ABSTRACT
For the spectators on one side of this football ground, the backdrop behind the opposite covered side is one of the most striking of any football ground in the world. The citadel and fortress walls of the medieval former capital city of Mdina stand proud as the winter sun slowly disappears behind it. All-seated, with a running track distancing the fans from the pitch, the ground has no intimacy. Today it is barely a quarter full; 5,000 or so spectators watch two First Division games and then go home in darkness. Outside the stadium thousands attend a car boot sale/flea market while dozens watch a four-wheel-drive motor rally; others fly motorised model aeroplanes.
