Season 1923-24... a financial flop

The 1923-24 season was the second played at the then newly-built Empire Sports Ground in Gżira. The previous season had been a great success as competitions were played out in a calm and sporting atmosphere which was quite unusual for Maltese football.

However, the stability that marked the inaugural season of the Empire was shattered at the start of the 1923-24 trek.

During the first weeks of the new campaign, the leading clubs held a meeting and decided to demand a bigger share of the gate money from the owners of the Stadium.

At this meeting, which was one of the first, if not the first of its kind, Floriana, seconded by Ħamrun Spartans, submitted a proposal to leave the Stadium and return to the Mile End if 'Meme' Scicluna turned down their request.

Marsa accepted this proposal but Sliema Wanderers, Sliema Rangers and Valletta United, despite agreeing to ask for more money, were not prepared to boycott the Empire.

It is easy to see the reason behind this conflict. The Sliema clubs and, to a lesser extent Valletta, felt at home at the Empire Stadium. On the other hand, the other three clubs were more comfortable playing their matches at the Mile End.

There was also a rumour that Floriana had a secret agreement with the Mile End's proprietors if they managed to persuade the others to play at the Pietà ground. Whatever the argument, Floriana did not see why the Wanderers should have home advantage every time they played against them.

In any case, the clubs put their claim in front of the Stadium's management. When the latter refused to consider their proposals, the clubs split in two. The two Sliema clubs and Valletta United signed the contract while Floriana and their allies maintained their original stance.

The MFA was too weak to take the initiative. It therefore chose the easiest option and pledged their support for the Stadium's management. It was a story which, in the following years, was to repeat itself consistently.

In order to stem the rebellion from the start, the Council intro-duced a new rule obliging every club taking part in the league to provide a £10 guarantee with its application.

Once again, the Sliema clubs and Valletta accepted this rule but the rebels refused to comply and were subsequently left out of the league's draw.

Without Floriana and the other clubs, the 13th league championship was a complete flop. Much of the interest was lost before the competition had even started. Vittoriosa Rovers, Valletta United, Sliema Rangers and Msida Rovers did not offer a decent challenge to the Wanderers.

Vittoriosa Rovers surprised everyone when, in their first two matches, they beat Valletta United 3-0 and Sliema Rangers 2-0. The league's most important game was played very early in the season when the Wanderers took on the Rovers on November 18, 1923. Goals by Azzopardi and Conti and a penalty by Ruġġieru Friggieri gave the Blues a clear 3-0 victory.

Although the Blues still had to play three more matches, they looked unbeatable and this did little to raise the profile of this league.

In the meantime, Floriana settled down at the Mile End and issued an open challenge to all the Service teams on the island.

During the course of the season, the Greens played 42 prestigious friendly matches at the Mile End, losing only once to HMS Malaya.

Floriana had a huge following in those days and whenever they played, the Mile End was full, in contrast to the Empire where many league matches were played in front of nearly empty stands.

The Malta Herald reported on March 28, 1924 that, while in the preceding season the total gate-money from the league matches was over £2,000, in 1923-24 that sum had gone down to £500.

The Cousis Shield competition that season was another flop. The same five teams took part which, of course, did not improve the situation.

After some uninteresting matches, Sliema Wanderers met Vittoriosa Rovers in the final. This game, at least, provided the meagre crowd present with a good afternoon of football.

Although much less rated than Sliema, Vittoriosa gave their opponents a good run for their money but in the end, the Blues emerged victorious 3-1 with a Frankie Busuttil hat-trick.

The Blues then stayed on the winning trail with another 2-1 victory against Vittoriosa in the Empire Sports Ground Cup final and a 3-1 victory over the first Gordon Highlanders in the Cassar Cup final.

This brought to an end a season marred with disputes and controversies. Luckily however, with the coming of summer, 'Meme' Scicluna of the Stadium settled the differences with the rebel clubs and by the start of the 1924-25 season, everything was back to normal.