MFA awards and the increase in attendances

The Awards Night of the Malta Football Association is to be held next Friday at the National Stadium.

It is the night during which our top footballers (men and women) will receive their deserved awards after having gone through so much sacrifices throughout the past 10 months or so.

Sometimes, such sacrifices put in by local players is not appreciated by local football followers.

In fact, it is a real pity that they have to perform – week in week out - before almost empty venues, except for some occasions where the top clubs face each other near the end of the season, as was the case a few weeks ago.

I have always been insisting that our football is not lacking in skills or spectacular goals – on several occasions we are witnesses to some real ‘Eurogoals’. I can tell you it was really a difficult task to select six goals which will be voted upon in the contest for the Best Goal of the Year.

It is on such occasions that one gets to know that there is some really good talent in local football. The clubs and the MFA work hard to nurture our footballers, even from the Nursery stages. But unfortunately, it is obvious that such work is not appreciated.

And it shows in the poor attendances at the local football venues, especially where the Premier League is played. The Supporters Clubs do their utmost to create an atmosphere during local football matches, but there seems to be no response from the public.

Ask the players themselves whether they enjoy playing their football in Malta. They will ALL tell you that playing in front of empty seats does not really motivate anyone. And that is really why we say our football is in a moribund state.

But there is some light at the end of the tunnel. MFA CEO Bjorn Vassallo on Friday revealed that there was an increase of around 10 per cent in attendances this season over the previous season. And nine per cent of it was registered at local Premier League matches.

This may be true and really encouraging, but it is certainly not enough. In fact, I will be first to admit that I could not notice such an increase at the Premier League venues.

The game is certainly the No. 1 sport on our island and the media gives it the coverage it deserves – perhaps much more - whether it is the newspapers, on the Internet, the TV stations or the radios.

Some people say that the live TV broadcasts and matches played during live broadcasts of top matches abroad (like the Euro Cup games at the Centenary Stadium) dot not help the cause.

But one has to admit that the live TV broadcasts may be one reason for the increase in attendances as followers could see the local talent and might have been encouraged to attend matches at one venue or another.

Also, local football followers must realise that the MFA must organise the annual Euro Cup matches for the clubs playing in the UEFA club competitions in the next two weeks. After all, it is in the clubs’ interest to take this opportunity to give trials to players in an effort to strengthen their sides to try and make progress in the European competitions. If not, how can they assess such trialists, especially those hailing from abroad?

Another thing: most people prefer to stay at home and watch World Cup football in comfort on TV rather than attending a local football match – this was mostly evident on Friday evening when only 385 turned up to watch the local derby clash between Valletta and Birkirkara when such a match at this time of the year could have attract at least four times as much.

Yet, I think the MFA was right in going ahead with this competition and I believe the four clubs appreciate the efforts of the association to give them all the necessary help. I only hope that they are given the support they deserve in their efforts to register progress in the European club competitions.