Floriana FC gets land title over historic football ground but parking facility has to stop

The historic football ground at the Independence Arena, currently used as a car park, will be transferred to Floriana FC, following a parliamentary resolution.

The club, one of the oldest in Malta, will be given a 45-year lease on its facilities in Floriana after parliament’s National Audit Office Accounts Committee on Monday unanimously approved the transfer.

The contract obliges the club to use the land exclusively for sports facilities with members of parliament making it clear that the club will have to regularise its position and stop using the main pitch as a parking facility.

The football ground was originally a parade ground and was the site where the formal ceremony marking Malta’s independence took place in 1964. The area, also known as ix-Xagħra tal-Floriana, also served as a bus terminus for some time.

Floriana FC used the area as its training facility and the main pitch was even transformed into a football ground with natural turf. However, for several years now, the pitch has been used as a parking facility. There is a smaller ground adjacent to the main pitch, which is used for five-a-side football. The club never had a title over the land despite having used the grounds for many years.

The transfer of the land will enable the club to invest in its facilities. In August last year, Floriana FC announced plans for the construction of a 4,000-seat stadium in collaboration with MIG Trade, ultimately owned by Diane Izzo of the Dizz Group.

The transfer of land to Floriana FC was one of several resolutions approved this afternoon by the parliamentary committee by which land was transferred on 45-year-long leases.

Senglea Athletic and Burmarrad Football Club were also granted titles over their football facilities. The committee also approved a new lease contract for Sliema Wanderers Football Club, taking into consideration the use of land below its football pitch for commercial purposes.

The Rinella Tennis Club and the Model Aircraft Flying Association were also granted long-lease titles over land already used by the organisations.

The parliamentary committee also approved the transfer of land in several localities to the Foundation for Affordable Accommodation, a joint initiative between the government and the church to provide affordable housing units. Various land parcels in Fgura, Kirkop, Marsaskala and St Julian’s were transferred to the foundation for the construction of affordable housing units.