 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Etienne Barbara | ||
| Date of birth | (1982-06-10)10 June 1982 (age 43) | ||
| Place of birth | Pietà, Malta | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Qormi | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1999–2003 | Floriana | 74 | (8) |
| 2003–2005 | Marsaxlokk | 43 | (21) |
| 2005–2007 | Birkirkara | 59 | (31) |
| 2007–2008 | Sliema Wanderers | 23 | (8) |
| 2008–2009 | SC Verl | 18 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | Hibernians | 19 | (3) |
| 2010–2011 | Carolina RailHawks | 54 | (28) |
| 2011 | →Sliema Wanderers (loan) | 6 | (2) |
| 2012 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 2 | (0) |
| 2012 | →Vancouver Whitecaps FC U-23 (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 2013 | Minnesota United | 7 | (2) |
| 2013 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 10 | (1) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2004–2010 | Malta | 30 | (3) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2018– | Heat FC | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 14 December 2013 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 18 August 2009 | |||
Etienne Barbara (born 10 June 1982) is a Maltese formerfootballer and manager.
Barbara started his career as a youth player withQormi. After having been spotted by scouts following some impressive displays, he earned a move to play in theMaltese Premier League withFloriana in July 1999. Early in his career with them, he was often used in defensive positions and although he played 74 games with the club he only managed eight goals – all which were all scored during the2001–02 season. In 2002, Barbara received his first call up to theMaltese national team due to a number of impressive performances for Floriana.
With Barbara in high demand he moved on fromFloriana after four years of service, and joined ambitious newly promoted clubMarsaxlokk on 25 January 2003. He scored 21 goals in 43 games. Following two successful years, and a series of impressive displays with Marsaxlokk, Barbara earned a move to join up withBirkirkara in January 2005. In two seasons, Barbara managed 31 goals in 59 appearances with Birkirkara, but was forced to leave the club in July 2007, when he was and teammateRoderick Briffa were deemed surplus to requirements, following a major reshuffle in the playing staff the club.
Barbara transferred from Birkirkara toSliema Wanderers in July 2007, and signed a two-year deal, where he teamed up with former team mateRoderick Briffa who had joined earlier in the month. He remained with Malta’s most successful club for one season, making a total of 23 appearances and scoring eight goals, but indicated he would leave at the end of the 2007–08 season in order to pursue a career in Europe.
Barbara found his move to mainland Europe in the shape of GermanRegionalliga West (IV) sideSC Verl, where he signed a two-year contract. He made his debut for Verl on 16 August 2008 in a league match againstBayer 04 Leverkusen II, being introduced in the second half as a 55th-minute substitute for Waldemar Jurez.
During the 2008–09 winter break,League of Ireland First Division winnersDundalk made a move to take Barbara to play for them in theLeague of Ireland Premier Division. It is believed that Barbara was interested in the move, but with the player still under contract withSC Verl, the move did not materialize.
Barbara played 1117 minutes for the SC Verl (not counting cup and preparation games), without scoring a single goal, and during the preparations for the 2009–10 season, he was dismissed with immediate effect for unexcused absence.[1]
Following his dismissal by Verl, Barbara was given a trial and took part in a pre-season tournament withEnglishFootball League Championship sideSheffield Wednesday, however he was not offered a contract.
On 20 August 2009, it was announced that Barbara had joinedMaltese Premier League championsHibernians. Barbara had hoped to win a contract elsewhere in Europe, but after weeks of speculation and deals not materialising, this put a host ofMaltese Premier League on alert. The first to express a strong interest whereFloriana, with new managerRoddy Collins reportedly offering Barbara the option of linking him with a club in the United Kingdom in January.
However Collins dropped his interest in Barbara on 20 August therefore he joinedHibernians, who were keen to sign him, likely to fill the void left byTerence Scerri, who joinedValletta. Barbara had an outstanding debut, scoring all three goals and winning the Man of the Match award in a 3–1 in over his former clubMarsaxlokk. Later on the game was invalidated.
Barbara joined United StatesUSSF Division 2 clubCarolina RailHawks on 25 February 2010.[2] He scored two goals in his RailHawks debut on 10 April 2010, in a game againstAC St. Louis.[3][4] Barbara currently holds the record for most goals scored by a Carolina Railhawk in a single season for two consecutive years, scoring eight goals during the 2010 campaign, and breaking his own record with nine goals in the first seven matches of the 2011 campaign. Additionally, he is the clubs' all-time leading scorer. In August 2011, he was voted as offensive player of the month, just days after he scored a brilliant hat-trick. In October 2011, Etienne Barbara won the NASL Golden Ball, the award for the league’s most valuable player. Barbara received all nineteen first place votes cast by media from each NASL market. In his second season with the RailHawks, he scored 20 goals and had eight assists to win the NASL's Golden Boot. He was also named to the NASL Best XI.
Due to Barbara's great form, he had been heavily linked with a move to theMLS or another high level league. Due to a MLS discovery claim, the rights to sign Barbara in MLS belonged toMontreal Impact through the 2012 season[5] meaning that the club would be the only team in MLS able to sign him unless Montreal trades his rights, according to the league's discovery process.[6] In an interview on 10 January 2012 Barbara revealed that talks with Montreal had stalled because he did not feel Montreal's contract offer was fair and that the club was stalling in signing him. Of the situation, Barbara said, "I felt they were wasting time because they were signing other players but they were in no rush to sign me because they already own my rights. They just weren’t getting back to me. It was frustrating....Now we are in January and as far as I'm concerned we are just wasting time. Plus, I can't talk to any other team because they own me. The problem is in the rules. America has everything that any other country in any other sport should envy. You have facilities and everything in your favor and then you have rules like that. Montreal made me a bad offer. Look, I've scored 20 goals and had 9 assists and I won the best player of the league. And for what? For nothing in America. Because I'm stuck with Montreal and they don't want to pay good money. From what I understand, they are just holding my rights to try to get the best offer from somebody else. How can Montreal own my rights without even talking to me or paying me anything? If they don't want me they should just release me but obviously they want money for me. But who gives the right for that club to own me? That happens only in America. To own me without even talking to me or paying any money to me?"[5]
On 17 January 2012, Montreal traded Barbara's MLS rights toVancouver Whitecaps FC, then coached by former RailHawks coachMartin Rennie, in exchange forGienir Garcia.[7] He officially signed with Vancouver on 28 February 2012.[8] His season was marred with injuries that kept him out action for a lot of the season. Eventually he was released by Vancouver on November after only two league appearances for the club.[9]
On 23 January, Barbara was one of six high-profile signings announced byMinnesota United.[10] He was traded toTampa Bay Rowdies on 1 August 2013 in exchange for forwardMike Ambersley.[11]
Barbara made his international debut forMalta during aUEFA Euro 2004 qualifying match away toIsrael, which ended with an impressive 2–2 draw. He scored his first and second goals in the same match during theMalta International Tournament, when Malta defeatedEstonia with a 5–2 scoreline.
Barbara scored the third of his international goals in a2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying match againstBulgaria in a 1–1 draw, an equaliser to cancel out an earlier goal fromChavdar Yankov.
Barbara has played as a midfielder, a striker, and a winger during his times with the national team, and is great at creating goal scoring opportunities.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 16 February 2004 | National Stadium,Ta' Qali, Malta |  Estonia | 1–0 | 5–2 | Malta International Tournament |
| 2. | 4–2 | |||||
| 3. | 12 October 2005 | National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta |  Bulgaria | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying |
