Interview: Keith Micallef - Rabat Ajax Captain

First of all welcome Keith and thanks for accepting my interview.

So Keith, Can you describe your footballing career as a child with the Rabat Nursery?

I made my first steps to this wonderful sport at the age of 7. At that time I can say that I knew nearly nothing about football but with the help of some very good coaches at the Rabat Depiro Youth Nursery I learned the basics and the love towards this sport. The game that I most remember was my debut with the under 18 squad. We played against Marsa at the Dingli ground and won 6-0.

 

Keith, you also had an experience with the Maltese National Team. Can you describe your time over there?

I’ve spent six wonderful years with the National Team. From the age of 10 to 16 I gained a lot of experience through some excellent coaches and also had the opportunity to travel abroad several times to play some very high level tournaments. One that I remember very well was the Milk Cup in Ireland were we reached the QF’s of the tournament.

You were also the first player from your age group to make the debut with the senior team in the Premier Division. How was it for a 16 year old to make his debut in such a high league?

It was the 19th of September 1998 not even two months after my 16th birthday, when Ziya Yildiz the coach of that time called me for the game that Rabat were going to play against Floriana. I was just happy to be there on the bench and couldn’t believe my ears when after a few minutes of the second half he shouted my name from the pitch to start warming up. The feeling when I entered the pitch of Ta Qali was sensational. We lost that match 4-1 but for me it was an enormous boost to have played at such a high level at only 16 years.

Keith Micallef is the captain of this Rabat team. Do you think this is a high point in your career considering the fact that you are also from Rabat.

I was already captain when we played in the youth leagues and always had the dream of captaining my team mates even in the senior team. So when last year our coach Joe Gerada and the committee decided to put me as captain I was very proud as Rabat is a club with a great history and for me it really is an honour.

This season we had a very shaky start. One draw and two defeats after eachother. But things seem to change from then on. What are your comments regarding the season so far?

Playing in the 2nd division is totally different from last year, the games are much more tight and you have to be really concentrated all the time. I think that in the first three matches we still had the mentality that we could win easily like we did the previous year, but then we put our feet back on the ground and with the hard work that we do in training things changed and results started coming our way. Now we must try and keep this momentum to gain as much points as possible.

Going back to August 2006, we had the Rabat Ajax Supporters Club re-formed after a long absence. Do you think that this has helped the Rabat people move closer to the Club itself?

After a promotion there is always a lot of ‘electricity’ in the air and so the great work and all the efforts that you Etienne and all the other members of the Supporters Club are doing can only make the Rabat people start re-growing their interest in the team and in the club. I just want to tell the supporters to come and support us every match and bring with them all their friends so that with their support we can take Rabat Ajax up another level. Maybe in the past they were let down by the team because of all those relegations, but now the team has changed and the mentality is once again a winning one.

Any comments you'd like to add Keith?

In the end, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my wife and all my family for the support that they have given me through the years in my football career so far.

 

Interviews: Jonathon Bezzina , Emmanuel Muscat, Adam Smeir , Joe Gerada (Coach), Jonathan Azzopardi.