Vittoriosa Stars target Premier League survival

Vittoriosa Stars are determined to put last season’s troubles behind them as they prepare for what they hope will be their first full season in the elite division of Maltese football.

At this time last year, the Stars had just started to enjoy life in the top flight only to be demoted back to Division One with immediate effect over a match-fixing scandal.

It was a huge setback for the Stars but, to their credit, the club officials immediately refocused their efforts on leading the team back to the Premier. Their work was rewarded in May when Vittoriosa sealed their promotion with a 1-0 win over San Ġwann on the last day of the campaign.

Since then, the club’s administration has been working tirelessly to strengthen the squad for their return to the Premier League. Stars secretary Gerald Ellul yesterday declared that their main target for 2010/11 was to keep their top-flight status.

“The last 12 months have not been easy for Vittoriosa Stars,” Ellul told a news conference at TeamSport in Iklin.

“After our relegation to Division One, we continued to work hard to win promotion back to the top flight.

“Now that we have reached that target, we are determined to preserve our status. It won’t be plainsailing as we are anticipating a very balanced championship this year but we believe we are competitive enough to reach our objective.”

For the second successive season, the Stars will be under the guidance of coach Winston Muscat who will be assisted by Darren Abdilla.

This summer, Vittoriosa have brought in a raft of new players, including goalkeepers Simon Agius and Jean Mathias Vella, defenders Sharlon Pace and Carl Sammut and midfielders Dino Cachia and Kevin Mifsud.

Vittoriosa, who will be wearing new Macron kits, have also registered three new Brazilian players, midfielder Carlos Emanuel Compagnoli and strikers Edson Santos Tarabai and Jorge Santos Silva.

Ellul revealed that the club are still looking to add an experienced Premier League player and another foreigner to their squad by the end of the week but refused to divulge the identity of their targets.

Club president Erskin Vella said the committee has also been striving to secure adequate training facilities for their senior squad and the nursery. He announced that Vittoriosa have reached an agreement with De La Salle College to use their pitch for the next 10 years.

“This agreement is a huge investment in the future of our club,” Vella said.

“It’s important that our teams train on a good pitch where they can improve their skills. In the past, our nursery teams and the senior side trained in different venues but the coach has been stressing the importance of having all the teams train at the same venue.

“We are grateful to the administration of De La Salle College for their co-operation. I’m sure this agreement will reap significant benefits for our club.”

For his part, Vittoriosa Stars coach Muscat said he is excited by the challenge of leading his team in what promises to be a very tough Premier League season.

“This season will be very difficult for us,” Muscat said.

“All the teams have strengthened their ranks considerably but we will be doing our utmost to avoid relegation. The players have trained really hard in the past weeks and I’m confident that we can reach our target.”

Vittoriosa Stars’ sponsors for this season are SVS Leisures, TeamSport, General Soft Drinks, Il Fornaio Bakery and International Merchants.