Turu Theobald

Turu Theobald

Turu Theobald (19 September 1909 - 1 October 1989) was a Maltese footballer.

His father Charles was Welsh. He worked for the British navy and his job brought him to Malta. The Theobald family lived in Corradino, very close to the Corradino football pitches belonging to the British services in Malta, and very close to Paola.

In the thirties, the Paola Constitutionals football team was still connected to the Constitutional Party club in the village. After winning the Amateur Cup, its members wished to have their team separated from politics. It’s President C. Gauci decided to name the team Hibernians as he was a follower of Scottish team Hibernian, and Turu Thoebald has his share in the choice of the new name.

Turu started his football career with the Paola Constitutionals in the Amateur League. He then played in the positions of inside forward or right half back with Hibernians in the top league. He was a fine dribbler and a good scorer. In one of the games he scored 4 goals in the 7-0 game against Hamrun Spartans in 1935. He was always loyal to the Paola team and refused attractive offers to join other clubs.

Turu was always in the first team through his career which was a short one as the league had to stop due to World War II. During the war Turu and his family lived in for some time in Gozo, and in Dingli.

Turu’s three sons were also footballers. Eddie and Louis played for Hibernians and the national team, while Ronnie played for Vittoriosa Stars.