Luke Montebello (born 13 August 1995) is a Maltese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Maltese Premier League side Valletta F.C., and the

Malta national football team The Malta national football team () represents Malta in men's international Association football, football and is controlled by the Malta Football Association, the governing body for football in Malta. The first official game played by Malta ...

Club career

Having played his youth football for the

Birkirkara Birkirkara (abbreviated as B'Kara or BKR) is a city in the Eastern Region, Malta, Eastern Region of Malta. It is the second most populous on the Malta (island), island, with 24,356 inhabitants as of 2020. The town consists of five autonomous pari ...

nursery, Montebello joined

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

's youth sector in 2011. He had some success with the Italian youth side, before returning to Malta and signing with

Valletta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

on a five-year contract. Montebello was sent out on loan to Żebbuġ Rangers for the second half of the 2014–15 season in a bid to help them avoid relegation. In search of first team football, he joined Tarxien Rainbows in summer 2015 on loan, scoring 12 goals in 31 matches in the

Maltese Premier League The Maltese Premier League, known as 360Sports Malta Premier for sponsorship reasons with 360Sports (colloquialism, colloquially known as ''Il-Kampjonat Premjer''), is the highest level of professional football in Malta. Managed by the Malta Foot ...

. He was again sent out on loan for the 2016–17 season, this time to woodenspoonists Pembroke Athleta. This was short-lived however, as he was called back to Valletta for the second half of the season, after he injured his shoulder in October. He underwent surgery which turned out to be successful, however he still needed 7 to 8 weeks of recovery. In 2017, Montebello returned to his childhood club Birkirkara on a permanent deal. In January 2018, Montebello was banned for match-fixing for one year. After the suspension, he returned to play for Birkirkara again. In 2022, Montebello joined Ħamrun Spartans, where he would win the

in the 2022/23 season and would also win the subsequent Maltese Super Cup. On the 18th of March 2025 Luke mutually parted ways with the club after an altercation with fans post Hamrun Spartan's 1-0 defeat to Sliema. On the 14th of April 2025 it was announced that Luke would be returning to a club in the summer, where he had spent some time as a junior, in the shape of Valletta F.C., who themselves had just come off a season, which saw an instant return to the Maltese Premier league, after a one-year absence.

International career

Luke Montebello featured in the Malta national under-17 football team and the Malta national under-19 football team. He also featured in the

Malta national under-21 football team The Malta national under-21 football team is the national under-21 association football team of Malta and is controlled by the Malta Football Association. The team is sponsored by Givova. Competitive record UEFA European Under-21 Championsh ...

under Silvio Vella, making his debut on 5 September 2014. Before an Under-21 match against

Czech Republic national under-21 football team The Czech Republic national under-21 football team is the national under-21 association football team of the Czech Republic and is controlled by the Football Association of the Czech Republic. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Cham ...

, allegedly Montebello was approached to throw the match for a sum of money; he allegedly did not accept and testified against the bribers in court. He was first included provisionally in the senior side on 4 November 2015. He made his

debut under Pietro Ghedin in a 1–3 defeat against Slovakia on 26 March 2017.

Style of play

With a tall and powerful physique, Montebello has been described as a target man.

Honours

Club

;Valletta *

: 2013–14, 2015–16 *

Maltese FA Trophy The FA Trophy, currently known as the Meridianbet FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual football (soccer), football cup competition that takes place in Malta. The cup was founded in 1933; following a match between England national footba ...

: 2013–14 Ħamrun Spartans *

: 2022–23, 2023–24 * Maltese Super Cup: 2023 Individual *

Top Goalscorer: 2023–24

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Montebello, Luke 1995 births Living people Sportspeople from Pietà, Malta Men's association football forwards Maltese men's footballers Maltese expatriate men's footballers US Livorno 1915 players Birkirkara F.C. players Valletta F.C. players Żebbuġ Rangers F.C. players Tarxien Rainbows F.C. players Pembroke Athleta F.C. players Balzan F.C. players Hamrun Spartans F.C. players Malta men's international footballers Maltese Premier League players Maltese expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy