Many years ago, in 1975 to be precise, I came to Malta from Scotland due to my father’s work. In Scotland rugby was an important part of sports and was the sport I chose to play at school. 

When I arrived in Malta and attended St. Edwards College, rugby was not fully fledged but was gathering momentum; something which was due to one man, Father Henry Ferro, who had been a Lieutenant Colonel and was the college chaplain, who loved the game from his military days and believed rugby was a proper sport which built team ethics and sticking together through thick and thin. 

Father Ferro in his army days during the Second World War had been the commander of a battery which foiled an Italian motor torpedo boat attack on Malta on 26 July 1941.  He served in the army until 1957, went into politics with the Progressive Constitutional Party, and eventually was ordained as a priest in 1971. 

Father Ferro would organise a minivan to take the college players to Marsa to train and for matches that he organised himself. There were two rugby pitches and, for those who would remember, they had the uprights painted black and white. It should be noted that there was another pitch at Safi where the RAF were stationed. 

His influence on myself and others was immense because of his own dedication and willingness to provide kit, balls and transport out of his own pocket.  He was a true and generous gentleman. 

Through him we started playing teams such as Tal-Handaq, the RAF, Army, and Navy teams.  The Overseas club was also a very regular opponent. The Overseas club was a sports club for all the civilian attachments to the British administration, but also included other expatriates such as the owners of Andrews Feeds, who provided a club house in Marsa. The mayor of Qrendi, David Schembri, was also a regular with the Overseas team. 

De La Salle became the second school that started up a team, but it was short lived. This was because their headmaster stopped all rugby activities after some matches due to several injuries which he wrongly thought gave a bad impression of the game. 

We played many tournaments as the St Edwards XV and we learned so much when playing against sides such as the Ark Royal, many navy ships, Army teams including the marines, and RAF teams. 

All rugby was played in the true spirit of the game, spectators would clap the opposing side when a good try was scored, or a good piece of play was executed.  There was no abuse or any of that, the referees – who were always military – were strict, and any cheek or backchat was punished immediately. 

The team that Father Henry Ferro built and paid for at St Edward's College.  Photo: Gordon Farrugia.

1980 – 1992: Towards the setting up of the MRFU 

So, after a number of years and bruises the military left the island in 1979 and with it all rugby activity finished, leaving a void. Rugby in Malta was literally dead, and with no teams games weren’t possible.

By 1980, with there having been no rugby for over a year, I decided to try and kick start it myself.

At first there were no takers: I contacted everyone I knew who played rugby and we got a few players down on a Saturday to Marsa to play a bit, nothing great and nothing serious. It was then that I took the plunge and started collecting phone numbers of potential players and every Friday I would call about 30 to 50 people to try and get them down to Marsa. I then also started advertising in the Times of Malta and slowly we started to get more and more players, including quite a few expats who then started to form the Overseas again. 

David Schembri and Charlie Borda helped to pull an Overseas team together. Others who saw the adverts were Bryan Corlett, Graeme Kerr, Tom Potter, Simon Mangion to name a few. 

The level started to improve, and the games became more competitive even though we picked teams before the kick off as there were no actual official clubs. 

The spirit of rugby was fantastic: whenever we played the Overseas or had a Saturday afternoon rag-tag game, we would head to the Corrido Bar in Marsa and be welcomed by Oreste and Marisa with the sawdust floor and crates of Cisk ready for us. They always supplied loads of free food and we used to have the time of our lives. Sometimes the owner of Andrews Feeds would invite us to the Overseas club house in Marsa for a good session which was great fun. 

A Malta selection pictured in Marsa, where rugby matches are still played today, before a match against a team from a visiting Royal Navy ship in 1991.

One funny incident was Sandra Longo calling me after seeing the adverts I used to place in the Times and asking if we played rugby in Malta.  I questioned whether she was taking me for a ride, and we had a little argument before I realised that she was genuine.  That call resulted in Carmelo Longo, one of the stalwarts of local rugby who remains involved to this day, joining us and introducing Malta Rugby to the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) which opened the door for us to be able to tour in Sicily. 

Funnily enough his first outing resulted in a broken leg: so new to Malta, starting a new job with a broken leg, and he is still here! Carmelo went on to develop and work with the women’s team to a national level. 

Players who were at University in the UK played when they were back in Malta.  Martin Galea and I started the Phoenicians RFC, with players such as Juan Borg Manduca, the Parnis-England brothers, Nick Caruana Turner, Dr Mangion, eventually after some time the late Leo Mifsud, Adrian Balzan, Scandar Nassar, Chris Martin, Peter Camilleri, Kevin Buttigieg and Steve Busutill joining and starting their rugby career. 

Even our current Health Minister Chris Fearne played rugby with us! Gerald Strickland played when he was on leave from UK and then full time when he returned to Malta. 

The big issue was referees: we played without one, sometimes taking turns ourselves but there was no real structure until John Morrison, the Assistant Australian High Commissioner, volunteered to referee the games. 

Now some structure was starting and the games every week saw Phoenicians play against Overseas, meaning that we got very used to each other. The University of Malta started to field a team, and this brought some diversity which was great. There were touring sides and returning navy ships that we played, we also travelled to Sicily several times to play there. We even took a young team to a competition in Sardinia. 

Another great man who got involved was Mike Beerman. Mike was a referee and his involvement meant that we finally had some structure. Mike’s son Richard also played and was a great player when he played. Mike is another stalwart of Malta rugby: many a clash was had with him and his cards, but we always had a beer after the game. 

All this hard work resulted in the official formation of the Malta Rugby Football Union through a set of articles of association signed by Martin Galea and I in 1991, which served as the basis of today’s MRFU. 

Thanks to many of those who played but are not named, if it was not for them we would not have rugby today. 

After 1992, rugby continued in Malta and continued to grow thanks to many who remained and kept up the momentum. 

I left Malta in the 1990s and when I returned in 2019, I saw the development of rugby.  My only regret is the way it has developed, wherein the spirit of the game is gone and it is now taking on the mantle of football.