John Buttigieg

Brentford Buttigieg played for English Third Division club Brentford in a pre-season friendly tournament prior to the start of the beginning of the 1988–89 season. He had been spotted by manager Steve Perryman's former colleague Peter Shreeves, while playing in Northern Ireland for Malta. Buttigieg was brought in to play his natural sweeper role, but the Brentford defenders had trouble adapting to the system, which led Perryman to revert to using a normal defensive line and reducing Buttigieg to making cameo appearances in various positions off the bench.

Buttigieg began the 1989–90 season in an unfamiliar right back role and gradually fell out of the first team picture. to cover for injuries. After being transfer-listed in November 1990, Buttigieg was released in May 1991. Buttigieg made 47 appearances during his time at Griffin Park and the 20 caps he won for Malta during that period made him Brentford's then-most capped international player. which set the Greens up with a two-legged tie against Portuguese club Porto in the first round. Floriana went out 2–0 on aggregate, but salvaged some pride with a 0–0 draw at the Ta' Qali Stadium in the second leg. He also represented Floriana in the Intertoto Cup and the qualifying rounds of the Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Cup.

Valletta Buttigieg saw out his career with a three-season spell with Maltese Premier League club Valletta, making over 60 appearances and winning an unprecedented sextuple with the club during the 2000–01 season. He experienced European football once again, progressing past Welsh champions Barry Town in the 1999–00 Champions League first qualifying round, before bowing out to Austrian runners-up Rapid Vienna in the second qualifying round. A runners-up finish in the Maltese Premier League in the 1999–00 season saw Valletta qualify for the 2000–01 UEFA Cup qualifying round, but they were knocked out by Croatian club Rijeka 8–6 on aggregate. Buttigieg retired from football at the end of the 2001–02 season, after failing to be offered a new contract.

International career Buttigieg made his international debut in an unsanctioned match between Malta 'A' and an Italian amateur XI in February 1980, making a second appearance, again against the Italian amateurs in November 1981. Buttigieg made his debut for the Malta U18 team in February 1981 and won four caps for the team during an unsuccessful qualification campaign for the 1982 European U18 Championship. He scored his only international goal with the opener in a 3–0 victory over Azerbaijan in the 2000 Rothmans Tournament.

Birkirkara In March 2007, Buttigieg joined Maltese Premier League club Birkirkara as manager. He had a successful first season, turning the club's fortunes around and winning the 2007–08 Maltese FA Trophy. In June 2008, Buttigieg was awarded a UEFA pro-coaching license at the renowned Coverciano school in Italy. Buttigieg's Stripes opened the 2008–09 season by winning the Löwenbräu Cup, but suffered defeat to Valletta in the Maltese Super Cup. He replaced Dušan Fitzel, who was forced to step down five months before the end of his contract due to health problems. Buttigieg was joined by assistant manager Carmel Busuttil and both signed a five-year contract with the Malta Football Association. The final two games of Malta's 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign resulted in defeats to Sweden and Portugal and the team finished bottom of its group. After losing 15 of his first 17 games, Buttigieg secured his second win in international management with a 2–1 friendly victory over the Central African Republic on 10 August 2011. having recorded just two victories from 21 games.

Return to Birkirkara Together with Carmel Busuttil, Buttigieg returned to Birkirkara to take charge of the Maltese Premier League club's academy in December 2011.

Floriana Buttigieg returned to former club Floriana in July 2014 to take over the role of technical director of the club's academy.

Sliema Wanderers In June 2016, Buttigieg returned to Sliema Wanderers to take over the job as manager. His tenure got off to a start, with victory in the 2016 Summer Cup. A mid-table 2016–17 season also featured defeats in the 2016 Maltese Super Cup and the 2017 Maltese FA Trophy Final.

Third spell at Birkirkara In April 2019, Buttigieg took over as manager Birkirkara, for the second time, on a two-year contract. He resigned from the position in September 2019.

Return to Floriana In December 2020, Buttigieg returned to Floriana and signed a contract to become head coach. After six weeks in charge of the Greens, he resigned from the position in February 2021.

Personal life Buttigieg's father Robbie was also a footballer.

Career statistics Club

Honours Player Sliema Wanderers Independence Cup: 1981–82 Euro Cup: 1982