Season 1997-98 witnessed another two-horse title fight between Valletta and Birkirkara. Yet, at the start of the season, Hibs were also bracketed among the main contenders for the league title.
Hibs could not have had a better start. Traditionally slow-starters, they reversed that trend after winning the first three matches. They beat Pietà Hotspurs 4-1, Tarxien Rainbows 3-2 and Naxxar 2-0. In their next outings, they drew 1-1 with Floriana and lost 0-1 to Valletta.
Thereafter, Hibs continued to alternate fine displays with mediocre, and sometimes downright poor, games.
By the end of the second round, they were already out of the title race and eventually finished fourth, a position that left them with very little hope of qualifying for Europe.
For a short period in 1997-98, the game in Malta blossomed. Those of us who remember the good old days of the fifties and sixties, were pleasantly surprised by the sudden surge in interest.
In the old days, crowds of 15,000 to 16,000 were quite common at the Stadium, even if media exposure was limited to newspapers and the occasional radio broadcast.
As fate would have it, the championship hinged on the last game of the season when, on May 2, 1998, Valletta met Birkirkara in a do-or-die encounter for the title.
For the first time ever, a Maltese national league game was broadcast live on television. Nevertheless, an enthusiastic crowd packed the National Stadium, probably the biggest ever attendance for a league match.
Valletta emerged triumphant from this encounter 2-1. The Citizens thus became champions for the 16th time in their illustrious history. Birkirkara, on the other hand, finished runners-up. For the Stripes, it was a bitter end to a great season in which they had come very close to winning their first league title. However, with their performance they showed that it was only a matter of time before their dreams were realised.
FA Trophy
In the eighties and nineties, the FA Trophy always seemed to elude Hibernians. Eighteen long years had passed since their last success in this competition.
When Hibs reached the final in 1998, for the second year running, there were great expectations in Paola. Hibs beat Rabat 3-1 in the first round and Xgħajra Tornadoes 4-0 in the second before meeting Tarxien Rainbows in the quarter-finals. Hibs won this 'derby' 4-1. Then they disposed of Marsa 2-0 in the semis to set up a final clash with Valletta.
The final never reached great heights. The game came to life only after the resumption when Charlie Scerri broke the deadlock for Hibernians. From that point, Hibs held the upperhand. Eighteen minutes later, they doubled their lead through Darren Attard and then controlled the Citizens' reaction.
Valletta reduced the arrears in the closing minutes with an Ivan Woods goal, but this was not enough to prevent the Paolites from winning the FA Trophy for the sixth time in their history.
Hibs had not only won the second major honour of the season but they also broke Valletta's monopoly of the KO competition since its name was changed to the Rothmans FA Trophy.
That evening, the jubilant celebrations in Paola Square went on until the early hours of the next day.
Three days later, Valletta had the chance to avenge this defeat when they met Hibernians in the Super Cup final.
Valletta won a close encounter 2-0 with goals in the last quarter of an hour from Joe Zarb and Woods.