Carmel Busuttil

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

Regarded as one of the best Maltese players of all time, he began his career with his hometown club Rabat Ajax winning two Premier League titles, two Super Cups and an FA Trophy.

Born in Rabat, Malta, on 29 February 1964, Busuttil was introduced to football when he played with the neighbourhood children next to his parents’ house.

He joined Rabat Magpies Amateurs at the age of ten, and following financial and administrative problems a new club was formed under the name of Rabat Ajax.

Spotted by former Malta international and head coach of Rabat Ajax, Lolly Borg, Busuttil made his debut at age 14 against Għaxaq.

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.

Starting from the Third Division, Rabat Ajax earned two successive promotions, making a return to the top tier of Maltese football for the 1982–83 season after a 17-year wait.

In their first season back, Rabat Ajax finished a respectable second place, tied with Valletta, which gave them access to the 1983–84 UEFA Cup.

Busuttil made his debut in European competition in the 0–10 defeat against the Czechs of Inter Bratislava, played at the Rabat Ajax Football Ground on 11 September 1983.

After two runner-up finishes in their first two seasons back, in which Busuttil was awarded the first out of his two Player of the Year awards, Rabat Ajax won the Premier League title for two seasons in a row; the second was part of a double with the FA Trophy.

The high point of the previous seasons was followed by the low of the 1986–87 season as Rabat Ajax surprisingly suffered relegation.

Busuttil finished as the league top scorer with 10 goals.

Following Rabat's relegation, Busuttil expressed interest in leaving the club and Adelmo Paris, who at that time was with Żurrieq, invited him to join him at semi-professional Verbania.

In late August 1987, a season-long loan deal was agreed, with an additional clause added that following the season, in the event that a higher-level Italian club showed interest in Busuttil, Verbania would act on behalf of Rabat Ajax and receive 30% of any deal struck.

Playing in the Promozione, at that time the fifth level in Italian football, Verbania finished second in the Piemonte and Aosta Valley regional division, gaining promotion to the Interregionale (today's Serie D).

Busuttil ended his first stint outside his home country with eight goals to his name, and nowadays is still regarded with high esteem at the Piedmontese side.

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.

Busuttil returned to Malta to join Sliema Wanderers where he won another Premier League title.

During the summer of 1988, Belgian side Genk started negotiations with Rabat Ajax for Busuttil's signature.

Rabat Ajax were hesitant to sanction the sale due to Busuttil's importance to the team and the lack of agreement on the transfer fee; in turn, Busuttil was suspended by the club for his stance on leaving the club and did not play for three months.

Ultimately, the Malta Football Association (MFA) president (and future President of Malta) George Abela interceded on behalf of Rabat Ajax and in September 1988 an agreement was reached for the transfer of Busuttil.

The sum agreed was Lm 45,000 (€104,821) and he joined the club after a 15-day trial.

His first season was also Genk's first as a newly-formed club following the merger of Waterschei Thor With KFC Winterslag.

The club was marred with an unhealthy environment of bitterness between old rivals and now members of a single club, and finished the season last with only two wins in 34 matches.

Busuttil scored the first of his three goals for the season in a 2–2 draw against Beerschot on 2 October 1988.

Fortunes soon turned for the club and they finished fourth in the Second Division, thereby qualifying for the promotion play-offs.

In the decisive match against Zwarte Leeuw, played on 31 May 1990, Busuttil scored twice as Genk won 7–2.

He finished the season as the club's top scorer with 17 goals in all competitions, including 14 in the league.

Returning to the top division, Busuttil further solidified his place in the first team and extended his stay with the club despite interest from Belgian, Turkish and Hungarian clubs.

For the following four years he served as club captain.

Although considered relegation candidates for most of the 1990–91 season, Genk finished 14th in the league, avoiding relegation by four points; Busuttil scored five goals including the opener in a 1–1 draw against eventual champions Anderlecht on 13 April 1991.

In the following couple of seasons, Busuttil finished as club top scorer with ten goals as Genk narrowly avoided relegation in both years.

His last season with the Belgian club ended on a low point as the team's poor performances coupled with three managers hired during the course of the season led to a last place finish; Busuttil ended his season with six goals.

He finished his spell with Genk registering 57 goals in 183 games, becoming a crowd favourite and remaining highly regarded to this day.

Busuttil returned to Malta and in the summer of 1994 signed with Sliema Wanderers for a reported sum of Lm40,000 (€93,175).

He finished off his career in 2001 as one of the highest goalscorers in Premier League history with 93 goals.

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.

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.