Matthew Guillaumier has made no secret of his ambition to reach higher objectives in his career after the Ħamrun Spartans midfielder on Friday was declared as the 2023 MFA Player of the Year.
It was a deserved honour for the 25-year-old midfielder who enjoyed an impressive campaign with Ħamrun Spartans.
He played a key role in helping the team to a record run in the UEFA Conference League, where they reached the Play Off Round, before going on to win the Premier League title for a ninth time with a record margin of 19 points over their nearest rivals.
For Guillaumier this was the second time he inscribed his name on the prestigious trophy after his success in 2021.
“I am really happy to have won the Player of the Year award for the second time in my career,” Guillaumier told the Times of Malta at the end of the presentation ceremony.
“If you look at the list of players that have their name inscribed on the trophy you will find legends of Maltese football, so no doubt this success fills me with great pride.
“I would like to thank my team-mates, the coaching staff at both Ħamrun Spartans and the national team as without their support this honour would have not been possible.”
For Guillaumier, the 2022-23 season has been without doubt one of the best in his career as he showed great consistency in his performances throughout the campaign while he became more prolific in front of goal, scoring some important goals for his team.
“This year I was determined to reach higher goals in my career,” Guillaumier said.
“If you look at my statistics, I managed to add more goals and assists, not only in the domestic championship but also in European matches as well.
“It has been a very long season but I believe that our strong run in Europe gave us the perfect platform for the domestic season and we managed to keep that positive momentum throughout the season.
“In fact, the team showed tremendous consistency, and even when we suffered defeat against Żebbuġ Rangers we quickly put ourselves back on track and went on to win the title convincingly.”
Asked on the secret behind his rejuvenated form, Guillaumier said that he is always hungry to improve his game.
“I’m always eager to learn new things on how I can improve as a player,” Guillaumier said.
“This year, I work really hard to improve from a physical point of view and that helped me a lot to be more consistent.
“The MFA Elite programme, which was introduced by former Malta coach Devis Mangia, helped me a lot as I have the chance to work on my fitness twice a week with personal coaches and that made a lot of difference.
“Added to that I have to admit that the coaching staff at Ħamrun Spartans, led by coach Branko Nisevic, has played a key part as our coaches and analysts sends us video clips of our performances after every match and give us tips on how we can continue to improve.
“So it has been a team effort and I look forward to keep working hard and continue to develop as a player as I believe there is more to come from me.”
Guillamier said that his eyes are already set for next season and has made no secret of his ambition to reach much higher objectives.
“My personal motto has always been to dream big if you want to reach higher objectives,” Guillaumier said.
“This year was a very good year for us but we want to win more. My goal is to try and win the league and the FA Trophy as well as try to reach the group stages of UEFA club competitions.
“I know that these are big objectives but you always have to set the bar high if you want to reach higher objectives. This honour has only increased my hunger to be more successful in my career.”
