Sliema Wanderers Football Club has been ordered to move out of the premises it leased since 1965 after “drastically” changing the use of the property and breaching the terms of the lease by failing to provide for its upkeep. 

The landlords of the premises at 21, Tower Road, Sliema instituted proceedings before the Rent Regulation Board following extensive alterations to the lower area of the property while the upper quarters were neglected, their condition deteriorating over the years. 

The original owner and predecessor in title of the applicants, namely Maria Stilon De Piro, had rented the place to the Sliema club back in 1965 using an agreement stipulating that the premises were to be used “solely as a football club and for other activities normally carried out in a football club”.

Up to 2004, the entire premises were used specifically for that purpose, save for a corner at ground floor level, where three tables occupied a small space used as a bar. 

But around 2006, when works were required to tackle a drainage problem, the entire ground floor area was converted into a modern bar and restaurant.

Over the years, the upper areas were neglected, with a lack of maintenance which the club - in terms of the lease agreement - was bound to carry out. 

Meanwhile, the club acquired new premises at Tigné, complete with a football pitch, showers and a nursery, the landlords claimed. 

In 2020, it engaged an architect to inspect the premises.

He reported that while the ground floor was in good condition, housing a modern and fully equipped restaurant, the upper floor was characterised by peeling paintwork, visible cracks, dirt on the outer façade and a wooden balcony and window that were both in poor shape. 

Water had seeped in through the unkempt roof throughout the years, causing damage to the roof of a spiral staircase that needed to be replaced. 

The bar manager, who ran the restaurant together with his wife, testified that he was responsible for the maintenance of the place. 

However, he only had a verbal agreement with the club since they had always refused to draw up a written agreement. 

A former club president and manager testified that the committee used to meet there regularly every fortnight.

The Tigné facilities had been granted under a 65-year concession by the government, but activities and boardroom meetings were still held at the leased premises. 

The owners called upon the Rent Regulation Board to terminate the lease, not only because the club had changed its use but also because it had breached its conditions by failing to carry out maintenance works. 

The board, presided over by Magistrate Charmaine Galea, observed that the tenants had a right to grant third parties a licence to run the bar, but not to “drastically” change the use to a purely commercial one when it converted the ground floor to a restaurant. 

Even the menu had changed from simple items such as bread, timpana and pastizzi to a fully-fledged variety of items. 

Although the club argued that it did not generate income from that commercial activity, the board observed that the restaurant provided meals for the club’s foreign players and also organised meals as requested by the club. 

That was in terms of the club’s verbal agreement with the bar manager.

Although audited accounts did not include income accruing to the club, that arrangement meant that the club saved on expenses, observed the board. 

Such change of use was “certainly not the intention nor spirit of the 1965 agreement”.

What had formerly been a secondary activity had become the primary activity at the premises, went on Magistrate Galea. 

As for maintenance, both internal and external, as well as repairs, the building had been abandoned except for the bar area. 

Roof membrane had been applied but only too late. 

When all was considered the board upheld the owners’ claims and ordered the club to evict the premises within 90 days. 

This is the second premier league club to suffer this fate since last month.

In November, a court ordered Mosta Football Club to evict its premises in Eucharistic Congress Street after it subleased part of the property to third parties to be turned into a restaurant.