Sliema Wanderers F.C.


Sliema Wanderers Football Club, nicknamed "tax-Xelin", is a professional Maltese football club. It is the most successful team in Malta and hails from the seaside town of Sliema. It currently plays in the Maltese Premier League.
WWW eswfc.com

History

The club was founded in 1909. The club competed in the first ever Maltese Premier League season in 1909–10 and finished in second position to Floriana after the five-game season came to an end.
Ten years down the line, Sliema Wanderers finally made their mark in Maltese football by winning the Maltese Premier League title in the 1919–20 season. Since then the team have gone on to win the title 26 times, a record for Malta; the last three being in 2002–03, 2003–04 and 2004–05.
Sliema Wanderers also hold the record for the most FA Trophy wins, with their first coming in 1935, when they overpowered Floriana with a 4–0 victory. The club have gone on to win this particular honour 20 times, most recently in 2000, 2004 and in [2008–09 Malta|Maltese Cup|2009]; the last title was won against Valletta 7–6 on penalties after the match finished 3–3 following extra time.
With all these honours, Sliema Wanderers are currently the most successful team in the history of Maltese football with approximately 113 honours. Sliema Wanderers train at the Tigne Sports Complex, in Sliema.

2000s

The 2000s saw Sliema Wanderers becoming a dominant club in the Maltese scene again.
Summer 2003 had President Robert Arrigo signing Maltese internationals Jamie Pace, Djibril Sylla and Daniel Bogdanovic.
Season 2004-05 saw the Wanderers, under the presidency of Robert Arrigo, win their 26th Maltese Premier League title. Part of this success was Michael Mifsud's return to his boyhood club after being leaving 1.FC Kaiserslautern on a free.
Season 2005-06 started with a UEFA Champions League qualifier against Sheriff Tiraspol. Much to Arrigo's chagrin, lost Michael Mifsud to Lillestrøm SK, in a move made possible by Nikki Dimech who acted as his representative, albeit being a lengthy transfer saga that was complicated by International Transfer Clearance issues and compensation fees.

2010s

Sliema Wanderers clinched a Maltese FA Trophy in season 2015-16.
Keith Perry was confirmed as president in the beginning of season 2016-17 despite rumours. John Buttigieg was appointed as Head Coach.

2020s

The club endured a rough start to the 2020s. The club started off with a bang, signing former Arsenal F.C. midfielder Denílson. Further players were signed and Keith Perry was appointed chairman of the club, and Jeffrey Farrugia took over as president. A sponsorship deal was struck with Catco Group, an oil investment company based in China and Tunisia. Catco Group however, failed to pay its dues, citing technical reasons. This gave way to unrest within the club, with captain Mark Scerri and head coach Andrea Pisanu making public statements regarding the financial situation of the club, proceeding with resignations such as Perry and team manager Alex Muscat. Players went unpaid for months, with another sponsor, Sixt, finally paying the players directly just before Christmas. Eventually a new sponsor was brought on board. Farrugia was later ousted as Keith Perry returned in the President's seat in preparation for the upcoming season.
Season 2021-22 was disastrous from a technical point of view. Despite signing two new players in Djibouti international Warsama Hassan and Japanese Yuki Uchida, up until 19 November 2021, the club had not yet won a match, and sat at the bottom of the Maltese Premier League. The first win came on 20 November, stunning Valletta with a 2–1 result. The dying minutes of the match however, proved fatal, as Warsama Hassan was introduced at 90 minutes. However, the player had just returned from Egypt, where he had featured for his Djibouti national football team in a match against Algeria. Warsama was supposed to be in quarantine, having returned from a Dark Red listed country. Valletta lodged a formal complaint, which was upheld by the Malta Football Association, awarding a 3–0 win to Valletta. Sliema Wanderers' next match was against Birkirkara F.C., resulting in a further loss. On 10 April 2022 Sliema Wanderers lost against Valletta with a 2–1 result, and were relegated to Maltese Challenge League after thirty-seven years in the top flight.

Futsal

Sliema Wanderers also had a futsal team, which participated in Malta's top futsal league until 2024. The 2023–24 season was the last edition of the Enemed Futsal League in which Sliema Wanderers Futsal participated, finishing at 9th place and thus qualified for the Enemed Challenger League.
Previously, Sliema had limited success in the domestic futsal competitions, finishing eighth in the 2010–11 season, fifth in 2011–12, and seventh in 2012–13 - out of ten teams. In the 2015–16 season, when the championship featured 14 teams, Sliema placed ninth.
Sliema Wanderers Bilbao Futsal reached the second round of the national cup in
2010–11 and 2012–13.

Youth Futsal League

On 13 February, Sliema Wanderers Youth Futsal won the Youth Futsal League after defeating Mosta 6–2 in the final played at the National Sport School in Pembroke, with Giorgio Comes scoring five goals for the winners.

Players

Current squad

''As of 19 August, 2025.''

Historical list of coaches

See Sliema Wanderers F.C. Managers
Lately coach Paul Zammit was saked after a disappointing loss to Swiqi United 2-1 in the Malta FA Cup round of 32 and was reflaced by Argentian coach Pablo Doffo

Honours

CompetitionTitlesSeasons
Maltese Premier League 261919–20, 1922–23, 1923–24, 1925–26, 1929–30, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1935–36, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1948–49, 1953–54, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1975–76, 1988–89, 1995–96, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05
Maltese FA Trophy221934–35, 1935–36, 1936–37, 1939–40, 1945–46, 1947–48, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1955–56, 1958–59, 1962–63, 1964–65, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1973–74, 1978–79, 1989–90, 1999–2000, 2003–04, 2008–09, 2015–16, 2023–24
Maltese Challenge League21983–84, 2022–23
Maltese Super Cup31996, 2000, 2009
Cassar Cup111923–24, 1924–25, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1945–46, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1959–60, 1966–67
Scicluna Cup101949–50, 1950–51, 1953–54, 1954–55, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1965–66
Euro Cup Malta61982, 1987, 1990, 2004, 2005, 2010
Independence Cup51964–65, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1973–74, 1981–82
Cousis Shield41917–18, 1919–20, 1923–24, 1925–26
MFA League Cup41965–66, 1969–70, 1978–79, 1984–85
Christmas Cup31966–67, 1967–68, 1970–71
Super 5 Cup31990–91, 2001–02, 2003–04
Löwenbräu Cup31999, 2001, 2002
Christmas Tourney Cup21936–37, 1948–49
Schembri Shield21955–56, 1957–58
Testaferrata Cup21964–65, 1974–75
Sons of Malta Cup21972–73, 1979–80
Summer Cup12024
Evolution Gaming Summer Cup12016
Atkins Cup11922–23
Empire Sports Ground Cup11923–24
MFA Cup11931–32
MPFA Shield11954–55
Summer Cup12004

Statistics

Domestic

Post-WWII season-by-season performance of the club: