Celtic’s potential Qualifying Round 1 opponents in the 2020/21Champions League…starting with Maltese Champions Floriana of Malta…

With 17 days to go before the draw for the first qualifying round of the 2020/21 Champions League is made in Nyon on Sunday, 9 August 2020, I thought I would take a brief look at the 17 potential opponents for Celtic. There are still one or two things to be finalised, however, the picture is starting to look quite clear, so here goes.

1/17: Floriana of Malta

I’ve started with the lowest-ranked club in the competition, Maltese champions Floriana FC, with a co-efficient of just 1.150, however, it looks like I’ve chosen well, looking at that badge!

Founded

Floriana are the second-oldest club in Malta, established in 1894. Only St George’s FC, created four years earlier, has a longer history on the Mediterranean George Cross island.

Colours

There will be a definite colour clash if we are drawn together next month. Floriana play in green-and-white vertical striped jerseys – think Celtic pre-Hoops or Real Betis Balompie of Sevilla – with green shorts and socks. Their away kit is a Real Madrid-style all-white outfit.

Stadium

Whilst the club have their own Independence Arena training complex in Floriana, virtually all Maltese Premier League games are played at the 17,000-capacity National Stadium in Ta’ Qali.

Nickname

You’ll love this. Floriana are known as either Tal-Irish or Il Greens. They have strong historical connections with the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, who were stationed in Floriana for many years.

@Floriana_FC Champions of Malta for the 26th times @MaltaFA1900 @ThomasLyte pic.twitter.com/VmEbKoAyRS

— Kenny Roberts (@kenrob1984) July 6, 2020

Season 2019/20

The 14-team Bank of Valletta (BOV) Premier League was suspended on 12 March 2020 due to COVID. At that time, Floriana led defending champions Valletta by three points with six games remaining, whilst Hibernians and Sirens were also in contention, all within six points of the leaders. On Lisbon Day, 25 May 2020, the Maltese FA voted to award the title and Champions League qualification spot to Floriana, thus allowing them to pass Valletta’s tally of 25 Maltese national championships. Relegation was suspended at the same time, even though bottom club Tarxien Rainbows could not mathematically survive. This season’s BOV Premier League will thus be extended to 16 clubs, to allow two clubs to be promoted from the second tier.

Domestic record

Securing the 2019/20 Maltese Premier League title saw Floriana equal the record tally of 26 national championships held by Sliema Wanderers, however, their previous success had been all of 27 years ago, back in 1992/93. The club’s greatest domestic achievements include their four successive League titles won from 1949/50 and their Invincible season of 1961/62, when they won all 14 games played. They have also achieved 10 Maltese League and Cup doubles.

European record

Floriana’s 1961 Maltese FA Trophy win allowed them to become the first club to represent the country in European competition, facing Hungary’s Ujpest Dozsa in the preliminary round of the 1961/62 European Cup Winners’ Cup. It was not a happy introduction, the Magyars winning by a crushing 15-4 aggregate, including a 10-2 victory in Budapest. Jock Stein made his European debut as a manager at the same stage, his Dunfermline Athletic side comfortably beating Dublin’s St Patrick’s Athletic by 8-1. The Pars would lose out to Ujpest in the quarter final on a 5-3 aggregate. Floriana have played many of Europe’s top sides over the years, with the only Scottish opposition being Dundee United in 1988/89, again in the Cup Winners’ Cup. The only goal of the tie was scored in the second leg at Tannadice by United’s Raphael Meade. Floriana have managed to win only one tie in any of the three major European competitions. In the preliminary round of the 1993/94 Champions League, they recorded home and away victories over Lithuanian champions Ekranas, before losing to FC Porto in the first round.

Previous meetings

Our two clubs have never met in competition. As far as I can tell, the closest we came was the UEFA Cup in the two seasons 1991/92 and 1992/93, when Floriana were beaten in the first round by Neuchatel Xamax and Borussia Dortmund respectively. In both cases, those sides then played and eliminated Liam Brady’s Celtic in the next round.

Celtic’s only tie against Maltese opposition was in the 1971/72 European Cup second round when we were drawn against Floriana’s rivals, Sliema Wanderers. The first leg at Celtic Park took place the day after Lisbon Lions John Hughes and Willie Wallace had been sold to Crystal Palace. Tommy Gemmell would also leave Parkhead within a few weeks, and he opened the scoring within four minutes with what would prove to be his final European goal for the club.

Harry Hood added a double before the half-hour mark and there was even the rare sight of Jim Brogan scoring a goal in the second half. Lou Macari later completed the scoring at 5-0. The tie was concluded a fortnight later in the afternoon sun, in a game I always remember because of the zebra-striped goalposts and a pitch which was covered in sand.

The 10,000 crowd were shocked as Ronnie Cocks scored for Sliema in the very first minute. Normal order was restored just before the interval, when Harry Hood headed home his third goal of the tie. There was a bizarre start to the second half, when an attempted pass-back from George Connelly flew inches past the post with Evan Williams stranded, however, ten minutes later, Bobby Lennox won the match for Celtic with another header. This match was the last-ever in the Hoops for Tommy Gemmell, who moved to Nottingham Forest later that month, and the only Celtic appearance for former Juniors star Steve Hancock, as a substitute for Vic Davidson.

Personnel & Celtic connections

As well as Malta, Floriana’s current squad includes players from Senegal, Argentina, Brazil, Albania and Italy. Albanian Kristian Keqi was the League’s top goalscorer last season with 14, including a hat-trick against Sirens in March, whilst Brazilian Tiago Adan weighed in with 9. Italian Vincenzo Potenza has been the manager of Floriana since May 2019. The most recognisable name in the list of his predecessors is former England centre-half Mark Wright, who spent two months in the role from August 2012. Dubliner Roddy Collins, brother of former boxing world champion, Steve, and manager of various League of Ireland clubs in the past two decades, is another who has held the post, doing so for five months in 2009.