Sassco team consisted of: 01 Dave Smith, 02 Mark Cresswell, 03 Dave Gourlay, 04 Davinder Sangha, 05 Tim Gillespie, 06 Marc McDermont, 07 Scott Hembrough, 08 Paul McConville, 09 Wayne Greenwell, 10 Mark Middlemiss, 11 Chris Dixon, 12 Mark Muers

Soccer team from Sunderland's first overseas tour

Malta was chosen as a venue due to cheap flights and good climate. The quick response by our designated tour operator meant that Sassco were confident in his ability. The opponents, hotel and the venue were all arranged by Pierre Azzopardi, the tour operator. It was an ideal situation having a person on the ground in Malta with the contacts. Mr. Azzopardi’s contacts were mainly rugby orientated, but his football links were of similar stature. There isn’t a specific need to pick a tourist company, but for a football tour, a local football association person or someone who runs a team would be an ideal person to gain contacts from. The tour itself was based around the flights, which is a key issue for any future tours. The dates were to be flexible until the flights were confirmed.

The opponents were confirmed about one month before the tour was to start. Davinder Sangha also made direct contact with the opponents by email and all confirmed the fixtures and provided extra details on the stadium and the standard of opponents. This was a peace of mind aspect to make sure that everyone was aware that Sassco were coming to Malta. The match officials were provided by the opponents / tour operator.

Contact was made with a radio station in Malta called XFM. The station mentioned the team and the fixtures during the week prior to the tour starting. They also had a nightclub called Fuego, which provided the team with free drinks when they first came in. Ken Camilleri was the host and was very sociable. Fuego and XFM are linked on the Sassco website. Additional publicity was achieved by contacting Sheffield United (sponsored by Visit Malta) and then VisitMalta.com who added the tour as an official event on their website.

The Victor Tedesco Stadium

The Victor Tedesco Stadium was a superb venue that was over and above Northern League standards and probably good enough to match Non-league grounds. The pitch itself was third generation artificial turf (3G). The venues in Malta had similar surfaces, which replaced the previous dusty and dry grass due to the climate. Under the main seated stand were the changing areas with a vast number of rooms. Next to the main stand was the club bar. The facilities were excellent.

7th November 7:00pm Sassco.co.uk v Kirkop FC.

The opponents were clearly well organised and run along professional lines. In Malta, the Premier players will be paid, but the lower levels are not. However, each team runs itself along professional Premier lines, with full committees, a full training schedule and several teams. Unlike the UK, it would be almost impossible to start off a one-man team set up like Sassco were.

9th November 6:30pm Sassco.co.uk v Gudja FC.

The final game was played on Sunday evening against Gudja FC. Originally it was to be Gozo FC, but Mr. Azzopardi had confirmed the new opponents when Davinder Sangha met him after the Mdina Knights game. The players had their fair share of drink during the day, but the performance was the best to date. Dave Gourlay set out the team in a 5-3-2 formation.

So, a marathon set of three games in three days with a small squad passed without any major injuries and generally, everyone enjoyed it. Presentations were made of pennants and other items such as wooden plaques to Sassco before the games against Kirkop and Mdina Knights. We were aware that this could happen, but the lead-time to produce our items (pennants) was too long. These are going to be sent retrospectively to both Kirkop and Mdina. Also, there really should have been a large, custom Sassco flag to either adorn the hotel or during the games. This will be investigated for the next tour.

Main points for the return is to avoid any London airports due to the time it takes to travel. Direct flights are the priority and any northern airport would be considered.

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Davinder Sangha,
League Secretary and 11-a-side General Manager
Official website: www.sassco.co.uk
Phone: +44 07780 972630
Email: information@sassco.co.uk