Gżira United Football Club is a Maltese professional football club from the small harbor town of Gżira in central Malta, which currently plays in the Maltese Premier League.
History The club was founded in 1947, won the FA Trophy in 1973 and became the First Division league champions. They often play in Maroon with light blue sleeves on the shirt, with white shorts and white socks. Following the club's promotion to the Maltese Premier League, they signed a sponsorship agreement with JEEP, the global SUV brand, with the agreement of organizing events for the local community. For the 2016–17 season the Club played in BOV Premier League for the first time ever and finished 7th place. In the following year 2017–18 the maroons placed 3rd place and participated for the first time in the UEFA Europa League. The 2018–19 season was another successful one where again Gżira placed 3rd place and assured themselves to play again in the Europa League for another time.
The Hajduk miracle On 18 July 2019, Gżira were facing the big Croatian club Hajduk Split at Split for the second leg of the first qualifying round of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League. Gżira had lost the first leg match at home 0–2, a result which was considered normal, due to the big budget differences between the two clubs. The match in Split had the Croatians as strong favorites, offering odds of 1/15 (1.07 in decimal odds) for Hajduk to win the match. Hajduk went at half time winning 1–0. However, Brazilian forward Jefferson equalized for Gżira at the 57th minute, and Hamed Koné scored at the 69th minute making the score 1–2 for Gżira. This result was still not enough for the Maltese side, but found a final goal in the sixth and last minute of injury time, again with Hamed Koné, making the score 1–3 for Gżira, with the Maltese side advancing on away goals rule. This result was considered a major shock for the Croatians, with their manager Siniša Oreščanin being sacked shortly after.
Qualifying for the UEFA Conference League 3rd Round In season 2021/22 UEFA started a new competition, the UEFA Conference League. Gzira qualified after placing 3rd in the Maltese Premier League and in the first round they eliminated again Santa Julia of Andorra. In the second round they faced Rijeka of Croatia and were eliminated with an aggregate of 3–0. In season 2022/23 Gzira played again in the same competition and in the first round they eliminated Atletic Club Escaldes of Andorra. In the second round Gzira FC were drawn against Radnicki Nis of Serbia and Gzira shocked again the European football when eliminating this strong side from Serbia. For the first time Gzira United FC played in the 3rd round of a European Competition and played against Austrian giants of Wolfsberger. Gzira obtained a goalless draw in Austria but then they were eliminated in the home match.
Futsal
Gżira United also had a futsal team, which participated in Malta's top futsal league until 2024. The 2023–24 season was the last edition of the Enemed Futsal League in which Gżira United Santa Margerita Futsal participated, finishing at 11th place and thus qualified for the Enemed Challenger League.
Previously, under the name Gżira FC, they finished 8th out of 9 clubs in the 2014–15 season. That season, after winning 7–4 again Naxxar in the first round, they reached the quarter-final of the domestic cup, where Balzan Futsal defeated them 12–1.
Players
Current squad
Notable players Caio Garcia Souleymane Diamouténé Haruna Garba Andrew Cohen Roderick Briffa Justin Haber Hamed Kone Amadou Samb Rodolfo Soares Robert de Pinho de Souza Jefferson De Assis
Executive Board
Chairman Sharlon Pace
Vice Chairman Roberto Cristiano
Chief Executive Officer Edward Zammit Tabona
General Secretary Dr Ian Micallef
Chief Financial Officer Alexander Cassar
Personnel
Technical staff
PositionStaffManager Darren Abdilla Assistant Manager Matthew MizziTeam Manager Marlon GaleaGoalkeeper Trainer Malcolm VellaPhysical trainer Mark AbelaDoctor Dr. Pierre SammutPhysiotherapist Jermoe DeliaPhysiotherapist Francesco GambinKit manager Jason MicallefKit manager Karl Spiteri
Honours
League
Maltese First Division (2nd Level) Winners (2): 1963–64, 2015–16 Maltese Second Division (3rd Level) Winners (4): 1985–86, 1993–94, 1998–99, 2011–12 Maltese Third Division (4th Level) Winners (1): 2008–09
Cup
Maltese FA Trophy Winners (1): 1972–73 First Division Knock Out Cup (2nd Level) Winners (4): 1956–57, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1976–77 Second/Third Division Knock Out Cup (3rd Level) Winners (1): 1998–99 Second Division Sons of Malta Cup (3rd Level) Winners (2): 1968–69, 1977–78 Third Division Sons of Malta Cup (4th Level) Winners (1): 1979–80
European record Season Competition Round Opponent Home Away Aggregate 1973–74 European Cup Winners' Cup 1R Brann 0–2 0–7 0–9 2018–19 UEFA Europa League PR Sant Julià 2–1 2–0 4–1 1Q Radnički Niš 0–1 0–4 0–5 2019–20 UEFA Europa League 1Q Hajduk Split 0–2 3–1 3–3 (a) 2Q Ventspils 2–2 0–4 2–6 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League 1Q Sant Julià 1–1 0–0 1–1 (5–3 p) 2Q Rijeka 0–2 0–1 0–3 2022–23UEFA Europa Conference League 1Q Atlètic Club d'Escaldes 1–1 1–0 2–1 2Q Radnički Niš 2–2 3–3 5–5 (3–1 p) 3Q Wolfsberger AC 0–4 0–0 0–4 2023–24UEFA Europa Conference League 1Q Glentoran 2–2 1–1 3–3 (14–13 p) 2Q F91 Dudelange 2–0 1–2 3–2 3Q Viktoria Plzeň 0–2 0–4 0–6
References
External links