Maltese football has always been blessed with fine goalkeepers especially in the 1960s. One keeper who I greatly admired at the time was Charlie Zerafa, of Rabat Ajax and Floriana FC.

Zerafa was born on July 17, 1941 in Rabat.

From a very early age, he displayed an unusual ability to dribble and shoot a ball. He was quick and elusive which made him an excellent prospect for an attacking role.

He was rather tall for his age so when the need arose, he was often asked to play between the posts as an emergency goalkeeper.

Zerafa played regularly for the Rabat Primary School team and, when the Rabat and Mdina district league was formed, he joined Rovers FT.

This competition was very popular in the 1950s and produced some of the best Maltese footballers of that era.

The Rovers players were led by former Rabat and Valletta defender, Alfie Pearson who realised the potential of Zerafa but not as a forward but as a goalkeeper.

Soon, Zerafa was earning a reputation as a future top-class no.1. In the Rovers team there were other fine footballers including Paul Micallef, George and Joe Tonna, John and Paul Sapiano, Vincent and Twanny Vassallo, Twanny Tanti and Leli Azzopardi.

All these youngsters played league football for Rabat and the Vassallo duo made a name for themselves with Valletta and Sliema Wanderers.

From the Rabat District League, Zerafa moved on to the Rabat minors team and in his first season he helped the team to win the national championship.

He soon joined the Under-21 and reserves teams and on April 18, 1959 Zerafa made his first team debut for the Magpies in a 1-4 defeat to Valletta.

That season Zerafa figured in just four first-team matches in which he conceded 11 goals.

It was an encouraging start for the youngster but 1958-59 was not really a happy season for Rabat who finished at the foot of the league table and got relegated.

Zerafa spent the next three years in the Second Division. During this period, he played 19 league matches and conceded 18 goals.

However, in 1961-62 Rabat won promotion and Zerafa finally had his chance to show off his talent in the top division of Maltese football.

Life in the First Division was tough for Rabat and the team hovered regularly around the bottom places of the league table.

Floriana move

However, their keeper’s brilliant performances in goal soon caught the eye of the big clubs who vied against each other for his signature.

Zerafa stayed with Rabat up to 1965 and then joined Floriana. He made his debut for the Greens on November 1, 1965 as a substitute for regular goalkeeper Tony Borg in a 1-1 draw with Sliema Wanderers.

He stayed with Floriana up to the end of the 1970-71 season.

During those five years he only managed 32 league matches in the Greens shirt and conceded 14 goals.

His best season was 1967-68 when he was everpresent in the team and conceded only two goals in 16 matches.

With Floriana, Zerafa won a handful of honours which included the championship in 1967-68 and the FA Trophy in 1966-67.

However, towards the end of his stay he started to lose his place in the team to Tony ‘Żażu’ Farrugia. So, he decided to return to his hometown club with whom he played in the lower divisions.

After helping Rabat win promotion to the First Division in 1977, Zerafa retired.