During the colonial era, thousands upon thousands of British servicemen lived in Malta, many with their families. Soldiers, sailors and, later, airmen spent interminable periods here. No surprises that many found comfort in sports – those familiar from home. This feature focuses on three: polo, cricket and tennis.

British tennis rubbed off on the natives too – it remains as popular today as it was with the garrisons in the Victorian era. The manicured garden planted by the grand masters in the upper courtyard in the Palace, Valletta was vandalised to turn it into a tennis court for the delectation of the governor’s guests. The first formal Maltese Tennis Federation saw the light in 1920.

The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII, playing polo at the Marsa in 1921.

Polo enjoys a distinguished heritage and Malta claims the second oldest club in the world, founded in 1868, possibly as the result of the British cavalry regiments stationed on the island.

The Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII, played polo at the Marsa in 1921, so did King Alfonso XIII of Spain in 1927 and Prince Philip during his long stays here. 

Polo gave rise to a nasty diplomatic incident before Independence. Lord Louis Mountbatten missed some horses for his polo team and wanted to help himself to those in the stables of the local mounted police. When prime minister George Borg Olivier came to know, he put his foot down. That earned him Mountbatten’s everlasting enmity.

An early post-World War II game by the St Joseph Cricket Club, played in Bighi.

A cricket team in Malta, 1920s.

The winners of the highly coveted Holman’s shield for cricket in 1911.

The most British of all sports, cricket, flourished in Malta, mostly among empire servicemen who built pitches in Marsa, Floriana, Kalafrana, Pembroke and Ta’ Qali. Nelson’s sailors played cricket here, it is claimed, in 1800. In the game’s heyday, Maltese stars like Victor Miller, Harry Samuel and Tommy Coster distinguished themselves.

All images from the author's collections.

Convalescent patients from Mtarfa hospital formed cricket teams during World War I, as in this 1917 postcard.

An early post-World War II promotional postcard by British European Airways of a polo game in Marsa.

Cricket in Malta in the 1880s.