Luke Dimech

Luke Anthony Dimech (born 11 January 1977) is a former Maltese professional footballer defender.

Luke Dimech
Personal information
Full name Luke Anthony Dimech
Date of birth (1977-01-11) 11 January 1977
Place of birth Floriana, Malta
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position(s) Centre-back
Youth career
Lincoln City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–2001 Sliema Wanderers 133 (3)
2002 Shamrock Rovers 16 (0)
2003 Birkirkara 10 (0)
2003–2005 Mansfield Town 45 (1)
2005–2006 Chester City 30 (0)
2006–2007 Marsaxlokk 26 (0)
2007–2008 Macclesfield Town 26 (0)
2008–2010 Valletta 47 (2)
2010–2012 AEK Larnaca 43 (0)
2012–2013 Mosta 14 (0)
2013–2015 Valletta 64 (3)
2015–2016 Sliema Wanderers 24 (0)
National team
Malta U21 14 (0)
1999–2013 Malta 78 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Sliema Wanderers

Born in Floriana, Malta, Dimech began his career playing for Sliema Wanderers. Luke's first season was the 1995–96 season and instantly gained silverware when the club won the Maltese Premier League.

Luke spent seven seasons with the club and even managed establishing himself in the Maltese national team in 1999, in total Dimech made 133 appearances and scored on three occasions during his time with the club.

Shamrock Rovers

After many impressive displays Luke moved to Ireland to join Shamrock Rovers for one season, making his debut on 2 September 2002.[1] He was sent off in his fourth appearance.[2] He proceeded to make a total of 16 appearances, but after falling out of favour with the club, Luke left Dublin. He played in the 2002 FAI Cup Final.

Birkirkara

Dimech returned to Malta joining up with Birkirkara in 2003, and made 10 appearances with the club, and won the F.A Trophy.

Mansfield Town

Another good season in the Maltese League saw Dimech on the move again, this time he joined English side Mansfield Town in August 2003.[3]

Dimech initially signed a one-year deal with the club but at the end of the 2003–04 season, Dimech enjoyed some very dominant displays, scoring once against Leyton Orient,[4] but the season finished with disappointment when Mansfield Town were beaten in the League Two play-off final on penalties to Huddersfield Town. Despite the disappointment Luke was rewarded for some very impressive displays with another one-year contract.[5]

Dimech's second season with Mansfield Town was quite indifferent in the early part of the season; Keith Curle was sacked and replaced by Carlton Palmer. Dimech carried the good form he enjoyed the following season and cemented a place in the heart of the defence, Dimech did not enjoy the best of second halves of the season and after falling out of favour with Carlton Palmer, Dimech was released at the end of the 2004–05 season. In two seasons with Mansfield Town, Dimech made 45 appearances and scored one goal.

Chester City

His next move was onto another English club, Chester City on a free transfer in July 2005 on a one-year contract. His manager was once again Keith Curle and his central defensive partner was David Artell, who moved with him from Mansfield.

Dimech was a regular in the heart of the Chester City defence and made 30 appearances during the 2005–06 season. Having only a one-year contract at the club and an indifferent second half to the season meant that Luke was released when his contract expired.[6]

Marsaxlokk

Dimech then returned to his homeland joining Marsaxlokk in 2006 in time for the new season. He has also captained the side during the season, in the absence of Carlo Mamo. He was also still a major part of the Malta national team setup, forming a strong partnership alongside veteran Brian Said.

Following Marsaxlokk triumph in the league, and the end of the players contract, Dimech decided not to renew and instead decided to search for a club elsewhere in Europe, thought to be England.

Macclesfield Town

On 19 July 2007, Dimech signed a one-year deal with manager Ian Brightwell to join League Two side Macclesfield Town[7] and was re-united with Carl Regan who he played alongside in Chester City's defence.

Dimech made his Macclesfield Town debut on the opening day of the League Two season away to Bradford City on 11 August 2007, in which the game finished 1–1. Three days later Luke made his home debut in the first round tie of Football League Cup against League One outfit Leeds United, the game finished 1–0 to Leeds, thanks to 78th-minute goal from Ian Westlake.

On 31 January 2008, Dimech and Carl Regan's partnership came to an end as Regan joined former Macclesfield-manager Paul Ince at Milton Keynes Dons. As one of Dimech's former Chester team mates left the club, another one arrived in the shape of Sean Hessey who joined the club on a season long loan from Chester City, and is likely to fill the void left by the departing Regan.

On 18 May 2008, Dimech and four other Macclesfield Town players were released by manager Keith Alexander. During his time with Macclesfield Town, Dimech made 26 appearances, but did not find the net.

Valletta F.C.

On 20 May 2008, Dimech signed for Valletta F.C. On 24 May 2010, Dimech was released by Valletta F.C following an incident in a Championship Pool game against Sliema Wanderers in April. Some Valletta supporters were critical towards him when the players were leaving the pitch at half time, and he responded by taking off his shirt and putting it on the pitch. This earned him a second yellow card in the game, and a club suspension before the club eventually decided to release him. In all he made 47 appearances and scored 2 goals. Dimech rejoined Valletta for a loan spell from Mosta fc in the January transfer window Season 2012/2013.

AEK Larnaca

On 25 June 2010, Dimech signed for AEK Larnaca. He was a well regarded and important player for the team. In August 2011, Dimech helped his club AEK Larnaca to reach the group stage of the UEFA Europa League, after beating Rosenborg 2–1 on aggregate, and was the first Maltese player to play in the group stages of a major competition.

International career

Malta

Dimech is a regular in the Maltese national team and to date has 78 caps with one goal. He began playing for Malta on 28 April 1999 when he made his debut against Iceland. When John Buttigieg took over the Maltese national team in 2009, there was apparently some sort of disagreement over Dimech's hairstyle, leading to Dimech being excluded from the squad. Later in the season he officially retired from the national team. In 2012, he came out of international retirement and joined the national team again.

International goals

Malta Goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.30 April 2003Ta' Qali Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta Cyprus1–21–2UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying

Personal life

Dimech has a younger brother, Mark, who plays in England for Basford United in the Nottinghamshire Senior League, and is also the team's captain. His older brother, Kris Dimech, used to play for Gedling Southbank and is now the team manager.

Honours

Sliema Wanderers

Marsaxlokk

Valletta

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References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 February 2003. Retrieved 18 April 2008.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 February 2003. Retrieved 18 April 2008.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. Mansfield sign duo
  4. "Mansfield 1–1 Leyton Orient". BBC. 16 August 2003. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
  5. Stags trio agree new deals
  6. Chester allow six players to exit
  7. Macclesfield bag defender Dimech
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