Former Maltese Herald editor, Melita president Lino Vella dies aged 85

A ‘joyful’ figure, defined by his work with Sydney’s Maltese community, has died and is being remembered as a successful editor and football club trailblazer.

An outpouring of praise for Lino Vella, a pioneer of Sydney’s Maltese community who was the veteran editor of the Maltese Herald and a life member of the Melita soccer club, has flowed after the trailblazer died on Saturday aged 85.

Carmelo Lino Vella was the eldest of eight children born in the Maltese village of Paola on September 22, 1936, and moved to St Julians aged nine, where his passion and talent for soccer emerged and he eventually signed with the Birkirkara Soccer Football Club for three years.

But it was in Australia that his football legacy was forged.

When he migrated to Australia aboard Sydney as an 18-year-old in 1954, he began to play for the newly-formed Melita Eagles.

Maltese Herald founding editor, Lawrence Dimech, met his close friend Mr Vella at Paddington one Sunday.

Mr Vella went to watch Melita play there when a big group of Maltese migrants lived in the inner city. When a player was down, a young Mr Vella substituted under an assumed name and impressed so much he was selected to play for the NSW representative team Eastern Suburbs, as well as the Federation European Colts.

Lino Vella in his youth.

His passions were soccer, the Maltese community, family and the Maltese Herald.

Mr Vella became president of the Melita Eagles United Soccer Football Club in 1957 when the Melita Eagles and Melita Football Club merged.

The former Water Board trench digger had a knack for leadership and the Eagles, now known as the Parramatta Melita Eagles, won the 1955 cup when he was the coach.

His loyalty to the club was evident in his tenure at the Eagles which spanned six decades, when he was a player (goalkeeper), coach, secretary and president.

After meeting British migrant Barbara Platel at the CUSA House Catholic youth social centre, the sweethearts married at St Mary’s Cathedral in 1957 and had two children Paul and Annette, who are now 63 and 61 respectively.

Lino Vella and Barbara Platel on their wedding day in 1957.

Barbara died in 2003.

His mark was also made in journalism where his passion for football led him to produce Melita’s official program, Soccer Light, in 1957, along with the club’s assistant secretary, Mr Dimech.

The publication was short lived but Mr Vella’s career in journalism endured.

In 1961, when the national newspaper, The Maltese Herald, began publication, Mr Vella penned the On Target column and sports section.

He took over the reins as editor in 1971, when Mr Dimech was appointed Consul for Malta in NSW.

“He had more importance with the Maltese community than perhaps any other person because running a newspaper, especially going back 42 years, newspapers were very important and perhaps the only source of information you got,’’ Mr Dimech said.

“He worked very hard for the newspaper.’’

Lino Vella edited the Maltese Herald for more than 40 years. After operating from Bankstown, the newspaper relocated to Merrylands in 1987.

It wasn’t long that the demand for news saw the publication circulate from a monthly publication to a fortnightly, and soon a weekly title.

When the publication was born, Mr Vella used his business acumen to entice advertisers to invest in the paper and see the merits in catering for the booming diaspora in Australia, particularly the Sydney and Melbourne strongholds.

“The Maltese Herald was very important,’’ Mr Dimech said.

“It was mostly news from Malta but also what was happening in Australia in the Maltese community and it was forming opinions as well.

“We fought hard for dual citizenship, we fought hard with health improvements and tax improvements for the Maltese so the Herald was a driving force for getting Maltese their rights. It was a very important medium.

“When we started the newspaper it was not very easy. It was a struggle to keep it going.

“Luckily we had quite a very healthy circulation because Maltese migrated in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, that was the peak.’’

The title started in Bankstown before relocating to Merrylands Rd in 1987 and then Pitt St, Merrylands, in 2004. Like many print titles, ethnic or mainstream, the Maltese Herald was losing money and Mr Vella refused to switch to online reporting when printing ceased in 2013.

Lawrence Dimech and Lino Vella (second and third from left) at the Maltese monument at Pendle Hill's Civic Park in 2013.

Mr Vella was a well-loved man.

“He was a very joyful man, very kind, very popular and a dedicated man to his family,’’ Mr Dimech said.

“He was a very good father, I can’t say anything bad about him. I would regard him as one of the most exceptional Maltese (person) I ever met in relation to what he gave to the community.

“He was an exceptional man.”

In 1999, his work in the media and Melita was recognised and he was made a member of the Order of Australia for his services to the Maltese community.

Lino Vella was a ‘kind, popular’ family man.

He was also bestowed with Malta’s Republic Medal in 2011 and served on the Australia Day Committee and Maltese Community Council of NSW.

Mr Vella’s health declined over the past year when he developed cancer. After a month, he was discharged from hospital on Christmas Eve.

The father of two, nannu (grandfather) of five and great-grandfather of one had managed to live independently until shortly before his death at his Blacktown home.

“He was just a fantastic family and community man,’’ Mr Vella’s son-in-law Ian Maynard said.

“He lived his entire life for his family and the community.’’

Along with his children, Mr Vella is survived by his brothers Joe, Norman, George, Freddie and sisters Doris, Antoinette and Inez.

MORE NEWS

Lisa Lake elected as Cumberland Mayor, Kun Huang the deputy