Phil Holder's tactical change to a long ball game saw Buttigieg further frozen out and after being transfer-listed in November 1990, he was released in May 1991. Buttigieg made 47 appearances during his time at Griffin Park and the 20 caps he won for Malta during that period make him Brentford's most capped international player. Swindon Town (loan) Buttigieg moved on a one-month loan to Second Division club Swindon Town in September 1990, to cover for injuries. He made four appearances before his loan expired and the Robins were unwilling to make the move permanent. Floriana After a transfer dispute with former club Sliema Wanderers saw Buttigieg designated a free agent, he returned to the Maltese Premier League to sign for Floriana in 1991. He was named captain and won the double in the 1992–93 season and a cup treble in 1993–94. In the 1993–94 season, Buttigieg was part of the Floriana team which was the first (and as of 2014, only) Maltese club to qualify for the first round proper of the Champions League. Buttigieg scored both goals in a 2–0 win over Lithuanian champions Ekranas in the qualifying round, which set the Greens up with a two-legged tie against Portuguese club Porto in the first round. Floriana went out 2–0 on aggregate, but salvaged some pride with a 0–0 draw at the Ta' Qali Stadium in the second leg. He also represented Floriana in the Intertoto Cup and the qualifying rounds of the Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Cup. By the time he departed Floriana in 1999, Buttigieg had made 155 league appearances and scored eight goals for the club. He held talks over the club's vacant manager's job in October 2009, but the position went to Stephen Azzopardi. Valletta Buttigieg saw out his career with a three-season spell with Maltese Premier League club Valletta, making over 60 appearances and winning an unprecedented sextuple with the club during the 2000–01 season. He experienced European football once again, progressing past Welsh champions Barry Town in the 1999–00 Champions League first qualifying round, before bowing out to Austrian runners-up Rapid Vienna in the second qualifying round. A runners-up finish in the Maltese Premier League in the 1999–00 season saw Valletta qualify for the 2000–01 UEFA Cup qualifying round, but they were knocked out by Croatian club Rijeka 8–6 on aggregate. Buttigieg retired from football at the end of the