Game Deadline and Story Update

With the imminent release of FM12 (due October 21), seeing that that date will probably signal the end of this game, I will try to hurry proceedings a bit by going on holiday for most of the unimportant parts of the year, that is, essentially, all domestic games (i.e. league and cup), since it is almost a given that we will win every match by a scoreline of 4-0 or more (most of the time!) Thus, I will only take care of the Champions League and, obviously, transfers and scouting. This way, the game may progress a bit more rapidly, with the slight possibility of winning the Champions League before the next sequel of Football Manager is released.

In terms of the Mdina Knights story, two seasons have passed since my last blog. In 2026-27, we finished second in a Champions League group containing Manchester City, AC Milan and Eskisehirspor, only to fall again at the next hurdle, losing 3-5 on aggregate to Bayern Munich. A great achievement during this season however, was that my top striker (Tony Taiwo) managed to win the European Golden Boot. This was only realistically possible after Malta rose up the rankings enough to earn its league a 1.5 points per goal weighting.

Meanwhile, in 2027-28, we were dumped from Europe completely after finishing last in our Champions League group stage, including Marseille, holders Dortmund, and Steaua, a poor result indeed.

There is barely any need to mention that the domestic clean sweep continued, and now reads at nine consecutive Premier League and FA Trophy doubles.

2025-26: A Maltese Improvement?

Last season's Champions League heroics were a tough act to follow, and with three of our best four players leaving over the summer, it was time to start rebuilding.

With mid-July came the start of a new season, and after a disappointing 0-0 home draw against Skonto, we then trashed them 1-5 in Riga. A 5-0 aggregate win against Cyprus' Limassol followed, before we bowed out of the Champions League after losing 2-0 on aggregate against M. Tel Aviv.

The Europa League proved a mixed bag, where wins against Atletico Madrid (3-0h) and FC Groningen (0-1a; 2-1h), a couple of disappointing draws against H. Be'er-Sheva and an inevitable loss to Atletico Madrid saw us finish second in our group and set up a tie with English Champions Tottenham. However, it was a tie to forget, losing 0-5 at home, and then, while trying to chase something out of the game, losing 7-1 at White Hart Lane.

The real eye-opener of the campaign, however, showed up in Malta. Having gone almost 4 season without being beaten (108 games), we ended up the season losing 3 times (including a humiliating 0-3 home defeat to Tarxien), and although we ended up winning another Premier League and FA Trophy double - for the 7th consecutive year - this was our lowest points total and highest goals conceded in those 7 years.

Could this indicate an improvement in the other Maltese clubs? If so, it is certainly a much needed one if the Maltese Premier League is to ever reach the quality of the top European Leagues. What's certain is that no talent whatsoever is coming up through the youth academy, a real disappointment.


Last year's Maltese Premier League drop in the rankings proved to be a minor blip, as this year saw it rise 18 places, up to 55th. Mdina Knights are now ranked the 44th best club in Europe, a 12 place improvement on last year.

2024-25: Group of Death Champions

A couple of poor seasons in the Champions League were avenged for this season with a stunning run which saw us topple some huge teams in the process.

It all started way back in mid-July, with a 4-1 aggregate victory over Albania's KF Tirana, shortly followed by a hard-fought 1-0 win over Swiss champions FC Basel. The playoff proved to be a bit easier, where we booked our place in the group stage with a 6-1 aggregate victory over Cypriot side Anorthosi Famagusta.

So far so good, but what was to follow was out of this world. Being drawn against English Champions Manchester United, Italian Champions Inter Milan, and Scottish Champions Celtic would be a daunting task for many a top side in Europe, let alone a Maltese side. However, a trip to San Siro to face Inter Milan in our first group match turned out to be a walk in the park, easily beating the Seria A champions 0-2. This was then followed by another 2-0 victory, this time at home to Celtic.

A double header against Manchester United followed, and after we were brought down to earth with a massive crash after losing 4-1 at the Theatre of Dreams, we fought back at the Mdina Knights stadium to emerge 3-0 winners on the night. When Inter then came seeking revenge, they found out we were no pushovers, and we emerged 2-1 victors in what was a tough match.

A Manchester United loss to Inter in the final round of matches meant that we would top the group no matter the outcome of our match against Celtic, since we had a better head-to-head record against United. The final match was a bit of a disappointment, losing 4-1 in a snowy Celtic Park, but it did not dampen spirits at all, having proved our worth by finishing top in the toughest group of them all - the Group of Death.

Hopes were high after we avoided the big names in the Last of 16 draw, and they were even more so after we defeated our opponents Sampdoria 0-1 in their own back yard. But perhaps in the end lack of experience and a touch of overconfidence proved to be our downfall, succumbing to a Sampdoria onslaught and losing 0-3 to end our magnificent run against Europe's big boys.

No need to mention, domestic tradition was respected, as we bagged a sixth consecutive Premier League and FA Trophy double, reaching 100 unbeaten league games in the process, although a 45 match winning streak was ended in mid-november with a 1-1 draw at home to Msida SJ.

Despite all these recent successes, Mdina Knights is still considered a small club, and thus, we are still not attracting big names to our club, having to resort to scouting the globe for young talent, and then waiting for them to develop, only for them to leave for want of greater glory. Such was the case when, following this season, we lost three of our four best players; two of them on a free transfer, not wanting to sign a new contract, and the third had just one year left on his contract, so I decided to cash in on him since he also did not want to renew.

In the rankings, the Maltese Premier League dropped 11 places to 73rd, while Mdina Knights bore the fruits of the successful European campaign, soaring up 105 places to 56th. Malta also rose in the Nation Rankings, up 9 places to 19th.

02-04-2025: Unbeaten in 100 league games

A routine 4-0 win over Sliema Wanderers has marked Mdina Knights' 100 unbeaten league game, a run starting on the 2nd October 2021, and still going strong 3 and a half season later, on the 2nd April 2025.

With the Maltese Premier League rising up the rankings, it is quite probable that this rise will slow down until the rest of the Maltese clubs catch up with the standard that we have set, having also just confirmed that we will be champions for the sixth consecutive year.

 

However, this season was all about the Champions League, but that's a story for the end-of-season blog.

2023-24: European dumps, Domestic perfection

If last year's European campaign seemed uninspiring and disappointing, this season's was infinitely more so. Although things looked bright after emphatically disposing of Faroese side HB 10-1 on aggregate, a tough draw against Croatia's Zagreb followed. Going to Croatia leading 2-1 on aggregate, we needed just a draw to qualify. However, it was not to be, as we went down to a harsh deflection and a penalty.

However, not all was lost, as there was the safety net that is the Europa League. But fate did not smile down on us, as we were drawn against Turkey's Besiktas, who, depite all our efforts, beat us quite comfortably 1-4 on aggregate.

Although it did not really make up for this disappointment in the end, our domestic form was perfect. In 28 league matches, and 5 cup ties, we won all 33 (thus winning a 5th consecutive Premier League and FA Trophy double), scoring a massive 126 goals, and conceding just 9. The two major happenings of note here being a whooping 11-0 victory against bottom club Zurrieq, and a 1-0 away win at Msida, despite having two men sent off before the hour mark with the score still 0-0.

In the rankings, the Premier League moved up 26 places, meaning it now occupies the 62nd position, while Mdina Knights only moved up 3 places (obviously due to the poor campaign) to 161st.
The youth academy is proving to be a massive flop, with absolutely no talent at all, and with the board telling me that my youth recruitment network is the best a club of our standing can have, my hopes of producing some world class Maltese talent are somewhat diminishing.
However, I'll just focus on my first target of winning the Champions League for now. See you next season :)

2022-23: A Learning Curve

In contrast to the previous season, where we had a relatively untroubled route to the Champions League group stage, and even almost made it to the Europa League knockout stages via a third-placed finish, this season was a totally different story.

Even as early as the Second Qualifying round, we struggled against FC Zürich of Switzerland, going through on penalties after drawing both legs 1-1. In the next round against Slovan Liberec, we again drew on aggregate, winning 1-0 in Rabat, before losing 3-2 in the Czech Republic, thus going through on the away goals rule. The playoff stage, however, proved too tough yet again, losing 0-1 at home to Belgian side RSC Anderlecht, and then only managing a 1-1 draw away.


In the Europa League Group stage, we were faced with familiar opposition in the form of Atletico Madrid, with the group's two other members being Metalurg Zp from Ukraine, and Dinamo Moscow. After losing the first match 0-3 home to Atletico Madrid, hope was restored with a 0-1 away win against Metalurg Zp. A 2-3 home loss to Dinamo Moscow was quickly redeemed by another 2-3 scoreline, this time in our favour, to exact revenge at their own back yard. There was still hope, even after losing again 2-0 away to Atletico Madrid, however, it was quickly extinguished with a poor 1-2 defeat at home to Metalurg Zp.

After a tough Qualifying campaign, and some mixed fortunes in the Group stage, we again bowed out of Europe in the Group stage.


The domestic tradition of a Premier League and FA Trophy double was successfully extended, with the only incident of note being the amount of goals scored, thumping in a massive 94 goals, compared to our previous record of 78. The season was again ended unbeaten, with the current unbeaten League run currently reading 51 games.


Meanwhile, the Maltese Premier League has continued on its impressive climb up the rankings, moving another 19 places up the ladder, to 88th position. Mdina Knights, on the other hand, also rose, by 20 places to 164th in the European Club Rankings.


On a final note, the Mdina Knights Stadium has been further expanded, and now houses over 20,000 spectators, while the youth academy has been thoroughly disappointing in its first two seasons, with no local prospect of note cropping up in the youth squad.

2021-22: First Date with the Champions League

After a couple of flirts in previous seasons, coming as close as the Playoff stage, this season the final barrier between us and the group stages finally succumbed to our efforts, and after beating Slovenia's Domzale (5-0 agg), Ireland's St. Pat's Athletic (5-1 agg), and finally the Slovakian side MSK Zilina (2-0 agg), we ended up in the hat for the Champions League draw. At this stage we were by no means expecting an easy draw, and we were pitted against Tottenham, Atletico Madrid, and CSKA Moscow.

The campaign went off to a blistering start, controlling the whole first game, and dispatching CSKA easily with 2 goals to nil at our very own Mdina Knights Stadium. A tough tie followed away to Atletico Madrid, where, after going down 0-1 and battling valiantly by throwing everything we had at them to try and restore parity, we eventually conceded again late on, to lose 0-2. Another home tie, against English Premier League runners-up Tottenham followed, and it was another vibrant display from a young Mdina Knights side, coming twice from a goal down to go in 2-2 at half-time. However, a second-half burst from Tottenham saw us concede again, after which we simply could not find another reply.

The second legs saw us fall slightly off the remarkable pace we had set in the first three games, first losing 2-0 at White Hart Lane in London, then another 2-0 in -6°C Moscow against CSKA, and finally another 0-2 defeat at home to Atletico Madrid. So it was that we finished bottom of our group, however just one point behind CSKA, who went on to compete in the Europa League knockout stages.

Meanwhile, besides our European endeavours, domestic affairs were all coming up roses again. Although an early loss to Tarxien saw us end a 48 match unbeaten League run, we then went on to set record amounts of points garnered and goals scored with 77 points (beating the previous 76) and 78 goals (beating the previous 69), although we did concede 10 goals, four more than the previous year. The FA Trophy unsurprisingly found its way back into our ever-growing trophy cabinet.

On the rankings side: the Premier League moved up yet another 35 places to 107th, while Mdina Knights moved up 76 places to 183rd in the European Club Rankings. Malta is now rated 28th from the 53 European Nations, still some way off having a team qualify automatically in the Group Stages, but a massive improvement from the 49th of 2017.
A slight improvement in the quality of the Maltese Premier League that I have noticed is that whereas I was awarded £7K for winning my first title, the prize money has been gradually increasing, having been awarded £31K this season.

Yet another expansion in the summer now sees the Mdina Knights stadium hold a massive 16,000 at full-house, turning in somewhere in the region of £400,000 for a Champions League match, which when added with the £7M awarded for participation in the Champions League group stage, have now expanded my bank coffers to £17M

Although this would be enough to buy several star players, this is by no means yet possible, as still only few players have the desire to ply their trade in Malta, and thus we are still resorting to a lot of unknown African players, most of whom would be seeing us as just a stepping stone for greater things elsewhere possibly. However, after building a youth academy, and always improving the youth facilities, I am hoping to have some prospects from within the club in the next few years, and thus also start building for the National side.

2020-21: Another knock on the Champions League door

With the domestic competitions becoming somewhat of a formality, the only challenge that is currently presenting itself on the home front is, frankly, beating records having been set by ourselves.

This season, we managed to go unbeaten, drawing only four times, and shipping just 6 goals in 28 league matches. The FA Trophy was just as easily won, although we did concede 2 goals in the first match, only to go on to win it without conceding again.

In the Champions League, we managed another run to the Playoff stage, seeing off Andorra's Santa Coloma (5-2 agg) and the Estonian side Flora (4-0 agg) before falling again at the last hurdle to Swedish side Örebro (2-4 agg). This meant participation for the second time in the Europa League group stages, where we were pitted against Trabzonspor (0-0h; 4-0a), Braga (1-0a; 1-2h) and Real Madrid (having a certain 35-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo in their ranks, 2-0a; 0-3h), thus we finished bottom of the group with just 1 point and 1 goal.

This run, however, brought another windfall, meaning the bank balance now rose to a beautiful £10M, a fraction of which, after the end of the season, is being spent on further expanding the stadium, and in building a youth academy.

After seeing no progress for quite some time, I decided to step down from my post as Malta Under-21 manager, which I felt, for the time being, was becoming an unnecessary burden. In the rankings, both the Maltese Premier League and Mdina Knights did well, rising 49 to 142nd and 57 to 252nd respectively.

2019-20: Simply Plainsailing

After a short foray in the Europa League (which although included a 7-1 home win against Montenegrin team Lovcen, ended in the 3rd Qualifying Round with defeat to Scotland's Falkirk), the Knights immediately set to continue the impressive run of eight consecutive wins with which we finished last season, winning the first round of the FA Trophy, and then the first three matches in the league.

This form was continued all season, losing just twice, drawing twice, and winning the rest, winning the league with 5 games to spare and breaking both points and goals records (which stood at 60 and 62 respectively), and the FA Trophy; conceding just 15 times in 28 league matches, and only once in the Trophy (a 92nd minute penalty in the Final).

Following such successes during the season, the board decided to upgrade my training facilities, and to build a youth academy, with the hope of nurturing young Maltese talent, hopefully to start competing with foreign players.

The Maltese Premier League climbed 49 places to 191st in the Competition Rankings, whilst Mdina Knights moved up 12 places to 305th in the European Club Rankings.

2018-19: Winds of Change

Having only qualified for the Europa League this season following last year's success in the Champions League, it is unnecessary to say that I was quite disappointed to be eliminated in the first qualifying round to Flamurtari.

However, with every cloud comes a silver lining, and I saw this as an opportunity for us to focus on the domestic league this season, and ensure that come next season we would be competing in the Champions League again. But this was seemingly not to be; another disastrous start to the campaign, which again saw us being eliminated from the first round of the FA trophy, this time to Floriana, and inconsistency in the league saw us occupying a lowly 5th position at the start of February, 14 points off the pace.

Something really had to be done. The squad which had traveled far and wide in the Champions League the previous season was growing old, and the new recruits which I had brought in since did not have the impact I was hoping for (although one of them had proved to be a gem).

To show the extent of our troubles, it is enough to mention that by the start of February, my top scorer was a central defender, with just three goals. Thus I kindly asked the board to eliminate any restrictions on our scouting range, and after complying, I was then free to scout the world for talent.

In the January transfer window 7 new players were brought in, six of which were Nigerian, and the other Libyan, amounting to £850K (one of these players was attracting interest far and wide, and had offers from Barcelona and Real Madrid, amongst others, rejected!) After training facilities were improved the previous summer, several new coaches were brought in, the highlight of which was Michael Carrick.


After undergoing so many changes, I was afraid results would, if possible, turn even worse. However, it was not so, and we went on a great run of form, finishing the season on a run of eight consecutive victories, which saw us run Sliema close to first place, finishing just one point behind in second.

The new signings had clearly worked their magic, with six of the seven finishing in the best 11 for the season (and the one that didn't was because I bought two left wingers), and one of them scoring 9 goals in 13 appearances to finish top scorer (the central defender Akanji went on to score an impressive 7 goals).  Note that 13 goals were scored in the first 15 matches of the season; 33 were scored in the last 13 matches!

This influx of foreigners however, brought with it a moral, if anything, problem; my team at the start of the 2019-20 season (just after the summer transfer window opened) comprised of 10 Maltese players, 11 Nigerians, a Brazilian, a Libyan, and an Uruguayan. This meant my team was more foreign than Maltese. However, the positives here far outweigh the negatives, and I am certainly not going to wait for Maltese talent to catch up with the quality of my team, I will just simply ensure that my scouts are correctly placed to catch any budding Maltese talent, until then, I will only buy the best possible players for my team.


Mdina moved 18 places up the European ladder following the 18-19 season to 315th position, while the Maltese Premier League also rose, by 73 places, to 240th place.

2017-18: Brilliant in Europe; Dreadful in Malta

A season which started in such well-documented success in the Champions League could, and really should have carried on to end with success at the local level.However, football rarely ever follows logical paths, and that is exactly what happened this season.

For several possible reasons, one of the most probable being the increased amount of games played during the season, performance in the domestic league was, to say the least, a shambles. The traditional opening of the domestic season, the first round of the Maltese Cup saw us bow down to St. Andrew's, who would eventually finish the season last in the bottom league.

This was followed by losses in the first two Premier League Matches, and then by four straight victories, a taster of the inconsistency which would characterize the season to come. Perhaps low morale due to several losses in the Europa League group stage also played their part, as this was clearly a team capable of big things on the local stage, with more and more foreigners interested in plying their trade in Maltese football.

This posed yet another problem however, rather than increase the team's capabilities. These new signings barely seemed to want to gel in with their team-mates, and with the language barrier posing a real hindrance to this process, I had to resort to play as much of my Maltese contingent as possible, after which results gradually started to improve again, although it was then too little too late, and I finished the season third, which meant I missed out on the Champions League, and another great windfall.

The end of the season brought with it, however, some good news. The board announced they would be increasing the stadium capacity by 3200 (at a cost of £2M) and also that they would be improving training facilities (at a cost of £1.4M). Furthermore, they decided to turn professional again.

Mdina Knights obtained quite a good European coefficient for this season, rising up 108 places to 327th in the Club Rankings,  whilst the Premier League dropped 75 places to 313th.

30/08/17: A Memorable Champions League Adventure - almost through to the Group Stage!

Since Malta's coefficients had dropped over the previous season, this year saw me enter the Champions League at the First Qualifying Phase, pitting me against Luxembourg's champions Jeunesse d'Esch-Altezze. Confident that this might be our first ever victory against international opposition, I fielded a defensive formation in the away leg, keeping the score 0-0. The return leg was the first ever game in the new stadium. And what a befitting way to open the venue, for the Knights overcame all my initial expectations by completing a 6-0 rout over their opponents.

However, I did not expect continued success, being drawn against Croatia's Dinamo in the Second Qualifying Phase. In the first leg, which was played at the Mdina Knights Stadium, we managed an incredible 2-1 victory, albeit Dinamo had 2 men sent off in the 57th minute, whilst leading 0-1. 

Thus, reasoning that I had won due to numerical advantage, I didn't hold much hope away from home, especially since they had an invaluable away goal. However, as fate would have it, not only did I manage not to succumb to a thrashing, but managed to hold them to a 2-2 draw after extra time, finishing the match with 8 men!

This was already an incredible achievement, and all the further I progressed meant more and more windfall when I was finally eliminated. The Third Qualifying Phase pitted the Knights against the Georgians Dinamo Tbilisi, another though match to endure.


After winning the first leg 2-1 in Tbilisi, I started to doubt whether this was all down to luck, or whether my team was really at such a high standard. Such a precious lead, with 2 away goals was then followed by another 2-1 victory at the Mdina Knights Stadium, meaning I had progressed to the Playoff, where the victor would eventually play in the Champions League Group stages.

Although I was so close to playing in the Group Stages, I certainly did not expect to progress against such formidable opposition as Austria Wien, and although we put up a tremendous fight, we could do nothing to stop them from progressing, losing 2-1 away from home, and then 0-1 at home.

This is certainly unbelievable progress, and has certainly shown me that my goal of winning the Champions League is certainly possible, and maybe not so far along in the future as I had previously anticipated.


Moreover, financially, it was even more rewarding; winning a total of £2,000,000 in prize money and almost £1,000,000 in gate receipts and match-day income. Hopefully this will be a huge catalyst in the increase of both Mdina Knights' and the Maltese Premier League's reputations, and enable us to buy ever better players.

Update - I did not notice before, but progressing so far has landed me in the Europa League Group stages! More prize money and more gate receipts :D

24/06/17 - New Stadium: New Dawn?

I'm certain that the new 10,000 all-seater Mdina Knights stadium will see a great deal of local success, but will it see success at the international level?

One thing's for sure, it will generate a great deal of money from gate receipts, a much needed benefit, as last season saw a small, but steady loss every month (although not enough to put the club back into debt), and it is now imperative that we start making profits.


On another note, I have finally managed to buy the first players from outside Malta, in the form of two Nigerians (although I could not scout them beforehand, so they are still an unknown quantity, until they join us in September). Hopefully, there will be more, since the level of Maltese players is still nowhere near enough to compete in Europe, although I am hoping it will improve gradually.

2016-17: A Tale of Two Halves

May 2017 brought with it the end of my seventh season in charge of Mdina Knights, and another enthralling story to go with it.

After that demolishing in the Champions League way back in mid-July, the domestic season started with a First Round cup tie against Second Division Naxxar Lions, a match which we won 3-0, and which I hoped would be a precursor for the season.

It was soon made clear though, that things were not to be plain-sailing, with a loss on the first match of the season against Floriana. However, my team was quick to dispel my fears that this season might not live up to the success achieved at the end of the previous, going on a 20 match unbeaten run, which saw us build a massive 10-point lead at the top of the League, and arrive at the Cup final (although it was a bumpy ride, progressing twice on penalties).

But there was to be a twist in what is soon becoming a traditional mid-season slump of form. Three losses in 6 matches, and that massive lead was excruciatingly chopped down, and another couple of draws saw us drop into second place.

However, some poor form from my competitors coupled with some few wins from my side saw me return to the top, although with only a precarious lead, which I took through to the final round of matches.

But before that, I had to see through the fourth successive Cup final, and having had 2 matches in the previous six days, my players were exhausted, and their morale was low, having lost the previous one, leaving my lead at the top of the league at one meagre point. So it was, that the Cup dominance was finally broken, and the trophy went to Sliema Wanderers.

A week off allowed the players some rest, and although morale was still quite low, we went into the final match of the season against second-placed Tarxien knowing a draw would be enough to certify a second successive Premier League trophy. The match started with a kick in the teeth, with Tarxien scoring a penalty in the 19th minute, however, with Tarxien dominating play, hope was restored with a goal a minute before half-time. That must have been an enormous catalyst, as the second half was truly a different story, with the Knights dominating possession, and finally turning this dominance into two late, late goals.

This season was truly a tale of two halves, and although we did finally win the Premier League, after hanging on with the skin of our teeth, there certainly remains much to work upon.


The Premier League dropped 17 places to 238th.

Appointed Malta's Under 21 Manager

A step closer to becoming Malta's manager :)

The story so far!

After successfully managing in the English lower leagues for the past 3 editions of Football Manager, the introduction of dynamic league reputation in FM11 led me to try my hand at managing in Malta.

The goal: simple. Take a club from the lowest league in Malta and lead them to Champions League glory, in addition, be appointed as Malta's national manager, and lead them to World Cup glory. :)

So, since Football Manager doesn't contain Maltese leagues out of the box, I had to wait for a custom patch to appear on the internet. And the first one that did come out (admittedly not the best, as a much better one was released, although a bit later) was quickly implemented in my game. As a club, I chose Mdina Knights, residing in the basement of the Maltese Second Division (being the third tier, which isn't actually the lowest league in Malta, but the lowest one in the patch).

The First Season (2010-11) 

Having been tipped to finish the season in last place, and having heavy odds against me in all the matches, the Knights managed a very creditable second place finish on goal difference on the very last day, having spent the whole season hovering around mid-table, and thus winning immediate promotion to the First Division.

Having been drawn against Premier League opposition in the first round of the Cup, it was no surprise that we were immediately eliminated.

Although not yet in the Maltese Premier League, I was keeping my eye on its reputation, and after the first season it didn't do too well, dropping 63 places from 255th to 318th.

 

The Second Season (2011-12)

After being promoted against all odds from the Second Division the previous year, I didn't hold high ambitions for my Mdina squad. After spending all year in the relegation places, a similar push as the season before at the very end saw the Knights escape the clutches of relegation with a win in the very last game, securing their status in the First Division.

 

As in the previous year, I was drawn against Premier League opposition in the first round of the Cup, and was immediately eliminated. The Premier League meanwhile dropped a massive 137 places to 455th.

 

The Third Season (2012-13)

After a tough relegation battle the previous season, my second season in the First Division started quite poorly, with two defeats in the first three matches. However, a run of just one defeat in 15 matches (a highlight of which was a magnificent 7-1 win against Valletta) saw the Knights topping the table (again having been heavy favourites for relegation), and finally winning promotion to the Premier League.

 

Yet again, I had no luck in the Cup, being drawn against the Premier League champions, and yet again falling at the first hurdle. The Premier League meanwhile started gearing up, moving up 52 places to 403rd.

The Fourth Season (2013-14)

Having been tipped for relegation from the First Division the year before, it is needless to say that I was heavy favourites to be thumped in every match in the Premier League. However, surprisingly, I started really well, remaining unbeaten for the first six games, and finding myself battling near the top! However, the increased number of games in the Premier League, and, for the first time ever, competitiveness in the Cup took its toll on my squad, and a meagre run of 1 win in 11 matches saw me drop dramatically in the table, to the point when, after 18 matches (where the league then splits into two tables of 6 and 4 teams), I found myself in the bottom four for the first time, and was consigned to participating in the Relegation Pool.

Although this was quite disappointing after a positive start to the campaign, the comparatively easy opposition I was now facing in the league gave me the opportunity to focus more on the Cup, and with great toil and determination successfully managed to win it, beating eventual Premier League runners-up Msida SJ in the final. It was the first of what was hopefully to be a long list of successes at Mdina. Additionally, it meant that the Knights would compete in Europe the following season!

The Premier League continued on its rise up the rankings (obviously due to my presence :) moving up 122 places to 281st.

The Fifth Season (2014-15)

My second season in the Premier League inevitably saw me look forward to it more ambitiously than the previous year. There was however, some European business to be conducted before the domestic season had even started, the Cup success of last year pitting the Knights against the Israelites M. Petach Tikva in the Europa League 2nd. Qualifying Round.

This was quite needed as I found myself in a miserable financial situation, although its revenue was barely felt, such was the huge amount of debt I had garnered over the previous four seasons. After losing 3-1 twice and being thumped out of the competition, I focused my sights on the Premier League crown. After another almighty impressive start to the campaign, the team however seemed to lose grip halfway through the season due to an enormous amount of injuries and suspensions, and what I had hoped to be a title-challenging campaign dwindled to a mid-table finish, although this season I managed to stay in the Championship Pool.

For the second successive season, I had a successful Cup run, winning it again, and although I had qualified for the Europa League via a league placing, this now meant that I went directly into the Second Qualifying Round instead of the First.

The Premier League meanwhile continued on its steady rise up the rankings, moving 52 places up to 229th, and thus surpassing its position at the start of the game.

The dire financial situation which we found ourselves in after the end of this season however, led to the board deciding that it would be better to operate on a semi-professional status for the time being.

The Sixth Season (2015-16)

 Determined to go strongly out of the blocks, and this time keep up the pace throughout the campaign, I was in no way again helped by the fact that I was still made pre-season favourites for relegation! This is very understandable, since, as I myself found out while scouting for potential (free) new players the previous two seasons, I quickly discovered that quite a lot of my players where nowhere near the level in the Premier League. However, it seemed that with a good relationship between the players, and them with me, they were performing above standard, and I hoped that with a couple of signings, I would finally taste Premier League glory this year.

The Europa League pitted me against a very strong team in the form of Dynamo Moscow, having been themselves eliminated from the Champions League against Chelsea, having beating them at home! (But then losing, not so heavily, away). So, I was quite impressed after losing only 2-1 away, but not more so than holding them 1-1 at the Centenary Stadium, quite an impressive feat!

However, as the season started, I focused all the team's energies on lifting the title. After yet again another awesome start, mid-season brought about some poor form, although we kept fighting, and come the end of the season, found ourselves pushing for the title. A surge of great form towards the end culminated in a final match draw against second placed Msida SJ, ensuring the title went, for the first time ever, to Mdina, and also, that there would be Champions League participation the following season.

The Cup was soon seeming to become a permanent resident in the Mdina Knights trophy cabinet, winning the trophy for the third consecutive time, while the Premier League moved another 8 places up the rankings to 221st place.

After several years of the board trying to expand the stadium (which I can't see how they thought they could do, since we don't even own the stadium), and obviously being rejected by the local council, it was a great piece of news when they finally told me they would be building a new stadium.

Current Date

So this leads us to the current date with the Knights' situation as follows:

We are currently Maltese League and Cup holders, and, after having participated in the 2nd Qualifying Round of the Champions League (and being demolished 0-8 on aggregate against Teplice), in a much better financial situation, with a healthy bank balance of £170,000 (in fact the first time ever to have less than £100,000 of debt!) although still with no transfer budget, and unable to interest players not based in Malta, something I hope won't last long, as we are now competing in the Champions League.

The club status is still semi-professional, but I hope that will change after this season, when the new stadium will also be finished, which will hold 10,000 people, considerably more than my current 2,000 capacity stadium, which I fill week in week out.

The seventh season is about to start, (and will hopefully end with some more trophies in the bag!) and I will regularly update this blog after any notable events in the Knights' story. Feel free to leave me any comments! :)