Raymond "Żażu" Farrugia (born 1 October 1955 in

Floriana Floriana ( or ''Il-Floriana''), also known by its title Borgo Vilhena, is a Floriana Lines, fortified town in the Port Region, Malta, Port Region area of Malta, just outside the capital city Valletta. It has a population of 2,205 as of March 2014 ...

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

) is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player He had been the head coach for 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 ...

from 2 May 2018. to the end of 2019.

Club career

Ray Farrugia started out in his hometown team of

, where he played for four years between 1974 and 1978. In 1978, he left for

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, to play for Melita Eagles. He was popular enough to be honoured with the first ever testimonial match in Australia. In 1990, he returned to Malta to play for Naxxar Lions, until 1994.

International career

Farrugia played four times for

, twice against

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

, the infamous 12–1 defeat against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, and once against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. He had attracted the interest of

when playing in Sydney, however he was unable to join the squad since he had already turned out for Malta.

Managerial career

Between 1994 and 1998, Farrugia coached Naxxar Lions. He served as the head coach of the Malta under-21 team between 2011 and 2014. In 2014, he was promoted to assistant coach to Pietro Ghedin who was at the helm of the Malta senior side. After the sacking of Tom Saintfiet, Farrugia was appointed as head coach for Malta's senior team. Farrugia debuted as Malta manager on 29 May 2018, against the Armenia national football team with a satisfactory draw. He introduced

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 ...

players in the squad, such as the likes of Jake Grech and Jurgen Degabriele. He also handed a full debut to

Gozitan Gozo ( ), known in antiquity as Gaulos, is an island in the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Republic of Malta. After the island of Malta itself, it is the second-largest island in the archipelago. As ...

Ferdinando Apap. Farrugia's second match was a narrow defeat of 1–0 against the

Georgia national football team The Georgia national football team ( ka, საქართველოს ეროვნული საფეხბურთო ნაკრები, tr) represents Georgia (country), Georgia in men's international association football, foo ...

. After finishing in the last position in the

UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2019 to November 2020 to determine the 24 UEFA member men's national teams that advanced to the UEFA Euro 2020 final tournament, intended to be playe ...

group, in November 2019 the

Malta Football Association The Malta Football Association (MFA; ) is the governing body of football (soccer), football in Malta. The Association organises the Maltese Football League for both men and women and several other competitions, including knockout competitions ...

announced that Farrugia's contract will not be renewed after its expiry at the end of the year.

Managerial statistics

Honours

MLT Medal for Service to the Republic BAR

'' Midalja għall-Qadi tar-Repubblika'' (Medal for Service to the Republic): 2020

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Farrugia, Ray 1955 births Living people People from Floriana Maltese men's footballers Maltese football managers Men's association football forwards Floriana F.C. players Parramatta FC players Naxxar Lions F.C. players Marsaxlokk F.C. managers Sliema Wanderers F.C. managers Malta national football team managers Malta men's international footballers