No other Black has been G.F.A. top
scorer as much as him (three times). No other Black has been
Club top scorer as much as he has (seven times). He is one of
only a handful of Gozitan players who have made an impact in the
M.F.A. (with Hamrun Spartans). All of this, however, does not do
justice to what Vincent Cutajar meant to the Club and to his
precise position among the elite of Gozitan football.
Before Vincent Cutajar broke into the team, Ghajnsielem had
never had in its thirty year history a player that inspired fear
in its opponent. After his effective retirement in 1976,
Ghajnsielem is still looking for a player that comes close to
him on this danger factor. His style was unique in that he
departed from a deep left position which gave him a range that
is very rare for a striker. In essence he was more like a modern
day mezza punta with
a twist, in that instead of roaming behind the striker or
strikers, he roamed on the left strip. His interplay with the
Blacks' midfield, most notably with Loreto Galea, meant that he
participated in transition play. He would then present assists
to the centre-forward of the day or to the right winger, Toni
Cauchi. Sometimes he would opt to go for the individual action
and have a go himself at the net. The rest of the time he would
dash inside the box to meet the killer pass from Cauchi or Galea.
He was otherwise unpredictable. His left shot had so much action
on it that made it very difficult for the opposing keeper to
handle. His slight but muscular built made him very elusive. His
marker had a terrible dilemma: if he marked him too tight,
Vincent would spin away and be gone on a through pass; if he
gave him space, Vincent would turn on the ball played to his
feet and run straight at and through him. Vincent was fortunate
in that he had team mates that appreciated the full implications
of his vast array of weaponry. These team mates made sure that
he was constantly involved in the action. Indeed, it was Vincent
that immortalized the phrase that "unless you go back to the
Club drenched in sweat, caked in mud and dripping blood, you
have not done much in a match".
To
limit Vincent's value to the Club to the goals he scored and to
the goals he made others score, would still not do full justice
to this player. At a very young age, Vincent developed such a
degree of self-confidence that not only fuelled his personal
ambition but more significantly propped the whole team's head up
for a good ten years of the Club's history. Vincent Cutajar's
swagger was infectious. He
believed in himself and made his team mates believe in
themselves. No team of sports psychologists would have seen a
squad full of young players through so many all or nothing
encounters in the span of five years. No task was insurmountable
as long as Vincent was playing. The sad proof of this generally
accepted claim is in the surrender of the scepter in the 1974/75
season. Vincent had received a lengthy suspension and the team
had to make a charge for the sixth consecutive title without
him. The team cut through all those who crossed its path
impressively, until the moment of truth, the decisive match
against eventual champions, Xewkija Tigers. The 0-1 reversal is
more noted for the weak performance washed in self-doubt than
for the result itself. Who knows what would have happened if
Vincent was there!
With the passing of the years,
history is slowly becoming legend. The longer the Club goes
without producing someone in the mould of this great player and
without a first division title, the longer will the shadow of
Vincent and his band of brothers grow on the Club.