Ħamrun Spartans F.C.

Ħamrun Spartans Football Club is the football team of Ħamrun. The name Spartans is Greek name from Sparta, town in Greece. The team won the Maltese First Division in 2006-2007. Following the promotion to the Maltese Premier League the Spartans finished in 6th place in 2007-2008 and have managed to stay in the top division since.

Since being founded in 1907, the Ħamrun Spartans have won a total of seven league championships. They have also been runners-up eleven times.

One of the stalwarts in the club history, Stefan Sultana, has scored a total of 252 goals in his career (whereof 225 while playing for Ħamrun Spartans), which makes him Malta's top-scorer (per May 12, 2007).

History

Hamrun Spartans were founded in 1907. By season 1913-14, Hamrun Spartans were already an established team on the local scene winning the title during that season thanks to a better goal-average than St. George's. Their second League success came four years later when they finished again in joint top-spot with St. George's. This time the Spartans were crowned Champions of Malta by beating them in a play-off. Hamrun's top player at that time was Gejtu Psaila, known as il-Hacca. In the 20's and 30's, the club went through a difficult period as most Hamrun players left to join other clubs.

A new team, Hamrun Liberty was formed and in just a couple of years, Hamrun Liberty were among the elite of Maltese soccer. On their return to the First Division in 1946-47, the club changed its name to Hamrun Spartans. They were soon a hit as they won the Johnnie Walker Championship Trophy, winning also the Cassar Cup. They won the Cassar Cup again in 1948-1949 season. For four times between 1947 and 1952 they were four times runners-up.

The team started dwindling down in the 60's until they were relegated in the season 1969-70. After returning to the First Division, they were relegated once again in 1973-74. However after two years in the Second Division, they were back in the First Division.

On the 75th anniversary, in season 1982-83, the club was back at the top winning the title after an absence of 36 years. Hamrun also managed to win the FA Trophy during that season. That was the beginning of an era under the guide of president Victor Tedesco. The team was strengthened with top players like Gigi Salerno, Raymond and George Xuereb, Edwin Farrugia, Raymond Vella, Joe Brincat and Carlo Seychell. Alfred Cardona was their coach. After a lot of disputes with the Immigration Division, Victor Tedesco managed to sign two foreigners, Englishmen Peter Hatch and John Linacre - the first foreigners to play on the island after a long period of time.

The Spartans set a new record being the first local team to win both the home and away legs in a UEFA competition after beating Ballymena of Northern Ireland. In a decade, Hamrun managed to win three league titles, three FA Trophies, the Super Cup and Euro Cup twice each.

After such successful campaigns, the Spartans faced financial difficulties. The team had to transfer its best players until finally they were relegated to the First Division in 1998-99. After one year, they were promoted back to the Premier League after winning the Division 1 title.

The last four seasons were years of ups-and-downs. They were relegated to Division 1 at the end of season 2003/2004, winning promotion as First Division champions in 2004/05, being relegated in 2005/06 and winning the First Division championship once again in 2006/07.

From season 2007/2008 Hamrun Spartans where back on the right track for fighting for honours. During the season 2007/2008 Hamrun Spartans met all their objectives and even more ended up in the final of the F.A. trophy against Birkirkara F.C. losing with honours in the last minute by a 1 goal difference. This season was also a great success to its supporters after winning the Malta Best Support Award.

Seemingly having been strengthened in several departments, Hamrun Spartans aimed to challenge for a place in Europe the following season. Yet, the team failed to reach the championship pool. In the relegation pool Hamrun started with an excellent 3-0 win over Msida St. Joseph, then suffered a shock 1-5 defeat against Tarxien Rainbows. Four points over the next three games were not enough to reach safety, and in the final game a depleted Hamrun side was easily defeated by Qormi FC. With Tarxien and Msida also reaching 16 points following the draw between them, Hamrun Spartans were relegated on the worst head-to-head record. Fortunately for Hamrun Spartans, the corruption cases resulting involving Vittoriosa Stars and Marsaxlokk meant both "relegated" teams remained in the Premier Division for the 2009-2010 season.

The 2009-2010 season Hamrun Spartans made success because they finished in the eight position of the Maltese Premier League with the last game was in the Relegation Pool against Msida with the final result was a draw of 2-2. Hamrun Spartans are also still in the semi-final of the F.A Trophy

Players

Current Squad

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

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

UEFA Cup

UEFA Champions League

Maltese Premier League Winners

1913-14, 1917–18, 1946–47, 1982–83, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1990–91 (7) Eleven times runners up. (11)

FA Trophy Winners

1982-83, 1983–84, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1991-92 (6) Four times runners up. (4)

Super Cup Winners

1986-87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1991-92 (5)

Euro Challenge Cup

1985, 1988, 1991, 1992 (3)

Cassar Cup

1947/47, 1948/49 (2)

Super 5 Tournament (Quadrangular Tournament)

1991/1992 (1)

Notable players

See Ħamrun Spartans F.C. Players

Club officials and coaching staff

External links

Official website

• Official website

Media websites

• Youth Nursery website