Malta vs England B – a drab game

Matches against British teams are always big events in Malta. The island’s connection with the UK is still strong and many Maltese still support British teams with the same fervour of their fore-fathers.

The Nations Cup qualifier between Malta and England is still remembered with nostalgia by those lucky enough to have been at the old Gżira Stadium on that historic afternoon in 1971.

In 1987, 16 long years after that first encounter, the Maltese were given another chance to see an English representative team playing here.

This time our guests were the England B XI, or Young England, as they were known in those days.

The match was played on Wednesday, October 14, 1987 at the Ta’ Qali National Stadium in front of a crowd of 4,000 spectators made up mostly of Maltese ‘English’ supporters and a large group of British tourists.

It was a good attendance for a midweek afternoon game. The crowd, however, had very little to shout about because both sides failed to produce their best form.

Much more was expected of the England side, replete as it was with such well known players as strikers Hartford and Brock, midfielders Heath, Snodin and McMahon and defenders Thomas and Bruce and, of course, goalkeeper Seaman.

On the whole, the England team disappointed. Despite their superiority, the visitors rarely created problems for the Malta defence.

The Maltese national team seemed to lack teamwork. Ray Vella was our best player but for most of the time, he received little support from his team-mates in midfield.

In the first half, England dominated but scoring chances were rare. The nearest they came was on 20 minutes when a Hartford cross came to Heath who fired over.

A few minutes later, Sterland also headed high. However, the Sheffield Wednesday defender soon made up with a first-time shot from just outside the area.

England scored the second goal on the hour mark when Hartford beat David Cluett with a low shot from the edge of the area.

For the last half-hour, neither team seemed able to make any headway. The game degenerated into a midfield tussle with very little goalmouth action.

In the after-match comments at the stadium, both coaches tried to play down their teams’ lacklustre performance.

Gencho Dobrev said the friendly was a good test for Malta because England B were a very strong team.

All in all, he considered this as a satisfactory performance.

England coach Graham Taylor said he had every reason to be satisfied because Malta were not an easy team to beat, especially since his players were not yet in their best physical condition.