On visit  with his family in Malta, is Jerry Birmingham who played for Exiles during season 1983 guided that year by the late Paul Dowling. It was a novelty for all the participating local waterpolo clubs that year as the ASA introduced a rule which allowed the use of one foreign player.  Jerry has visited the Island on numerous occasions since first contact was made with him thirty long years ago  – no doubt we consider him as one of us.

Whenever on visit, Jerry always manages to play withe the Exiles’ Masters team managed by Michael Paris. In fact all is set for a friendly match tomorrow at the Exiles Pitch at 11.00 hours. Together with his wife Sarah, he  also watched Exiles play against Sliema earlier this week and tonight against San Giljan.

At the National Pool, Jerry told me that his club Chelthenham Swimming and Waterpolo Club (CSWPC)  have just won the  first division of the British Waterpolo League  formed of five divisions of eight teams each. A round robin league is played on a one round basis to determine the final (or top) five teams whilst the bottom three teams compete with the top teams of the lower division. In the Final Five tournament, the points won to qualify from the first round are not carried forward with all the teams starting with zero points. The top five teams play twice against each other with the  team obtaining the highest number of point declared the champion. Cheltenham won six matches, drew one and lost the last match when the title was under their belt. Jerry was the winning team’s player-coach.

Photo shows Jerry Birmingham with Karol Farrugia at the National Pool earlier tonight during the half-way break of the Premier League match between San Giljan and Exiles which the Saints won 19-11.

KaFa

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