New coaches appointed at MFA Technical Centre

The appointment of new coaches at the MFA Technical Centre was announced during a meeting of the Council of the Malta Football Association on Friday. The new appointments include a new coach for the Under-17 and Under-19 sides after Ray Farrugia was appointed as coach of the Under-21 side earlier this year.

John Buttigieg remains as national coach with Carmel Busuttil as his assistant. However Busuttil will also take on the role of Academy Youth Development Head Coach.

Ray Farrugia will stay as coach of the Under-21 side, assisted by Ronald Vella. Vella will also be one of the coaches in the Regions system which is being set-up once again.

Former Birkirkara assistant coach Branko Nisevic was appointed as coach of both the Under-19 and Under-17 sides. In the Under-19 national team, he will be assisted by Emmanuel Farrugia while in the Under-17 side, he will be assisted by Billy Mock. Michael Molzahn and Edwin Camilleri were in charge of these teams over the past season.

Edwin Camilleri, former coach of the Under-21 and Under-17 sides, will take over as Head Coach of the Regions.

The Head Coach of the Academy will be Anthony Garzia. Staff coaches within the Academy will be former Sliema Wanderers midfielder Noel Turner, Josef Mansueto and Ray Attard. Attard will be in charge of Gozo.

Futsal national coach Vic Hermans was confirmed but he will be having a new assistant coach as Kevin Mifsud replaces Bert Kessen whose contract expires at the end of the year.

Pierre Brincat and Mark Gatt were confirmed as national coach and assistant coach of the Women’s national team.

Charles Sciberras will be the Head Coach of the Goalkeepers’ sector, being in charge of the national ‘A’ team and Under-21 side. Eddie Bartolo and Etienne Mercieca are the two other goalkeepers’ coaches within the Technical Centre, covering the Under-19, women’s team and the Academy.

Meanwhile within the Sports Science and Performance Analysis sector, Luca Pagani will stay as Head of Physical Fitness. He will be in charge of the Malta A team, the Under-21 side, national team selections and the Academy. Mark Buttigieg will be in charge of the Under-19 and Under-17 sides, the Gozo region and the Academy.

Dr David Attard, Dr Stephen Zammit and Dr Stefan Grech were confirmed as medical doctors for the national A team, Under-21 and Under-19/17 sides. Joseph St. John will stay as physiotherapist of the senior side, Simon Cilia for the Under-21 side and Chris Fenech for the Under-19 and Under-17 sides.

Adele Muscat was appointed as Psychologist within the Technical Centre.