Few people, if any, remember the subject of this week's story and those who do, surely don't remember him in his playing days. This article takes us back to the very first days of Maltese football, actually before the start of competitive football, when the game was still trying to stretch its feet and make a few tentative steps towards organisation.
Football had been played in Malta as early as the 1870s but in those days, the number of Maltese teams could be counted on the fingers of one hand.
At the time, football was dominated by the Services but a few Maltese individuals were already showing the skills and prowess necessary to make good footballers.
Among them one must mention E. Busuttil and Stagno Navarra, of St Ignatius College, A. Tajar, of Floriana, Lawrence Busuttil and Emmanuel Delia, of St George's, and, of course, Karmenu Psaila, this week's feature player.
In 1899, a competition known as the Soldiers Cup was organised by the Services. Eleven teams took part, among them the Royal Malta Artillery. This was the first time a Maltese team participated in a competitive match.
The RMA were drawn against the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in the first round. The Maltese adventure was cut short when they lost 0-2 to the more-experienced Warwicks.
However, they were not humiliated as can be confirmed from reports that appeared in the newspapers.
Keeping goal for the RMA in that match was a young goalkeeper - Karmenu Psaila.
Jobs were scarce in those days and there were very few opportunities for Maltese youths to make a career. The army not only gave youngsters a job opportunity but it also gave them a chance to show their prowess in sport.
Psaila's career, therefore, stretches way back to the very first days of Maltese football.
Between this period and 1910, when the first League Championship was held, the Maltese played prestigious friendly matches against Service XI's which attracted huge crowds, especially those involving St George's and Floriana.
Other clubs were also emerging. Among the most noted were Sliema Wanderers, Valletta United, Melita-Vittoriosa, Senglea Shamrocks and St Joseph United, of Msida.
Psaila spent his best years playing friendly football and an occasional Challenge Cup match with Msida United and St Joseph's United.
In 1910, the first league championship was organised and Psaila caught the eye with his fine handling.
In those days, it was lawful to charge the goalkeeper together with the ball into the net but Psaila could hold off any charge thrown at him.
In 1911, he joined Floriana in an exchange deal with Pawlu Borg, another fine goalkeeper of that era.
Psaila was by now getting on in years but he was still good enough for Floriana who, at the time, had perhaps, the greatest team in their long history.
Psaila stayed at Floriana for two years, winning two championships and one cup medal without conceding a goal before he retired at the end of the 1912-13 season. He never abandoned the game and in the years between the two world wars he trained Msida St Joseph.
In the 30s, Psaila helped the club reach the First Division and win the Amateur Cup for the first time.
Psaila's competitive career was short but one which deserves special mention as one of the best goalkeepers and sportsmen of the earliest days of Maltese football.
karm_bald@yahoo.co.uk