Joseph Portelli has vowed to turn the fortunes of Ħamrun Spartans as the Gozitan businessman was confirmed as the main sponsor of the Premier League club last week. 

The arrival of Portelli in the Spartans ranks has been greeted by great enthusiasm by the club fans who are hoping to see their team again among the front-runners to challenge for the league title after almost a 30-year wait. 

However, Portelli warned that the club needed to implement a number of changes in the way the club was run in recent years and said that his first priority will be to put the club in a much better stable financial position. 

Portelli’s involvement in football has so far only been in Gozo where as president of Nadur Youngsters he led his hometown club to several titles, the last of which being the 2019-20 GFA Division One championship. 

So, what pushed him to be involved with a Maltese club?

“Football is my passion,” Portelli told The Sunday Times of Malta. 

“In the past months, I was contacted by several Maltese clubs to get involved in their projects but none of them felt to be the right one until Ħamrun Spartans 
arrived.

“When I was approached by their officials they made me realise how passionate their club fans can be when showing me pictures of their celebrations during their glory days and that convinced me to accept their offer.

“One thing that surprised me negatively was to find the club’s financial books being in such a poor state, and I’m really sorry for the club. But the way forward for me now is to get involved and try and put the house in order.

“I want to make it clear that I will not be the club president, that position will be retained by Nunzio Antignani. My goal is to work hard to make sure the club will win the title again in the next three years.”

Portelli said that the only way for Ħamrun Spartans to be again ready to challenge for the title is if they work diligently.

“The only way for Ħamrun Spartans to be successful is if the club committee works seriously and is an example for the players that take the field,” Portelli said.

“In the past 30 years this was not the case as a lot of mistakes were committed. I’m sure that if things were done differently in all those years there would have been a time when Ħamrun challenged for the title. 

“But I can guarantee that I will make sure that the team will be competitive again and will fight for honours in the next three years. That timeframe would have been shorter had we not found financial problems but we will take care of that too.”

The project will be done with a cashflow system that guarantees the club’s financial stability without having an investor- Joseph Portelli

Apart from helping the football club, Portelli will also be responsible of an ambitious project at the Tedesco Stadium that in his words will make the club self-sustainable and guarantee sound future.

“I got involved also for the stadium project,” Portelli said.

“I worked a lot on this project and I have almost completed its concept design. I have already spoken with the authorities to try and start the process but it’s still too early.

“To be clear, from this project I will not make any personal financial gain, I have other areas in my business from where to make profit. The project will be done with a cashflow system that guarantees the club’s financial stability without having an investor.

“There will be four areas of the project, which will be announced in the coming months, that through their rental will guarantee a strong financial income. It’s true that for ten years, the club will have to pay this debt on a ten-year period but during this time, the club will still have funds to operate without any financial problems.”

Portelli said that this project will make the club self-sustainable as they will be able to sell 49 per cent of the shares and keep 51 per cent and that will help them to generate a lot of money.

“Only a part of that money will be permitted to be used by the committee,” Portelli said. 

“The other will go in a fund and after ten years the club will have enough income to be able to invest it in other projects, be it construction, tourism sector or catering, that will continue to generate more income.”

Portelli said that this project will be of great benefit for the people living in Ħamrun as it will provide them with several sporting facilities which they will be able to use of, such as an indoor pool, a futsal pitch, a squash court and a hockey pitch that can also host in it handball matches.

The Gozitan entrepreneur said that his involvement with Ħamrun Spartans will in no way hinder his support to his hometown club Nadur Youngsters, where this year, he managed to lead them to the league title as club president.

European ambition

However, he admitted that he also harboured a dream of competing in a UEFA club competition and that could only be achieved by a Maltese club.

“Nadur Youngsters will always remain a priority for me as they are my hometown club,” Portelli said.

I don’t think that just because you have the money to invest, it is enough to make you a club president- Joseph Portelli

“This year we won the championship and next season I will do all I can so that we retain the title. However, the ambitions with a Gozitan club is limited as it’s not possible to compete in Europe. 

“That was another main reason why I wanted to join a big Maltese club as my dream is to lead the team to the Champions League qualifiers.”

At Ħamrun Spartans, Portelli has brought with him Mark Buttigieg, who he described as “the best coach I have ever had at the helm of my team”.

“Mark has a great football vision but above all he is capable of gelling all the players in the  squad into a strong unit,” Portelli said.

“I’m sure he is the right man for the job and he will help us reach our objectives.”

Asked whether he harbours hopes of taking over as Ħamrun Spartans president in the future, Portelli said: “I don’t think that just because you have the money to invest, it is enough to make you a club president.

“A club president is elected by the people who choose you to take charge of their club after seeing how you administer the organisation. 

“If the Ħamrun fans will decide in the future to put me at the helm I will surely be honoured to fill this role in the club. But for now I’m just happy to help the club get back where it belongs.”