St George’s FC yet to inform MFA of new president with criminal past

The election of Stephen Vaughan Jr as president of St George’s FC in Malta’s third tier football league has raised eyebrows because of the man’s controversial past. 

Vaughan Jr was convicted in 2016 in the UK of perverting the course of justice in relation to the murder of Neil Doyle, a Liverpool police constable. 

Malta’s oldest football club announced Vaughan’s appointment last week but has so far not formally informed the Malta Football Association. 

“Despite being aware of statements made through social media, the Malta FA has no official communication from St George’s FC regarding changes in the club’s management committee,” MFA General Secretary Angelo Chetcuti said.  

Under the MFA’s regulations, club officials need to undergo a due diligence check which determines whether they can be approved or otherwise. 

A criminal past  

In 2016, Vaughan Jr was jailed for 15 months for helping the killers of a police officer flee the UK. 

Stephen Vaughan Jr, 31, allowed his sister’s boyfriend Timmy Donovan to borrow his Mercedes, which he used to escape to Germany in the hours after the officer was killed. 

Vaughan admitted perverting the course of justice by allowing Donovan to use his vehicle to “evade apprehension or prosecution by police”. 

Five years earlier, in March 2011, the Liverpool Echo reported that Vaughan Jr and his father were sentenced for having attacked a police officer in a drunken rage. The father was jailed at North Liverpool Community Justice Centre after assaulting a police constable.  

Vaughan Sr's barrister Anthony Barraclough blamed the drink-fueled "outburst" on the pressures he faced as a business owner and pleaded for a suspended sentence. 

A complicated relationship with football  

Stephen Vaughan Jr is no newcomer to Maltese football, having been appointed Floriana FC president in January 2013, a position he held until February 2014 when he resigned. 

In 2015, Floriana initiated legal action against Vaughan Jr after he left the club and claimed €70,000 in debt. 

Club sources said the issue was resolved “almost immediately” and “not a single cent” was paid to Vaughan Jr. 

He later became Mosta FC assistant coach and technical director, helping the club to its highest position in history as they finished fourth in the BOV Premier League in the 2013/14 season, before returning to the UK just six months later.  

On 4 November 2016, it was announced that Vaughan had been appointed as full-time director of football at Welsh Premier league side Bangor City having already been working in the role on a part-time basis from 1 August 2016. 

In his first season the club qualified for the Europa League by winning the play-offs. In the second season with the club, Bangor finished second and automatically qualified again for the Europa League. 

On 26 April 2018 the FAW Club Licensing Appeals Body decided to revoke Bangor City's Tier 1 and UEFA license due to not meeting financial criteria, meaning that they would automatically drop down to the second level of Welsh football and would not be able to compete for a place in the following season's Europa League. 

In October 2018, he was appointed as interim manager of Bangor City following the resignation of Craig Harrison. On 5 July 2019, he was appointed manager of Bangor City following the resignation of Gary Taylor-Fletcher. He left the club in September. 

In June 2020, he was appointed manager of Boca Gibraltar in the Gibraltar National League but did not formally take up the role. 

Jeffrey Farrugia ‘il-Vinċ’ enters the fray  

But Vaughan’s appointment by the Bormla club was not the only one to raise eyebrows. 

In a Facebook post uploaded by the club, announcing the first player meeting under the new management, Jeffrery Farrugia, known as il-Vinċ, can be spotted sitting among the players. 

Farrugia is no stranger to controversy in Maltese football circles. He resigned from his role as Sliema Wanderers FC president in 2021, after months promoting the supposed arrival of a new benefactor for the club – Saudi company Catco Group. 

MaltaToday had revealed how the company had promised Sliema Wanderers a €25 million investment over five years. 

But despite the high-flying promises towards the Premier League football club, Catco failed to pass on any cash and player wages remained unpaid. Farrugia said the problem was with Maltese banks that refused to open a bank account for funds to be transferred to the club. 

Sliema were relegated to the Challenge League in the following season.