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Nursery
Welcome to the Birkirkara FC Nursery section of our website. Please browse through the pages found in this section by clicking on the links found on the left of the screen
The Birkirkara F.C. Youth Nursery was founded in 1983. The Nursery was founded by the same founders of an amateur club, named Birkirkara St. Joseph. SC. In the year 1983, a meeting was held between the Birkirkara F.C. Committee, under the Presidency of Mr. Joseph Gauci and Mario Borg, Charles Sciberras and Joe Mallia asked for permission to organize a Youth Football Nursery. The permission was granted by the Birkirkara F.C. Committee, the nursery was formed under the name of Birkirkara FC Youth Nursery. The first meeting was held at the Birkirkara St. Joseph SC and a committee was formed. In the first seasons from its foundation, two teams were formed, namely that of the fourteen years old and the youth team.
The Nursery during the late 1980’s moved from a garage to the present premises at Infetti Training Grounds. In the following seasons a large number of parents wanted their children to join. For this reason, new age groups were formed commencing from the age of eleven up to the youth team. This was quite a problem for the Nursery Committee as qualified coaches were few, but with the help of Mario Borg, who was the Headcoach of the nursery, coaches were provided and success didn't take too long as the good organisation in the running of the Nursery attracted many more youngsters to join.
The Nursery continued to flourish in the very late 80`s and early 90`s, with the formation of a proper committee, the changing of the premises (moving to Infetti Grounds completely) and the introduction of younger sections. The aim behind these young sections is to nature a love for the game and a true commitment to Birkirkara F.C. The Under 7`s, Under 8`s, Under 9`s and Under10`s are coming along well and success can be measured in the development of good players at Under 11, Under 12, Under 14 and Under 16 levels.
Success didn`t take long. Birkirkara were the first champions of the first Under 14 National League held in the early 80`s. In the following years the Under 14 and Under 16 teams of Birkirkara F.C. Youth Nursery remained among the best on the island. Up till recently, the club could boast that these two teams never lost their places in the top division of the Youth Football Association`s national leagues. Indeed, they always finished amongst the top six clubs. Nevertheless, their best years were between 1992 and 1996 when the Under 14 team once again won the National League and on two occasions lost the championship in the last match of the season, drawing both games when they needed a victory. On the other hand the Under 16 team made it twice to the finals at the National Stadium at Ta` Qali, only to lose to Sliema (2-0) first and to Floriana (2-1) later. Season 2003 / 2004 the Under 16 won the Cassar Cup organized by the YFA, when they beat Mosta in the final 2-0.
Although trophies have never been on the main agenda behind the founding of Birkirkara F.C. Youth Nursery, the lavish amount of them adorning our showcases spells out successful years of administration and football competition. Yet, not withstanding all this, we seek our true success in the number of players who have made it to the top National and international football and most of all to character formation. The list is quite long - and getting longer all the time.
The Nursery’s premises and training facilities are amongst the best on the island. New dressing rooms were inaugurated in 1996 and a well equipped committee room was inaugurated in 2001 thanks to the hard working committee members. The Gym has modern equipment and is used regularly both by youth and senior players.
But a new chapter for the Nursery was opened on the 20th November 2005, when the new Infetti Ground Artificial pitches were inaugurated.These pitches were officially opened by the Hon. Tonio Fenech Parlamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Birkirkara FC Youth Nursery Honorary President Mr. Geoffrey Montebello, Birkirkara FC Chairman Mr. Victor Zammit and Birkirkara FC Youth Nursery Chairman Mr. Henry Bray. Amongst the distinguished guests present, together with the many parents and children, was Mr. Victor Zammit, Chairman of Birkirkara FC, members of the board of Directors, The Hon. Tonio Fenech, Hon. Dr. Tonio Borg, Hon. Dr. Chris Cardona MP, Hon. Joe Debono Grech MP and Dr. Mark Fenech, the club's legal advisor.The grounds were then blessed by Dun Vincenz Demicoli, the club's Spiritual Director and two commemorative plaques were unveiled.
The training sessions have been increased. It is only the 6 to 10 years old who train twice a week; the other groups have more frequent training.
Participation in International Tournaments
During the 90`s, the nursery adventured for the first time the international scene by taking part - with considerable success - in tournaments abroad. The Under 14 and Under 16 participated in various Tournaments in Italy, Sardegna, Austria, Northern Ireland, Spain and Tunisia playing against top teams like AC. Milan, Sampdoria , U.S. Genova , Savona A.C., Bayern Luverkunsen , Kremnica , U.S. Innsbruck, Real Saragozza , Werder Bremen, Germinal Ekeren , Dukla Praha and Viktor Zizkov.
The younger sections competed with equally promising results in various International Tournaments: Fiumicino Italy (2nd place), Monteconparti Italy (winners), Villa Nova Italy (8th place), Sinnai Sardegna (2nd place), Villaseca Spain (2nd place), Loret de Mar Spain (4th place), Calella Spain (2nd and 3rd place), Bradford on Avon England (Winners) and Prague Czech Republic (2nd Place). Again very good results were registered against teams hailing from Italy, Germany, Spain, Russia, Albania, England and Czech Republic among others.In April 2002 the under 11 and under 18 participated in San Jiame Tournament in Lloret de Mar and it was a great success as both categories won the tournaments.
Every season, the nursery takes part in various tournaments around the island, and organizes various activities like penalty shoot-outs, family outings, Training Camps, Summer Football Camp, “Alfred Borg Tournament”, Bar-B-Ques and special nights for all members and their parents.
Birkirkara F.C. Youth Nursery twinning agreement with Atalanta BC
The Nursery reached an agreement with Italian youth football giants Atalanta B.C. to initiate a mutual ambitious football youth training programme of great benefit not only to the children registered with Birkirkara F.C. Youth Nursery but also, useful to the Nursery coaching staff giving their services there.
In February 2006, Mr Dione Mercieca proposed a meeting between the two sides and to this end, a delegation from Birkirkara flew to Bergamo to visit Atalanta B.C. The group included Mr Henry Bray (President), Mr Franco Agius (Nursery Headcoach), Mr Robert Bray (Asst. Treasurer) and Mr John Sciberras (Coach).
During their visit at the “Centro Bortolotti di Zingonia”, the club’s official premises, Atalanta’s Sports Director, Mr Gabriele Messina greeted the whole delegation and explained the whole club’s structure whilst the Maltese contingent had the time to explore around the professional training facilities offered there. A very important meeting was held with Atalanta’s Technical Advisor, Mr Mino Favini and Headcoach Mr Stefano Bonnacorso which proved very positive.
In season 2007/08 Birkirkara F.C. Youth Nursery signed a twinning agreement with Atalanta and the committee launched the “Zingonia” project which included an invitation to Birkirkara Youth Nursery coaching staff to a coaching clinic in Italy, Italian delegation visited Birkirkara FC Youth Nursery premises and training camps for the nursery players in Italy.
The climax was reached on Sunday April 20th with a visit by the Birkirkara Under-14 side in Bergamo. The team led by coach Franco Agius met the Atalanta beginners led by coach Mauro Fumagalli. Although the Maltese side was made of players who are a year older than the players in the Italian side, it was a very difficult game for Birkirkara. Atalanta, in fact, won 2-1, turning defeat into victory in the final seven minutes. The Birkirkara players were then the guests of Atalanta for the Serie A match between Atalanta and Juventus at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’ Italia in Bergamo.The following day, Birkirkara played another friendly match against Pontirolo. The Birkirkara players were given the opportunity to play with the official kit of Atalanta and the game ended in a goalless draw. The Maltese contingent, led by chairman Henry Bray, then visited the Centro Bortolotti di Zingonia – the Italian club’s official headquarters where they were taken for a short tour by the director of the Atalanta BC Settore Giovanile Mino Favini who explained the club’s set-up. Reckoning that this is definitely a unique and ambitious programme, Birkirkara FC Youth NurseryYouth Nursery will be very keen in making the best out of this exclusive twinning with Atalanta BC.
Christmas International Football Tournament
One of the great’s achievements is the Annual Christmas International Tournament, first organised in 1990. That this tournament has been organised without fail ever since and continues to attract the best teams from Malta along with a number of foreign sides bears witness to the level of organisation and excellent administration of the Youth Nursery. With the continuous introduction of several nursery products in the senior team, the future for Birkirkara F.C. Youth Nursery is a bright one.