NIKOL
CUTAJAR
Date of birth: December 17, 1951
Nationality: Maltese
Position: left half-back
Debut: December 22, 1968
Last match: March 2, 1978
Appearances for Club: 128
Goals for Club: 23
Nikol
Cutajar was the rock upon which foundered all assaults on
Ghajnsielem F.C.'s dominance in the glorious years. His chiseled frame
roaming in front of the defense was a beacon of light to his team and a
daunting reef to his opponents. He was the attacking half of the
half-back partnership he forged with Club veteran Karmenu Caruana. Nikol
would take the opposing inside-right (the traditional number 10) out of
the match and make him retreat to deal with the threat posed by his
marauding style. Nikol's left foot is legendary. He shot with venom from
any range. Even the penalty shots that he took were of the rocket speed
variety. Indeed, the odd one he had saved meant a trip to the emergency
unit to the opposing keeper. He was strength personified.
Nikol broke
into the side at the dawn of the greatest years of this Club's history,
December 1968, a few days past his seventeenth birthday. He retired, at
the dusk of this age so to speak, not yet twenty seven. He started as a
full-back but was quickly shifted to the half-back role. He wore the
number six and in the process imposed on all his successors a heavy burden. To bring dignity to this shirt an Ghajnsielem player must be very good at playing
football. In addition, such player must have no fear, must have
seriousness etched on his face and evident in his demeanour, must have
broad shoulders to carry all the responsibility that comes with the
territory, must ask no quarter, must give no quarter.
Nikol
Cutajar's ascent to fame mirrors that of the Club. He won the minor league
championship in 1965/66. With more or less the same team mates he won the
reserves title in 1967/68. In the big scheme of things these two titles
may not matter much, but this early success instilled in young Nikol
a winner's mentality. And win he did. Five championships and twelve major
trophies. He captained the side after Loreto Galea emigrated and even
topped the Club scoring list one season.
With Loreto
Galea and his brother Vincent, Nikol starred in the Hamrun Spartans' side
of the early seventies. Unlike these two greats, Nikol was never awarded the footballer of the year
honour
by the G.F.A. This sad fact
detracts not from the greatness of this player but from the relevance of
this award as an indicator of a player's value to his club in a season.
Nikol Cutajar's goal in the last match of the 1972/73 season that secured
the fourth title for Ghajnsielem should have been the wake-up call for
those who decide on these things. The G.F.A. overlooked Nikol, but
history, the ultimate arbiter of greatness hasn't, and he will be forever
celebrated as one of the pillars upon which this Club rests.