Hi Rob,

Well local Footie is rather different to the UK. Firstly the level of the premier league is comparable to the higher end of the Nationwide Conference league in the UK. None of the local clubs have their home stadium's and therefore all games are played at the national stadium in Ta Qali, just around the corner from the Crafts Village.

There are Six matches scheduled to be played as follows
21-Sep 16:00 National Stadium Hamrun Spartans vs Mosta
21-Sep 18:00 National Stadium Marsaxlokk vs Floriana
24-Sep 16:00 National Stadium Sliema Wanderers vs Msida St. Joseph
24-Sep 18:00 National Stadium Hibernians vs Birkirkara
25-Sep 16:00 National Stadium Floriana vs Mosta
25-Sep 18:00 National Stadium PietàHotspurs vs Valletta

Match ticket costs Lm3.00. The games on the same day are played back to back so if you go for the first match you get to see two gamkes for the price of one.
Best games to watch out of the above would be Marsaxlokk vs Floriana and Hibernians vs Birkirkara. These are the two most balanced games and normally provide some good football.

Unfortunately there is no bus service to the Stadium so your best option would be to get a taxi or hire a car.

hope this info helps
Trevor

PS re your Stay at Coastline, let me know if you have any specific requests

Sorry I may be a bit thick here but what do you mean by "special requests" at the coastline, what is the Hotel like?

I meant specific not special, hard day at work

By Special requests I mean high floor, low floor, adjoining rooms etc,
The hotel is very good. Slightly isolatedbut there is a frequent shuttle bus service to Bugibba which is free of charge and runs every half an hour in the morning and afternoons and also every 45 mins in the evening.
You can e-mail me direct if you need any further information on tzahra@islandhotels.com

Hi Trevor, surely PietàHotspurs vs Valletta could be a good game aswell as this is a very local derby ?, we are back in Malta next week ( can't wait) and we are hoping to see the Malta vs Croatia world cup qualiifier, would you reccomend this or will it be to one sided to make a game out of it ?.

Regards
Sliema2

I missed that game, but in the past 6 months Pieta have sold off most of their valid palyers due to lack of financing and have become a very depleted team, same really for valletta but they always seem to put up a fight. Re Malta vs Croatia, based on Malta's performance against Northern Ireland last week (1-1) it should hopefully turn out to be a good game so yes I would recommend taking time to go see it.

Bag of wind 22 men all kicking it all over the pitch till the man in black blows his whistle, and then they all jump in a big bath ummmmm, whats it all about?

Dave

Hi there MMMMMMMMMMMMM a big bath full of 22 men sounds good to me !

Unfortunately there is no bus service to the Stadium so your best option would be to get a taxi or hire a car

BugibbaHC
Can Rob & his wife not get the free shuttle bus to Bugibba and the get the Mdina bus to Ta' Qali and it is then only a short walk to the stadium?

Route 86
Bugibba - Qawra - Rabat - Mdina

Bugibba- St Paul's Bay- Mosta- Mosta Dome- Ta' Qali Crafts Village- Rabat- Mdina and vice versa.

Roy if you go to Ta' Qali be sure to visit the crafts village and also the excellent flight museum there.

If you decide to take the bus during your stay the ATP have some great tickets allowing you to use all routes around the island.

One day ticket at Lm1.50 each.
Three day ticket at Lm 4.00 each.
Five day ticket at Lm 5.00 each.
Seven day ticket at Lm6.00 each.

Graham

Hi Graham, the only problem that I can see with that is due to industrial action, the bus service is currently stopping at 8pm, but I'm no expert and Trevor will probaly know much more than me.

Sliema2

To be honest not sure if the industrial action is still on or not, but in any case the last bus to Ta Qali is at 6pm departure from Bugibba so it would be too late for evening matches at least. it is quite a long walk from The Stadium to the Crafts village about 2km so getting a taxi would be the best bet

We recently stayed for 2 weeks in Malta and were lucky enought to see Malta vs Northern Ireland play at the National Stadium. But......we could not get a bus there...we enquired at our hotel reception who informed us that the buses stopped t 6ish....we had to get a private hire minibus, we stayed in bugibba and it cost 7.50LM for 3 of us...not too bad...considering the entrance to the stadium is so cheap !! 1.50LM for children and ladies and 3.00LM for men.....

I went to Malta around nov 2000 and watched a game located between Sliema and Valletta on a dirt pitch - fenced off with the fence jagging in at the bottom. I even went to fetch a ball for them that landed in a bird sanctuary nearby. Although the facilities were poor, it seemed to be a serious game with three kitted officials, with teams with suited managers and tracksuited subs. I also found a football pitch while walking from Mgarr to Victoria on Gozo, which was grass and kept immaculately.

Who would have played in these two places?

Hi Backpacker

the ground in Gozo you saw (in Xewkija) is the main Gozitan football pitch http://www.gozofootball.net/gozo-stadium/index.html. Its condition starts out immaculate, but given there are so many games played there a week, does deteriorate - the other one in Gozo is in Sannat (dirt pitch)
http://www.sannatlions.com/ground/index.shtml
"One should note that this playing ground is the second most important after that the main ground in Xewkija and that local league games are played here whenever the other ground cannot be used (either due to excessive rain or natural turf still growing)."

- all the Gozo league games are played at these two grounds

lots of links on Maltese football teams here
http://www.sannatlions.com/links.html

Cheers Gozomark

Couldn't open the first link but yes that's the one

So the Gozitan football teams don't play in the Maltese league,.Is that correct?

I presume the other game near Sliema was played on dirt because the turf pitches were being protected? Remember thinking at the time that it would be difficult to play here because the ball bounced so high!

You have got me interested now, do you know roughly or vaguely where near Sliema you saw this game ?, the reason I ask is because it sounds like it was a lower league game not Malta Premier League (MPL), most but not all MPL matches are played on grass at the National Stadium at Ta Qali which is a very modern and FIFA and UEFA accredited stadium beffiting the status of what a national stadium should be http://www.mfa.com.mt/NationalStadium/stadium.htm

Regards
Sliema 2

Hi sliema2
Its a few years ago I remember the pitch and the ducks vividly!

The location Sliema?

Its on the harbour, next to where the large expensive boats are. before you turn the corner and start climbing up to Valleta
It was a very small bird sanctuary -5 or 6 huts full of ducks!!!-- the ball would always without fail land amongst the ducks or in the water.

In Malta I wasn't sure where one place started and the other finished - all towns seemed to be stuck together!
Thought the people were fantastic, friendly
The kids were so helpful and seemed to be what kids should be like, unlike alot of the younger generation over here-
strangers would always talk to you- no cynicism - people talk to each other overthere on buses etc- no one even makes eye contact on buses/trains over here. Everybody seems scared of each other

Sorry for the rant!!!!!!!!!

Just seen your link to the stadium - looks fantastic!!
I remember going to Mdina while I was there and thinking I would call by to see it on the way back but never saw the stadium or routes which I could take to get there

Hi backpacker33, I agree with your rant, and also endorse your positive views on Malta and it's wonderfull people, the area you mention is Gzira / Ta Xbiex, but to the best of my knowledge I can't think of a footy ground there, although I'm sure someone will know better than I.

Ciao for now
Sliema2