Between 1912 and 1979 the area and premises of the Rinella Tennis Club served as the Wireless and Telegraphy Station used by the British Royal Navy during the two wars which Malta had to face during its history.  

 

The Royal Navy had several stations in different countries. The functions of these stations were mainly to send messages to ships either direct or via a broadcast and receive messages from ships deployed in the Mediterranean. 

 

In fact by the 31st December 1901 the Royal Navy had a total of eight shore stations. Later in 1909 stations were established at Cleethorpes and Horsea, at Gibraltar in 1910 and at Rinella, Malta in 1912. One of the photos in the Club's History photo gallery shows the first crew of Royal Navy officers stationed at the Rinella Wireless and Telegraphy station back in 1912.

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The Club's early days

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In the beginning of 1990 Dr Anton Mifsud Bonnici approached Mr Henry Borg (former Club President) and expressed his idea that a Tennis Club should be founded in the Cottonera area. He proposed that the Old Navy Wireless and Telegraphy station at Rinella in Kalkara would be an ideal place considering that there already existed a tennis court and some adjacent buildings which could be used as club premises. Mr Borg agreed that it was worth visiting the place and considering this idea seriously.

 

They met at the Rinella Wireless station the following Saturday and upon arriving at the area Mr Borg was immediately impressed by the beautiful wooded area surrounding the tennis court and there and then decided to take up the challenge. It was obvious that a lot of hard work had to be done to turn the place into a tennis club. 

 

Mr Borg immediately began to look for human resources. He contacted a number of tennis enthusiasts who fortunately were all receptive to Mr Borg's idea and a decision was taken to hold an informal meeting and propose a statute which would lead to the foundation of the first Club Committee.

 

The first General Meeting of the Rinella Tennis Club was held on the 6th June 1990 at the Bighi Trade School in Kalkara and the first Club Committee was elected with Mr Joseph Cachia as the first Club President.