page_title: Marsaxlokk F.C.
section_title: (2008–2009) season
hierarchical_section_title: Marsaxlokk F.C. / History / (2008–2009) season
caption_attribution_description: Picture of Saviour Darmanin
context_page_description: Marsaxlokk Football Club is a Maltese football club from the town of Marsaxlokk, which currently plays in the Maltese Second Division. The club was founded in 1949. Marsaxlokk won the Maltese Premier League title for the first time in their history, after finishing as league champions for the 2006–07 season. Marsaxlokk FC has its headquarters at Triq il-Kavalleriza, Mxlokk redoubt.
context_section_description: Following the club's second-place finish during the 2007/08 season, they were seeded for the first qualifying round of the UEFA Cup. The draw was made on 1 July 2008, in which Marsaxlokk were drawn against Croatian outfit Slaven Belupo, who also finished second in their respective league last season.
  On the transfer front long serving defender Charlo Magro announced his retirement, after five seasons with the club. André Schembri completed a season long loan at German outfit Eintracht Braunschweig, and will return to Germany for the current season, after joining Carl Zeiss Jena on another season long loan. Also departing are the influential midfield duo of Jamie Pace and Cleavon Frendo, who both signed with league champions Valletta, along with Montenegro striker Aleksandar Madžar who wasn't retained, and later went on to join Floriana. Young midfielder Gordon Mizzi will spend the season on loan with Maltese Third Division side Gzira United, in order to gain some valuable first team experience.
  Joining the club are Valletta goalkeeper Saviour Darmanin, who struggled for first team appearances last year, with Valletta preferring Andrew Hogg in goal. Replacing Aleksandar Madžar as the club's third foreign player is Marcelo Pereira, who played last season for relegated Mqabba, and finished in second place in the league's goalscoring charts, with an impressive 14 goals. Last season's top goalscorer Julio Alcorsé and fellow striker Mark Barbara had their loan moves from Hibernians and Valletta respectively, extended for a further season.
  On 8 July 2008, Marsaxlokk strengthened their squad further with the signings of midfielder Christian Cassar, who joined on a five-year contract from Floriana and defender Clive Brincat from St. George's, although the latter had spent last season on loan with Msida Saint-Joseph. Marsaxlokk also confirmed the signing of Malta vice captain and defender Brian Said from Sliema Wanderers along with fellow defender Arnold Buttigieg from St. Patrick the following day. However, goalkeeper Reuben Gauci and defender Shawn Tellus departed, both players signed season long loan deals with newly promoted side Qormi.
  On 20 August 2008, Marsaxlokk rounded up their summer of new signings, with the capture of Malta international Claude Mattocks, who had fallen out of favour with Valletta.
  Marsaxlokk started the season on 28 August 2008 with an unimpressive draw against newly promoted Qormi, with Julio Alcorsé scoring a very late equaliser to cancel out an earlier goal Ivan to force a 1–1 draw.
  Following a 2–0 defeat by holders Valletta, Marsaxlokk recorded their first win coming from two goals behind to beat Ħamrun Spartans 4–2, with goals from Malcolm Licari, Brian Said, Marcelo Pereira and Claude Mattocks.
  Following a list of disappointing results, Marsaxlokk appointed Msida Saint-Joseph manager Patrick Curmi as the club's new manager on 18 December 2008, with previous manager Brian Talbot moving upstairs as the club's technical director.
  Patrick Curmi's reign began with an unfortunate 1–0 defeat to Valletta, with former Marsaxlokk player Cleavon Frendo scoring the only goal, Curmi did taste his first victory in his fourth game with a 2–1 win over Floriana.
  With Marsaxlokk still running the risk of finishing 7th and playing in the relegation pool, their fate would be sealed on the last day of the first phase with a game against Curmi's old club Msida Saint-Joseph. A Marsaxlokk win would mean the clubs would swap places in the league and condemn Msida Saint-Joseph to a place in the relegation pool. Patrick Curmi used his knowledge of his old club to mastermind a 2–1 win and claim the final place in the championship pool.
  Marsaxlokk season did however have a sour note after an ongoing investigation into an allegation of bribery against player Claude Mattocks and team manager Peter Hartshorne. On 24 March 2009, both were convicted of bribery and sentenced to four months jail suspended for a year and fined €500. Both parties had pleaded guilty to trying to bribe Msida Saint-Joseph goalkeeper Matthew Camilleri in
caption: Goalkeeper Saviour Darmanin joined from Valletta.
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