At last, one for the Wanderers

In 1967, the Maltese Social Club of New York donated a very handsome trophy, the Sons of Malta Cup, to the Malta FA to be played for annually by the champions and the FA Trophy winners.

The first edition of the new competition, which replaced the old Scicluna Cup, was held on February 25, 1968 between Hibernians and Floriana.

In all, the competition was held 13 times. Floriana claimed the trophy six times, Hibernians three, Valletta twice and Sliema Wanderers twice although the second time could hardly be counted because the Blues were awarded a walkover by Hibernians.

Today's article is centered around Sliema's only outright victory in the final.

This came in 1972-73 against their traditional rivals Floriana. Sliema's poor showing in this competition contrasted heavily with the way they dominated the old Scicluna Cup.

In fact, out of 14 Scicluna Cup finals, the Wanderers won nine.

The 1972-73 season opened well for Sliema Wanderers.

On Sunday, September 8, the reigning champions took a step forward towards winning the Independence Cup for the second year in succession. Sliema beat Valletta 1-0 but their euphoria lasted only a couple of days.

The following Wednesday they lost 3-0 to Floriana and they had to surrender the first trophy of the season to their Old-Firm rivals. This pattern was maintained throughout the season.

Floriana relieved the Blues of their championship crown in one of the most exciting campaigns of the post-war period. Then, as if this was not enough, Sliema were knocked out of the FA Trophy in the first round of the competition by Marsa.

This tie needed two replays before it was decided in favour of the Red-Blues.

It was a miserable season for the Wanderers.

They had a very good team that year but Floriana seemed to be that little bit better. Sliema would have had nothing to show for their efforts were it not for the Sons of Malta Cup.

They qualified for the final as the 1971-72 league champions while Floriana won the right to play in the contest because they were the FA Trophy holders.

This was Sliema's fourth appearance in the final but they were still seeking their first success in the competition.

The number four, however, was a lucky number for them because this time they beat Floriana 2-0 with goals from Joe Serge and Richard Aquilina.

At last, the Blues could add the prestigious trophy to their impressive collection of silverware.