Norman Darmanin Demajo won many honours during his spell with Valletta.

There seems to be a great divide in football between the playing side and the administration sector.

Many players tend to take up coaching after they retire but few, it seems, involve themselves in the administration of our clubs.

Some have tried but it is very difficult to find instances of players who succeeded in making a career in administration.

One ex-player who not only succeeded in administration but also managed to reach the top is Norman Darmanin Demajo.

Darmanin Demajo was born in Naxxar on April 12, 1952. He started playing football at the local Primary School.

Later on, while studying at the Junior College, he was spotted playing football in the Inter-Faculty League and was persuaded to join Qrendi FC by then club president Joe Mifsud.

Darmanin Demajo played for Qrendi in the lower divisions of the league for four years but his talent was obvious for all to see and in July 1973 he took the plunge in big time and joined Valletta FC.

A clever inside-forward, Darmanin De-majo had a knack of scoring vital goals which made him popular among the City supporters. Above all, id-DeDe, as he was affectionately known, was honest and loyal.

He stayed with Valletta for nine seasons during which he played 109 matches and scored 29 goals. Darmanin Demajo won the championship three times and the FA Trophy on three occasions in a City shirt.

He also won the Sons of Malta Cup and the Independence Cup once.

Darmanin Demajo played six games for Valletta in the European Cup and three in the Cup Winners’ Cup, scoring one goal.

Retaining his amateur status throughout his career, he was also capped at amateur level by the national team.

In 1980-81, Darmanin Demajo played only a handful of games for Valletta. He was still 30 but decided to quit professional football and join Melita FC.

He stayed with the Amateurs for one year before moving to Luxol St Andrew’s where he stayed for another seven seasons. He retired in 1990 at the age of 37.

During the period he spent with St Andrew’s, Darmanin Demajo was also involved in the club’s administration and served as council member and an Executive Committee member of the Malta FA.

In 1992, he was elected treasurer of the association, a position he occupied up to 2001 when, following a bitter dispute with then MFA president Joe Mifsud, he was effectively forced out of the association.

However, in August 2010, he was elected president of the MFA and in July 2013 he was re-elected for a new three-year term.

A firm believer in on-going education, Darmanin Demajo stresses the need of applying this concept to football from the grassroots right up to management. He is also committed to investing in infrastructure and strengthening the game’s technical sector.

The modern game is facing many challenges even more so in a small country like ours. However, I am confident that if Darmanin Demajo continues to apply the same enthusiasm and commitment he showed when wearing the famous white shirt of Valletta, he will succeed in curing the Maltese game of its ailments.