The great amateur era

Floriana Tigers, 1926-27 Amateur League and Amateur Cup winners. Recognisable in the picture are Tom Hedley (standing first on left), Fredu Chetcuti (standing first on right) and Harry Samuel (sitting second from left).

Amateur football in Malta reached its peak in the mid-1920s.

In 1926-27 most of the players, including the majority of those in the professional league, were amateurs in the true sense of the word and did not earn a single penny for playing football.

Many amateur footballers did not hesitate to ‘turn out’ on Sunday mornings for their amateur team and then play for their professional club in the afternoon.

What a change from nowadays when footballers are pampered and treated like superstars.

Does this mean that present-day footballers are more skilful than their predecessors?

If money breeds skills, than they certainly are. One thing, however, they surely are not. They fall well behind the old-timers in their loyalty to their clubs and their fans.

In 1926-27, two amateur leagues were organised, the Malta Amateur Football Association League and the Malta Sports Association League.

The MSA League was the ‘rich’ cousin of the MAFA League as can be seen from the list of the teams that formed part of the association. These were the Dockyard Clerical Staff Sports Club, the Banks Sports Association, Flores College, the Civil Service Sports Club, the University and the Malta Eastern Club.

In 1926-27, Dockyard CS won the championship and Flores College were the runners-up.

That season, the MAFA League was split into two divisions.

The Tigers dominated the First Division, winning all their matches.

The team from Floriana were at the start of a glorious period in their history. Between 1926 and 1930, they won the Amateur League four times in succession and the Amateur Cup twice.

The Tigers were unbeaten during that period. To be precise, they were once beaten 0-1 by Senglea St Aloysius but the latter had made use of an ineligible player.

A replay was ordered but St Aloysius preferred to hang on to their laurels and give the Tigers a walkover. In their next meeting, however, the Tigers settled the account and won comfortably 8-0.

Formed in 1922 by a group of youngsters who used to play daily football matches in the ditches under the Argotti Gardens and outside Portes des Bombes, the Tigers were first launched during a meeting at the residence of a certain Edward Trapani, in St Thomas Street, Floriana.

Trapani became the club’s first president, C. Callus the cashier, while Tom Hedley, who later made a name for himself in journalism, took the role of secretary and team captain.

Season 1922-23 was the first official season of the club. They won a number of games against junior teams from the Floriana and Valletta area. It is a pity that records were not kept and the results of these matches, unfortunately, are all lost.

The Tigers’ first defeat (0-2) came against Ħamrun Lions at the Mile End. The referee of that match was the popular Floriana outside-left Harry Samuel. He was so impressed with the enthusiasm of the team that he decided to take them under his wing.

Samuel was one of the great amateurs of Maltese football. He was a first-choice player for the full Floriana side but he soon became a prominent member of the Tigers’ team. Samuel played for and coached the Tigers and, under his guidance, the amateur team from Floriana competed in the 1924-25 Amateur League.

After finishing twice as runners-up, the club’s efforts were finally rewarded when they won the championship in 1926-27.

A few weeks after being crowned champions, the Tigers added the Amateur Cup to their league title after beating Sliema Blue Stars 2-0 in the final.