The end of the Christmas tourney

Season 1970-71 was a memorable one if only for the classic match Malta played against England in a Nations Cup qualifier at the old Gżira stadium.

No event in the history of Maltese football has had such a tremendous build-up.

This, with good reason, seeing how the game in Malta was introduced, fostered and developed by the British.

1970-71 was a season crammed with activities and apart from the national team’s international commitments and the European competitions for clubs, there were also two visits by foreign clubs.

In February, 1971 Wolverhampton Wanderers made a short visit to the island. This tour was organised by Marsa FC.

Having just been promoted from the Second Division, Marsa were not considered favourites for the honours. The Red-Blues, however, surprised everyone with their enthusiastic and, sometimes, skilful football and at the end they only just missed winning the championship.

Marsa were leading the league table and they considered the match against Wolves as a first step towards Europe. They lost 5-1 but the scoreline did not do them justice.

Marsa were miles behind in technique but held on bravely and only went down to a late goal-blitz in which Wolves scored four times in 10 minutes.

Season 1970-71 was the last in which the traditional Christmas tournament at the Gżira stadium was held.

After watching some of the best European teams in action, the paying public lost interest in the Yuletide event which, as a result, died a slow and natural death. The MFA’s guests for the last edition were Zeljeznicar, of Yugoslavia.

Fudbalski Klub Zeljeznicar were based in Sarajevo, now Bosnia. The club was founded in 1921 by a group of railway workers. Zeljeznicar were not among the best clubs in their country at the time.

As a result, attendances were poor but Zeljeznicar were a very good team and those who preferred to stay at home lost a football treat.

In their first two matches in Malta, Zeljeznicar beat Floriana 3-2 and Hibs 6-1.

The match against the Żebbuġ-Qormi combination was a complete flop. Those who arranged this fixture sent Maltese football at least 20 years back.

In their fourth match of the tourney, Marsa gave the stadium-goers something to shout about. Marsa played a cautious game, going down narrowly to Zeljeznicar 1-0.

Gżira also came out with flying colours in their first-ever match against a foreign team.

They fought admirably and at the end, they fully deserved to hold the slick Slavs to a creditable 0-0 draw.

This match brought the curtain down on the Christmas Tourney.