Liam McNally
Caroline Springs George Cross Football Club was honoured to welcome a visit from an esteemed guest on Sunday, October 15 – The president of Malta, His Excellency Dr George Vella.
The president is currently on a tour of Australia, meeting with Maltese communities in Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra, and Sydney.
George Cross FC has strong roots with the island nation, being founded in 1947 by Maltese immigrants and to this day 80 per cent of their members are first, second or third generation Maltese.
The president visited the club as the last stop of his Victorian tour,
The club hosted a luncheon for the president and his delegation that included, Minister Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi, High Commissioner of Malta to Australia Mario Farrugia Borg, secretary to the presidency Rosette Spiteri Cachia and Gioconda Schembri from the Maltese Consulate of Victoria.
The day included an exchange of gifts between the president and the club, speeches, an exhibition match and a meet-and-greet.
President Dr Vella received a warm welcome from a large number of Maltese attendees, and he said the meeting was an emotional experience, seeing different generations of the Maltese community coming together.
“This club is a strong testament to how the Maltese identity, in this case, the sporting identity, has been steadily renewed over the years,” he said.
“Such clubs have served and continue to serve as places where Maltese people meet and support each other.”
George Cross FC general manager Liza Djuric said the day was one that will go down in the clubs history books.
“We felt is was such a great honour to be given the opportunity to host the President of Malta and to showcase our Maltese culture in Australia,” she said.
“It was inspiring to see that the Maltese in Malta really encourage us Maltese Australians to keep our culture and our language strong here. The visit really enlightens the Maltese culture within our football community.
“The amount of our members who came on the day to meet, perform, and support HE Dr George Vella was overwhelmingly a proud moment for our club.“
ThepPresident was in Australia from October 11 to 23, and his tour included meetings with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.
