Watch: Valletta FC awarded Ħal Farruġ area to build their football stadium

The dream of every Valletta FC fan of seeing their team have their own football stadium moved a step closer after the Premier League club was awarded a piece of land in Ħal-Farruġ by the government and SportMalta.

The agreement was met by an unanimous vote of approval by both the government and the members of the opposition.

Speaking during the signing of the agreement, held at the club premises, Valletta FC president Victor Sciriha said that he was delighted that after several years the club has finally managed to secure an area which will help them to realise the dream of giving to the children of Valletta a place where they can play football.

“Today I feel prouder than ever to be the president of Valletta FC after we managed to secure this agreement with the government,” Sciriha told a news conference.

“For the past ten years, the club has been in constant talks with the authorities over this project and I am really grateful to a number of people who have finally answered our pleas and we are here today for this historic occasion for the club.

“In the last few years, the club was forced to fork out thousands of euros to hire facilities so we could provide the first team an ideal venue to hold their training sessions. However, since Dr Clifton Grima was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary, he understood our difficulties and in collaboration with Dr Chris Bonett he made this dream come true.”

The 15,000 square metre land is situated in Ħal Farruġ and was previously used as a landfill. Sciriha said that he is hopeful that the club will continue to receive assistance from the authorities to clean up the area so as the project can finally get under way.

“We have a number of investors who are ready to invest on our project but we need to give them proof that we mean business and that can only be made if we can show them that the cleaning process of the area will start in a short space of time,” Sciriha said.

“I hope that the next phase of the project will start as soon as possible so that our dream will come true.”

On his part, the Parliamentary Secretary for Sport Clifton Grima said that he was pleased that the agreement was finally sealed and vowed that he will do everything in his power to ensure that works to make the area fit to host a sporting facility will get underway.

“One of the biggest problems we found in the area is that it was used as a landfill and therefore we had to make a number of tests to ensure that if it is properly cleaned it could be turned into a sporting venue,” Dr Grima said.

“We held a number of talks within the Secretariat and Malta Industrial Parts, who understood the requirements we needed, and SportMalta and I can assure everyone that in the coming weeks we will keep pushing so that the works will start as early as possible so that Valletta FC’s dream of constructing their own stadium will become a reality.

“Added to that we are also planning give to Valletta FC a title on the land of their Salinos training grounds which will further guarantee a sustainable future to the club.”