Melita F.C.
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| Full name | Melita Football Club |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1933 |
| Ground | Gianni Bencini Ground |
| Capacity | 500 |
| Manager |
 Andrea Pisanu |
| League | Maltese First Division |
Melita Football Club is a Maltese football club that represents the town of St. Julian's. The team currently plays in the Maltese First Division.
The club was founded in 1933 by Gianni Bencini. After only six years in the Malta Football Association, Melita FC managed to go all the way to the final of the Maltese Cup. In the final Melita faced Sliema Wanderers, winning the game 4–0 – the first and so far the only major Cup trophy Melita have won. Melita made it to the final for the second consecutive year in 1940, again playing Sliema, but this time they lost the match 3–2.
During the past 74 years Melita have had a taste of celebration as well as disappointments. Many titles have been won in the third and second division, while Melita's youth nursery team have also had their share of success, as well as a reputation for bringing through quality players that have gone on to play at the highest level.
Melita was recently promoted to the Maltese top flight for the first time ever, only to be relegated again the following season.
Melita Football Club was founded on 28 April 1933 at the first general meeting by Sur Gian Bencini who was elected the first president of the club at that meeting. The cardinal points in its first statute were that the club would have its base in St. Julians, would have an "Amateur" status, that the original colours would be red and white and the motto of the club would be "Play the Game for the Game’s Sake" and "The Game First and Foremost". Any or all of these points could only be changed by a unanimous vote at an Extraordinary General Meeting called for such a purpose.
The club has been affiliated with the Malta Football Association since 23 April 1944, representing the locality of St. Julians.
The club takes part in four different categories all within the Malta Football Association – The Senior Team which will be playing in the First Division this season 2014/2015, the Youth U/19 Team which will be playing in Section "B" this season, the Ladies Team which is now also starting to accommodate children for its nursery, as well as a Futsal Team also playing 5 a-side football. The long serving President of the Club, Anton Naudi, who has been at the helm these last 26 years since 1983 when Melita were also in the First Division, has stepped down from the Presidency and his place has been taken over by a younger person, Paul Zammit, who has just been elected as the new President in the club’s last Annual General Meeting of June 2009 and who himself has also been attached to this club since his playing days and whose father served the club for many years in the past as its treasurer. There is also a new Secretary, Matthew Naudi, Anton’s son and also a former stalwart with the club, Alfred Zammit, who has also served the club for many years and has replaced Oliver Lautier as the club’s representative on the MFA Council and John Naudi as Vice-President, also an ex player. The treasurer remains the same, Joseph Borg. The club also boasts of a fully fledged coaching and technical staff. All this makes our AMATEUR club being run and managed on a "professional" basis The club is still to date registered with the MFA as "Amateur" and still embraces this policy and belief to date. In fact, all the club’s players, coaches and administrators give their loyal and dedicated service to the club on a voluntary basis. Our "Amateur" status had been threatened some years ago, in the beginning of the New Millennium, when UEFA decided that all football associations registered with it should have its clubs playing against a licence issued with UEFA regulations and criteria. This meant that Melita could ONLY keep its prestigious status up to Second Division level. Further up from here UEFA would have asked for a semi-professional status. So, the committee at that time prepared a well laid out and organised request to the MFA not to lose this status. After many meetings and serious considerations, MFA decided to grant the club a "ONE TIME LICENCE" allowing us to retain our "Amateur" status permanently. This could only be achieved as a result of our club’s well known image and so a milestone in our history was registered.
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