Hibernians Football Club is a Maltese professionalfootball club based in the town ofPaola. They are the only Malta football club to havenever been relegated from the Premier League.
The club played one season in 1922 as Constitutionals FC, representing the pro-BritishConstitutional Party.[2] They started up again in the 1927–28 season and became a top amateur side, winning the Amateur League in 1930–31.[2]
Meanwhile, the Constitutional Party had upset the Catholic Church so much that, in May 1930, Catholics were told not to vote for the party. The football club changed its name a year later to Hibernians Football Club[2] as a nod toHibernian, the club founded by Irish Catholics in Edinburgh. They won their first match as Hibernians 2–1, againstHMS Antelope in October 1931.[2] They had to wait for a place to become available in the professional league, but in January 1933 they joined the league with a 3–1 victory over Sliema Rangers. They have stayed in the top division ever since.[2] Hibernians then won their first league title in 1961, with a team featuring Maltese international players like brothersLouis andEddie Theobald andFreddie Mizzi.[3]
Around 1970 English football legendSir Stanley Matthews managed Hibernians. He led the club to a League title and two Maltese FA Trophies.[4]
Hibernians faced a long period of decline followed the success of the 1980s to the end of the decade.[2] Hibernians have afutsal team, which plays in Malta's top futsal league, the Premier Futsal League.[citation needed]
Maltese teams are limited to eight players without Maltese citizenship. The squad list includes only the principal nationality of each player; several non-European players on the squad have dual citizenship with an EU country.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
A women's team plays in the Women'sMaltese First Division. The team is the national record champion with twelve titles, the most recent being won in 2016.[9]