Construction mogul and Ħamrun boss Portelli plays for Nadur to clinch Gozo trophy

Construction mogul Joseph Portelli stepped out his office desk, after having been formally registered into the Malta Football Association’s players system... to play for the former club he was a president of: Nadur Youngsters.

Portelli, now one of Maltese football’s ‘big men’, took his cash from his hometown Nadur to the Maltese premier league to back Hamrun’s 2021 championship bid.

But the Hamrun Spartans president was officially registered as a footballer so that he can play for Nadur Youngsters against Kercem Ajax today Saturday, at 4pm.

The reason, as Net TV’s Replay reported, is so that Portelli can play the last match for Nadur when it will be crowned first division champions and clinch the trophy.

He started off as substitute in the line-up, with number 99. And he got to score the 80th minute penalty for Nadur to boot, in a match that finished in a 1-1 draw.

Portelli resigned as Nadur Youngsters president in October 2020 to take up the presidency of Hamrun Spartans, leaving his son Tristen as president of Nadur.