Inter Club Malta (1st Badge)

In 1972 Inter were drawn to play Valletta FC in the first round of the UEFA Cup. For this occasion an attempt was made by some Maltese Inter FC enthusiasts to form an Inter Supporters Club in Malta. In fact a provisory committee was formed but unfortunately, after Inter left Malta, nothing materialized.

Early in 1978, Joe Bugelli opened correspondence with the Inter Club in Milan and asked for details in order to form an Inter Club in Malta. In the meantime, in June 1978, Lawrence Cutajar wrote a letter on the Roma Club Malta periodical magazine ITALFUTBOL. In this letter Lawrence Cutajar invited all Inter supporters in Malta to write to him if they were interested to be part of a new supporters club of the Nerazzurri. Joe Bugelli and Lawrence Cutajar met together and initiated work to form this club.

The first provisory committee was formed and this was made up of Joe Bugelli, Lawrence Cutajar, Louis Pace Axiaq, Arthur Hass, Godwin Schembri and Joe Gauci. The first meeting was held in the residence of Louis Pace Axiaq at Balzan.

From this meeting these pioneers never looked back and the first Annual General Meeting was held on the 18th August 1978 at Palazzo Caraffa, Valletta. This meeting was attended by hundreds of Inter supporters in Malta. For this occasion Inter sent a number of souvenirs to be distributed amongst those present for this meeting. In this gathering Joe Gauci was designated the post of President and Joe Bugelli that of Secretary General of the club. One can say that this meeting was the official beginning of the INTER SUPPORTERS CLUB - a club which along the years continued to flourish and become till this day the largest supporters club of Inter FC in the world.

Luck was on the local Club's side when Inter were drawn to play Floriana in the first round of the Cup Winners Cup competition of season 1978-79.

In the few days that the Inter contingent stayed in Malta, various talks were held between a delegation of our club and that of Inter FC. The Maltese delegation was headed by Joe Bugelli and that of Inter FC by Sandro Mazzola. These meetings were held on a period of three days during which many problems were discussed and duly resolved. This continued to pave the way for our club to be officially recognized by Inter FC and started to make part of the Centro Coordinamento Inter Clubs.

First premises at Capuchins
Street, Floriana

During the first years the club had no premises and the members used to meet every three months at St. Albert’s College, Valletta. Other meetings were also held at Palazzo Caraffa and La Vallette Band Club in Valletta. In 1979 a newsletter was published and distributed amongst the members by post free of charge. The first issue of this newsletter, appropriately named NERAZZURRO, was produced on stenciled paper. Today, this newsletter has become a printed periodical of 56 pages and is still distributed complimentary to the club's members by mail. This periodical has received very favourable comments for its contents and quality not only in Malta but also abroad.

The number of members of the club continued to increase every year. In 1982 the committee made an effort to find a premises for the club. A delegation of the club visited various locations and the final choice fell on a small site situated at Capuchins Street, Floriana. A General Meeting was held for this purpose at the Civil Centre, Valletta, and the members present approved the decision that the committee should rent this space to be used as an official premises of our club. The property in question was in a very rundown state, but with the generous help of the members, same was turned into a very decent place and started to function as the first official premises of our club. Although this club was small, it was situated in a very central area and could be easily reached. These premises were one of the main reasons why our club continued to make progress and is a success today.

This club started to open every Wednesday evening and every Sunday morning. During this period the club had various successes. The members of the club continued to increase every year. Many official visits were made to Milan and several meetings were held with the directors of Inter FC and those of the Centro Coordinamento. Our club started also to honour the team player of the year and these presentations were always made in Milan by our club officials and other members. In the meantime contacts started to be made with other Inter Clubs around the world.