Fredu Friggieri (Id-Dreadnought)

It is always tough to live in the shadow of a famous brother. It is even harder if your brother happens to be the mythical Ruggieru Friggieri Iz-Zibga.

The awesome reputation of his famous brother left Fredu Friggieri facing an uphill struggle to make a name for himself but, to his credit, he still managed to carve a small niche for himself in local football.

A member of the great Floriana team of the 1911-1914 era, he won two league championships and a cup medal in only three competitive seasons with the Irish. Known affectionately as Id-Dreadnought by the Floriana supporters, he was a tough and hard-hitting fullback typical of that era.

Fredu Friggieri partnered his bother Ruggieru in many classic encounters against some of the best service opposition of that period.

In those days, the emphasis in football was on attack. It was a time when the fullbacks were the only pure defenders in the team. It was therefore, left for the fullbacks to protect the goalkeeper from the pressure of the opposing forces.

Referees were lenient to the extreme and players had the run of the field. The game was very aggressive and many tackles which nowadays would earn the culprit a long ban, were allowed to go unpunished.

Shoulder charges were part and parcel of the game. The centre-forward could, if he wanted, shoulder-charge the goalkeeper.

All was legal as long as the goalkeeper was standing with both feet on the ground and holding the ball in his hands. Many goals were scored by bundling the goalkeeper and the ball over the line!

Fullbacks therefore, needed to be big and strong to hold their own in the penalty area.

Fredu Friggieri was stocky and as strong as an ox. Brave to the point of foolhardiness, he never shirked a tackle. He feared nobody, and his tussles with opposing service players earned him the admiration of the Maltese and the respect of the British servicemen.

Friggieri made his debut for Floriana on February 14, 1909 in the famous Imtarfa Cup match against St George's.

For some unknown reason he did not figure in the team that won the first league championship in 1909-10.

It is possible that at the time he was away from the island with the RMA regiment. In 1911 however, he was back with Floriana helping the team sweep all the honours for three consecutive seasons.

Fredu's style was the exact opposite of that of his brother. While he hardly left his penalty area, Ruggieru scorned the customs of the day and tended to play himself out of trouble. When his team was attacking, Ruggieru used to venture upfield to have a go at goal, leaving his brother to provide cover at the back.

Fredu became an expert in this type of game, which was known at the time as the 'one-back game'.

His career was short, however. In 1914, he was seriously injured in a tackle with a service player and was forced into early retirement.

In time, he somewhat recovered from his injury but never played league football again, although every now and then, he turned out for his RMA regiment.