Not many Gozitan players have made it to Maltese top class football over the years. EDDIE VELLA was certainly one of a few players who had a successful career in Maltese football – with Valletta FC. A few others followed him, especially those who played for Hamrun Spartans in the 1980s, but it was Vella who was richly rewarded for his great dedication and serious commitment, reaching his peak when he was presented with the Malta Footballer of the Year award in the mid-1970s. Vella has served the game of football as a player, coach and later as a match inspector. In fact, he also had the honour of having won the Trophy both as a player and as a coach with the same team – Valletta FC. Here he tells his story to Henry Brincat.

ar name in Valletta football circles, but those who know him well, especially those who, like me, remember his playing days at the old Gzira Stadium, will

certainly bring to mind some memorable moments of Maltese football.

Vella was lucky in a sense that there were a large number of top class footballers on the island those days. There was a host of players, among them – to mention just a few – the Theobalds, Salvu Gatt, Joe Cini, John Holland, Ronnie Cocks, Edward Darmanin, Edward Aquilina, Louis Arpa, Willie Vassallo, Ray Xuereb and so many, many

others.

At Valletta, he lined up among such great stalwarts as Tommy Taylor, Joe Cilia, Frankie Zammit, Tony Calleja, Pawlu Gauci, Guzi Urpani, John Attard and many others – they all helped him in one way or another to reach his best in the field of sport – in this case, football.

In fact, he had a distinguished career with Valletta which saw him winning all the honours on offer, including the most prestigious Footballer of the Year Award in 1974.

Without any doubt, Vella is one man who has made a whole island – Gozo, of course – very proud. “I was not the first Gozitan to have played football in Malta. There were some others, but I was definitely the first ever to have played for the national team, that is, apart from having been the only one so far to have been awarded the Footballer of the Year Trophy.”

Vella recalled that his first team in Malta had been Vittoriosa Stars. He was on their books for a few months. “We used to play football in the streets in those days and it was a policeman from Nadur, Paul Cassar, who introduced me to the Stars. I started playing in the Under 21 league at the Schreiber (now Pace Grasso) ground. It was a very popular competition and matches used to attract thousands of spectators, especially in the morning.

“It was there that I was spotted by three clubs – Valletta, Hamrun and St George’s. I dropped St George’s first and left my choice between Hamrun and Valletta. I remember I took the advice of my uncle – he had told me that if I wanted to play I should opt for Hamrun, but if I wanted to learn, then it should be Valletta. So I decided to join Valletta and in the year that followed, I helped the team win the Reserves League. It was pure coincidence that I headed the winning goal in the decisive match for the title,” he said.

He added: “The following year, Valletta were drawn to meet Spain’s Real Saragoza. Carm Borg was our coach and I was selected for the first eleven, that included stalwarts Tommy Taylor and Joe Cilia. They were playing their last match for Valletta – the former was returning home to Ireland and Cilia was migrating to Australia.

“That was my first real taste of big time football, playing in a European competitive match against such a team, which

included the then famous Spanish international centre

forward Marcelino. Of course we were beaten here and away – they were so superior to us. But at least we managed to score a goal in the away match,” he said.

Vella, who frequently mentioned his Nadur team-mate, the late Peter Paul Camilleri, whom he considered as his idol, also said that it was a great honour for him when Janos Bedl selected him to join the national team squad in 1966. “It was a ‘Pick Sliema’ side mostly, with the inclusion of myself, Salvu Gatt, Freddie Mizzi, Eddie Theobald and Charlie Williams. I did not play, but it was a great experience. We led 1-0, thanks to a Ronnie Cocks goal when the match was abandoned by the referee just four minutes from the end for no apparent reason in my opinion.

“Overall, I did not play much for the national team, unfortunately. I was selected several times but only played a few times. My first match was the 1-1 draw against Greece – a European Champion-ship qualifier. Willie Vassallo scored our goal on that day. A few years later, I also played under Italian Terenzio Polverini against then (West) Germany and against Greece. We had just lost 1-0 to Germany and then went on to beat Greece 2-0 in a memorable match at Gzira,” he added.

His biggest disappointment at national team level came in the February of 1971. “Malta had to play against England that month and I was also selected by Carm Borg to form part of the squad. On 3 February he told me that he had to drop me.

“I had been eagerly looking forward to that day, to win my place in the side for that particular match. I had been greatly motivated for the occasion, yet I was hugely disappointed at the end,” he said.

Another disappointing moment came early in his career. “I stopped playing in Gozo for a whole two years. The Gozitan FA did not allow me to play for my village team, Nadur Youngsters, because I had signed as a professional with Valletta FC in Malta. I never imagined I would have been treated like that back home,” he said.

He mentioned and praised all the coaches who taught him a lot about football – including locals Carm Borg and Tony Formosa. “But there was also Scot Andy Roxburgh who had led a FIFA course in Malta and evaluated us. I learned most of my coaching skills from this gentleman who is still active in FIFA and UEFA circles. Today I still have my own system which I call the ‘famous triangle’. I feel it has always led me to success since I started coaching,” he added.

Asked which goal he remembers as the most memorable in his career among the several he scored, he mentioned that scorcher from near mid-pitch in a match against Gzira. He beat top goalie Michael Sultana all ends up near the Floriana end of the Stadium.

It is also interesting to note that Eddie Vella has only recently decided to hang up his boots. “Up until last year, I was still playing with Gharb, in the Gozitan league. But my playing days are definitely over now. I have just started my second spell as Ghajnsielem coach. We have already won two matches against Xaghra (4-1) and Kercem (2-1) since I took over on 1 January. I hope to be

successful at the end of the

season,” he said.