Sliema Wanderers F.C.

Sliema Wanderers Football Club, nicknamed "tax-Xelin" (of the shilling),<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> is a professional Maltese football club.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is the most successful team in Malta and hails from the seaside town of Sliema. It currently plays in the Maltese Premier League.

History

The club was founded in 1909. The club competed in the first ever Maltese Premier League season in 1909–10 and finished in second position to Floriana after the five-game season came to an end.

Ten years down the line Sliema Wanderers finally made their mark in Maltese football by winning the Maltese Premier League title in the 1919–20 season. Since then the team have gone on to win the title 26 times, a record for Malta; the last three being in 2002–03, 2003–04 and 2004–05.

Sliema Wanderers also hold the record for the most FA Trophy wins, with their first coming in 1935, when they overpowered Floriana with a 4–0 victory. The club have gone on to win this particular honour 20 times, most recently in 2000, 2004 and in 2009; the last title was won against Valletta 7–6 on penalties after the match finished 3–3 following extra time.

With all these honours, Sliema Wanderers are currently the most successful team in the history of Maltese football with approximately 113 honours. Sliema Wanderers train at the Tigne Sports Complex, in Sliema.

2000s

The 2000s saw Sliema Wanderers becoming a dominant club in the Maltese scene again.

Summer 2003 had President Robert Arrigo signing Maltese internationals Jamie Pace, Djibril Sylla and Daniel Bogdanovic.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Season 2004-05 saw the Wanderers, under the presidency of Robert Arrigo, win their 26th Maltese Premier League title.<ref name="Making-Sliema">Template:Cite web</ref> Part of this success was Michael Mifsud's return to his boyhood club after being leaving 1.FC Kaiserslautern on a free.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Season 2005-06 started with a UEFA Champions League qualifier against Sheriff Tiraspol.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Much to Arrigo's chagrin, lost Michael Mifsud to Lillestrøm SK, in a move made possible by Nikki Dimech who acted as his representative, albeit being a lengthy transfer saga that was complicated by International Transfer Clearance issues and compensation fees.<ref name="Making-Sliema"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2010s

Sliema Wanderers clinched a Maltese FA Trophy in season 2015-16.

Keith Perry was confirmed as president in the beginning of season 2016-17 despite rumours.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> John Buttigieg was appointed as Head Coach.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2020s

The club endured a rough start to the 2020s. The club started off with a bang, signing former Arsenal F.C. midfielder Denílson.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Further players were signed and Keith Perry was appointed chairman of the club, and Jeffrey Farrugia took over as president.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A sponsorship deal was struck with Catco Group, an oil investment company based in China and Tunisia. Catco Group however, failed to pay its dues, citing technical reasons. This gave way to unrest within the club, with captain Mark Scerri and head coach Andrea Pisanu making public statements regarding the financial situation of the club, proceeding with resignations such as Perry and team manager Alex Muscat.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Players went unpaid for months, with another sponsor, Sixt, finally paying the players directly just before Christmas.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Eventually a new sponsor was brought on board.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Farrugia was later ousted as Keith Perry returned in the President's seat in preparation for the upcoming season.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Season 2021-22 was disastrous from a technical point of view. Despite signing two new players in Djibouti international Warsama Hassan and Japanese Yuki Uchida,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> up until 19 November 2021, the club had not yet won a match, and sat at the bottom of the Maltese Premier League.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The first win came on 20 November, stunning Valletta with a 2–1 result.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The dying minutes of the match however, proved fatal, as Warsama Hassan was introduced at 90 minutes. However, the player had just returned from Egypt, where he had featured for his Djibouti national football team in a match against Algeria. Warsama was supposed to be in quarantine, having returned from a Dark Red listed country. Valletta lodged a formal complaint, which was upheld by the Malta Football Association, awarding a 3–0 win to Valletta.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Sliema Wanderers' next match was against Birkirkara F.C., resulting in a further loss.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On 10 April 2022 Sliema Wanderers lost against Valletta with a 2–1 result, and were relegated to Maltese Challenge League after thirty-seven years in the top flight.

Futsal

Sliema Wanderers 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 Sliema Wanderers Futsal participated, finishing at 9th place and thus qualified for the Enemed Challenger League.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Previously, Sliema had limited success in the domestic futsal competitions, finishing eighth in the 2010–11 season,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> fifth in 2011–12,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and seventh in 2012–13<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> - out of ten teams. In the 2015–16 season, when the championship featured 14 teams, Sliema placed ninth.

Sliema Wanderers Bilbao Futsal reached the second round of the national cup in 2010–11<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and 2012–13.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Youth Futsal League

On 13 February, Sliema Wanderers Youth Futsal won the Youth Futsal League after defeating Mosta 6–2 in the final played at the National Sport School in Pembroke, with Giorgio Comes scoring five goals for the winners.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Players

Current squad

As of 19 August, 2025. Template:Fs start Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs mid Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs end

European record

Season	Competition	Round	Country	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1963–64	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	Preliminary Round	Template:Flagicon	Borough United	0–0	0–2	0–2
1964–65	European Cup	Preliminary Round	Template:Flagicon	Dinamo București	0–2	0–5	0–7
1965–66	European Cup	Preliminary Round	Template:Flagicon	Panathinaikos	1–0	1–4	2–4
1966–67	European Cup	Preliminary Round	Template:Flagicon	CSKA Sofia	1–2	0–4	1–6
1968–69	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1. Round	Template:Flagicon	US Rumelange	1–0	1–2	2–2(a)
		2. Round	Template:Flagicon	Randers Freja	0–2	0–6	0–8
1969–70	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1. Round	Template:Flagicon	IFK Norrköping	1–0	1–5	2–5
1970–71	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	1. Round	Template:Flagicon	Akademisk BK	2–3	0–7	2–10
1971–72	European Cup	1. Round	Template:Flagicon	ÍA Akranes	0–0	4–0	4–0
		2. Round	Template:Flagicon	Celtic	1–2	0–5	1–7
1972–73	European Cup	1. Round	Template:Flagicon	Górnik Zabrze	0–5	0–5	0–10
1973–74	UEFA Cup	1. Round	Template:Flagicon	Lokomotiv Plovdiv	0–2	0–1	0–3
1974–75	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1. Round	Template:Flagicon	Lahti	2–0	1–4	3–4
1975–76	UEFA Cup	1. Round	Template:Flagicon	Sporting CP	1–2	1–3	2–5
1976–77	European Cup	1. Round	Template:Flagicon	TPS Turku	2–1	0–1	2–2(a)
1977–78	UEFA Cup	1. Round	Template:Flagicon	Eintracht Frankfurt	0–0	0–5	0–5
1979–80	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1. Round	Template:Flagicon	Boavista	2–1	0–8	2–9
1980–81	UEFA Cup	1. Round	Template:Flagicon	Barcelona	0–2	0–1	0–3
1981–82	UEFA Cup	1. Round	Template:Flagicon	Aris Thessaloniki	2–4	0–4	2–8
1982–83	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1. Round	Template:Flagicon	Swansea City	0–5	0–12	0–17
1987–88	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1. Round	Template:Flagicon	Vllaznia	0–4	0–2	0–6
1988–89	UEFA Cup	1. Round	Template:Flagicon	Victoria București	0–2	1–6	1–8
1989–90	European Cup	1. Round	Template:Flagicon	KF Tirana	1–0	0–5	1–5
1990–91	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1. Round	Template:Flagicon	Dukla Prague	1–2	0–2	1–4
1993–94	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	Qualifying Round	Template:Flagicon	Degerfors	1–3	0–3	1–6
1995–96	UEFA Cup	Preliminary Round	Template:Flagicon	AC Omonia	1–2	0–3	1–5
1996–97	UEFA Cup	Preliminary Round	Template:Flagicon	Margveti Zestaponi	1–3	3–0	4–3
		Qualifying Round	Template:Flagicon	Odense BK	0–2	1–7	1–9
1998	UEFA Intertoto Cup	1. Round	Template:Flagicon	Diósgyőr	2–3	0–2	2–5
1999–00	UEFA Cup	1. Qualifying Round	Template:Flagicon	FC Zürich	0–3	0–1	0–4
2000–01	UEFA Cup	1. Qualifying Round	Template:Flagicon	FK Partizan	2–1	1–4	3–5
2001–02	UEFA Cup	1. Qualifying Round	Template:Flagicon	Matador Púchov	2–1	0–3	2–4
2002–03	UEFA Cup	1. Qualifying Round	Template:Flagicon	Polonia Warsaw	1–3	0–2	1–5
2003–04	UEFA Champions League	1. Qualifying Round	Template:Flagicon	Skonto Riga	2–0	1–3	3–3(a)
		2. Qualifying Round	Template:Flagicon	Copenhagen	0–6	1–4	1–10
2004–05	UEFA Champions League	1. Qualifying Round	Template:Flagicon	FBK Kaunas	0–2	1–4	1–6
2005–06	UEFA Champions League	1. Qualifying Round	Template:Flagicon	Sheriff Tiraspol	1–4	0–2	1–6
2006–07	UEFA Cup	1. Qualifying Round	Template:Flagicon	Rapid București	0–1	0–5	0–6
2007–08	UEFA Cup	1. Qualifying Round	Template:Flagicon	Litex Lovech	0–3	0–4	0–7
2009–10	UEFA Europa League	2. Qualifying Round	Template:Flagicon	Maccabi Netanya	0–0	0–3	0–3
2010–11	UEFA Europa League	1. Qualifying Round	Template:Flagicon	Šibenik	0–3	0–0	0–3
2013–14	UEFA Europa League	1. Qualifying Round	Template:Flagicon	Khazar Lankaran	1–1	0–1	1–2
2014–15	UEFA Europa League	1. Qualifying Round	Template:Flagicon	Ferencváros	1–1	1–2	2–3
2024–25	UEFA Conference League	2. Qualifying Round	Template:Flagicon	Noah	0−0	0−7	0−7

Historical list of coaches

See Sliema Wanderers F.C. Managers {{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B=Template:AmboxTemplate:Main other }} Template:Div col

• Template:Flagicon Joe A. Griffiths
• Template:Flagicon Salvinu Schembri (1963–1964)
• Template:Flagicon János Bédl (1 July 1964 – 30 June 1966)
• Template:Flagicon Victor Scerri (1968–1978)
• Template:Flagicon Alfred "Freddie" Cardona (1978–1980)
• Template:Flagicon Edward Aquilina (1979–1983)
• Template:Flagicon Robbie Buttigieg (1981–1982)
• Template:Flagicon Tony Formosa (1982–1986)
• Template:Flagicon Lawrence Borg (1987–1991)
• Template:Flagicon Guentcho Dobrev (1992–1993)
• Template:Flagicon Marcel Scucluna (1993)
• Template:Flagicon Martin Gregory (1994)
• Template:Flagicon Andrew Weavill (1994–1995)
• Template:Flagicon John Calleja and Template:Flagicon Mark Miller (1995–1996)
• Template:Flagicon Augustine Eguavoen (July 1999 – October 1999)
• Template:Flagicon Martin Gregory (1999–2000)
• Template:Flagicon Jeff Wood (2001–2002)
• Template:Flagicon Lawrence Borg (2001–2002)
• Template:Flagicon Edward Aquilina (2002–2006)
• Template:Flagicon Ray Farrugia (2006–2007)
• Template:Flagicon Stephen Azzopardi (1 November 2007 – 30 May 2010)
• Template:Flagicon Mark Marlow (1 July 2010 – 30 June 2011)
• Template:Flagicon Danilo Dončić (3 February 2011 – 27 May 2012)
• Template:Flagicon Clive Mizzi (27 May 2012 – 7 August 2012)
• Template:Flagicon Alfonso Greco (1 July 2012 – October 2014)
• Template:Flagicon Stephen Azzopardi (October 2014 – December 2015)
• Template:Flagicon Alfonso Greco (1 January 2016 – May 2016)
• Template:Flagicon John Buttigieg (June 2016 – 2019)
• Template:Flagicon Stefano Maccoppi (2019)
• Template:Flagicon Alfonso Greco (July 2019 – February 2020)
• Template:Flagicon Andrea Pisanu (2020-2021)
• Template:Flagicon Noel Turner (2022)
• Template:Flagicon Paul Zammit (2022-)

Honours

Competition	Titles	Seasons
Maltese Premier League	26	1919–20, 1922–23, 1923–24, 1925–26, 1929–30, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1935–36, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1948–49, 1953–54, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1975–76, 1988–89, 1995–96, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05
Maltese FA Trophy	22	1934–35, 1935–36, 1936–37, 1939–40, 1945–46, 1947–48, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1955–56, 1958–59, 1962–63, 1964–65, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1973–74, 1978–79, 1989–90, 1999–2000, 2003–04, 2008–09, 2015–16, 2023–24
Maltese Challenge League	2	1983–84, 2022–23
Maltese Super Cup	3	1996, 2000, 2009
Cassar Cup<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	11	1923–24, 1924–25, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1945–46, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1959–60, 1966–67
Scicluna Cup	10	1949–50, 1950–51, 1953–54, 1954–55, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1965–66
Euro Cup Malta	6	1982, 1987, 1990, 2004, 2005, 2010<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Independence Cup	5	1964–65, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1973–74, 1981–82
Cousis Shield	4	1917–18, 1919–20, 1923–24, 1925–26
MFA League Cup	4	1965–66, 1969–70, 1978–79, 1984–85
Christmas Cup	3	1966–67, 1967–68, 1970–71
Super 5 Cup	3	1990–91, 2001–02, 2003–04
Löwenbräu Cup	3	1999, 2001, 2002
Christmas Tourney Cup	2	1936–37, 1948–49
Schembri Shield	2	1955–56, 1957–58
Testaferrata Cup	2	1964–65, 1974–75
Sons of Malta Cup	2	1972–73, 1979–80
Summer Cup	1	2024
Evolution Gaming Summer Cup<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	1	2016
Atkins Cup	1	1922–23
Empire Sports Ground Cup	1	1923–24
MFA Cup	1	1931–32
MPFA Shield	1	1954–55
Summer Cup	1	2004

Statistics

Domestic

Post-WWII season-by-season performance of the club:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Season	League
Div.	Tier	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P
1944–45	Maltese Premier League	I	2nd	3	1	1	1	10	5	3
1945–46	Maltese Premier League		2nd	12	8	1	3	39	15	17
1946–47	Maltese Premier League		4th	14	6	2	6	30	25	14
1947–48	Maltese Premier League		3rd	14	7	5	2	35	23	19
1948–49	Maltese Premier League		1st	14	11	0	3	33	15	22
1949–50	Maltese Premier League		3rd	14	8	3	3	31	15	19
1950–51	Maltese Premier League		4th	14	8	2	4	25	11	18
1951–52	Maltese Premier League		3rd	14	7	5	2	27	15	19
1952–53	Maltese Premier League		4th	14	4	5	5	20	16	13
1953–54	Maltese Premier League		1st	14	9	2	3	31	16	20
1954–55	Maltese Premier League		2nd	14	10	1	3	33	16	21
1955–56	Maltese Premier League		1st	14	12	0	2	48	12	24
1956–57	Maltese Premier League		1st	14	12	2	0	43	6	26
1957–58	Maltese Premier League		2nd	14	10	1	3	32	11	21
1958–59	Maltese Premier League		2nd	14	9	0	5	31	21	18
1959–60	Maltese Premier League		5th	14	5	5	4	19	20	15
1960–61	Maltese Premier League		3rd	14	9	2	3	31	16	20
1961–62	Maltese Premier League		3rd	14	7	3	4	25	20	17
1962–63	Maltese Premier League		3rd	14	9	3	2	26	13	21
1963–64	Maltese Premier League		1st	14	13	0	1	39	9	26
1964–65	Maltese Premier League		1st	14	9	2	1	36	9	20
1965–66	Maltese Premier League		1st	10	7	3	0	24	7	17
1966–67	Maltese Premier League		2nd	10	7	2	1	25	7	16
1967–68	Maltese Premier League		2nd	14	9	2	3	36	11	20
1968–69	Maltese Premier League		4th	14	6	5	3	14	8	17
1969–70	Maltese Premier League		2nd	14	7	5	2	24	9	19
1970–71	Maltese Premier League		1st	14	7	6	1	17	5	20
1971–72	Maltese Premier League		1st	18	10	6	2	28	7	26
1972–73	Maltese Premier League		2nd	18	10	5	3	34	14	25
1973–74	Maltese Premier League		4th	18	8	5	5	25	14	21
1974–75	Maltese Premier League		2nd	18	11	2	5	30	20	24
1975–76	Maltese Premier League		1st	18	11	4	3	35	13	26
1976–77	Maltese Premier League		2nd	18	10	7	1	34	14	27
1977–78	Maltese Premier League		3rd	18	8	8	2	28	14	24
1978-79	Maltese Premier League	IA	1st	8	7	0	1	16	5	14
		ICP	3rd	6	2	0	4	7	9	4
1979–80	Maltese Premier League	I	2nd	18	13	2	3	47	11	28
1980–81	Maltese Premier League		2nd	14	10	3	1	27	8	23
1981–82	Maltese Premier League		2nd	14	8	2	4	24	20	18
1982–83	Maltese Premier League		7th ↓	14	4	4	6	14	11	12
1983-84	Maltese First Division	IIP1	2nd	7	4	1	2			9
		IIP2	1st ↑	6	5	1	0			11
1984–85	Maltese Premier League	I	3rd	13	5	5	3	13	10	15
1985–86	Maltese Premier League		6th	14	4	3	7	19	22	11
1986–87	Maltese Premier League		4th	14	5	4	5	12	16	14
1987–88	Maltese Premier League		2nd	14	8	3	3	19	7	19
1988–89	Maltese Premier League		1st	16	11	4	1	32	16	26
1989–90	Maltese Premier League		2nd	16	11	2	3	36	11	24
1990–91	Maltese Premier League		5th	16	4	7	5	24	20	15
1991–92	Maltese Premier League		3rd	18	10	4	4	37	20	24
1992–93	Maltese Premier League		7th	18	6	3	9	26	31	15
1993–94	Maltese Premier League		5th	18	7	5	6	23	14	19
1994–95	Maltese Premier League		2nd	18	12	3	3	55	22	39
1995–96	Maltese Premier League		1st	18	15	1	2	55	16	46
1996–97	Maltese Premier League		4th	27	14	4	9	58	30	46
1997–98	Maltese Premier League		3rd	27	18	2	7	64	26	56
1998–99	Maltese Premier League		3rd	27	14	5	8	54	32	47
1999-00	Maltese Premier League	IP1	4th	18	10	3	5	41	23	33
		ICP	2nd	10	7	1	2	21	13	39
2000-01	Maltese Premier League	IP1	2nd	18	12	3	3	70	24	39
		ICP	2nd	10	6	2	2	26	13	40
2001-02	Maltese Premier League	IP1	3rd	18	12	2	4	48	16	38
		ICP	2nd	10	5	2	3	19	14	36
2002-03	Maltese Premier League	IP1	1st	18	14	2	2	51	16	44
		ICP	1st	10	6	2	2	19	12	42
2003-04	Maltese Premier League	IP1	1st	18	13	2	3	37	15	41
		ICP	1st	10	7	1	2	24	12	43
2004-05	Maltese Premier League	IP1	1st	18	13	3	2	33	15	42
		ICP	1st	10	5	4	1	14	8	40
2005-06	Maltese Premier League	IP1	2nd	18	12	3	3	37	12	39
		ICP	2nd	10	5	2	3	21	15	37
2006-07	Maltese Premier League	IP1	2nd	18	10	4	4	33	21	34
		ICP	2nd	10	5	3	2	17	13	35
2007-08	Maltese Premier League	IP1	3rd	18	9	5	4	31	18	32
		ICP	4th	10	6	0	4	16	15	34
2008-09	Maltese Premier League	IP1	4th	18	7	5	6	24	24	26
		ICP	4th	10	3	3	4	9	17	25
2009-10	Maltese Premier League	IP1	4th	18	9	2	7	29	21	29
		ICP	3rd	10	5	0	5	12	16	30
2010-11	Maltese Premier League	IP1	7th	18	5	7	6	22	26	22
		IRP	7th	10	5	0	1	15	5	26
2011-12	Maltese Premier League	IP1	4th	18	8	11	3	34	24	35
		ICP	5th	10	1	3	6	13	23	23
2012-13	Maltese Premier League	IP1	5th	22	11	4	7	34	22	37
		ICP	4th	10	5	2	3	14	13	36
2013-14	Maltese Premier League	IP1	4th	22	12	7	3	43	24	43
		ICP	5th	10	2	3	5	11	18	31
2014–15	Maltese Premier League	I	6th	33	10	9	14	50	56	26
2015–16	Maltese Premier League		7th	33	12	6	15	49	51	30
2016–17	Maltese Premier League		6th	33	15	7	11	47	37	52
2017–18	Maltese Premier League		7th	26	11	7	8	35	26	40
2018–19	Maltese Premier League		5th	26	13	6	7	37	26	45
2019–20	Maltese Premier League		10th	20	7	3	10	24	22	24
2020–21	Maltese Premier League		5th	23	12	4	7	39	31	40
2021-22	Maltese Premier League	IP1	12th	22	2	6	14	12	33	12
		IRP	12th ↓	5	2	0	3	4	10	18
2022-23	Maltese Challenge League	IIP1	1st	17	15	2	0	40	10	47
		IICP	1st ↑	10	9	1	0	26	4	75
2023–24	Maltese Premier League	I	3rd	26	14	8	4	34	12	50
2024–25	Maltese Premier League	IM1	3rd	11	6	4	1	15	5	22
		ICP1	3rd	5	2	2	1	8	5	8
		IM2	5th	11	6	0	5	18	13	18
		ICP2	1st	5	3	1	1	9	4	10
2025–26	Maltese Premier League	IM1	4th	11	5	4	2	16	14	19
		ICP1	-	5						-

External links

• Template:Official website
• Template:Cite web
• Template:Cite web
• Template:Cite web