TROPHIES
Hamrun Spartans Football Club has an illustrious history going back more than 100 years. This history is dotted with trophies along the way, including 9 national league titles. Our first Championship goes back to 1913-14, with the club winning its ninth title in 2022-23. You can read all about our story and that of our great players and coaches that have brought the club to the pinnacle of Maltese football along the years.
MAJOR TROPHIES
9x Premier League Champions
6x FA Trophy Champions
5x Super Cup ChampionsSHOWPIECE TROPHIES
Euro Challenge Cup
Winners (4): 1985, 1988, 1991, 1992
Cassar Cup
Winners (2): 1947-47, 1948–49
Super 5 Tournament (Quadrangular Tournament)
Winners (1): 1991–1992
The Club
Established in 1907, Ħamrun Spartans FC is one of the oldest clubs on the Maltese Islands. Famous for its red and black shirt, the Club has long established itself among the Maltese elite, taking home some 25 major trophies along its illustrious history. Throughout the decades, the shirt was donned by some of the best talent the islands had to offer, with these same players proving an important backbone for the national team.
The club represents the town of Ħamrun, an urban community with strong industrial and commercial roots just a couple of kilometres inland from the Grand Harbour. It boasts one of the most passionate set of fans, who were also decorated with the honour of best support in Malta a few years back.
The Club has also set a number of important milestones for Maltese football in international commitments, being the first to quality to a second round of a UEFA club competition, and also the first to win home and away ties, a feat established in the Cup Winners Cup.
The Senior team currently plays in the Premier Division. The Club also includes within its ranks a Youth Team, also known as Minors (Under 19), as well as an affiliate Football Academy which provides elite training to children aged four upwards.
The Stadium
The Club’s Home Ground is the Victor Tedesco Stadium, located in the Mile End area, close to the town centre. The stadium was inaugurated in 1996, making the club one of the first on the Maltese Islands to own its football stadium. Currently, the stadium hosts the Senior and Youth teams training as well as league matches hosted by the Malta Football Association.
The Stadium hosts 1,926 people.
- StefanSultana197All Time Goals334League ChampionshipsFA TrophiesNational GoalsHALL OF FAME
- JoeBrincat1992-93MFA Footballer Of The Year23103League ChampionshipsFA TrophyNational Team MatchesHALL OF FAME
- MichaelDegiorgio1989-90MFA Footballer Of The Year4677League ChampionsFA TrophiesNational Team MatchesHALL OF FAME
- RaymondVella1989 -1991MFA Footballer Of The Year3437League ChampionsFA TrophiesNational Team MatchesHALL OF FAME
EARLY YEARS AND FIRST SUCCESSES
Ħamrun Spartans were founded back in 1907 and is one of the oldest clubs in Maltese
football. The Club quickly rose through the sporting ladder and took part in its first
championship in 1910-11 finishing in runner-up position. By its third season of
competitive football, the club had established itself among the nation’s best, sealing its
first title through a better goal average than St. George’s.
This success was repeated a mere four years later, when the club once again finished the
campaign on equal points with the team from Bormla, a success largely attributed to the
skills of Gejtu Psaila, known as “il-Ħaċċa”. This time round a decider was needed to
secure top position.
Following these two successes, the Spartans went into a prolonged period of indifferent
seasons, reachng no further than third place. It was only after the end of the Second
World War that the team in red and black re-emerged amongst Malta’s top teams.
MIXED FORTUNES AFTER THE WAR
A new team, Ħamrun Liberty was formed and in just a couple of years, reache the elite
of Maltese soccer. On their return to the First Division in 1946–47, the club changed its
name to Ħamrun Spartans. They were soon a hit as they won the League title, then
named the Johnnie Walker Championship, winning also the Cassar Cup. They won the
Cassar Cup again in 1948–49 season. For four times between 1947 and 1952, they were
runners-up.
The 1950’s were dominated by a fierce rivalry between Floriana and Sliema. However,
Ħamrun Spartans always held their own and, in this decade, ended up twice runners-up
and five times in third position. Freddie Landolina and Twanny Cassar “Il-Ginger” gave
an important contribution during these years both ending up as top scorers representing
Ħamrun Spartans.
The team started dwindling down in the Sixties, until they were relegated in season
1969–70. After returning to the First Division and finishing third in season 1972-73, with
Charles “Noni” Borg as league top-scorer, they were relegated once again in 1973–74.
However, after two years in the Second Division, they were back in the Maltese Top
Division.
THE GOLDEN ERA – THE EIGHTIES
The Eighties were the decade which cemented the Spartans’ amont the best teams in
the country. It was on the Club’s 75th anniversary, in season 1982–83, that the Spartans
were back at the summit of Maltese football, winning the title after an absence of 36
years. Ħamrun Spartans also won the FA Trophy during that season. That was the
beginning of an incredible era under the guidance of President Victor Tedesco.
Tedesco, who passed away in 2009, was considered as a visionary and innovator in
Maltese Football.
The team was strengthened with top players like Gigi Salerno, Raymond and George
Xuereb, Edwin Farrugia, Raymond Vella and Carlo Seychell. The Spartans also boosted
home grown players of the highest level and burst on the local scene with a bang.
Degiorgio, Azzopardi Alex and Alfred, Refalo twins, Grech, Sultana, Brincat formed the
core of a formidable squad. Alfred Cardona was their coach. After a lot of disputes with
the Immigration Division, Victor Tedesco signed 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,
Ħamrun won three league titles, three FA Trophies, the Super Cup and Euro Cup twice
each. Their players formed the backbone of the Malta National Team with Michael
Degiorgio being the first full-time professional player in Malta.
Individual honours abounded with Michael Degiorgio, Raymond Vella (twice) and Joe
Brincat winning the coveted Footballer of the Year trophy. Leo Refalo, Georgi Ivanov,
Barry Gallagher and the record-breaking Stefan Sultana notched goals by the dozens and
all won the Top Scorer award in this period. Stefan Sultana still holds the Maltese all-
time scoring record in the Maltese League with 197 goals scored.
THE 90’s – A STADIUM TO CALL HOME
The winning streak continued in the early nineties with another Championship win in
1990-91 and an F.A. Trophy success in 1992.
Club President Victor Tedesco then turned his attention to the building of the club’s own
football stadium with the Spartans becoming one of the first local Premier League teams
to have their own stadium, which is still used today by its senior team and its flourishing
academy.
The stadium was inaugurated in 1996 and aptly named the Victor Tedesco Stadium.
Off the field, however, the club faced troubled times. Its best players were transferred
and the Spartans lost their place in the Premier Division in 1998–99. Although the team
bounced back immediately, for almost two decades, loyal Spartans faced a number of
false new dawns, disappointing performances and relegations, culiminating in the lowest
historical point in 2014 when the club was relegation to the Second Division: a
nightmare for its fanbase.
NEW BEGINNINGS
Despite the hard-hitting reality of relegation to the the nation’s third footballing tier,
ironically this episode provided the impetus towards a new beginning for the club. A
new management board was set up and the Club strove to revitalize itself. The Spartans
gained back-to-back promotions and returned to the Premier League at the end of
season 2015-16.
New enthusiasm and optimism embraced the club. The supporters were looking forward
to a fresh start. The club made steady progress, culminating in a fourth place in 2018-9
under the guidance of Giovanni Tedesco. The Spartans were unlucky to miss out on a
European spot, that season being a rare occasion where the FA Trophy Winner failed to
place in the top four.
With football in limbo in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, seeds were being sown
for a truly bright future in Ħamrun. After protracted negotiations, Mr Joseph Portelli of
JP Portelli Projects accepted to become the main sponsor of the Club. This sponsorship
gave a new impetus to the Spartans. The Club’s ever loyal supporters were rewarded
with a new lease of life and realistic dreams that a golden era was once more on the
horizon.
A new chapter in the glorious history of this great club started to be written. Fans started believing the glory days would be back soon: and indeed, they were. At the end of the 2020-21 season, Hamrun Spartans were crowned Malta Champions for the eight time in their history.