Donald Buhagiar was born in Siġġiewi in 1956.

From a very early age, he showed an extraordinary talent for football and, in particular, a keen appetite for scoring goals.

At the tender age of 15, he had already made his first-team debut for Siġġiewi in the Second Division.

That year, the team was relegated to the Third Division but the club's misfortune proved to be a blessing for emerging young players because it gave Buhagiar a better chance to establish himself in the first team.

Buhagiar was still a student at the Paola Technical Institute when, in 1975-76, he received a call-up for Terenzio Polverini's Malta U-18 squad for the home and away encounters with France in the UEFA Youth Tournament.

That season, he also formed part of the Malta squad which took part in the FISEC Games.

In 1973-74, Siġġiewi won Section A of the Third Division league and were promoted. They were also runners-up behind Kirkop United in the minors league. Buhagiar was one of the protagonists in both competitions.

His performances in the hustle and bustle of the Schreiber Football Ground attracted the attention of the first division clubs and it was no surprise when, at the end of the season, Floriana made a successful bid for his signature.

In those days, Floriana enjoyed an awesome reputation.

The Greens could boast players of the calibre of Raymond and George Xuereb, Louis Arpa and Willie Vassallo. It was, therefore, a dream come true for a youngster coming from an unfashionable team to join such illustrious company.

It was no easy task to gain a first-team place among these immortals of Maltese football. Buhagiar, however, soon settled down in his new surroundings and before long he was hitting in the goals with the same rhythm and frequency that he did for Siġġiewi.

This was the best period in the career of this fine footballer. In 1976-77, his first season with Floriana, the Greens won the league and the Sons of Malta Cup. The next term they reached the FA Trophy final but got beaten 3-2 by arch-rivals Valletta in an epic derby.

In 1980-81, however, Buhagiar realised his dream of winning the FA Trophy. That season Floriana's opponents were Senglea Athletics.

The Greens were hard pressed in the final by the First Division outfit but in the end they managed to beat them 2-1.

From then on, winning honours became scarcer for Floriana. The fine team which the Greens had built in the 1970s started to break up. Ray 'Zazu' Farrugia and Willie Vassallo left for Australia, Arpa had already retired and the Xuereb brothers joined Edwin Farrugia at Ħamrun Spartans.

Buhagiar stayed with Floriana up to the end of the 1984-85 season when the Greens were relegated for the first and only time in their history. For a while Buhagiar's career seemed to be hanging by a thread but in 1986 he rejoined his hometown club, Siġġiewi.

Buhagiar seemed to recapture his old verve and knack for scoring goals with his home-town club. Year after year he kept hitting them in to the delight of his fans.

He kept playing until 1989-90 when Siġġiewi won promotion to the First Division. He had just turned 40, an age when most footballers would have probably hung up their boots and, perhaps, moved on to coaching.

Buhagiar is best remembered by Floriana as a hard-working attacker and goalscorer and as an honest and loyal clubman by the Siġġiewi fans.

These days the game badly needs men of his integrity.

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