03/03/2020
MTARFA PARADE GROUND
It all Started Here 111 Years Ago Today…
14th February 1909: St George’s – Floriana 1-1
It all started from here. There is no doubt that the idea to stage a football League on a national scale actually kicked off with this Challenge match between St George’s and Floriana. These two football teams were the best on the island. They quite often played against the sailors and airmen stationed in Malta with the UK Services and on many occasions gave a good account of themselves.
So when it was announced that following an absence of nine years St George’s and Floriana were ready for another football challenge the island went wild with enthusiasm.
The encounter generated so much interest that Notary Francesco Schembri Zarb some months later came up with the idea to organize a football competition on a national scale. He approached the Editor of the Daily Malta Chronicle newspaper Ġuże Bartolo asking for a donation in order to buy a Silver Cup.
The Editor was highly enthusiastic about the whole idea and the monetary request was immediately granted. The donation was what we call today a Sponsor, so much that the First Football League which started in February 1910 was played for the Daily Malta Chronicle Cup.
There was no Malta Football Association at the time. The 1900 on the MFA logo is as fake as a three dollar bill. In fact, for this first football league an ad-hoc committee was set up at the University and was made up of Lt. Prewer of the Royal Artillery as President, with William Parnis (son of Judge Alfredo Parnis) acting as Secterary and Lennard as Treasurer. The MFA we know today was only set up in 1913.
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THE IMTARFA CUP
In any case, we were saying, a football league history 110 years long and still counting started from here. St George’s, considering themselves as the best local football team on the island, had been challenging ‘all Malta’ for a football match with announcements on the Malta Daily Chronicle and The Malta Herald.
For some time there challenges went unheeded. Until one day….
One day a man from Floriana by the name of Raffaele, who worked at the Docks, and frequented Cospicua each day approached Ġużeppi Tanti, the St George’s FC Secretary, and informed him that a group of players from Floriana took up the Challenge. This is documented in the Daily Malta Chronicle issue of 20th February 1909, in the aftermath reports of the big match.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Both club committees met at the office of Notary Salvatore Borg Olivier (uncle of future PM Giorgio) at number 25 Strada Tesoreria in Valletta to put on paper the conditions binding both clubs for this match. A player from each side accompanied the club committees. Leli Delia ‘It-Tiċċ’ who played for St George’s was there and so was Ruġġieru Friggieri ‘Iż-Żibġa’ of Floriana.
At one point ‘It-Tiċċ’ took out of his pocket a bead already knotted to a String and started turning it in full revolutions in front of all those present. Now Floriana had Friggieri nicknamed ‘Iż-Żibġa’ (The Bead) and Ġużeppi Vella nicknamed ‘Spagu’ (String). ‘Se Nġibukom Żugraga’ (We will ran riots all over you) is what he meant.
The act was anything but entertaining for Friggieri. As soon as he was out of the meeting he went straight to the Floriana Bar ‘Ta’ Ċekċek’ where he approached the other Floriana players, particularly Spagu, and informed them that ‘It-Tiċċ’ tried to make fun of him.
‘We will show him on match day’ he reportedly told his team mates.
MATCHDAY
And so it was. Very early in the game when Delia was in possession of the ball in the Floriana penalty area, Friggieri went rough into the player. It was a penalty without any excuses but luckily for the Greens Josie Fearne failed to score.
Then at the second time of asking when Delia was still in midfield coming forward with the ball, Friggieri thought it was the best opportunity to square the argument as he made a tackle with the intent of hurting badly Leli Delia. Which he did.
Play stopped for a couple of minutes before Delia was carried off the field at which point he was approached by Friggieri who reportedly told him: ‘You see what happens to whoever tries to ridicule ‘Iż-Żibġa’.
Delia returned back some time later but while the Saints were playing with ten players Floriana managed to score the draw through their forward Willie Pisani, a goal which brought some prolonged protests as the Saints argued that they should have been awarded a goal-kick as the ball went over the line before Mifsud centred towards Pisani.
THE AFTERMATH
So the match ended 1-1 with arguments lingering on for days thereafter. The Saints even accused the Irish that they did not play fair as while they presented eleven players from Cospicua, the Greens had only seven players from Floriana as two were from Valletta, probably referring to brothers Fredu and Ruġġieru Friggieri who actually were from Floriana but lived in Valletta, and to Ġużi Mallia ‘In-Nippi’ and goalkeeper Pawlu Borg, who in reality were from Hamrun. Mallia and Borg, however, had been living in Floriana for the previous two years
Floriana counter-argued that they were faithful to all terms and conditions signed in front of Notary Salvatore Borg Olivier and in all fairness it was St George’s who had been challenging ‘All Malta’ in the local papers for a Challenge Match.
Although, at first, it was thought that a replay was to take place the following week, months rolled by with the Imtarfa Cup kept under lock and key in Police Custody and it was only three years later that both sides agreed to give a double purpose to their league game of 26th February 1912 and consider the match as a replay for the Mtarfa Cup.
For the record Floriana won the match 1-0 with a goal scored by Alex Semini after 30 seconds winning the Cup were it is still held at the club to this day. Semini later emigrated to Africa and in June 1934 was killed by natives during a burglary in his farm which went wrong. His wife Stella survived the ordeal.
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MATCH STATISTICAL DETAILS
Sunday 14th February 1909
Mtarfa Parade Ground
Barrack Square – L-Imtarfa
Attendance: approx. 10,000
Kick-Off: 3.00 p.m.
St George’s FC – Floriana FC 1-1
Scorers: Masu Hicks (SG) 30’ and Willie Pisani
St. George’s FC: 1 Henry Camilleri, 2 Wenzu Busuttil ‘Garaga’, 3 T. Camilleri, 4 John Born, 5 Josie Fearne, 6 Leli Busuttil ‘Balolu’, 7 Ġużi Tagliaferro, 8 Masu Hicks, 9 Leli Delia ‘It-Tiċċ’, 10 P. Theuma, 11 Ġ. Cordina.
Floriana FC: 1 Pawlu Borg, 2 Fredu Friggieri, 3 Ruġġieru Friggieri ‘Iż-Żibġa’, 4 Leli Vella ‘Il-Bażokk’, 5 Ġużi Mallia ‘In-Nippi’, 6 Salvu Tabone ‘Tal-Luminata’, 7 Robbie Naudi, 8 Salvu Samuele, 9 Ġużeppi Vella ‘Spagu’, 10 Willie Pisani, 11 F. Mifsud.
Referee: Sgt. Hicks (Suffolk Regiment)
Linesmen: Lance Corporal Garvey and Gunner Shorey.
MATCH NOTES
1. Permission to use the Imtarfa Parade Ground at Barracks Square had been granted by Colonel Montague, Commanding Officer of the First Suffolk Regiment.
2. St. George’s played with an all-black outfit while Floriana wore the traditional green jerseys and white shorts.
3. On the day extra trips were on schedule to Imtarfa as around 10,000 fans flocked from all around Malta to watch the Challenge match.
4. Josie Fearne, captain of St George’s, failed to score a penalty early in the match.
5. Just for the record ‘The Malta Herald’ attributed the goal to Willie Pisani whereas ‘The Daily Malta Chronicle’ reported that the goal was scored by Robbie Naudi.
