John Buttigieg
Encyclopedia
John Buttigieg is a retired Maltese
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

 footballer who played as a defender
Defender (association football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....

, and the current coach
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...

 of the Maltese national team
Malta national football team
The Malta national football team is the national football team of Malta and is controlled by the Malta Football Association. Malta played its first international game in February 1957, and began competing for qualification to major tournaments in 1962. The side's first competitive victory came in...

.

Club career

During his playing career, Buttigieg played for Sliema Wanderers FC
Sliema Wanderers F.C.
Sliema Wanderers Football Club are a Maltese football team from the town of Sliema, which currently plays in the Maltese Premier League.-History:The club was founded in 1909...

, Brentford
Brentford F.C.
Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....

, Swindon Town
Swindon Town F.C.
Swindon Town Football Club are a team based in Swindon, Wiltshire. Currently in League Two, Swindon have been managed by Paolo Di Canio since 23 May 2011...

 (both in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, the latter on loan from the former), Floriana F.C. and Valletta FC
Valletta F.C.
Valletta Football Club is a Maltese football club based in Valletta, the capital city of Malta. Valletta F.C. has the strongest support on the island...

.

He subsequently became a coach, coaching at youth level for six years (in former teammate Carmel Busuttil
Carmel Busuttil
Carmel Busuttil is one of Malta's most experienced football players. Now retired from playing, he is assistant coach of the Malta national football team.-Career:...

's school). In March 2007, he joined Birkirkara FC
Birkirkara F.C.
Birkirkara Football Club is a Maltese football club from the town of Birkirkara, the largest town on the island of Malta. In the 2009–2010 season, they were the Maltese champions. The club currently plays in the Maltese Premier League and have been league winners on three occasions...

 as first team coach, leading the side to the 2008 Maltese Cup
Maltese Cup
The U Bet FA Trophy, formerly known as the Rothman's Trophy, is a football competition that takes place in Malta.Widely known as the F.A. Trophy, it was a gift from the British by The Football Association in 1933. This followed a match between England and Italy, played in Rome in May 1933, to where...

.

International career

Buttigieg won 95 caps
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...

 for Malta
Malta national football team
The Malta national football team is the national football team of Malta and is controlled by the Malta Football Association. Malta played its first international game in February 1957, and began competing for qualification to major tournaments in 1962. The side's first competitive victory came in...

, his debut coming on 23 May 1984, in a 1986 FIFA World Cup
1986 FIFA World Cup
The 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 13th FIFA World Cup, was held in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had been originally chosen to host the competition by FIFA but, largely due to economic reasons, was not able to do so and officially...

 qualifier
1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
Listed below are the dates and results for the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the European zone . For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification....

 against Sweden
Sweden national football team
The Swedish national football team represents Sweden in association football and is controlled by the Swedish Football Association, the governing body for Football in Sweden. Sweden's home ground is Råsunda Stadium in Stockholms län and their head coach is Erik Hamrén. Sweden made their first...

 (0–4 away loss).

He would also feature in the valiant 2–1 friendly loss against England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 in June 2000, his last international match.

In July 2009, Buttigieg was appointed as coach for the national team, after Dusan Fitzel
Dušan Fitzel
Dušan Fitzel is the currently Technical Director of the Malta national football team. He managed the team from 2006–2009, but in July 2009 health problems made it necessary to give up the role of manager. He was born on 15 April 1963 at Bojnice, Czechoslovakia. He is married and has two children...

 was forced to step down due to health problems five months before the end of his contract. He was joined in his staff by former teammate Carmel Busuttil (assistant), with both signing a five-year contract with the Malta Football Association
Malta Football Association
The Malta Football Association is the governing body of football in Malta.It organises the Maltese Football League and several other competitions, including the knockout competition for the top teams, called the FA Trophy...

. In June of the following year, he was awarded a UEFA
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....

 pro-coaching license at the renowned Coverciano
Coverciano
Coverciano, also known as Casa Italia, located in the quartiere of Florence with the same name, is the central training ground and technical headquarters of the FIGC, the Italian Football Association. The complex covers technical and training events associated with various Italian national football...

 school in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.

External links

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