Gzira United strengthen squad ahead of First Division campaign

After winning the BOV Second Division championship and promotion to Division 1, Gzira United have strengthened their squad with the signing of Alfred Effiong, Jean Paul Scerri, Pierre Grima, Jeffrey Chetcuti and Dino Cachia on loan together with Ryan Deguara and Steve Meilak on a permanent basis.

The Technical Staff will be made up of coach Gordon Camilleri, technical advisor and trainer Eric Schembri and team manager Tony Borg.

In a meeting for players, club secretary Tyrone Demanuele said that despite all the hype that has surrounded our club with these new signings, ‘names’ do not bring success, but hard work, discipline, dedication, teamwork, loyalty and integrity does.

He added that the First Division seems to be the most difficult division this upcoming season and although Gzira United are up for the challenge, the club needs to focus on those things that will help them get there.

The club has invested in quality players over the last 12 months, and apart from Ryan Deguara and Steve Meilak, the Maroons have also permanently registered Simon Shead, Simon Agius and Antoine Galea.

Tyrone Demanuele stressed that the club will not be seeking promotion to the detriment of ruining its strong financial situation, but they will be trying to achieve this to enhance the club’s finances.

The committee is relentlessly seeking new ways of financing the club’s expenses and the results so far have been encouraging.

Demanuele finally stressed that the supporters, the backbone of the club, need to be much more pro-active in order to “re-pay” the President and Sharlon Pace for the hard work and professionalism he has introduced since he took over the running of the team.