Amateur status at its best

Amateurism is long death and buried. Money is all that counts these days and people do not want to know about anything else unless it leaves a profit.

As a result, football has lost a lot of what is best in the sport. There was a time, however, when the amateur status was coveted and jealously guarded.

For many years, amateurism, sportsmanship and Fair Play went hand in hand. Amateur athletes were kept apart from the professionals especially in individual sports like athletics and tennis.

However, in football, although separate competitions were organised for the two categories, a good amateur footballer could, if he wanted, compete in the professional league without losing his amateur status as long as he did not receive any remuneration for his services.

Amateur players went to great lengths to preserve their status.

They were very careful not to receive any gifts from club officials and sometimes they refused even the most basic needs to avoid falling into traps set by over-eager club officials.

Amateur football in Malta was at its peak in the 1920s when the Malta Amateur Football Association (MAFA) and the Malta Sports Association (MSA) were founded.

MAFA catered for the many amateur teams which were sprouting all over the island in those early days.

The MSA, on the other hand, was the 'rich' cousin of MAFA as can be seen from the list of teams which at one time or another formed part of the association.

These were: the Dockyard Clerical Staff, the Banks Sports Association, Flores College, the Civil Service Sports Club, the University Sports Club, the Malta Eastern Club, the Teachers Football Team, Overseas Club, Salesians Football Team, Old Edwardians and RAF Civilian Staff Football Team.

The MSA was formed in 1925 by O. Fogarty, professor of English at the University of Malta, and Oscar Aquilina. The latter was the victim of a traffic accident and after his demise the association died a slow death.

However, the MSA survived well into the 1950s. Apart from football, they also organised waterpolo, tennis and billiards competitions.

The photograph on right shows the University Sports Club team in 1944-45.

In it are some of the best amateur players of the post-war era of Maltese football. They were all fine footballers in their own right but perhaps the most noted were Maurice DeCesare, who had a long and distinguished career with Melita AFC, Sliema Wanderers and Hamrun Spartans, and Donald Mercieca.

DeCesare was an energetic and sometimes controversial figure in football. He extended his sporting career into administration, serving for some years in Sliema's committee and in the MFA Council.

In 1944-45 University SC won the MSA League and Cup double with Salesians finishing runners-up in both competitions.

Unfortunately, many league results are missing and I am not in a position to give you the final table. The results of the cup competition, however, have survived and these give us a very good idea of the strength of University SC during that particular season.

It surely provokes fond memories of a bygone era in the history of the game on our islands when there were still people around in football who enjoyed the game for what it was worth. Those were people who although highly successful in their every day careers, scorned the mere mention of money in connection with their favourite sport.

For the record

1944-45 - MSA Cup
Played at the Services Ground

Quarter-Finals
23-04-45 Salesians FT vs Dockyard CS 1-0
26-04-45 University SC vs RAF Civilian Staff FT 8-2

Semi-Finals
11-05-45 University SC vs Old Edwardians 3-2
15-05-45 Salesians vs Banks SA 2-1

Final
20-05-45 University SC vs Salesians 4-1