Hamrun Spartans

Maltese Premier League
2 Feb 2027
Tuesday
Process
27 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Jake Grech out for 53 days

53 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Hamrun Spartans lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Boardroom

Hamrun Spartans close the window on a squad of their own making

1 in and 0 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.

Squad

Ognjen Bjeličić falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

A falling-out at Hamrun Spartans

Célio and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Matthew Dimech stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Matthew Dimech and Hamrun Spartans agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

The dugout

Célio gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

Back issues
26 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Jake Grech

60 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hamrun Spartans lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Damir Céter is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.51 with 24 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Match

Full time on the season at Hamrun Spartans

Position 4 on 40 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.

Squad

Tempers go at Hamrun Spartans

Matthew Guillaumier was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

Hamrun Spartans caught on 91 minutes

The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Gzira United scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Kléri Serber

Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Honours even between Hamrun Spartans and Gzira United

1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

The dugout

Donát Pálfi has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Hamrun Spartans will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Giovanni Debono chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.

In brief

25 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Jake Grech

67 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hamrun Spartans lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Player ratings

Michele Carboni runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 33. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Birkirkara punish Hamrun Spartans for switching off

2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Damir Céter will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Hamrun Spartans escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.

Squad

Damir Céter is carrying Hamrun Spartans

23 goals and a season average of 7.51. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

Donát Pálfi stands alone

7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Player ratings

Matthew Guillaumier goes up and wins it — 7.55

A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.55 for the rest of it.

Squad

A row about effort at Hamrun Spartans

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ognjen Bjeličić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Damir Céter rescues a point for Hamrun Spartans

It needed Damir Céter to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Birkirkara, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

The dugout

Ognjen Bjeličić gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ognjen Bjeličić is on it.

In brief

  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
  • The dugout Ryan Camenzuli dropped after a run of poor form
  • Market The Damir Céter talk will not go away
24 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Jake Grech damages knee ligaments — 74 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 74 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.

Match

Damir Céter wins it after the whistle should have gone

92 minutes played. Damir Céter found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Naxxar Lions went from a point to nothing inside one movement.

Squad

Damir Céter is carrying Hamrun Spartans

22 goals and a season average of 7.50. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Match

Nobody wins at Hamrun Spartans

12 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.

Match

Nobody wants to play Hamrun Spartans right now

3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.

Player ratings

Kléri Serber runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Ognjen Bjeličić falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The terraces

One of their own: Noel Azzopardi

He is 14 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

Market

Matthew Dimech steps up from the Hamrun Spartans academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Matthew Dimech has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

In brief

23 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Jake Grech

81 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hamrun Spartans lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Player ratings

A brace, and Damir Céter takes the afternoon — 9.06

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Damir Céter provided it, and the 9.06 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

Damir Céter is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.49 with 21 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Michele Carboni honoured for the season

The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Hamrun Spartans had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.

Match

Hamrun Spartans get the job done against Valletta

A 3‑2 win over Valletta, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Squad

Words exchanged at Hamrun Spartans

Matthew Guillaumier and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

The terraces

One of their own: Michele Carboni

He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Michele Carboni

Marked 8.06 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

The dugout

Giovanni Debono has his say

“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Giovanni Debono on a 3‑2 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.

In brief

22 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Jake Grech

88 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hamrun Spartans lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Player ratings

Both of them Damir Céter's — 8.80

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.80, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Squad

Damir Céter is carrying Hamrun Spartans

19 goals and a season average of 7.44. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

The dugout

Robert Barbara says Hamrun Spartans went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Match

Nobody wins at Hamrun Spartans

11 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.

Squad

Tempers go at Hamrun Spartans

Kléri Serber was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Hamrun Spartans

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ognjen Bjeličić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The terraces

One of their own: Robert Barbara

He is 16 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

Match

Hamrun Spartans see off Tarxien Rainbows

Three points for Hamrun Spartans, 2‑0 the final word against Tarxien Rainbows in a contest settled by the finer margins.

In brief

21 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Jake Grech damages knee ligaments — 95 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 95 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.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Damir Céter

17 goals and a season average of 7.39 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Player ratings

Kléri Serber runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

A row about effort at Hamrun Spartans

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ognjen Bjeličić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Damir Céter’s goal not enough for Hamrun Spartans

Damir Céter scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Zabbar St. Patrick, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

The dugout

Donát Pálfi gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Giovanni Debono left the room before anybody could ask which.

The dugout

Donát Pálfi has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Hamrun Spartans will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

Looking ahead

Emerson Marcelina goes back to face Tarxien Rainbows

Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Emerson Marcelina’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Hamrun Spartans needing him to play as if none of it matters.

In brief

20 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Jake Grech

102 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hamrun Spartans lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

The cup run ends for Hamrun Spartans

1‑1 against Floriana, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Kléri Serber

Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

6 saves: Donát Pálfi was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Squad

Damir Céter is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.38 with 16 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Match

Nobody wins at Hamrun Spartans

10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.

Squad

A falling-out at Hamrun Spartans

Matthew Guillaumier and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Market

Hamrun Spartans promote Angelo Schembri from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Angelo Schembri has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Match

Floriana snatch it back from Hamrun Spartans

A goal on 89 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.

In brief

19 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

The knee: Jake Grech out for 109 days

109 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Hamrun Spartans lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Match

No mercy from Hamrun Spartans

Hibernians will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Hamrun Spartans were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Squad

3 goals for Damir Céter

The match ball belongs to Damir Céter, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Michele Carboni

14 goals and a season average of 7.44 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Player ratings

Kléri Serber runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

Damir Céter in the eights

A performance of 9.77 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Match

Nobody wins at Hamrun Spartans

9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.

Squad

Ognjen Bjeličić falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Michele Carboni in the eights

A performance of 9.00 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

18 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Jake Grech

116 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hamrun Spartans lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Donát Pálfi

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Match

Damir Céter among the goals in a wild afternoon

6 goals in one match, Damir Céter on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Hamrun Spartans and Sliema Wanderers.

Match

Damir Céter’s goal not enough for Hamrun Spartans

Damir Céter scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑4 to Sliema Wanderers, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Squad

Ognjen Bjeličić falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

Damir Céter is carrying Hamrun Spartans

12 goals and a season average of 7.27. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Kléri Serber

Marked 8.13 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

The dugout

Jake Grech gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 2‑4 defeat, delivered by Giovanni Debono to a room that had heard them before.

In brief

17 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Jake Grech

123 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hamrun Spartans lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

Hamrun Spartans leave it late against Mosta

Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 85th, and Mosta spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.

The dugout

Ryan Camenzuli keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Hamrun Spartans may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Matthew Guillaumier in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hamrun Spartans this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

The run at home goes on for Hamrun Spartans

8 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.

Match

Hamrun Spartans get the job done against Mosta

A 1‑0 win over Mosta, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Matthew Guillaumier

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Nobody on the pitch touched Kléri Serber

7.87, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Hamrun Spartans had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Giovanni Debono kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.

In brief

16 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Jake Grech damages knee ligaments — 130 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 130 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.

Squad

Michele Carboni is carrying Hamrun Spartans

13 goals and a season average of 7.41. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Match

Marsaxlokk take the points off Hamrun Spartans

Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Ognjen Bjeličić falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Michele Carboni in the eights

A performance of 8.19 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Kléri Serber

Marked 8.11 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Squad

Words exchanged at Hamrun Spartans

Célio and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Giovanni Debono to a room that had heard them before.

Player ratings

Damir Céter could have had three

13 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.

In brief

15 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Jake Grech

137 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hamrun Spartans lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Player ratings

Kléri Serber beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 34. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Player ratings

Both of them Michele Carboni's — 8.88

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.88, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Match

Hamrun Spartans up to position 3

22 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Match

7 unbeaten for Hamrun Spartans

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Hamrun Spartans did not have in the autumn.

Squad

Words exchanged at Hamrun Spartans

Kléri Serber and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Michele Carboni

12 goals and a season average of 7.38 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

A row about effort at Hamrun Spartans

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ognjen Bjeličić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Hamrun Spartans find a way past Gzira United

Gzira United made Hamrun Spartans work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

In brief

14 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Jake Grech

144 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hamrun Spartans lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Player ratings

Both of them Damir Céter's — 8.88

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.88, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Match

6 unbeaten for Hamrun Spartans

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Hamrun Spartans did not have in the autumn.

Match

Hamrun Spartans see off Birkirkara

Three points for Hamrun Spartans, 3‑1 the final word against Birkirkara in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Squad

Tempers go at Hamrun Spartans

Matthew Guillaumier was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Damir Céter

11 goals and a season average of 7.29 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

The terraces

One of their own: Michele Carboni

He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

Player ratings

Kléri Serber was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Michele Carboni at his very best

Marked 8.23. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Hamrun Spartans.

In brief

13 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Hamrun Spartans let it slip despite Damir Céter

Damir Céter had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Naxxar Lions were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.

Player ratings

Michele Carboni scores twice — 9.48

Two goals and a mark of 9.48 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Player ratings

Damir Céter scores twice — 9.35

Two goals and a mark of 9.35 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

The dugout

Johann Portelli says Hamrun Spartans went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Ognjen Bjeličić falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Rafael Compri was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Kléri Serber

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Michele Carboni is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.26 with 9 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Match

Damir Céter rescues a point for Hamrun Spartans

It needed Damir Céter to find the net to bring anything home at all: 4‑4 against Naxxar Lions, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief

12 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

A brace, and Michele Carboni takes the afternoon — 8.86

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Michele Carboni provided it, and the 8.86 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

Kléri Serber runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

A row about effort at Hamrun Spartans

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ognjen Bjeličić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Words exchanged at Hamrun Spartans

Célio and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

The dugout

No hiding place for Jake Grech

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jake Grech, and the manager let it.

Match

Valletta snatch it back from Hamrun Spartans

A goal on 88 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Hamrun Spartans

10 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

Match

Michele Carboni rescues a point for Hamrun Spartans

It needed Michele Carboni to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Valletta, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

The dugout

Giovanni Debono on the point

“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Giovanni Debono after the 2‑2 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.

In brief

11 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Donát Pálfi breaks a bone — 14 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 14 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

Hamrun Spartans refuse to drop out of the race

Position 3, 14 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Player ratings

Ipalibo Jack pops up at the right end — 7.88

7.88, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Kléri Serber

Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Kydin Hili is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

Tobias Bjørnstad signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tobias Bjørnstad and Hamrun Spartans agree another 3 years.

Squad

Words exchanged at Hamrun Spartans

Matthew Guillaumier and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Match

Hamrun Spartans find a way past Tarxien Rainbows

Tarxien Rainbows made Hamrun Spartans work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Ryan Camenzuli

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

10 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Donát Pálfi out for 21 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hamrun Spartans will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Célio wins the shoot-out

2 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.

Match

Cup progress for Hamrun Spartans

A 2‑2 win over Zabbar St. Patrick, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?

Match

Cup progress for Hamrun Spartans

A 3‑3 win over Zabbar St. Patrick, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Kléri Serber

Successful dribbles: 33. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

A brace, and Eder Bruno takes the afternoon — 8.19

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Eder Bruno provided it, and the 8.19 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Match

The wait goes on for Hamrun Spartans

4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Match

Hamrun Spartans are shipping goals every week

Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.

Squad

Ognjen Bjeličić falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

In brief

9 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Donát Pálfi out for 28 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hamrun Spartans will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Ognjen Bjeličić falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

Floriana take the points off Hamrun Spartans

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Player ratings

Kléri Serber was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Ipalibo Jack

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Tempers go at Hamrun Spartans

Célio was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

The dugout

Giovanni Debono: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

The dugout

Jake Grech knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jake Grech trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

The dugout

Noel Azzopardi left out for tactical reasons at Hamrun Spartans

The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.

In brief

8 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Donát Pálfi out for 35 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hamrun Spartans will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Player ratings

Michele Carboni scores twice — 8.89

Two goals and a mark of 8.89 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Squad

A falling-out at Hamrun Spartans

Kléri Serber and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

6 goals as Hamrun Spartans and Hibernians go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Hamrun Spartans and Hibernians, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Player ratings

Kléri Serber runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Hamrun Spartans and Hibernians take a point apiece

It finished 3‑3, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

The dugout

Noel Azzopardi gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

Giovanni Debono: “We have to be better”

“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 3‑3 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.

Looking ahead

A test against the best for Hamrun Spartans

The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Floriana.

In brief

7 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

42 days out for Donát Pálfi after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hamrun Spartans will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Player ratings

Kléri Serber beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 32. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Match

Hamrun Spartans cannot stop winning

3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Squad

The step up is real for Kydin Hili

At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Match

Michele Carboni the difference as Hamrun Spartans beat Sliema Wanderers

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Michele Carboni. 3‑2 against Sliema Wanderers, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Squad

Ognjen Bjeličić falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Damir Céter was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.30. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Squad

Angelo Fenech signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Angelo Fenech commits to Hamrun Spartans for another 3 years.

The dugout

Giovanni Debono: “That is the standard”

“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 3‑2, already talking about the next one.

In brief

6 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

49 days out for Donát Pálfi after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hamrun Spartans will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Player ratings

Kléri Serber beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Boardroom

Hamrun Spartans close the window on a squad of their own making

16 in and 0 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 targets

Matteo Barbara will not be coming to Hamrun Spartans

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Valletta is saying, and nobody at Hamrun Spartans is enjoying the guessing.

Transfer targets

Hamrun Spartans baulk at the price for Julani Archibald

Valletta wanted more than $8.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Squad

Ognjen Bjeličić falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The terraces

One of their own: Michele Carboni

He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

Match

Hamrun Spartans find a way past Mosta

Mosta made Hamrun Spartans work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Damir Céter at his very best

Marked 8.53. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Hamrun Spartans.

In brief

  • Player ratings Michele Carboni was on a different afternoon to everybody else
  • Squad Célio in a row with a teammate
  • Squad 10 new faces, and Hamrun Spartans are still learning each other
5 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

56 days out for Donát Pálfi after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hamrun Spartans will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

A day Damir Céter will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Match

Hamrun Spartans get the job done against Marsaxlokk

A 3‑2 win over Marsaxlokk, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

One of those days for Damir Céter

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.38, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Matthew Guillaumier in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hamrun Spartans this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Goal number 50 for Damir Céter

50 goals in these colours now, every one of them somebody’s memory. There is a supporter in the stand who can tell you where he was for most of them.

Match

No time for Marsaxlokk to settle

The goal that put Marsaxlokk ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Hamrun Spartans equalised, 1 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Rafael Compri

Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

A satisfied Giovanni Debono

“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑2, Giovanni Debono could afford to be generous.

In brief

  • The dugout The manager makes an example of Célio
  • The dugout Kydin Hili dropped after a run of poor form
  • The dugout The plan did not have a place for Emerson Marcelina
4 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Transfer targets

Noel Azzopardi due for a Hamrun Spartans medical

Everything agreed with Sliema Wanderers, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.

Squad

Ognjen Bjeličić falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Owen Ellul

Hamrun Spartans asked and Birkirkara said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

Victor Deguara stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Victor Deguara and Hamrun Spartans agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

The dugout

Thomas Deguara gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Somebody is after Damir Céter’s shirt

A new face in his position, and Damir Céter suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Hamrun Spartans have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.

In brief

3 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Words at Hamrun Spartans training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ognjen Bjeličić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Transfer targets

Hamrun Spartans rebuffed over Liam Jessop

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Chesterfield have kept their man, and Hamrun Spartans go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Shaisen Attard signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Shaisen Attard and Hamrun Spartans agree another 3 years.

In brief

2 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Kléri Serber in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hamrun Spartans this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

No deal for Julani Archibald at that price

Hamrun Spartans offered $8.0K; Valletta said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.

Transfer targets

Hamrun Spartans rebuffed over Danny Andrew

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Exeter City have kept their man, and Hamrun Spartans go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Market

Victor Deguara steps up from the Hamrun Spartans academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Victor Deguara has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Market

Timothy Borg steps up from the Hamrun Spartans academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Timothy Borg has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Market

Hamrun Spartans promote Matthew Debattista from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Matthew Debattista has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market

Angelo Fenech steps up from the Hamrun Spartans academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Angelo Fenech has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Squad

7 new faces, and Hamrun Spartans are still learning each other

A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.

Squad

Jakob Cioffi is a square peg at Hamrun Spartans

The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.

In brief

1 Edition

The Hamrun Spartans Sentinel

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Ognjen Bjeličić signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ognjen Bjeličić and Hamrun Spartans agree another 3 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Hamrun Spartans

Kléri Serber was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Words at Hamrun Spartans training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ognjen Bjeličić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

This league is too small for Donát Pálfi

He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Hamrun Spartans will not keep him by pretending otherwise.

Transfer targets

Hamrun Spartans ask about Jakob Cioffi

A loan enquiry to Floriana: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

Market

No place for Célio in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Célio has his answer from Hamrun Spartans; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

In brief