EDDIE VELLA

Eddie Vella (tat-Totty) was born on the 4th of April 1945 at Nadur, Gozo. He attended the Nadur Primary School, St. Aloysius Secondary School in Birkirkara and the Gozo Lyceum. Eddie was employed with the Malta University in 1964 and stayed in this post till his retiring age.

Eddie started his football carries with Nadur youngsters in the 1960-61 season, at the age of 15. He looked so promising that at that tender age he got his call to the first XI with the number 10 shirt. With the Whites of Nadur he won the Galea Cup 3 times (twice as team Captain) and the ESSO Cup. He finished the club’s top scorer in the 1963-64 and 1965-66 seasons. Eddie scored a total of 24 goals for the Youngsters. His first goal for Nadur was scored in the League match (3-3 draw) against Victoria Hotspurs played on the 13th of November 1960 while his last goal came in another league match against Victoria Hotspurs played on the 30th of January 1977, a game won by Nadur 2-1.

During the same period that Eddie was a Youngsters player, he started playing for Valletta City. With the Whites from Malta he continued to achieve more honours. He won a League Title, 2 Cassar Cups, I Scicluna Cup, 1 Sons of Malta Cup, 1 F. A. Trophy and 1 Independence Cup. In the season 1968-69 he finished joint top place for the ‘MFA Footballer of the Year’ award with Joe Cini. After Joe Cini was given the honour, Eddie was named as ‘MFA Best Player in Div.1 ‘. But Eddie Vella won the prestigious ‘MFA Footballer of the Year’ award in the 1974-75 season.

Eddie’s successful carrier took him to become the first and only (up to now) Gozitan player to feature for the Maltese National Team. His first international call came in the match against Libya in 1966. Malta won this encounter but Eddie stayed on the substitute bench. After a 4 years waiting, finally Eddie donned the Maltese jersey for the first time in the 1-1 draw with Greece. He played against Switzerland (1-2) in 1970 and against West Germany (0-1) in 1974. He was part of the Malta team that made history when they won their first competitive match against Greece 2-0. in 1975. He also played 2 games against Bulgaria (0-5 and 0-2). Eddie played in 3 international friendly matches, vs Canada (2-0) in 1973, and twice vs Libya (0-1 and 0-0) in 1974. In 1969 he was part of the MFA XI against Tottenham Hotspurs (1-0) and in 1971 against USSR U/23 (0-3).

Eddie faced some famous teams during his carrier with Valletta City. He played against Real Saragosa of Spain and Inter of Italy. Against Inter, (better known in Malta, at that time, as the team of Sandro Mazzola), the UEFA Observer, Signor Companati, chose Eddie as the Best Player on the field of play. In 1972, Eddie was chosen as the ‘Player of the Year’ by Valletta City.

Out of all the nice memories, Eddie picks 3 matches he consider as unforgettable. These were the matches: Nadur Youngsters vs HMS St. Angelo (1-1 played on 01.05.1966), Malta vs Greece (2-0 played on the 23.02.1975) and Valletta City vs Inter (0-1 played on the 29.09.1972).

The 1968-69 and the 1974-75 seasons gave Eddie his greatest personal satisfaction as during them he won the ‘MFA Best Player in Div.1’ and ‘MFA Footballer of the Year’. Winning these 2 prestigious honours cannot but stay memorable in his mind.

After his brilliant football carrier, Eddie Vella stayed well in touch with football. He acted as coach with different teams (Shady Side Academy - USA, Ghajnsielem, Xaghra United, Zurrieq, Malta University, GFA XI and Valletta City). He was also successful in this role. In 1982-83 he won the League with the Malta University, the Trophy with Shady Side Academy (1986-87), the Independence Cup and the Jemaherija Cup with Xaghra United (1990-91), The FA Trophy and the President Cup with Valletta City (1990-91), The Gozitan Div. 1 League title with Ghajnsielem (2004-05) and Zurrieq managed to escape relegation when Eddie took command of the team in the last 2 months of the 1989-90 season.

In 2004, Eddie was a member of an MFA board that made a study on rules for new competitions. At present he is a member of the Malta Football Coaches Association; Auditor of the Government & Parastatal Association of sports; Coach of the Students First XI and Staff Football Team at the Malta University and the Junior College First XI U/19; MFA Match Inspector since 1992 and an organizer of the Football Masters Tournament.

His Hobbies are football, coaching, cinema, Pop Music and fishing. His name was mentioned in many publications, but the most prestigious one is in the Football book ‘The Best 100 Players in Malta’.

Until this date (August 2007), Eddie Vella remains the ONLY Gozitan player to win the ‘MFA Footballer of the Year’, the ONLY Gozitan to make it in the Malta National Team. Without any doubt Eddie is the most famed player ever to emerge from the Nadur Youngsters FC. The successes achieved do not make only Eddie proud, but also his hometown, Nadur, Gozo and the whole of Malta.