
* Member (Team Manager): Stephen Vella
* '"Member:'" Carmel Saliba
Coaching staff
* Coach:Lydon Fenech
* Assistant Coach: Fatos Daja
* Team manager: Jurgen Mifsud
Managers
*
Jesmond Zerafa
Jesmond Zerafa (born 3 August 1965, in Malta) 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.' ...
(2007–10)
* Vince Carbonaro (July 1, 2009 – July 1, 2010)
* Stephen Azzopardi (June 7, 2010 – Oct 18, 2012)
*
Jesmond Zerafa
Jesmond Zerafa (born 3 August 1965, in Malta) 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.' ...
(Oct 19, 2012 – June 21, 2013)
* Tommaso Volpi (June 22, 2013 – Dec 20, 2013)
* Karel Zeman (Jan 3, 2014–2014)
* Josef Mansueto (2014 – February 2, 2015)
*
Mark Miller (February 4, 2015 – May 15, 2015)
*
Jesmond Zerafa
Jesmond Zerafa (born 3 August 1965, in Malta) 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.' ...
(July 1, 2015 – October 15, 2015)
* Johann Scicluna (October 22, 2015 - May 2016 )
* Lydon Fenech (July 01, 2022 - Present)
Seasons
This is a list of seasons played by Qormi Football Club in Maltese football, from 2004 to the present day.
References
External links
MaltaFootball Club ProfileSoccerWay Club Profile
{{Maltese football
Football clubs in Malta
Association football clubs established in 1961
1961 establishments in Malta