Alexander Borg Cardona was a product of St Edward’s College where he was coached by the famous Sliema Wanderers stalwart Edward Scicluna.
From the tender age of 14, Sunny, as Borg Cardona was affectionately known, was an automatic choice for the college’s team.
This was at a time when inter-college football was the breeding ground of many of Malta’s best footballers.
Borg Cardona’s first league experience was in season 1939-40 with Balzan Youths.
Rather tall and well-built for his age, he more than held his own in the rough and burly atmosphere of the Fourth Division. He was rated as one of the most promising youngsters in the junior divisions but when war broke out his progress was halted.
In 1941, Borg Cardona left St Edward’s to join the RMA as an officer cadet.
During this period he also played for Sliema but the war and his studies prevented him from making his competitive debut until 1947.
Bad luck, however, overtook him in 1949 when he developed knee problems. In those days, when sport medicine was still rudimentary, this was a very serious injury.
As a result he lost the best part of the 1948-49 season but made a full recovery and he was soon towering over friend and foe in the Blues’ defence.
In 1950, Sliema acquired the services of Lolly Cuschieri from Birkirkara and Borg Cardona was moved to right-back.
In those days, the full-back was a pure defender. His role was to provide a stumbling block to the opponents’ winger and prevent him from sending crosses inside the box.
Borg Cardona stayed with the Wanderers up to the end of 1950-51 during which he won the championship in 1949. He also won the Trophy in 1946 and 1948.
In 1951, ‘Sunny’ joined Birkirkara who were making a strong bid to gain promotion to the First Division for the first time in their history. His experience proved to be the tonic the Stripes required to help them bridge the gap between the two divisions.
Borg Cardona played for one more year before he retired at the end of the 1952-53.
He still had a few seasons left in him but his Army career prevented him from playing first-class football.
During his rather short career he was picked eight times to play for the MFA XI against visiting teams and he played twice for the League XI in prestigious matches against Service XIs.
Borg Cardona played many fine games in his career but his best was the Christmas Tourney game between the MFA XI and SK Austria.
That day, against all expectations the national team held the talented Austrians to a 1-1 draw.