Birkirkara FC

Birkirkara FC, is a Maltese football club, based in the town of Birkirkara, the largest town on the island. Birkirkara FC only have a synthetic football ground where to train, and then almost all league matches are played at Ta' Qali. Birkirkara FC is one of the best football teams in Malta. It was formed in 1950, but it wasn't until the late 1990's that the team started aiming high. This was the beginning of a new era, as in the 1996-97 season Birkirkara finished runners-up behind Valletta and qualified for the first time for the UEFA Cup, in which they played against Spartak Trnava of Slovakia. In the 1997-98 season, Birkirkara lost the title to Valletta in their very last match. The title had to be decided in a last game showdown between the two arch-rivals. The match was played on the May 02, 1998 and attracted the largest crowd ever at Ta' Qali. Birkirkara needed just one point to be crowned champions but the Citizens won thanks to a controversial penalty. In 1998-99, the title was again a two-leg race between Valletta and Birkirkara. The Stripes defeated Valletta on the three occasions but they dropped points against the other teams. Despite losing out in the title race, Birkirkara nevertheless won their first titles after triumphing in the Lowenbrau Cup and the Super 5 Competition.

Season 1999-2000 was dubbed as the season of reckoning as they landed the Rothmans Premier League title, leading the standings right from the start. In another milestone, Birkirkara qualified for the second round of the UEFA competitions in 2001, when they managed to eliminate Lokomotiv Tbilisi of Georgia in the UEFA Cup Qualifying Round on the away goals rule. In 2001, under the helm of Stephen Azzopardi, the club managed to win the FA Trophy - the only missing cup from the club's trophy room. Azzopardi's side emulated this success in 2002 and 2004. In the season 2005-2006, Birkirkara won the Premier title again with 2 games from the end of the season. Birkirkara FC Official Site

Achievements:

MFA Premier League: 3 (2000, 2006, 2010)
MFA Trophy: 4 (2002, 2003, 2005, 2008)
MFA Super Cup: 5 (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
MFA (Ex-Lowenbrau) European Challenge Cup: 2 (1999, 2004, 2008)
MFA Super 5 Cup: 3 (1999, 2003, 2006)

Champions League

2000-2001 Birkirkara vs KR Reykjavík (Iceland) 1-2 1-4 (2-6)
2006-2007 Birkirkara vs B369 Torshavn (Faroe Islands) 0-3 2-2 (2-5)
2009-2010 Birkirkara vs Santa Coloma (Andorra) 3-0 4-3 (7-3)

Europa League

2009-2010 Birkirkara vs Slaven Belupo (0-1, 0-0)

UEFA Cup

1997-1998 Birkirkara vs Spartak Trnava (Slovakkia) 0-1 1-3 (1-4)
1998-1999 Shakthar Donetsk (Ukraine) vs Birkirkara 2-1 4-0 (6-1)
1999-2000 Lyngby (Denmark) vs Birkirkara 7-0 0-0 (7-0)
2001-2002 BIRKIRKARA vs FC Lokomotiv Tbilisi (Georgia) 0-0 1-1 (1-1)
2001-2002 Dinamo Moscow (Russia) vs Birkirkara 1-0 0-0 (1-0)
2002-2003 FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhya (Ukraine) vs Birkirkara 3-0 0-0 (3-0)
2003-2004 Birkirkara vs Ferencvaros (Hungary) 0-5 0-1 (0-6)
2004-2005 FK Partizani Tirana (Albania) vs Birkirkara 4-2 1-2 (5-4)
2005-2006 Birkirkara vs APOEL FC (Cyprus) 0-2 0-4 (0-6)
2007-2008 Birkirkara vs Hnk Hajduk Split 0-4 0-3 (0-7)

InterToto Cup

2007-2008 Birkirkara vs NK Maribor 0-3 1-2 (1-5)

Other Tournaments

Carlsberg Tournament 2007
Gozo Cup 2010

Current Squad:

Coach: Paul Zammit.
Goalkeepers: Jorge Mora, Omar Borg.
Defenders: Thomas Paris, Nikola Vukanac, Branko Nisevic, Joseph Zerafa, Andrew Scicluna.
Midfielders: Shaun Bajada, Trevor Cilia, George Mallia, Rowen Muscat, Karl Pulo, Paul Fenech, Alan Tabone.
Strikers: Michael Galea, Sylvano Comvalius, Angus Buhagiar.