George Xuereb was born in Marsa on November 14, 1953. Being the younger brother of Francis and Raymond Xuereb, two of the best footballers of their era, he had an awesome family reputation to live up to.
He started his career with Floriana Minors in 1968 at the age of 16. A tough and bustling striker, his style contrasted sharply with the more elegant approach of his brothers but he soon proved to be an excellent player in his own right.
Xuereb made his first-team debut for Floriana on November 1, 1970 in the league match against Marsa, coming on as a substitute for Charlie Grech. It was the start of 10 glorious seasons with the Greens in which he won 13 major honours.
With Floriana, he played in many memorable encounters. The most famous, perhaps, was his European debut against Ferencvaros on September 20, 1972 when Floriana beat the Hungarian champions 1-0 at the Gżira Stadium.
Xuereb made his debut for the national team in the World Cup qualifier against Turkey at the Ataturk Stadium on October 31, 1976. He went on to win 31 international caps for his country, scoring three goals in the process.
At the start of season 1980-81, the Floriana camp was stunned by the news that Xuereb was being transferred to Ħamrun Spartans. Some people in the Floriana camp were of the opinion that Xuereb was past his prime but the majority agreed that he still had a lot to offer.
In those days Ħamrun Spartans were still finding their feet in the top flight. It seemed at the time that Xuereb’s career was in decline but the future still had a lot in store for the 27 year-old striker.
In 1982, Victor Tedesco took over the reins of the Spartans and, in a short time, he reversed the fortunes of the club. In 1982-83, the Reds won their first championship in over 37 years and George Xuereb, the player discarded by Floriana, clinched his fourth championship medal.
However, the rules of nature cannot be ignored. By now Xuereb was becoming slower and was losing his sharpness in front of goal. This, however, didn’t dent his determination to keep going. Moving back to the centre-half position, he concentrated all his energy and experience on his new task of preventing goals rather than scoring them.
He stayed with Ħamrun for eight seasons, winning three championships and two FA Trophy medals. In 1987-88, Xuereb only played in the first three matches of the season and then announced his retirement.
But, at the start of season 1988-89, after nearly a whole season away from football, Floriana asked him to come out of retirement.
The Greens were in a difficult situation. They badly needed an experienced centre half to take the place of John Holland who had just retired. They hadn’t thought about bringing in a replacement and there were none available in the transfer market. Thus, the Greens asked Xuereb to step in and with his love for the game intact, he was only too happy to oblige.
This time, Xuereb’s stay with Floriana was short and uneventful but he served his purpose well. He only left Floriana after they had solved their centre-half problem.
It was at the end of season 1990-91 when Xuereb wore the famous green and white jersey for the last time but contrary to expectations, it was not the end of Xuereb.
Approached by Dingli Swallows, he accepted their proposal and, in five seasons, took them from the third division to the first division.
On and on he went. It was as if he would go on forever but time eventually catches up with everybody and at the end of season 1995-96, he finally hung up his boots for good.