Ħamrun Spartans made history Thursday night after securing a 2-2 draw against Latvian club FC RFS, making them the first Maltese team to reach the League Phase of a UEFA club competition.
The team took home victory with a 3-2 on aggregate after maintaining a leading position following a 1-0 victory in the first leg.
The win saw the Spartans qualify for the Conference League.
Thursday’s match, the team’s biggest night in European football, proved a rollercoaster of emotions for fans as an early Maltese lead was quickly equalised by the Latvian club.
The tides of fortune seemed to swing in the Spartans’ favour when Saliou Thioune and Vincenzo Polito twice put them ahead, and although FC RFS managed to equalise, the Spartans showed great resilience to hold on and secure a historic qualification.
But in the end, Spartan managed to hold level with their rivals, maintaining the lead secured in their first match against the Latvian side.
Joseph Portelli took over as president of the club back in 2020, with the team securing its first Malta Premier League win in three decades shortly after.
When Portelli took over the reins of Ħamrun Spartans, he had made no secret of his ambition to help the 11-time Maltese champions qualify for the group stages of a UEFA club competition.
Initially, such comments were dismissed as far-fetched and unrealistic for a Maltese club, but on Thursday the team fulfilled that dream.
Spectators of all ages celebrated the win. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier.Tensions had run high in advance of the match, with team CEO Marcel Bonnici issuing a rallying cry ahead of the match and speaking of a “game-changing effect” should the squad win.
Coach Giacomo Modica tempered the excitement with words of calm, meanwhile, urging his players to stay grounded and insisting that while the stakes were huge, qualification must not become an obsession.