The Sunday Times of Malta of the
30th July 1967

“Exiles Waterpolo Pitch

The official inauguration of the Exiles Waterpolo pitch took place on Friday 28th July. After the blessing of the pitch, the referee handed the ball to Mr. Ronnie Demajo the Exiles Honorary President who inaugurated the pitch by throwing the ball to mid-pitch for the swim-up.

The game was between Exiles Reserves and the Balluta Minors which the latter won by 5-2 and which served as a curtain raiser to the big match of the afternoon the Exiles ‘A’ versus Fond Ghadir.

There was much cheering and singing by the rival supporters as the game progressed.

The match was eventually won by Exiles with goals from Vanni Bruno and Martin Frendo.

Praised must be showered on the Exiles Committee for the wonderful handling of the day’s time-table and the Exiles players for putting up a good show in their matches.”

The preparations for this match had been laborious indeed. The prevailing rough seas might have meant postponing the event, a decision that the Committee wanted to avoid as it would have meant not having Mr. Demajo present for the inauguration. The Committee had another problem with the nets of the goalposts as these were old nets of football goalposts and were procured from Brother Louis Piccinino the Sports Master at St Aloysius College by Gino Camilleri, Vanni Bruno and Joe Sapienza who were instrumental to obtain this soiled net. This was then cut down to the size of the waterpolo posts. Sure enough, someone got the bright idea of revamping the dull colour of the net by suggesting that the nets are painted blue. The entrance of Dr and Mrs. Peppi Paris in Point (now Sir George Borg ) Street was converted into a hub of activity with all members painting the net which was hung in such a way that it could be painted concurrently from both sides. The job was finished late at night and to celebrate the completion of the job, practically all those who gave a hand rushed to Exiles for a swim.
This was on the eve on the inauguration day. On the day, it was an ordeal to lay the pitch in rougher conditions. When the pitch was set and we went in the water to practice a few shots at goal, the nets were stiff and as soon as the ball hit them they broke. Proper nets were then ordered.

Did you know that Exiles had foreign three Dutch nationals engaged as coaches of the first team? Nick Keiser (1981), Werner Schoenberger (1985) and Isaac Hoffman (1994) whilst Sasko Popovski (FYR of Macedonia) took charge of the team in 1999.

K.Farrugia