The Valletta Chronicle
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Shaft Brewer runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 38. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market31 Aug 2026
Thomas Melillo asks to leave Valletta
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market31 Aug 2026
Eyes on Diogo Tavares again
The phone has started ringing about Diogo Tavares again, and this time the name on the line is Marsaxlokk. Valletta are listening politely and promising nothing.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Valletta
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Market31 Aug 2026
One of our own: Carlo Vella joins the Valletta first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Carlo Vella is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market31 Aug 2026
Roderick Attard steps up from the Valletta academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Roderick Attard has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Match29 Aug 2026
Valletta draw a blank against Sliema Wanderers
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Sliema Wanderers defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Steve Borg left out for tactical reasons at Valletta
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The room hears from Ahmed Adebayo
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the Valletta squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
In brief
- Squad Mattias Ellul is not doing himself any favours
- Boardroom Valletta spend where nobody can see it
- Squad Diogo Tavares keeps his manager's vote