Balzan F.C.

Balzan Football Club is a Maltese football club from the village of Balzan, which currently plays in the Maltese Premier League. The Club was founded in 1937 and has played top-level football since 2010.

Balzan
Full nameBalzan Football Club
Founded1937 (1937), as Balzan Youths
GroundSt Aloysius' College (Malta)
ChairmanAnton Tagliaferro
Head CoachOliver Spiteri
LeagueMaltese Premier League
2021–22Maltese Premier League, 10th
WebsiteClub website

The club has been one of the top teams in Malta and qualified to the Europa League for five seasons in a row from 2015-16 to 2019-20. Balzan finished runners up in the Malta Premier League in the 2016–17 and 2017–18 seasons and were finalists in the 2015–16 FA Trophy Final, which they lost on penalties 5-4 to Sliema, after the game finished 0-0 after extra time. In May 2019 the Club finally won its first major honour, conquering the Maltese FA Trophy[1] after a classic final versus Valletta which finished 4-4 after extra time, but which Balzan won 5-4 on penalties.

Balzan FC First Team 2022-23

Players

Current First Team
As of 11 April 2023[2]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Malta MLT Rudi Briffa
2 DF Serbia SRB Ivan Božović
4 DF Colombia COL Duvan Torres
5 DF Malta MLT Samir Arab
6 MF Malta MLT Marcus Grima
7 MF Serbia SRB Bogdan Mladenović
8 MF Malta MLT Paul Fenech
10 MF Colombia COL Ángel Torres
11 MF Malta MLT Benjamin Hili
14 DF Malta MLT Zak Grech
17 MF Malta MLT Leonardo Agius
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 MF Republic of the Congo CGO Delvin N'Dinga
19 DF Serbia SRB Nikola Zerjal
21 FW Malta MLT Alexander Satariano (on loan from Frosinone)
23 GK Malta MLT Jonathan Debono
24 MF Montenegro MNE Nikola Braunović
27 DF Montenegro MNE Momčilo Rašo
33 FW Brazil BRA Matheus Nogueira
77 MF Serbia SRB Aleksa Andrejić
86 FW Montenegro MNE Bojan Kaljević

Club officials and coaching staff

Club officials

  • Honorary Presidents: George Borg, Dr. John Zammit Montebello MD
  • President : Anton Tagliaferro
  • Vice President: David Melillo
  • Secretary: Joseph Agius
  • Sporting director: Vladimir Simović
  • Treasurer: Peter Cipriott
  • Club Doctor: Dr. John Zammit Montebello MD
  • Executive Committee Members:
    • Alex Bezzina
    • Clifford Cipriott
    • Louis Ebejer
    • Paul Meilak
    • Diane Cassar
    • Mario Nappa
    • Robert Tagliaferro
    • Frank Vella Bardon
    • Anton Vidal
    • Alex Attard
    • Eric Galea

Coaching staff

  • Head Coach: Oliver Spiteri[3]
  • Assistant Coach: Jean Paul Desira
  • Nursery Head Coach: Ludvic Bartolo
  • Goalkeeping Coach: Edward Bartolo
  • Kit Manager: Anthony Lanzon
  • Team Manager: Peter Cipriott
  • Assistant Kit Manager: John Borg

Club facilities

The Club's Administration Building ‘Solerville’ is located at Main Street, Balzan. A bar and garden restaurant on the ground floor are open to the public. The Club’s modern training facilities, located at Robert Mifsud Bonnici Street, Lija, include a clubhouse and a full size pitch with synthetic turf. The clubhouse includes a conference room, a bar and a gymnasium and was officially opened on 13 March 2011. From September 2015, Balzan F.C. teams also commenced training at St Aloysius' College Ground, after this ground underwent a major upgrade.

In 2019 Balzan FC started the construction of an additional 2 storey clubhouse at its Lija ground which feature additional changing room facilities, as well as accommodation for visiting teams. The building was completed in late 2021.

St Aloysius' College ground
"Solerville"
Training Centre
Balzan FC President Anton Tagliaferro and MFA President Bjorn Vassallo inaugurate new facilities on 28 November 2021.












.

Honours
Balzan F.C. wins its first major honour by winning the Maltese FA Trophy against 2017–18 champions Valletta 5-4 on penalties, after the thrilling final had ended in a 4-4 draw after extra-time on 18 May 2019.

Maltese FA Trophy

Maltese Second Division




.

European record
Balzan F.C. players and supporters celebrate their Club's historic qualification to the UEFA Europa League following a 3 -1 victory over until then unbeaten 14/15 champions Hibernians F.C. on 26 April 2015.
Balzan F.C. players and officials celebrate their Club's historic qualification to the second round of the UEFA Europa League, after winning against Keşla FK 5-3 on aggregate at Dalga Arena, Baku Azerbaijan on 19 July 2018.

Matches
Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
2015–16 UEFA Europa League 1Q Bosnia and Herzegovina Željezničar 0–2 0–1 0–3
2016–17 UEFA Europa League 1Q Azerbaijan Neftçi 0–2 2–1 2–3
2017–18 UEFA Europa League 1Q Hungary Videoton 3−3 0−2 3−5
2018–19 UEFA Europa League 1Q Azerbaijan Keşla 4−1 1−2 5−3
2Q Slovakia Slovan Bratislava 2–1 1−3 3−4
2019–20 UEFA Europa League 1Q Slovenia Domžale 3–4 0–1 3–5
2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League 1Q
Notes
  • 1Q: First qualifying round
  • 2Q: Second qualifying round

Managerial history
Manager Period
Malta Paul Barbara1989–90
Malta Jimmy Briffa1990–93
Malta Alberto Cristiano1993–94
Malta Ronnie Cocks1994–95
Malta France Scicluna1995–97
Malta Joe Attard1997–98
Malta Stephen Azzopardi1998–02
Albania Fatos Daja2002–03
Malta Jimmy Briffa2003–05
Malta Mario Monreal2005–06
Malta Charles Borg Sant2006–07
Malta Alfred Attard2007–08
Malta Ivan Zammit2008–13
Malta David Carabott2009–10
Italy Riccardo Tumiatti2013
Malta Jesmond Zerafa2013–14
Malta Oliver Spiteri2014–17
Serbia Marko Mićović2017-19
Malta Jacques Scerri2019-20
England Mark Miller2020-21
Malta Paul Zammit2021-22
Malta Oliver Spiteri2022

References
  1. Camilleri, Valhmor (May 18, 2019). "Effiong scores four as Balzan win first-ever FA Trophy". Times of Malta. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
  2. "Balzan | History | UEFA Europa League".
  3. Camilleri, Valhmor (June 5, 2022). "Balzan FC appoint Oliver Spiteri as new first-team coach". Times of Malta. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
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