On May 5, 1968, Hibernians played against Msida St Joseph's in the FA Trophy quarter-finals. In those days, Hibs were well served in the centre-forward position by their regular striker Victor Cassar.
However, Hibs wanted to try something different against St Joseph's. They moved Cassar to the left wing and in his place they deployed the promising Francis Mifsud.
The Malta Youths star had only a handful of first-team appearances behind him but he rose to the occasion scoring four great goals.
This was the start of a short, but great, career for the youngster from Paola. A Hibs product, Mifsud was one of a number of players introduced to the game by that great football mentor Fr Hillary Tagliaferro.
Mifsud made his First Division debut in 1966-67, helping Hibs to win the championship in his first season.
Mifsud found himself a celebrity the next year when Hibs travelled to England to meet Manchester United in the first round of the UEFA Champions Cup.
It all started on September 16, 1967 when the Hibs' party left for the United Kingdom. Before going to Manchester, the players and officials stopped for a couple of nights in London. The group went to Highbury Stadium to watch the North London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. After the match, as the players were returning to their hotel, Mifsud, then barely 17 and the baby of the party, got lost in the crowd.
He found himself in a rather awkward situation, since he forgot the name of his hotel. Luckily for him, a Maltese resident who happened to be in the area came to his rescue. Taking pity on the youngster, he took him home with him where he spent the night. The next day they drove to Euston Station where Mifsud boarded a train to Manchester.
Fortunately for Mifsud, in the same compartment there was a certain Ms Davies travelling home from a holiday in Italy and he asked her to show him the way.
Ms Davies realised his difficulty. Being late in the evening, she offered him shelter for the night with her family. The next day she took him to Old Trafford to the relief of the Hibs contingent who by now were sick with worry and had already reported his disappearance to the police.
The newspapers got wind of the story and, needless to say, Mifsud suddenly found himself on the front pages.
Back in Malta, Mifsud soon developed into one of the most exciting footballers. Between 1966 and 1971 he won 10 major honours for Hibs, including two league championships and two FA Trophy medals.
A highly versatile player, he could play equally well in defence or attack. In 1969 he showed his best when he played in the heart of the defence in a prestigious friendly against Arsenal at the Stadium.
The Gunners came to Malta as guests to Carerras Malta Ltd, local representatives of Piccadilly Cigarettes, who organised a two-match tour for the famous English club.
In their first match, Arsenal beat Floriana 4-0 with a polished performance.
The match against Hibs had a very different story. In front of a record crowd, the Paolites held the mighty Londoners to a 0-0 draw.
It was perhaps Hibs' finest hour, bigger even than the 0-0 draw against Manchester United, 18 months earlier. Hibs gave as much as they got in the first half and then funnelled back into an organised defence in an effort to withstand Arsenal's second-half fury.
All the Hibs players produced a first-class display but the man of the match was Mifsud. He blotted international centre-forward Bobby Gould out of the game.
The sky seemed to be the limit for Mifsud but in 1972 a bolt of lighting hit the Hibs camp when he decided to leave for Australia.
Mifsud stayed four years 'down under' before he returned to Malta and Hibs in 1976.
He was still at the top of his career but injury halted his comeback after only a handful of matches.