This was no ordinary Sunday for Balzan FC.
As the senior squad geared up for their afternoon match against Mosta in the top tier of Maltese football, officials, fans and villagers gathered at the clubhouse yesterday morning to fete not one of their current ‘stars’ but a nonagenarian who formed part of what is recognised as the first team of Balzan Youths way back in 1937/38.
Indeed, all eyes were centred on the lean man standing in front of a large black and white picture of Balzan’s first-ever team as Eddie Sullivan, 92, returned to the club more than 75 years after he played for their youth side, hence the original name Balzan Youths.
“It was quite a nice group,” Sullivan, who looks fit as a fiddle for his age, reminisced as he spoke to Times of Malta.
“I was born in Attard but I lived in Balzan. At the time, I played football at the college, St Aloysius.”
Sullivan, who still drives and does some work for his company, was one of three brothers who turned out for that first-ever Balzan Youths team in the late thirties.
“I remember that Sur Manwel Brincat was the club’s president or manager,” Sullivan said.
“He picked up five boys from Sliema and brought them here.
“There were three Sullivans in that team as my brother Joe, who is 95, and Lorry, who has passed away, also played for Balzan Youths.
“I played as inside-left.”
Sullivan recounted that the team stayed together until 1939 when it was broken up by the onset of World War Two.
“After that, I continued to play football for the Army,” Sullivan recalled.
“I have always been very active. During the war, I used to travel from Sliema to Gozo on my bicycle as I was posted in Gozo at the time.”
His broad smile spoke volumes of Sullivan’s delight at yesterday’s occasion.
“Today is a special day for me as I was always looking forward to meeting Balzan Youths again,” he said.
“I still follow their results and I was amazed at how Balzan have made it to the top of Maltese football.
“It makes me feel happy.”
Sullivan was not the only happy man in the crowd as the beaming faces of Balzan officials Anton Tagliaferro, the club’s Australia-based honorary president and chief financial backer, Peter Cipriott, John Zammit Montebello and Sandro Azzopardi reflected their satisfaction at Sullivan’s presence which provided a welcome reminder of this family club’s humble origins.
Until a few weeks ago, Balzan officials had no idea that one or more members of the first team were still alive.
The story goes like this... the nephew of Tagliaferro was doing some work with the grandson of Sullivan and during one of their conversations, the latter mentioned that his grandfather was a member of Balzan Youths’ first-ever team in 1937/38.
Thrilled by the news, Tagliaferro, himself a former Balzan youth player, informed his fellow officials and made contact with Sullivan’s family to invite him to the club.
Tagliaferro and Steve Bezzina, the captain of the current Balzan team, presented Sullivan with a shirt bearing his surname and signed by all first-team players.