Qormi F.C. - History

History

Qormi Football Club was founded in 1961 after the amalgamation of Qormi Youngsters and Qormi United, which is from where the club acquired its motto Fl-Għaqda s-Saħħa, (English: Strength in Unity). The club thus celebrated the 40th anniversary in 2001.

Qormi Football Club is affiliated with the Malta Football Association (MFA) which is the main football body in Malta. The Qormi F.C. Youth Nursery is a sub-committee of Qormi F.C. and almost 200 youngsters are affiliated with the nursery.

Qormi Football Grounds (Thomaso Grounds) are situated in Valletta Road, Qormi and the amenities includes pitches, a conference hall, fitness centre, bar and the Qormi F.C. Youth Nursery Head Quarters.

The Qormi official colours are Yellow and Black. Qormi's biggest arch rivals are Zebbug Rangers from neighbouring town of Zebbug, Malta, although they don't play each other often with Zebbug Rangers currently playing in the Maltese Second Division.

The club has spent some of its seasons yo-yo-ing from one division to another, but has recently started to build a more solid pace, progressing slowly but steadily to the upper divisions. Season 2007/08 was the best ever season in the club's recent history. Qormi clinched a second position finish in the Maltese First Division, following a hardly fought play-off penalty win against Mosta F.C., which acquired the club's accession to the Maltese Premier League. Season 2008/09 will be the first season that Qormi will spend in the highest echelons of Maltese football since the old First Division was renamed the Premier League. To prepare for their first Maltese Premier League campaign, Qormi brought in ten new signings and gave a new look to the club's image. The team performed well in pre-season friendlies, which could augur well for the future. Qormi could still have to struggle against relegation like most newly promoted teams in the Premier League. In a press release, the club's committee expressed its aim to stay in top flight and possibly even making it to the Championship Pool.

Season 2009/10 saw Qormi achieving a historical stint in the Maltese top-flight, as well as in the FA Trophy. The success was especially aided with arguably the best signing in the club's history, Camilo. Camilo finished top scorer in the league with 24 goals in 22 appearances where Qormi finished in the third place. Qormi then had to play a decider match to determine the taker of the Europa League spot for the next season, a match which Qormi lost to Sliema 0-2. Qormi also could have achieved a spot through the cup, however, albeit making it to the final, Qormi lost to Valletta 1-2.

After the departure of Camilo and other players, as well as coaches Jesmond Zerafa and Vincent Carbonaro, Qormi faced a difficult season the year after. Season 2010/11 saw Qormi retaining Stefan Giglio and Matthew Bartolo, and acquiring the services of George Mallia, Belgian Jason Vandelannoite, Nigerian Abubakar Bello-Osagie, South Korean Kang Ho-Jung in the first half of the season, and Brazilian Josue, Greek Christos Karamanolis, Guinea-Bissau Ibraima Sumaila Vaz Sani, and most notably, the Maltese national football team captain Michael Mifsud, in the second half of the season. Also notable was the change in technical staff at the beginning of the season, with Stephen Azzopardi heading the team. During the season, Azzopardi utilised various youth players coming up from the Youth Nursery. Qormi managed to finish eighth (only one team was relegated in Season 2010/11 however).