Melita FC officially launched season 2024/2025 on Thursday evening, 10 days before the official start of the 360Sports Malta Premier League Season. Having secured the Challenge League title last season, the club has put it’s faith in most of the players who formed part of last season’s squad, once again featuring many homegrown talents who are ready to play a prominent role in the top division of Maltese football.
President Matthew Naudi, now into his second term, believes that amongst the various unknown entities in this season’s league format, lies Melita FC, a club that has done wonders over the years despite the limited resources.
“We not only want to compete next season in the highest division, but we want to be as tough adversaries as can be to every club and hopefully slowly establish Melita FC in the Premier League. I believe we have the current capability and the future potential to do so, although in football anything can happen. Last year we had a fantastic squad, peaking at the right moment and above all working together like clockwork. Most of the players from last season are in front of me today. We believed in them then, and we believe in them now too!”
Naudi went on to introduce the club’s new summer signings; David Xuereb joins from Marsa, Kurt Bondin joins from Żebbug, and Ensell Attard and William Legault join from Mosta, all with previous Premier League experience and fitting in with the club’s philosophy. The club has also secured the services of a number of newcomers; Polish goalkeeper Aleksander Lubik, Colombian defender Aldair Simanca, Spanish centre-back Marc Van de Bovenkamp and forward Jose Barragan who all join on their first experiences in local football. The club has also retained the services of last season’s Challenge League top scorer Andre Carlos Penha Da Costa and the Challenge League Best Player Matthew Debattista.
To conclude, president Naudi thanked the club’s sponsors for their ongoing support, namely Atlas Insurance, Food Chain, Eurosport, NOUV and VIBE FM. He also welcomed two new sponsors on board, Uber and Brown’s.
Neil Zarb Cousin, the club’s Director of Football, went on to underline the great work being done in the academy structure, with the academy now boasting three UEFA A Elite qualified coaches, a first for any academy on the island. The vision of the club will be to continue producing top talents for our first team, which this season will feature no less than 11 homegrown senior players and many other Under 19 players who will be itching to make their mark. A testament to this great work is the fact that many players are choosing to move to Melita at the expiration of their contracts, to continue developing their football careers within the club’s structure.
First team coach Clive Mizzi, on his part, emphasized the need for patience on the club’s return amongst the elite of Maltese football. Mizzi highlighted the fact that the club has retained a number of players from last year’s successful campaign, choosing to shift away from the model many promoted clubs adopt by revamping the majority of the squad. Instead, the club has chosen to retain no less than fifteen players, including the four foreign players from last year. Answering questions about the format, Mizzi hinted that the format may favour smaller teams and the players must be patient and stick together and they will be capable of achieving the club’s target of retaining it’s place in the 360Sports Malta Premier.
Melita FC will kick off their league commitments on Saturday 17th August in a 6pm kick off at the Tony Bezzina Stadium against last season’s runners up Floriana FC.