At first he didn’t like Futsal. He couldn’t really adjust to it. But once he got used to this sport, he never looked back again. His goals are inspiring Kalkara FC to aim high this season. He is an Englishman and has been living in Malta for the past seven years.

Today we meet Vaughan Barnes.

 How did you begin to play futsal?

The first time I heard about futsal was when I arrived in Malta back in 2007. I was introduced to the game by Gordon Sammut and started training with his team. I found it hard to adjust to the playing surface and the ball and soon I stopped playing. I then started training with Pentagon but once again just could not get into it.

 Talk about your futsal career so far.

As I have already said, I really did not like the game at first. But this time round I seemed to have found my feet and nowadays I’m loving every momemt of it. Hopefully the love affair will continue.

 A moment you’ll never forget in this sport.

My greatest moment so far was the first win of the season with Kalkara against Fgura. That victory really motivated us to think positive and always aim high.  

 It seems that Kalkara are doing pretty well in the First Division this season…

Yes we are and long may it continue. We have put in the work done during training and we are finally getting the results. All thanks to Kevin Loughborough who gives us motivation, courage and strength to carry on.

And your goals are helping your team as well. How can you describe your satisfaction when scoring goals?

It’s really satisfying to score goals. Regarding my performance, in the first few games I did not score and then all of a suddenI produced two hat-tricks.But saying that I also get the same feeling from an assist or a good block. Therefore scoring goals is not the most important thing for me. I always like to talk collectively as a team. As long as the team plays well and wins I’m even more satisfied. 

Describe Vaughan Barnes in three adjectives.

Genuine, positive and confident

How are you finding life in Malta?

I love Malta, I have been here for seven years and I consider this country asmy home. I’ve built lots of relationships with friends and colleagues here so I’m not going back to my country that’s for sure.

What about your future?

Well I hope that I keep up the good form in the coming months and help Kalkara to place in a good position in the table.