Hibernians FC (Malta)

Paola Hibernians Football Club are one of the most successful and best supported clubs in the history of Maltese football. So successful in fact they they are the only team to have spent their entire career in the highest division. They were also the first Maltese club to play in a major European tournament when they played Servette of Switzerland in the UEFA Cup in 1961.

They were formed in 1922 in the town of Paola - although can trace an ancestry in the town's football to as far back as 1894. They were the first team in the whole of Malta to have their own dedicated stadium, when their 1500 capacity Hibernians Ground was opened in 1998. However despite this lovely facility, they play most of their home games in the National Stadium in Ta’ Qali, as the majority of Premier League games are played there.

In total they've won the league on 10 occasions, the most recent in the 2008/09 season, and have been runners up a further nine times. They also have eight Maltese Cups under their belts, and were losing finalist in ten more years. As far as their European adventures go, they've played 60 matches in their 50 year span in the various competitions, getting past the first round on only a few small occasions, but still managing to hold both Manchester United and Real Madrid to very respectable goalless draws.

They've also got the most famous and active bunch of fans on the island. The Paola Boys Hibs Ultras have only been going since 2007, but in that time have proved to be a lively and excitable addition to the Maltese football scene. They can also count the great Stanley Matthews as their most famous former managers, although Arsenal and Ipswich old boy Brian Talbot also put in a successful stint in the 1990.

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