Swieqi United will soon have its training ground at the St. Clare College Pembroke Primary School. This was announced during the club’s annual Business Breakfast which was held at the Hotel Cavalieri on Saturday.
Swieqi President Dr Justin Fenech highlighted the progress achieved by the club since its foundation. He further explained that a number of targets set in the Club’s 2010 Business Plan have been achieved and that this season they will achieving two other targets. The first one is the launching of a Futsal Team and the second is the establishment, with the help of the MFA, of a training pitch.
Photos: Copyright © Joe Borg / MFA
The football ground is the prelude for setting up a nursery which would enable Swieqi to have their own players while giving something back to society.
Dr Fenech reiterated the club’s pledge to support the MFA in its endeavours to promote fair play on the pitch as well as financial fair play off the pitch.
He said the club is run on voluntary basis and players are not there for a part-time job but for the sake of the game. The Swieqi president said the club worked hard to create a professional image for the club.
Dr Fenech presented the sponsors for the 2012/13 season and thanked them for their support and commitment. Stargames.com have renewed their agreement as main sponsor. The other sponsors are Bianco’s – former sponsors of the Futsal team who will now sponsor the club, Corner Foodstore, vacancycentre.com, Robert Arrigo & Sons, Noel Muscat & Co, Logix, Untangled Media and Cavalieri Hotel.
Dr Fenech concluded by stating that the club would be launching a number of initiatives. These includes a drive for support from local businesses – seeking support from businesses in Swieqi and promoting them in return, a monthly online competition meant to attract more people to the club’s website, continue working to attract more people to the stadium and the organisation of an event, with the support of all club sponsors, with all proceeds going for charity in order to promote the social side of the club.
Vice President for Team Matters, Hani Arebi, spoke about the Third Division team which will be coached by Roland Sollars, assisted by Daniel Mckean. Arebi explained that the club had worked tirelessly throughout the summer in order to strengthen the first team. Seven new players had joined the squad as free agents. In terms of loans, the club had spent in the region of €3,500 and had acquired five new players on loan and had renewed the loan of another 5 players.
He concluded by saying that the squad assembled for the upcoming season had a good mix of experience – in particular with players like Lee Grima and Mark Grech – and youth. As seen in the 2-1 victory over Mdina Knights, the team has the potential of doing much better than previous years.
Futsal Team Manager Paul Hyzler presented the Futsal team which will be playing in the FMA Second Division. He explained that after the changes in the organisation of the Futsal League, the team previously known as Biancos, joined forces with Swieqi United because the two parties shared the save goals and vision.
Hyzler explained that the team was strengthened with hard working players and urged all supporters to follow the Futsal team as much as the first team especially since many of the players are also from the Swieqi area.
MFA Treasurer Antoine Portelli praised Swieqi United for the professional attitude which has been instilled in all players and management. Furthermore, he reiterated the importance of the Financial Fair Play Scheme which will require all clubs to balance their books or risk having their licenses revoked at the start of every season.
Portelli announced that during the last projects’ meeting, the association approved the project of the Swieqi United ground at the Pembroke Primary School and the club will soon be invited to discuss further the development of this football ground.
The MFA Treasurer said that MFA president Norman Darmanin Demajo had promised that each club had to have at least a training grounds. He said that rather than waiting for UEFA funds, the association invested in order to achieve this and now only six or seven clubs are yet to have their own facilities.
Photos: Copyright © Joe Borg / MFA