It was early in the morning of Thursday, November 29, 2007 that the sad news spread around the country that Tony Dalli had died at the age of 78. It was a great shock for all those who remember the great old days of the Ajax team when the greatest-ever Maltese football outfit ruled the land.
Dalli was a tower of strength in the heart of the Floriana Ajax defence in that bygone era when the club's supremacy was so pronounced that they won the league championship in four consecutive years. It was a record which still stands despite the futile attempts of other teams to equal it.
Dalli was one of the original Ajax players when the team was founded by Frankie Tabone in 1944.
He flourished in a team which contained such 'greats' as Lolly Borg, Pullu Demanuele, Tony Vella, Benny Camilleri, Charlie Azzopardi and Lolly Debattista.
Dalli made his first-team debut for Floriana FC on February 28, 1948 against Melita. He was still 17-years-old. That was the average age of the Ajax players who were drafted in the league that day in place of established ones like Ġużi and Willie Bennetti, Leli 'Scotch' Cauchi and Pawlu Galea, the league top scorer.
It was a big gamble for Floriana to take, but the youngsters rose magnificently to the occasion, beating Melita 2-0.
Their performance that day persuaded the Greens' committee to keep faith with its youths for the rest of the season. Floriana never regretted that decision.
The Ajax took the league by storm, winning 26 major honours between 1949 and 1958 and Dalli was present in all of them.
In a career spanning a little more than 10 years, he played 91 first-team games for Floriana, winning the league championship nine times, the FA Trophy seven times, the Cassar Cup five times, the Scicluna Cup three times, the Poppy Day Fund Cup three times and the MPFA Shield twice.
If a man is to be judged by his achievements than Dalli was surely one of the immortals of Maltese football.
Robust approach
Every great team must have its 'donkey man'. A team needs a strong man to hold its defence together and Dalli fitted this bill to perfection.
A strong and able-bodied defender, he was always in the thick of the action in the centre of the penalty area.
A lion-hearted defender, he was brave to the point of full-hardness. However, his combating spirit and over-zealous defending often brought him in trouble with officials.
However, those who knew him or played against him know that although he was tough he would never resort to unfair tackling.
The game was still robust in those days. There was a lot of kicking and elbowing in the penalty area and one had to be tough to be able to hold his own.
Dalli was picked five times to represent Pick Malta against visiting foreign clubs. He also played in numerous friendly matches against foreign teams with Floriana.
Dalli carried on playing up to 1958 when a series of injuries forced him to retire. As a matter of interest, although a great header of the ball, Dalli only scored one goal for Floriana.
This came on October 19, 1952 when Floriana were beaten 2-1 by St George's. The scoresheet was still blank when Pullu Demanuele was injured and had to leave the field.
No substitutes were allowed in those days and Floriana had to carry on with 10 men. Half-an-hour later, Willie Xerri was injured and the Greens had to battle on with nine men.
A quarter-of-an-hour from the end, Oscar Bartolo scored for St George's. Gritting his teeth, Dalli went up with his forwards to head the ball into the net for Floriana's equaliser.
His joy, however, was short-lived as a minute from time Bartolo, again, scored to give the Saints a very rare victory over their old rivals from Floriana.