Around 2,000 Maltese fans are expected at Wembley this evening to support the national team in a difficult 2018 World Cup qualifier against England. Valhmor Camilleri spoke to Louis Agius, one of the SouthEnd Core leaders whose efforts to encourage fans to travel to London and support the Maltese team have paid off
For Malta, international games away from our shores represent a daunting challenge not only because our players have to deal with the superior technical quality of our opponents but also because most of the time they cannot bank on the vocal support of the Maltese fans.
Things could be different in London this evening as over 2,000 Maltese fans, led by the SouthEnd Core, are expected to make their way to Wembley to encourage the Maltese team for the Group F qualifier against England.
No doubt, this is a remarkable achievement for the national team’s fan group which was only set up nine years ago.
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“It was the dream of everyone involved with SouthEnd Core to take a sizeable group of fans to Wembley and give our backing to the national team,” Louis Agius, one of the co-founders of the SouthEnd Core, told Times of Malta.
“The last time Malta played England in a competitive match was back in 1971 and for hundreds of Maltese fans the opportunity to watch their national team at Wembley Stadium was an occasion not to be missed.
SouthEnd Core members supporting the national team during the 2018 World Cup qualifier against Scotland last month. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi“Apart from the allure of playing at this mythical stadium, the fact that the match is being played at a time of the year when the weather in England is not so cold also played a big part in luring more Maltese people to the match.
“For the SouthEnd Core, the England-Malta match is a significant milestone as this is by far our biggest contingent for an away international.”
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Of the 2,000 fans who will be at Wembley today, 1,300 are making the trip by air while the other 700 are UK-based Maltese citizens who have bought their tickets from the English Football Association website, Agius said.
Over the past few months, the SouthEnd Core have been in regular contact with the English police and the English FA.
“We have been in touch with the authorities in England for a few months now and there was great collaboration between us,” Agius said.
“The away fans will be seated in one section at the stadium and that will make it easier for us to make ourselves heard.
“We have also been given permission to provide 400 flags to the Maltese fans at the stadium.
“We also have a large flag, measuring 20 by eight metres, which was inaugurated during the opening home qualifier against Scotland in September.
“Our band-playing members will create a jovial atmosphere for the fans.”
Agius added that the Maltese group will be meeting at The Torch Pub and will walk together to Wembley before kick-off.
Since their formation, the SouthEnd Core has organised five tours for national team games.
The highest turn-outs were for qualifiers to the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016 against Italy, where over 350 fans turned up for both matches in Modena and Florence.
For the trip to Hungary and a Euro 2012 qualifier, they had 400 fans in their group.
Agius admitted that Malta are set for a difficult evening against the Three Lions who, after a dismal Euro 2016 campaign, suffered further ignominy in recent weeks following the dismissal of manager Sam Allardyce.
“I think everyone recognises that our players have a very difficult task in front of them,” Agius said.
“England’s poor showing at Euro 2016 and the recent exit of Sam Allardyce has, in my opinion, made things more difficult for us as I’m sure they will be keen to prove their critics wrong.
“But, at the end of the day, the SouthEnd Core cannot control what happens on the field and we can only promise to back our players throughout the 90 minutes irrespective of the outcome.”