Remembering Carmelo Scicluna, aka ‘Is-Sur Memé tal-Ground’
“By his death, football in Malta has lost a loyal servant.” This is how the impact of the loss of Carmelo Scicluna, who passed away 70 years ago today, was described in his obituary. Conferred with sobriquets like ‘Mr Football’ or ‘King of Soccer’ and affectionately known as ‘Is-Sur Memé tal-Ground’, Scicluna was the mastermind, owner and general manager of the Empire Sports Ground and the Empire Stadium, in Gżira. Before football, sports activities and the entertainment realm became his main line of business, he worked at Messrs A.G. Simonds (which later partnered with Farsons as Simonds Farsons Ltd). However, his childhood passion for the ‘beautiful game’ never left him, so much so that he later took up the management of the Mile End Sports Ground, in Ħamrun. This was his first direct contact with the administrative field of football. It was a responsibility he continued to fulfil even after he ventured into his very own ambitious project, which was the building in 1922 of the Empire Sports Ground, designed according to FIFA regulations. Leaving no stone unturned, Scicluna endeavoured to give rise to a well-equipped venue that suitably catered both for professional and...