Interview with Peter Busuttil
by Ayrton Galea - 28th April 2011
After two weeks ago, we interviewed the Club's physical training Darren Farrugia, this week we decided to interview a member of the Club's committee, Peter Busutill, so that we could all get to know him a bit better.
Q:How old are you?
A:Old enough to remember Birkirkara being promoted to 1st division from my grandfather's terrace in Mannarinu Street.
Q: When and why did you decide to form part of our committee?
A:It was not a decision. It was rather an urge to be an active part of a club I supported.
Q: What is your role with the Club?
A: I am officially the Assistant Secretary, but I feel that all club members and committee members should be more active in the Club. This is not just about going to a game on the weekend or meeting once a week. We should be passionate and present in good times and in bad times.
Q: How much time do you spend daily on issues related to our Club? Do you ever regret it?
A: The club is part of my DNA, so I guess its 24/7 but I must add that all matters related to the Club give me a lot of satisfaction, be they negative or positive.
Q: What are the main problems that, in your opinion, every Maltese club faces?
A: We call our football "walking football” at times, but this is also true of the administrative part of the clubs at most levels. We should sincerely ask ourselves: "Why are we in clubs, in committees, etc?”
Q: How important are sponsors are to local clubs?
A: Sponsors are an important element of survival. They provide a small but important financial support. Sponsors need clubs because they can be exposed to a great number of people, and clubs need sponsors. If we are more creative and sponsors are more willing, we can go places. The bottom line is that money spent in sports, helps the community at all levels.
Q: If you had to change one thing from our Club, what would it be?
I: I would like to see the Club to be more professional in its attitude on and off the field. This does not mean we need to be full-time. It's the mentality that counts.
Q: So far, what was your best experience with our club?
A: Winning the league last year.
Q: How satisfying is winning a major honour?
A: For me, but that is the way I am, it is always an anticlimax. But ultimately, in the years to come, I will feel proud to have been part of this Club's success.
Q: From where do you get the motivation to work for our Club?
A: From the supporters, and most but not all, of the players.
Q: How important is youth development for our Club?
A: This is something we should all work on to create better synergies at all levels. The youths will make the Club stronger, but here too we need to rethink some strategies.
Q: Keeping in mind that this season the club brought in several new players, and we are risking the second and even the third place, what, in your opinion, is going wrong this season? Do you believe that we can still end up this season in the runners up spot?
A: I will always believe that we can win - always. The team was inconsistent, but we had to go through a number of situations which do not normally occur all in one season. This is not an excuse. Some games we have played are beyond excuse. Where last year we had exceptional performances, this year we had exceptionally bad performances on more than one occasion. To say that we under-performed is (excuse the pun) an understatement.
Q: Do you believe that we can clinch the U*BET FA Trophy?
A: Of course.
Q: What's your dream for our Club?
A: That we become a professional outfit, with decent wages which are suited to the type of players we have.
Q: If you had one message to the supporters, what would it be?
A: Support. To support a winning team is easy, to support a losing team is an achievement. If you have doubts, search for the meaning of the word in your dictionary. Think of the Maltese translation: "appogg” and believe...
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