Balzan Youths
Encyclopedia
Balzan Youths Football Club is a Maltese
football club from the village of Balzan
, which currently plays in the Maltese Premier League
. The club were founded in 1937, and have never won any major honours.
Since its foundation, Balzan Youths have proved to be a competitive team. However for a small village club, it is not easy to establish itself with the top clubs. As a result, it has remained in the lower ranks. In the seasons spanning 1946-1947, 1955-1956 and 1957-1958 the team came very close to being promoted to the top Division. During these seasons they succeeded to win the section they were playing in the Second Division but failed to go on to win the decider, as at that time only one team was promoted to the First Division. Balzan several times came close but did not quite achieve this goal. Through the years Balzan Youths were relegated to the lower divisions. For the first few years they competed at Second Division level but when the Malta Football Association changed the composition of the Leagues and included the Premier Division as the top League, the club competed mostly at Third Division level.
In season 1990-1991 the club’s first team were promoted to the Second Division. It has to be noted that this happened due to a decision taken by the MFA to relegate Naxxar Lions from the Premier Division to the Third Division. This opened a vacant post in the Premier Division and consequently also in the First and Second Division. As runners up of the Third Division Section “B”, Balzan had to play a deciding game against Melita, the runners up of Section “A”. Balzan emerged winners from this game and was consequently promoted. In Season 1995-1996, five years after being promoted to the Second Division, the Balzan Youths team was relegated to the Third Division.
In Season 1999-2000, after four seasons in the Third Division and 62 years on from its foundation, the dream of many came true. Balzan Youths won the Third Division League, this time as Champions. This win coincided with the beginning of the new millennium and in the first season that the Third Division League was played in the new Centenary Stadium. This called for big celebrations and the entire village of Balzan participated. In Season 2000-2001, after only one year in the Second Division, Balzan added to their pride the first ever promotion to the First Division, after finishing as runners up in the Second Division. In Season 2002-2003 Balzan reached the climax, as for the first time ever they were promoted to play in the top league. After two years in the First Division the team finished as runners up three points behind champions Msida St Joseph.
Season 2003-2004 Balzan were playing their first season in the Premier League. Balzan won 5 games, drew 3 games and lost the rest. They finished the first phase in 7th place and had to play in the relegation pool with Valletta, Hamrun Spartans and Msida St Joseph. Balzan lost their play off match against Msida, and were relegated with Hamrun Spartans, to play in the First Division. The 2004-2005 season in the First Division was a very bad one for Balzan, as they lost a lot of games and finished bottom of the table and were relegated. Season 2005-2006 playing in the Second Division was yet another season to forget. Balzan had a bad season and narrowly avoided back to back relegations. In Season 2006-2007 Balzan finished in 5th place. In Season 2007-2008 Balzan managed to finish in first place, joint with San Gwann and Rabat Ajax. Consequently San Gwann were declared as Champions and Balzan had to play a deciding game against Rabat Ajax, and failed to win missing their chance to be promoted to the First Division.
Season 2008-09 was a positive one for Balzan. A number of new players were brought in including player coach Ivan Zammit who was given the task to lead this new group of players to gain promotion to the first division. Balzan only lost one match that season and were promoted at champions. Again the whole village celebrated together as they knew there was a bright future for the club. In the season 2009-10 Balzan had a great season, but very narrowly missed out on promotion.
In Season 2010-2011, the first team of Balzan Youths reached the climax for the second time in their history, as they got promoted once again to play in the Premier League. After two years in the First Division, the team finished as champions of the First Division, twelve points in front of second place Mqabba.
Ramdane Bouamara Nermin Gencic Ayadi Mondher Dragomir Draganov Nikolay Filipov Boris Iliev Krasimir Monolov Stoyan Simeonov Stanimir Stanev Ivan Vassilev
Tom Marić Marx Jaroslav Moftah Abuklikha Neville Arpa Stephen Azzopardi
Ernest Barry
David Carabott
Mark Marlow
Alex Muscat
Shawn Tellus Ivan Zammit
Kris Bright
Anthony Eviparker Žejlko Aničić Nebojša Janković Zvonimir Nedelković Miljan Relić Darko Striniša
|valign="top"|
|valign="top"|
{| class="toccolours"
!bgcolor=FF0000|Manager
!bgcolor=FF0000|Period
|-bgcolor=#eeeeee
|
Paul Barbara || 1989–90
|-
| Jimmy Briffa
|| 1990–93
|-bgcolor=#eeeeee
| Alberto Cristiano || 1993–94
|-
| Ronnie Cocks || 1994–95
|-bgcolor=#eeeeee
| France Scicluna || 1995–97
|-
| Joe Attard || 1997–98
|-bgcolor=#eeeeee
| Stephen Azzopardi
|| 1998–02
|-
|
Fatos Daja
|| 2002–03
|-bgcolor=#eeeeee
| Jimmy Briffa
|| 2003–05
|-
| Mario Monreal || 2005–06
|-bgcolor=#eeeeee
| Charles Borg Sant || 2006–07
|-
| Alfred Attard || 2007–08
|-bgcolor=#eeeeee
| Ivan Zammit
|| 2008–
|}
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
football club from the village of Balzan
Balzan
Ħal Balzan is small village in Malta, one of the so called three villages, together with Attard and Lija.The village originally consisted of a group of small dwellings and farms but eventually grew, becoming a parish in the 17th century...
, which currently plays in the Maltese Premier League
Maltese Premier League
The Maltese Premier League, known as BOV Premier League for sponsorship reasons , is the top level league for football in Malta. The league was first competed in 1909...
. The club were founded in 1937, and have never won any major honours.
History
It was in 1937 when, in the small village of Balzan a group of football enthusiasts got together and founded the Balzan Youths Football Club. Sadly, despite being one of the oldest football clubs in Malta, very little information on its beginnings has survived since the club’s records were either lost or destroyed. It has only been for the past 30 years that its history has been preserved.Since its foundation, Balzan Youths have proved to be a competitive team. However for a small village club, it is not easy to establish itself with the top clubs. As a result, it has remained in the lower ranks. In the seasons spanning 1946-1947, 1955-1956 and 1957-1958 the team came very close to being promoted to the top Division. During these seasons they succeeded to win the section they were playing in the Second Division but failed to go on to win the decider, as at that time only one team was promoted to the First Division. Balzan several times came close but did not quite achieve this goal. Through the years Balzan Youths were relegated to the lower divisions. For the first few years they competed at Second Division level but when the Malta Football Association changed the composition of the Leagues and included the Premier Division as the top League, the club competed mostly at Third Division level.
In season 1990-1991 the club’s first team were promoted to the Second Division. It has to be noted that this happened due to a decision taken by the MFA to relegate Naxxar Lions from the Premier Division to the Third Division. This opened a vacant post in the Premier Division and consequently also in the First and Second Division. As runners up of the Third Division Section “B”, Balzan had to play a deciding game against Melita, the runners up of Section “A”. Balzan emerged winners from this game and was consequently promoted. In Season 1995-1996, five years after being promoted to the Second Division, the Balzan Youths team was relegated to the Third Division.
In Season 1999-2000, after four seasons in the Third Division and 62 years on from its foundation, the dream of many came true. Balzan Youths won the Third Division League, this time as Champions. This win coincided with the beginning of the new millennium and in the first season that the Third Division League was played in the new Centenary Stadium. This called for big celebrations and the entire village of Balzan participated. In Season 2000-2001, after only one year in the Second Division, Balzan added to their pride the first ever promotion to the First Division, after finishing as runners up in the Second Division. In Season 2002-2003 Balzan reached the climax, as for the first time ever they were promoted to play in the top league. After two years in the First Division the team finished as runners up three points behind champions Msida St Joseph.
Season 2003-2004 Balzan were playing their first season in the Premier League. Balzan won 5 games, drew 3 games and lost the rest. They finished the first phase in 7th place and had to play in the relegation pool with Valletta, Hamrun Spartans and Msida St Joseph. Balzan lost their play off match against Msida, and were relegated with Hamrun Spartans, to play in the First Division. The 2004-2005 season in the First Division was a very bad one for Balzan, as they lost a lot of games and finished bottom of the table and were relegated. Season 2005-2006 playing in the Second Division was yet another season to forget. Balzan had a bad season and narrowly avoided back to back relegations. In Season 2006-2007 Balzan finished in 5th place. In Season 2007-2008 Balzan managed to finish in first place, joint with San Gwann and Rabat Ajax. Consequently San Gwann were declared as Champions and Balzan had to play a deciding game against Rabat Ajax, and failed to win missing their chance to be promoted to the First Division.
Season 2008-09 was a positive one for Balzan. A number of new players were brought in including player coach Ivan Zammit who was given the task to lead this new group of players to gain promotion to the first division. Balzan only lost one match that season and were promoted at champions. Again the whole village celebrated together as they knew there was a bright future for the club. In the season 2009-10 Balzan had a great season, but very narrowly missed out on promotion.
In Season 2010-2011, the first team of Balzan Youths reached the climax for the second time in their history, as they got promoted once again to play in the Premier League. After two years in the First Division, the team finished as champions of the First Division, twelve points in front of second place Mqabba.
Current Squad
Notable players
See Balzan Youths F.C. PlayersRamdane Bouamara Nermin Gencic Ayadi Mondher Dragomir Draganov Nikolay Filipov Boris Iliev Krasimir Monolov Stoyan Simeonov Stanimir Stanev Ivan Vassilev
Tom Marić Marx Jaroslav Moftah Abuklikha Neville Arpa Stephen Azzopardi
Stephen Azzopardi
Stephen Azzopardi is a Maltese football coach and former player. He is married and has two children, Katya and Sean.During his career, Azzopardi has worked for the teams Balzan Youths, Birkirkara...
Ernest Barry
Ernest Barry (footballer)
Ernest Barry was a professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, he was most recently player/goalkeeper coach for Floriana in the Maltese Football League.-External links:* *...
David CarabottDavid Carabott
David Carabott is a former professional footballer who played for many teams in Malta, where he used to play as a defender.During his career, Carabott has played for Hibernians, Valletta, Marsaxlokk, Msida St...
Mark Marlow
Mark Marlow
Mark Marlow is a former professional footballer and is currently manager of Maltese Premier League side Sliema Wanderers. Throughout his career he played as a midfielder.-External links:*...
Alex Muscat
Alex Muscat
Alexander Muscat is a professional footballer currently playing for Maltese Premier League side Sliema Wanderers, where he usually plays as a defender.-Lija Athletic:...
Shawn Tellus Ivan Zammit
Ivan Zammit
Ivan Zammit is a former professional footballer, currently the head coach at Maltese First Division side Balzan Youths.- Malta:...
Kris Bright
Kris Bright
Kris Bright is a New Zealand association football player who plays for Balzan Youths in Malta as a striker. Bright has represented New Zealand at U15, U16, U-17, U-20, and All Whites level.-Career:...
Anthony Eviparker Žejlko Aničić Nebojša Janković Zvonimir Nedelković Miljan Relić Darko Striniša
Club officials and coaching staff
{|-table style="width: 100%; text-align: left;" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2"|valign="top"|
Club officials
- President: George Borg
- Vice President: Joe Micallef
- Secretary: Joseph Agius
- Assistant Secretary: Robert Camilleri
- Treasurer: Peter Cipriott
- Assistant Treasurer: Frankie Monreal
- Executive Committee Members:
- Alex Attard
- John Borg
- David Camilleri
- Clifford Cipriott
- Louis Ebejer
- Valent Giordimaina
- Mario Mifsud
- Mario Nappa
- Anton Vidal
|valign="top"|
Managerial history
See Balzan Youths F.C. Managers{| class="toccolours"
!bgcolor=FF0000|Manager
!bgcolor=FF0000|Period
|-bgcolor=#eeeeee
|
Paul Barbara || 1989–90|-
|
Jimmy BriffaJimmy Briffa
Jimmy Briffa was a professional footballer and manager. During his career, he played as a defender for the Sliema Wanderers. He later went on to coach Balzan Youths, Marsaxlokk, Floriana, Marsa, and Senglea Athletic....
|| 1990–93
|-bgcolor=#eeeeee
|
Alberto Cristiano || 1993–94|-
|
Ronnie Cocks || 1994–95|-bgcolor=#eeeeee
|
France Scicluna || 1995–97|-
|
Joe Attard || 1997–98|-bgcolor=#eeeeee
|
Stephen AzzopardiStephen Azzopardi
Stephen Azzopardi is a Maltese football coach and former player. He is married and has two children, Katya and Sean.During his career, Azzopardi has worked for the teams Balzan Youths, Birkirkara...
|| 1998–02
|-
|
Fatos DajaFatos Daja
Fatos Daja is a former Albanian football defender. He earned 6 caps for the Albanian national team during 1991 and 1997.-Clubs:*1987-1992 : KF Tirana*1992-1999 : St. Patrick*1999-2001 : Ħamrun Spartans...
|| 2002–03
|-bgcolor=#eeeeee
|
Jimmy BriffaJimmy Briffa
Jimmy Briffa was a professional footballer and manager. During his career, he played as a defender for the Sliema Wanderers. He later went on to coach Balzan Youths, Marsaxlokk, Floriana, Marsa, and Senglea Athletic....
|| 2003–05
|-
|
Mario Monreal || 2005–06|-bgcolor=#eeeeee
|
Charles Borg Sant || 2006–07|-
|
Alfred Attard || 2007–08|-bgcolor=#eeeeee
|
Ivan ZammitIvan Zammit
Ivan Zammit is a former professional footballer, currently the head coach at Maltese First Division side Balzan Youths.- Malta:...
|| 2008–
|}