The Mtarfa Chronicle
Squad1 Sep 2031
Arsen Gasparyan damages knee ligaments — 84 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 84 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Player ratings1 Sep 2031
Rio Noruwa Ian could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.46
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.46, 1 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Market1 Sep 2031
Conor Grant asks to leave Mtarfa
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom1 Sep 2031
Mtarfa close the window on a squad of their own making
13 in and 4 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Transfer targets1 Sep 2031
No thanks: Malcolm Gauci rejects the move
Mtarfa had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Birkirkara, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad1 Sep 2031
A falling-out at Mtarfa
Rio Noruwa Ian and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom1 Sep 2031
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Mtarfa
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Match30 Aug 2031
Mtarfa come up short against Naxxar Lions
Naxxar Lions left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout1 Sep 2031
Alessandro Lombardi frozen out at Mtarfa
This is not rotation. Alessandro Lombardi has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Mtarfa is pretending otherwise.
In brief
- Transfer targets Mtarfa rebuffed over Sean Gatt
- Squad Words at Mtarfa training over how hard people work
- Market One of our own: Ivan Buttigieg joins the Mtarfa first team