Several generations of
Għajnsielem fans consider June
8, 1974 as the happiest day of
their lives. It is certainly the
finest day in the history of
Għajnsielem Football Club. In
late afternoon of this hot
Saturday in June, Għajnsielem
put the finishing touches on a
five year long project. Five
consecutive championships won.
Both the quantity and the
consecutiveness of the titles
were records at the time. The
quantity has been surpassed, the
consecutiveness has not even
been threatened yet. The
definition of dynasty in Gozitan
football was set, and no team
has fulfilled one of its
necessary criteria: five
consecutive league titles.
That such a momentous occasion
be marked with an anti-climactic
blow-out win or worse still by
the defeat of the nearest rival
at the hands of a third party
with the lion size Blacks
watching from the stands would
not have done justice to the
achievement. However, many a
Blacks supporter would have
settled for a solid 2-0 win with
a goal early in each half. What
destiny had in store for all was
something that no fiction writer
would have dared submit for
publication.
The march to the title started
well enough, with Għajnsielem
heading the table at the end of
the first round having collected
eight points from a possible 10.
Victoria Hotspurs were at the
bottom of the table four points
adrift. But a shocking 0-1 loss
at the hands of Hotspurs
ignited the latter and created
doubt in the reigning champions.
The Blacks lost two further
points in draws against Oratory
Youths and Xewkija Tigers.
Meanwhile the Hotspurs kept
winning, so much that
Għajnsielem had to beat Nadur Y.
in the final match of the season
to force a decider. In a heart
stopper, Għajnsielem held its
nerve and won 2-1. The stage was
thus set.
Għajnsielem played in white
shirts with a black, horizontal
stripe, white shorts and black
socks. It was purely out of
superstition that this strip was
preferred to the traditional
black and white vertically
striped shirts and black or
white shorts: the Blacks had won
every match they played in the
white strip going back to the
championship run-in of the
previous season. This non-public
holiday, Saturday match was
quite possibly the first of its
kind for the Club, which had
always played on Sunday or
public holidays. Very rarely, if
ever, had the Club played this
late in June. The fact that the
season dragged so long had to do
with the repeated postponements
of the season's final league
matches due to a controversy
surrounding the protest and
eventual replay of the Xewkija
vs S.K. Calypsians match. The
Silver Jubilee Ground was
completely crammed with people
for possibly the largest crowd
in its history. People who
rarely if ever attended football
matches showed up to witness
first hand history in the
making.
The occasion created unbearable
tension. Despite all this
Għajnsielem managed to put on
one of the greatest team
performances of all time in
Gozo. In what proved to be the
swan song of one of the greatest
collection of footballers ever
to grace the Silver Jubilee
Ground, Għajnsielem brought to
bear the hallmarks of their five
year domination: team work,
speed, stamina and technique.
But Victoria were no slouches.
They were worthy adversaries.
And as such had an answer to all
that the Blacks threw at them.
Almost all.
Għajnsielem settled down first,
drawing on years of experience
on the big stage. Loreto Galea
released Vincent Cutajar with an
incisive pass, but Cutajar
misshit the ball and fired wide.
Then it was Galea's turn to
shoot, however, Xerri saved
brilliantly into a corner. As
the game wore on, Hotspurs
started showing what a fine team
they were and eventually started
sharing possession with the
reigning champions. The Hotspurs
glaring weakness was upfront and
their obsession in acquiring our
Paul Debono in those years was
thus understandable. They did
threaten on two occasions but
somehow the Blacks cleared the
danger. For the second half,
Għajnsielem introduced seventeen
year-old, Frans Magro for an
anonymous Alfred Azzopardi. A
complete unknown Magro was. The
tactical implications of this
substitution were devastating
and were stumbled upon only the
week before against Nadur. Frans
Magro would take a forward
position on the left, while
Vincent Cutajar would drop into
midfield and reinvigorate this
department with his boundless
energy. Alfred Azzopardi, out of
training ever since Hamrun had
finished their season's playing
commitments, would be good for
only one half of the match. A
Nikol Cutajar free-kick was met
in full flight by brother
Vincent, but Xerri saved his
header with great difficulty.
Karmenu Caruana cleared from
Hotspurs' Attard who had
hesitated too long with only
Sciberras to beat. From hereon
in, the match was one way
traffic. The Blacks' superior
fitness started to show. Vincent
Cutajar brought the best out of
Xerri yet again. Frans Magro
with confidence belying his age
twice side stepped his marker
and shot, only to be thwarted by
the heroic Xerri.
With five minutes to go, Toni
Cauchi relieved his opponent of
the ball and advanced with his
customary velocity before
swinging a dangerous cross.
Xerri made the first mistake of
the whole match and mistimed the
cross. The ball sailed over his
outstretched arms and looked
headed into the net. It came
back off the far post and
Sillato cleared the danger.
Hotspurs seemed to have survived
the onslaught. But the Blacks
kept trying and their fans kept
hoping. With two minutes to go,
Cauchi again dashed down the
right, and again crossed the
ball, incredibly Xerri mistimed
the cross again but this time
the ball steered past the post.
To everyone's surprise, Frans
Magro came dashing from the
blind side, sprung head long and
connected solidly. Ball and
player were in the net. Football
immortality beckoned for the
heroic and ultimately tragic
figure of Frans Magro. This was
not only a brilliant goal worthy
of winning any competition in
the world, but a goal from which
no team could possibly recover.
The scenes immediately after
this, the most memorable goal,
in our Club's history are
surreal. Play took some time to
resume. The sun was setting.
Dust was flying all over the
place. The players mobbed Frans
Magro, who was still tangled in
the net, then lifted him up and
carried him to our side because
he was disoriented and not
completely sure what was going
on around him. There was hugging
and kissing everywhere. Some
players were down, overtaken
with fatigue. Others were
screaming for water to fight
dehydration and to soothe their
throats sore with dust
particles. The fans were out of
control with enthusiasm. The
Victoria Hotspurs players
staggered about convinced that
it was all over and that they
had been defeated. These were
scenes that will certainly never
be forgotten no matter what
would happen in the Club's
history from this point on.
But two agonizing minutes still
had to go by. Wistin Sciberras
handled safely a desperate ball
lobbed by the exhausted
Hotspurs. The Blacks, like a
team possessed, threw themselves
at the Hotspurs one last time
and Xerri denied Refalo of a
second goal. The final whistle
was then blown. The decider was
over. But the wildest party that
Għajnsielem has ever witnessed
had just begun.
The crowd burst across the
retaining wall in search of
their heroes, most notably boy
wonder Magro. Amid the joyous
confusion, the President of the
G.F.A., Chev. Koli Apap managed
to present the Renton Cup to
captain Loreto Galea. All the
conquests made over the course
of five years were like the
steps of a ladder, joined
together to take the Club to the
higher ground marked by this
occasion. The fifth championship
was the coronation of a golden
era, the likes of which no
Gozitan or Maltese club has
written down in its history.
