Scary Monsters, Super Creeps

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Whilst considering my blog, I scanned the Wikipedia entry for Hamrun. It makes interesting reading, although I am not sure whether the content goes down that well with the current residents. The content gives two nicknames, by which the good folk are known. The entries describe them alternatively as the "scary ones" or basically a set of handy lads who are always tooled up with a blade. We alighted from the bus on the Main Road and it was gratifying, based on the above information, that all looked calm and normal.



We were in town looking for the Victor Tedesco Stadium. On the last trip to Malta, I obviously studied the options for football fixtures. I noted that the Premier League is primarily played out in just 3 grounds – the National Stadium at Ta Qali, Hibernians ground at Corradino and the said Victor Tedesco. As we had accomplished the other two last time out, Victor Tedesco was a must now regardless of who was playing. It was a bonus that one game would feature the Hamrun Spartans, the actual owners and as with many Maltese clubs, they don’t get to play “at home” very often with the constant rotation of fixtures at the order of the Malta Football Association. In view of the Wikipedia entry, I wasn’t really sure whether this was a good thing or not, so I stuck to my script of we were seeing Hamrun Spartans – fallen giants of Maltese football. Of course, this was also true. An old school football club founded in 1907, they have fallen short in the last few years and declined from the Premier down to the 2^nd Division. Hamrun are now back on the upward path, as joint leaders of the 1^st Division and progressing nicely towards further glory. They will hopefully have further nights European nights to add to their previous 5 occasions, although presumably they will keep their fingers crossed of no repeat fixtures against the money spinning Albanian teams they have drawn in the past – twice!!





We had started our morning on the bus towards the all new Valletta Bus Station, in order to change for a few hours of yacht watching in Vittoriosa. The all "new" Valletta Bus Station is actually the old Bus Station with some new Bays created round the corner. There is a very helpful map to show the locations for all A Bays and the new B and C versions. The ticket hut has also had a bit of makeover, but is adorned with an out of date not so helpful bus map to include out of date services that don’t exist anymore and incorrect bays. However, the notice previously applied to one of the Portakabins that told people to clear off and not bother drivers on their lunch has disappeared. In the past, all services departed from what is now the A Bays. It was chaos before, in a sort of organised way because at least you knew you were stood in the right place. It is now just chaos, but “Blakey” is always on hand with his clipboard to smooth the path of travel. What would they make of it in the Ministry of Bus Stops?



We caught Service 4 to Bugir . The traffic was chaos through Floriana, but thinned out as we hit bus lanes up towards Paola. I pointed out to the Python the road he needed to take towards the Hibernians ground, should he decide that was his Sunday fixture venue. The “Come on Inside, There Is No One Here Except Us Flies” bar was still open for business and visible up the road as we sped past on the bus. We went round the houses and arrived in the small historical square, that is the centre of Bugir. The old guys were stood chewing the fat, but little else was going on. The bus settled in the middle of the square to wait time, a long way from any kerb. The Ministry of Bus Stops never sleeps, so registered for amusement that the stop pole was neatly hidden in the corner behind a row of parked cars. The group set off down the hill towards the port, but I noticed the Vittoriosa Parish Museum hidden behind the bus stop area. I read an article describing it as “an unpolished gem” and a very knowledgeable guy from the Vittoriosa Historical & Cultural Society was on hand to add to the experience. The Museum is based in the St Joseph’s Oratory and admission is free, which is always a bonus. It is full of exhibits - the history of Birgu, the Great Siege of 1565, the Second World War etc. The prize exhibit is the hat and sword of Grandmaster Jean de la Vallette. This sword was apparently his everyday weapon, which he used during the Great Siege. However, his ceremonial 'Sunday best' sword was nicked by Napoleon Bonaparte and deposited in Paris.

We walked round the perimeter of Birgu. We passed a couple of Jason Lee lookalikes, before coming to the unpassable obstacle that is Fort St Angelo. It is not open to the public and has been undergoing renovations since we were there previously. It played a big part in the aforementioned Great Siege, but during the “British” period in Malta we apparently designated it a ship – a stone frigate – originally called HMS Egmont, which we changed in 1933 to HMS St Angelo. We parked ourselves right on the headland to watch the Saluting Battery noon firing opposite. It was over in a puff of smoke.





We descended to the land of the yachts. The harbour at Birgu now boasts signs – “Twinned with Saint Tropez”. The yachts would look equally effective and at home in the South of France. The overall numbers of super yachts was possibly down from 2014, but there was a couple of monsters at the seaward end. The Maltese Falcon was emblazoned across the rear of one. I was more amused by the port of registry for one yacht further down – Whitby. It appears that somebody has done quite well out of fish and chips and decamped to warmer climates. It also mysteriously had the markings of RTYC - the Royal Thames Yacht Club. We walked back along the line of yachts, which is something I could probably do all afternoon. However, we were hungry and there were football matches to go to. The Python headed for a more frequent bus back to Valletta, in pursuit of another one towards the National Stadium and we settled into a cheaper establishment at the Cospicua, away from those that might have thought twinning to Saint Tropez could have extended to a pricing agreement. It was appropriate to have a fish sandwich and very good it was too!



Dining complete, we wet off back to Valletta and onwards to Hamrun. The Victor Tedesco is just off the main Valletta to Mdina road, as you pass through Hamrun on the bus. This is the stop, pointed out the helpful bus driver. It wasn't exactly a case of following the crowds. There were no other paying customers, as we approached the turnstiles on the top side of the ground. I say the top side - the only side. 5 Euros secured entry for both games. As with all Maltese games, a pre-selection of which fans will be segregated together. Today, Hamrun were with St Georges. We opted for this section. The Police showed little interest in my array of cameras. If only it could be like this all the time, he thought in the words of Van Morrison. The Victor Tedesco has one side of seats, the usual plexi-glass segregation to keep fans of the pitch and a VIP section in the middle of the stand. The other 3 sides are devoid of fans. A scoreboard sits in the corner at the western end - Cisk time. The capacity was 4,000, but now appears to be a mere 858. The capacity was not tested.

The first game was about to kick off - St Georges versus Rabat Ajax. This was the oldest club on the island against the Magpies. And where was the chief Magpie on the trip? St Georges were ironically from Cospicua, from where we had just dined. They are the founding fathers of Maltese football and named after the patron Saint of England. A sort of Sheffield FC of Malta - doing very nicely thanks, before the upstarts from Wednesday and United crashed the local party. In their first 30 years of existence, all was good. They were honoured with an invitation to play abroad as Maltese representatives in 1914 and so nipped across to teach Racing Club de Tunis a lesson, before adding the Tunis All Star Team to their victims with a 8-1 victory the following day. The Maltese title followed in 1916, but trophies have non-existent ever since. Rabat Ajax were the opposition - upstarts formed in 1930 as Rabat Rovers - they had a few reincarnations, before merging to become Rabat Ajax FC in 1980. Where exactly the Magpies comes into it or indeed the name Ajax, is anybody's guess. I have no doubt somebody will tell me. Personally, I reckon Rabat Feyenoord has more of a ring to it! St George's were on a losing streak and were brushed aside by a more mobile and skilful Rabat team - the league table suggests neither are up on fire, so it was difficult to judge the standard. Lawrence Chiedozie put the Magpies ahead on the half-hour - now there is a blast from the past in Meadow Lane circles. Early in the second half, Wayne Borg doubled the score and Aidan Azzopardi made it 3-1 before substitute Kenneth Abela reduced the gap for the Cospicua side. However Chiedozie added another with Joseph Caruana scored a fifth in stoppage time. A number of the St George's supporters filed out after Goal 4, so they clearly had no expectation of any fightback. Rabat Ajax continued to wave their flags at the other end of the stand, as a few Hamrun players watched from the VIP sections between the 2 segregated groups. The Victor Tedesco has an artificial surface, so St George's couldn't blame the pitch.

The tenants were up next and the numbers swelled with the arrival of the Hamrun fans. We went under the stand to investigate the small tea bar. A separate sign pointed towards a Souvenir Shop. The door remained locked. The rush for Hamrun pin badges would have to take place elsewhere. The Other Half took the opportunity to tackle that MasterClass German sudoko, but the results were fairly predictable. The Hamrun drummers arrived and 2 flags were erected on the fence behind one goal - a Hamrun flag and a Nigeria flag, although the latter seemed to be hung the wrong way round. The flag was in tribute to star striker, Haruna Garba, who was just too powerful for Fgura all afternoon. He had arrived at Hamrun via the unlikely route of Sliema Wanderers and Lithuania! Haruna Garba put the Spartans ahead and one of the drummers spilled his pint of Cisk in the excitement. Trevor Cilia doubled the score. Garba added another, before substitute Matias Muchardi sealed the issue with a fourth goal. Fgura offered very little going forward.

Appendix 1

Saturday 23 January 2016 @ 1400 Hours

Venue : Victor Tedesco Stadium, Hamrun
Attendance: Est 102


St George's 1 - 5 Rabat Ajax








Scorers: 0- 1 Chiedozie (Rabat), 0 - 2 Borg (Rabat), 0 - 3 Azzopardi (Rabat), 1 - 3 Abela (St George's), 1 - 4 Chiedozie (Rabat) 1 - 5 Caruana (Rabat).



Appendix 1

Saturday 23 January 2016 @ 1615 Hours

Venue : Victor Tedesco Stadium, Hamrun
Attendance: Est 240



Hamrun Spartans 4 - 0 Fgura United



Scorers: 1 - 0 Garba (Hamrun), 2 - 0 Cilia (Hamrun), 3 - 0 Garba (Hamrun), 4 - 0 Muchardi (Hamrun)




# Groundhopping Malta // Victor Tedesco Stadium: St George's FC v Rabat Ajax FC & Hamrun Spartans v Fgura Uinted

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Photos

Victor Tedesco Stadium
Hamrun Spartans WAG

Bugir
Jason Lee contemplates a comeback............

Hamrun Spartans
Drummer at rest .........

Saluting Battery
.......... view from Fort St Angelo

Vittoriosa
.......... fishing cat

St George's FC v Rabat Ajax FC
........... shall we dance?

Victor Tedesco Stadium
........ half time sudoko