Msida St Joseph's is one of the oldest football clubs in Malta, at least if one adds up the number of clubs which have represented the town in the league since 1910.
The present club, Msida SJ started in 1929-30 when they won the Second Division league. After that season the club was inactive until 1935-36 when the team took part in the Fourth Division.
Those were good old days for Msida when in four glorious seasons the club won promotion to the top flight of Maltese football.
In 1935, when still a Division Four side, they took part for the first time in the FA Trophy.
In the first round they beat First Division club Qormi St George's 4-1 before losing narrowly 2-1 to Hibernians in the next round. Football, however, really came into its own in this locality after the war.
At the end of hostilities, the MFA led by Dr Maurice Caruana Curran and John Fuller, the secretary, embarked on a long-term plan to re-organise the game on a firm footing. Among other things, the association decided to reduce First Division teams from six to four.
In 1944-45 a series of deciders were played with these results:
Valletta FC vs St George's 3-0
Sliema vs Melita 9-2
Msida St Joseph's vs Floriana 2-0
According to these deciders, Valletta, Sliema and Msida should have been awarded a place outright with St George's and Floriana in a play-off for the other place.
The MFA, however, decided to give Floriana and Melita a place in the First Division at the expense of Msida and St George's.
The two clubs protested strongly and they even threatened to take the case to the English FA. In the end, the MFA relented and the following season both clubs were reinstated in the First Division.
In 1945-46 Msida St Joseph's finished bottom but they were not relegated as the following season the MFA decided to increase the number of teams in Division One from seven to eight.
At this point, I would like to refer to last week's article about Naxxar Lions' epic promotion battle with Hamrun Liberty in 1945-46.
Stouter hearts would have been broken when at the end of that season, Naxxar deprived Hamrun Liberty of promotion to Division One. But Hamrun's successful runs in the FA Trophy and the Division Two Cup attracted the public's attention.
At the start of the 1946-47 season, Msida St Joseph's retired from competitive football and Hamrun were invited to take their place.
It seemed that not everything was in order though. There were rumours which persist up to this day, that Msida were persuaded to surrender their First Division status for a sum of money.
This has never been proved conclusively but for many years a mysterious sum of £50 had appeared on the books of Msida St Joseph's.
Nobody knew or would admit where that money had come from.
Whatever the truth about those rumours, Hamrun proved their worth in the First Division.
During the summer they changed their name from Liberty to Spartans and went on to win the league championship and the Cassar Cup. On the other hand, Msida St Joseph's for a time disappeared into oblivion.