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On Wednesday night, I decided to support Malta by going to watch them play Northern Ireland in a friendly match at Ta’ Qali. As I was accompanied with my wife, I could not sit in the press section, so I decided to go on the other side to The Millennium Stand.
The first thing I noticed was that there was a large queue of people outside trying to buy tickets, and then another large queue to get in the ground through one gate. Obviously complaints could be heard. Luckily there was a policeman who phoned management to open another gate.
Once inside, I noticed everybody cleaning the dirty seats.
I know that the seats are out in the open, but how long does it take for the MFA to get one person just to clean them before a game? What if it rained? We would have been sitting on mud. You never see this problem in the press or VIP section across the field.
And what about garbage bins – people were throwing cups and wrappers everywhere. It would be good to have at least two garbage bins outside when people are leaving the stadium.
After saying all of this we witnessed the Maltese national team play some good, entertaining football. We had a lot of chances and even though we were down by a goal in the beginning, Malta managed to fight back with a fantastic goal from Ivan Woods.
We could have won the game in the closing minutes but a penalty shot from Malta was saved.
Malta showed that they can play some good football, even though we had a team plagued with injuries.
As the attendance was fair, the MFA are always trying to get more people to fill the stadium and promote the game better. But with the disorganisation of the ticket sales at the entrance and the long wait to get in, I don’t blame the fans for not going to watch a game. The fans that go are all dedicated and cheer on Malta to the end. They do not deserve this treatment. Because without them, football would be nothing.
We must take care of the few supporters that we have.
sports@newsworksltd.com
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