History of Valletta F.C.

:"Main article: Valletta F.C."Valletta Football Club is the football club representing the capital city Valletta in Malta. With eighteen top league titles to their name they are amongst the top clubs in the history of the Maltese Premier League. Although the club was formed by a merger in 1946, its history stretches back as far as the early 1900s due to the teams from which it was born.

As well as competing in Malta, the club have progressed to European football competitions in the past, such as the European Cup (now known as the "UEFA Champions League"), the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. They have competed in such competitions as far back as 1963-64, however, usually the club go out during the earliest round in which they are entered.

Pre-History

The city of Valletta in Malta has a long footballing history, between 1886 and 1919 at some point or another, around fourteen teams had competed representing the city. Amongst these early teams included the popular "Boys Empire League", "Valletta College", "St. George's Square", "Dockyard Albion" and "Malta Athletic Club".

Valletta United: 1903 - 1933

A very important early step in the history of the current club, was the founding of Valletta United Football Club in 1903 by local youngsters. Despite their enthusiasm for the game which had been brought to the island by the British, the youngsters had a rough start with limited supplies. They cut their white trousers into long shorts and dyed their shirts into that of the club colours (brown, with yellow sleeves) for their uniforms.

"The Ditch" at Porte des Bombes, which itself had been the scene of the first ever recorded Maltese football match in 1886, was chosen to host Valletta United's first match on 9 January 1904.cite news|url=http://www.vallettafcofficial.net/vallettaunited.htm|publisher=VallettaFCOfficial.net|title=The Birth of Valletta United|date=12 July 2007] United faced off against a team from the "Collegiate School" and won 1-0 with a strike from a forward named L. Agius. The full Valletta United team that day included;cite news|url=http://www.vallettafcofficial.net/vallettaunited.htm|publisher=VallettaFCOfficial.net|title=The Birth of Valletta United|date=12 July 2007]

The club soon found a more permanent home at "St. George's Square" in Valletta, just opposite the Grandmaster's Palace; they gained the nickname "the team of the square" because of this. Valletta first gained silverware during the 1914-15 season, when they won both the "Cousis Shield" and the Maltese League championship, it was only the fifth season the league had been competed in Malta.

Much of Maltese football was dominated by Floriana and Sliema Wanderers up until the Second World War, Valletta attempted to upset the status quo several times; they won the "Cousis Shield" for the second time in 1920-21 and finished as runners-up in the Maltese League during both 1925-26 and 1926-27. During their last ever season, Valletta United upset the two main clubs in Malta of the time, by winning the Maltese League in 1931-32, however they did not enter the following season.

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