Birkirkara FC yesterday presented their nine new signings for this season and took the opportunity to emphasise that they expect to remain top challengers even this season.

President Carm Galea said the club’s main aim will be that of building on what had been achieved the past season. He added: “Last year we employed an administrator among other things. Such a move proved to be of tremendous help to the club. We also set up sub-committees for a smoother running of the club’s administration and this also worked in our favour. Now we have to make some fine-tuning, and in mind we already have a plan to engage professional accountants and auditors to take control of the club’s finances. We have to be transparent in every move we make, apart from having more coordination between the various sectors – women, nursery, radio, Supporters Club and the main club.”

Galea said the club was lacking facilities. “Our Under 19 team has practically nowhere for their training sessions and we have now reached agreement to take over the yard at St Therese School to convert the surface into an artificial grass one for use by our boys. Moreover, the surface at St Aloysius College ground, where are our senior squad is training almost regularly, is deteriorating rapidly. And there have been no new developments over a site which the club had earlier earmarked for a ground of its own,” he said.

Galea said that it will be giving more importance to the Supporters Club this season. He added: “It is a shame that only around 250 are members from a population of more than 25,000. We will be trying to increase that number with a new scheme that offers interesting incentives.”

Galea added that the income derived from the European competitions’ participation had helped a lot towards solving the club’s financial problems, but these still exist and the clubs needs all financial help available, including that from the sponsors – McDonalds, Powerade, Teamsport, Middle Sea Life and Laferla Insurance – which they consider valuable. “To run such a club as Birkirkara, it is very expensive these days. In summer we had to negotiate new contracts with eight of our players. We wanted them to remain at the club. We have also brought five new foreigners,” he added.

Galea augured success for new MFA president Norman Darmanin Demajo, and also thanked former president Dr Joe Mifsud for his dedication to Maltese football during his long term at the helm of Maltese football.

Coach Paul Zammit said last season’s success was the fruit of everyone – technical staff, players, the administration and the supporters.

He emphasised that the club and the players had not stopped in summer. “We had the Champions League matches and we are proud that the team managed to pass the first round and also win the first leg of the second round tie against Zilina who are now playing in the Group stages. We learned a lot from those matches, but it was a great satisfaction for all of us to have competed without the established foreigners as the squad for the new season was then still far away from being finalised. It is imperative that the MFA finds a system for the league whereby the clubs taking part in the European competitions will not find difficulties in taking part with their best players,” he said.

Zammit also spoke on the Super Cup incidents and said he hoped that there will be no repetition. “Never again hopefully. We have also taken action internally. We suffered a lot in our opening league matches because of what happened, but that is not a real excuse, even if it was a handicap.

“Our objectives remain the same as those of last year. I expect the team to maintain the same rhythm as last season. We have been strengthened with the arrival of nine new faces. I believe it is harder to maintain that top place, rather than achieving it. Finally I am glad that on Friday, in the match against Valletta, I will probably have most of the 22-strong squad at my disposal – for the first time this season,” he said.