Buttigieg named Coordinator of the Football Hubs – Malta FA

Malta to play friendly in Luxembourg in June

The Malta Football Association announced that it had appointed John Buttigieg as the new Coordinator of the Football Hubs.

The appointment was made by the local governing body during Thursday’s Executive Board meeting that was held at the Centenary Hall.

Buttigieg, the former Malta national team coach, will fill the vacant post left by Silvio Vella who stepped down from the job to return to his former club Hibernians and become their first-team coach.

Buttigieg will be the new man in charge of the football hubs run by the Inħobb il-Futbol Foundation.

“This is one of the key technical pillars of the Association’s strategy and this is why the Association opted to place one of the historical stalwarts of Maltese football at the very heart of its technical project, the grassroots level,” the MFA said in a statement.

Buttigieg spent most of his playing career with Floriana FC, with subsequent spells at Sliema Wanderers and Valletta. He also played in England with Brentford and Swindon Town in the late 80s, and early 90s.

The former international defender played 97 times for the Malta national team and scored one goal.

As a coach, John Buttigieg started his career with Birkirkara and later occupied the position of Malta National Coach between 2009 and 2011.

Most recently, Buttigieg had other spells as a coach of Sliema Wanderers, Birkirkara and Floriana.

Meanwhile, during Thursday’s MFA Executive Board meeting, it was also announced that the senior national team will play a friendly against Luxembourg.

The agreement was reached with the Luxembourg football association which will host the match on June 9, with kick-off set at 8.45pm.

The match will serve as a warm-up for the national team’s tough Euro 2024 qualifiers when they host England at the National Stadium on June 16 before they travel for an away match against Ukraine, three days later.