Goalkeeper John Bonello was born in Msida on May 10, 1958. He started his career with Fgura United at a time when the club was still non-league.
Such a promising goalkeeper, however, could not fail to attract the attention of the league clubs.
In 1972, the inevitable happened and he was transferred to nearby Hibernians as an understudy to the great Freddie Mizzi.
Bonello had a lot to learn from Mizzi but proved to be an able pupil. During his apprenticeship, he played for the Malta Schoolboys and the Malta Youths.
Mizzi had seen many young goalkeepers come and go in his career. He seemed to go on forever and the Hibs’ faithful suffered nightmares when he finally decided to retire.
In 1974, after two years as a reserve, Bonello finally played his first game for Hibernians in a friendly against English club Hereford United.
It was not easy for a fledging keeper to replace a living legend like Mizzi but to his credit, he succeeded where other goalkeepers before him had failed.
Bonello made his league debut on November 9, 1974 in a 4-0 victory over Mosta when he came in as substitute late in the game.
I remember Mizzi saying after the game that now he could retire because Hibs had found his ideal substitute.
Between 1974 and 1978, Hibs were in the process of building a new team. Slowly but surely the club was assembling a formidable squad and by 1978 the Paolites were ready to win honours.
Guided by the shrewd George Busuttil, and later Joe Attard and Eddie Theobald, the team won three championships and two FA Trophies in four memorable seasons.
The team also went through 37 league games without a loss, a national record which still stands to this day. The stars of that fine Hibernians edition were Gużi Xuereb, Norman Buttigieg, Tony Zerafa, John Cauchi and, of course, Bonello.
In 1980-81, Bonello was contracted by German club Herford.
He stayed in Germany only one year but the experience he gained stood him in fine stead for the rest of his career.
Bonello was the protagonist of many first-class performances for both club and country. The most memorable, perhaps, was Hibs’ 3-2 victory over Braga in the UEFA Cup, and the 1-0 win over Dundalk in the Champions Cup. His best display for Malta was in the 2-1 victory over Iceland in Messina on June 5, 1982.
Between 1974 and 1992, Bonello was Hibs’ undisputed no.1 goalkeeper. At the end of the 1992-93 season, however, Hibs decided to look to the future and give a run to up and coming youngsters Etienne Mercieca and Mario Muscat.
This move did not go down well with Bonello and it triggered a serious disagreement between the club and the goalkeeper.
One could not really blame Bonello for refusing to make way for his understudies. After all, he was still in his prime and at the top of a highly-successful career with both club and country.
Bad blood crept in, however, and the dispute escalated. Both sides refused to give way and Bonello was kept on the sidelines up to 1996 when he was finally awarded a free transfer.
In 1996-97, Bonello joined Ħamrun Spartans. However, the Reds’ glory days were already over and he stayed at Ħamrun for two uneventful seasons before retiring from first-class football.