Edward Aquilina – a glittering career

Edward Aquilina

Edward Aquilina has an excellent football pedigree.

His father John was a popular amateur goalkeeper of the pre-World War Two era and his brother is the late Sliema Wanderers and Malta midfielder Ritchie Aquilina.

Born in Sliema on September 2, 1945, Edward Aquilina was a fine footballer in his own right and he would be included in any short list of great Maltese players of the sixties and seventies.

He could play anywhere in the forward line but perhaps his best position was inside-forward where his skills and tremendous shot could be best exploited.

More importantly, Aquilina inherited from his father not only his skills with the ball but also his great integrity and true sportsmanship.

Aquilina made his debut for Sliema Wanderers in a 3-3 draw against Hibs on January 6, 1962.

That season he only played a couple of games for the first team but he was ever-present in the side thereafter.

In 1962-63, he played in his first FA Trophy final. That season Sliema beat Hibs 2-0 in the final and Aquilina marked the occasion with a goal. This became his trademark as he made it a habit of scoring on big occasions.

It was the first of three FA Trophy medals he won with Sliema Wanderers. The others were in 1964-65 and 1973-74.

By 1968, Aquilina had already played 74 competitive matches for Sliema and scored 13 goals.

During this glorious period in the Wanderers’ history, he helped the club to win three championships, two FA Trophies and once each the Independence Cup, the Scicluna Cup, the MFA League, the Testaferrata Cup and Christmas Cup.

Having conquered all the domestic honours, in February 1967 Aquilina was persuaded by Janos Bedl to join Pittsburgh Phantoms in the National Pro Soccer League of America.

He was a success in the land of opportunities but after one season, he became homesick and decided to return to Malta.

Hibs transfer

Many expected Aquilina to rejoin Sliema but to the dismay of the Blues , he signed for Hibs.

Aquilina stayed with the Paolites for three memorable seasons in which he won another championship medal and a Sons of Malta Cup medal.

He was very popular at Paola but in 1970-71 he decided that, after all, his heart belonged to Sliema.

Aquilina’s return coincided with another great period in the history of the Blues.

Between 1970 and 1979, the year he finally hung up his boots, he played another 138 first-team matches, adding another three championships, one FA Trophy, two Independence Cup, one Christmas Cup and one Sons of Malta Cup medals to his bulging collection.

In addition Aquilina was capped 13 times by Malta in full internationals.

In 1978, Aquilina qualified as an A class coach and the first team he led was Sliema with whom he stayed for three years.

In 1981-82, Aquilina was coach at Qormi FC but the next season he returned to Sliema.

In 1986-87 he became a member of the MFA coaching staff, a post he held for four seasons.

That was followed with another two seasons at Qormi before spells with Senglea and Marsa in seasons 1992-93 and 1993-94.

In 1994-95, Aquilina joined Valletta and here he led the Whites through the greatest period in the club’s history... that, of course, is another story.