Sunday, June 11, 1978 was a very important date in the history of Hibernians. In the annual general meeting held that day, Tony Bezzina was appointed club president.

This was the start of a long and glorious career for him. It is no exaggeration to say that he has made the club one of greatest in the history of Maltese football.

Bezzina could not have had a better start at the helm of the Paolites. Together with his committee and coach, George Busuttil, he led the team to a fourth championship after a lapse of ten seasons.

In 1978-79, the MFA made an attempt to stir some interest in the game by introducing a new league format.

The new changes were designed to reduce uninteresting mid-table encounters.

In the past, many similar experiments had been made but, without exception, they had all failed. This time was no exception.

Under the new format, the First and Second Divisions were divided in two phases. In the first stage, the teams were split in two sections of five teams. The top two qualified for the Championship Pool and the rest contested the Relegation Pool.

In the Championship Pool, every team started the second phase with a clean sheet but the 'red group' teams were awarded bonus points based on their performance during the first phase.

The idea seemed sound on paper but, as the competition progressed, flaws began to emerge.

Unfortunately for the organisers, Hibernians ran away with the Championship Pool as in the Relegation Pool interest was lost very early in the competition.

The bonus points, which in the first phase had served as an incentive, served only as a means of manoeuvring for a safe place.

This was the exact opposite of what the organisers had in mind when they designed the new format.

The best part of the competition was Group A of phase one, where Ħamrun, Sliema, Hibernians, Marsa and Qormi battled grimly a place in the Championship Pool.

As expected, the main contenders here were Sliema and Hibernians. The Paolites won their first four matches and gave the impression that they were going to run away with the group.

Then they struck a bad patch and, after losing two matches in succession, they beat Qormi to win a place in the finals.

Sliema, after losing the initial match to Hibernians, recovered and won seven consecutive victories to be declared winners of the group.

Group B was practically over as soon as it started. Floriana and Valletta dominated this section from start to finish, leaving the other three teams to jostle for the bonus points.

Xuereb at his best

The championship group was very balanced. There were very little difference between the teams and each match was keenly contested but Hibs, led by Gużi Xuereb at his brilliant best, started to win one game after another leaving the other teams to fight between them for a place in Europe.

There is no doubt that Hibs deserved to win the championship. They had a young side which promised well for the future.

John Bonello, Norman Buttigieg, John Cauchi, Frans Mallia, Tony Zerafa, Pawlu Xuereb, Ernest Spiteri Gonzi, and Xuereb formed the nucleus of the team which was to dominate Maltese football in the early 1980s.

During that memorable season, Hibs introduced Luigi Bongiovani, a striker from Argentina who added flavour to an already-talented combination. The star of the team, however, was Xuereb.

Barely 19 years of age, he became the darling of Maltese football.

His memorable showing against West Germany is still remembered with nostalgia by many of his admirers and he fully deserved to be voted Malta's Footballer of the Year that year.

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since that season. Thirty years is a long time in football in whichever capacity you operate.

Some people, however, can absorb the pressures and tribulations of the job much better than others. Bezzina has proved that he is equal to the task.

Since that memorable season in 1978-79, he has now won 17 major honours including the championship seven times and the FA Trophy five times.

Every honour has given the Hibs chief great satisfaction but I would not be mistaken if I say that of the last 30 seasons, the last one has been the most memorable.

In 2008/09, Hibs created a record which could be equalled but probably never broken.

This is the first and only time that a club has won the championship, the U-19 league, the U-17 league and the U-15 league in one year.