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Joe Scicluna
09 June 1951 - 15th August 2005

Ghajnsielem is mourning the loss of one of its brightest lights. Joe Scicluna passed away on August 15, 2005 at the age of 54. Joe is survived by his parents, Carmel and Wenza, and two brothers, Loreto (and his wife Rose) and Frank. He will be missed by his three nephews, Chris, Carl and David, relatives, friends and ex-students.
 

Premju Gieh Ghajnsilmiz
Joe was, by miles, the most intelligent and learned person in Ghajnsielem. Joe was also one of the first people to take part in the journalism section of our parish. He also wrote various articles about Ghajnsielem history and talked about this subject in various media programmes. Between 1974 and 1979, he was President of the 'Ghaqda Kulaturali u Rikrijattiva ta’ Ghajnsielem'. Joe Scicluna thought in various primary and secondary schools around Gozo.  He also made a valuable contribution to the development of Ghajnsielem.com. In his free time, he also studied classic culture which was one of his hobbies.

He was awarded the 'Premju Gieh Ghajnsilmiz'  (5th Edition - Friday, 10th December 2000) for his contribution towards the development of Ghajnsielem.
 

Ghajnsielem F.C.
Joe’s relationship with the Club started in the minors. He played as a forward in the famous 1965/66 minor league team that secured the first championship of that category for the Club. His contemporaries were Loreto and Vincent Galea, Vincent and Nikol Cutajar, Joe Rapa, Francis and Toni Cauchi, Salvinu Xuereb all players who would go on to form the core of the magnificent Blacks team of the 1970’s. He then moved on, with most of his teammates to the reserves team. More success followed: Joe’s reserves team won the championship in 1967/68. This was also the first time that Ghajnsielem had won a championship at this level. That same year he made his debut in the senior team, when he played in the 3-0 victory over Sannat Lions in a first division match.

Due to the wealth of talent at the Club and his commitments to study, Joe could not pursue a football career at the highest levels. This, however, did not stop him from staying active in the sport. He was a prolific scorer with the Catholic Action leagues powerhouse Torpedo team. He also often played with the likes of Loreto Galea, Raymond Buttigieg, Joe Rapa, Toni Cauchi and others in Ghajnsielem selections that played amateur Maltese sides visiting Gozo.

In the early 70’s he joined the committee of Ghajnsielem F.C. and in 72/73 he was the vice-president of the Club. He resigned from this role early in 1973 when he left Gozo for New York. At the time he was also in charge of the reserves as player coach. He played and scored in the season-opener, a 4-0 win over Victoria Hotspurs. The reserves went on to win the championship that year as well. After his return to Gozo, Joe resumed his involvement with the Club, although not with the same intensity as before. He still found time to inspire and encourage many young boys to practice football seriously.

His contribution to the Club goes well beyond these milestones. Joe and his boyhood friend and colleague Joe Rapa, were largely responsible for the formidable organization behind the famous 70’s Blacks. The administrative prowess for which the Club was noted in those years was based in large part on the ability, devotion and determination of these two men. The groundbreaking Black & White magazine which was published monthly in those years, set standards which to this day have not been met. The quality of the features contained in those magazines penned by Scicluna and Rapa is astonishing: they capture vividly the ebb and flow in the Club’s mood and, apart from the fading memory of the dwindling number of people who lived then, that is all that we have left to remind us of what it was like to be the undisputed football champion of this island.

Father Bernard Hersey and Carmelo Mallia are the founding fathers of the Club, Carmelo Rapa is the individual who revived the Club time and again during the rough 50’s and early 60’s, but Joe Scicluna and Joe Rapa are the two individuals that defined the Blacks’ culture, a culture that unified Ghajnsielem behind the Club en route to five years of glory in the 70’s, a culture that gave the Club enough momentum to survive the misery of the 80’s in order to rise again over the past decade to where it is today.
 

On a final Note
It is sad to think that all that knowledge in such diverse fields as history, literature, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, etc. and the analytic power he had developed vanished so abruptly. Joe was generous in sharing his knowledge and with his advice helped many students overcome academic hurdles. Joe was always approachable. So it is heartbreak for those who used to chat with Joe at the Grand, at Horatio’s, in the village square or at some dinner or occasion that they will never run into him again.

Loreto Scicluna and Kevin Cauchi contributed to this article

(69/70 Joe standing second from left)

(65/66 minors-Joe standing second from right)