Gareth Sciberras, a member of the MFPA Executive, likes to stay away from the limelight but we managed to do this short interview with him, the first in our new Meet Our Team seriesโฆ
๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ณ๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐บ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐?
I started playing in Australia as I lived there from the age of four to 13. I began playing football (soccer) at the age of five but I practised various other sports until I returned to Malta and focused solely on football. Football gave me the chance to integrate quickly in the Maltese society and I made a lot of friends through participation in sport.
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ต ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ ๐น๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น?
At club level it has to be the trophies I was lucky to win but I have a special connection with the league I had the honour to win as captain of Birkirkara F.C.
At national team level, it would be my debut against Poland when I was just 19, winning away against Armenia in a qualifying game in 2013 and my last match with the National Teamโฆ I feel proud of the fact that I was named captain for that match, a World Cup qualifier against Slovakia in 2017.
๐๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐ฑ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ. ๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ด๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ?
Injuries played a big part in my career unfortunately. So I would say all those times that I couldnโt be available for selection as injuries restricted me from having the opportunity to play the game I love.
๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ท๐ผ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป?
I would say I joined before it actually ever existed. MFPA was an idea which arose from various issues that we as players were facing during our playing career. There were a lot of discussions and ideas on how to start off. Carlo (Mamo) and I also had the chance to speak with former Malta team-mate John Hutchinson who explained how the situation regarding players was in his country, Australia. Then Carlo, with the rest of the team, spearheaded the formation of the association and it has gone from strength to strength from that day.
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐, ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ป, ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐โ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ญ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐?
Definitely, it must be the removal of the parameter system. A system which many players, including myself, suffered from. But other achievements include the standardisation of contracts, health insurance and above all the general recognition within the country that football players nowadays have a voice.
๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ด ๐ณ๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ ๐ณ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ผ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ผ๐๐๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐โฆ
Football provides you with many amazing moments, but a player needs to understand that a footballerโs career is short so make sure that you enjoy every minute of it, respect the people involved in and around the game, from the kit manager, referee, supporter to club officials and even your opponent whilst at the same time pursue opportunities to study so that you can enjoy the fruit of that work in your life after football.
๐๐ฒ๐๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑโฆ
Sportsmanship
๐ถ๐๐๐๐๐โ๐ ๐ต๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐๐…
๐๐ด๐ฒ: 39 (today 29th March)
๐๐น๐๐ฏ๐: San Gwann FC, Pieta Hotspurs FC, Marsaxlokk FC, Birkirkars FC
๐๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐น๐๐ฏ (๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ด๐ป): Manchester United
๐๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ (๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐): Luka Modric
๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต (๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐): Carlo Ancelotti
๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต: Andre Schembri and Michael Mifsud
๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐๐: Andrea Pirlo
๐ฅ๐ผ๐ผ๐บ-๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ/๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ: Peter Pullicino, Carlo Mamo, Edward Herrera and Andrew Hogg.
๐๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ: Fish
๐๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐บ๐๐๐ถ๐ฐ: R&B
๐ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ๐น๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ปโฆ
Premier League: Birkirkaraโs final deciding game against Hibernians which we won to secure the league title in 2013.
National Team: All of them were special but perhaps those against the bigger nations had added prestige, vs Germany, Italy and England especially in the Wembley Stadium with my wife and children watching from the stands.
