Carmel Busuttil

Carmel Busuttil
Personal information
Date of birth (1964-02-29) 29 February 1964 (age 60)
Place of birth Rabat, Malta
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1977–1979 Rabat Ajax
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1979–1988 Rabat Ajax 106 (47)
1987–1988 → Verbania (loan) 20 (8)
1988–1994 Genk 166 (45)
1994–2001 Sliema Wanderers 143 (64)
Total 435 (164)
International career
1982–2001 Malta 113 (23)
Managerial career
2003–2005 Malta (assistant)
2005–2006 Santa Lucia
2006–2008 Pietà Hotspurs
2009–2011 Malta (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Carmel Busuttil MQR (born 29 February 1964), nicknamed "Il-Bużu",[1] is a Maltese former professional footballer who played as a striker.

Regarded as one of the best Maltese players of all time,[2][3] he began his career with his hometown club Rabat Ajax winning two Premier League titles, two Super Cups and an FA Trophy. After a year spell with Verbania in Italy, Busuttil joined Genk in 1988. He was a prominent figure in the Belgian side, where he served as club captain and was the team's top scorer for three consecutive seasons.[1] Busuttil returned to Malta to join Sliema Wanderers where he won another Premier League title. He finished off his career in 2001 as one of the highest goalscorers in Premier League history with 93 goals.[4]

At international level, Busuttil made his debut for the Maltese national team in 1982. He was capped 113 times, scoring 23 goals in the process. He is the nation's fourth-most capped player of all-time, and his top goalscoring record stood until it was broken in March 2010.[5] In 2004, he was selected by the Malta Football Association as the country's "single most outstanding player" in the last 50 years as part of the UEFA Jubilee Awards.[6]

  1. ^ a b Aquilina, Domenic (2 February 2011). "Busuttil broke the mould for Malta". UEFA. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  2. ^ "The Carmel Busuttil Story". The Malta Independent. 27 April 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  3. ^ "Busuttil honoured in Maltese poll". UEFA. 1 November 2002. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  4. ^ "Stefan Sultana still holds Premier League goals record". Malta Football Association. 22 June 2017. Archived from the original on 6 October 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  5. ^ Azzopardi, Kevin (5 March 2010). "Record scorer Mifsud delighted to prove doubters wrong". Times of Malta. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  6. ^ "Golden Players take centre stage". UEFA. 29 November 2003. Retrieved 28 September 2018.