There was a time when Maltese football was dominated by Floriana and Sliema Wanderers.
The situation persisted into the late Fifties albeit with the emergence of Valletta and Hibernians the picture began to change.
Season1957-58 was a particularly good campaign for Floriana. They won the Cassar Cup, the League championship and the FA Trophy but they were prevented from making a clean sweep of the honours by Sliema who beat them in the Scicluna Cup final.
On their way to the Cassar Cup final, Floriana crushed Ħamrun Spartans.
The Spartans lived for only the first 10 minutes of this game. Floriana then released the brakes and led by the devastating tandem of Lolly Borg and Pullu Demanuele they beat the Spartans 7-0.
In the final, the Wanderers were only in the game in the first quarter of an hour. Demanuele cracked in the first goal and two minutes later, Tony Cauchi made it 2-0.
From now on the Wanderers were a demoralised team and there was only one team in it.
To add to Sliema’s woes, they wasted a golden opportunity of coming back into the game when Ninu Calleja missed a penalty.
In the second period, Sliema improved considerably and for a while they seemed capable of turning the game in their favour. They made one last desperate effort to save the match but then Demanuele applied a shattering blow which knocked the stuffing out of the Wanderers.
Demanuele received a pass in midfield, beat Ġużi Bonnici as the Sliema fullback came in for the tackle. He then cut past Calleja, rounded Salvu Bonnici and let fly an unstoppable shot into the far corner of Victor Scerri’s goal.
From then on the Greens toyed with their opponents making it all look so simple.
It was a great victory for Floriana, master-minded by the devastating partnership of = Borg and Demanuele, the greatest left-wing partnership in the history of the club.
It was however a pity that Demanuele chose this particular match to play his greatest-ever game. A sad note was struck at the end of the game when Sliema skipper, Tony Nicholl shook hands with the Floriana players and waved adieu to the crowd.
It was the last game of Maltese football’s greatest exponent.
Buoyed by their victory in the Cassar Cup Floriana continued on the winning trail by lifting the league title.
Initially, the Greens’ defence looked suspect and didn’t compare favourably with its formidable attack.
Later on, however, they introduced Freddie Mizzi in goal and with the return from injury of Charlie Brincat after a long lay-off, the defence took a steadier look.
Floriana’s real strength however was in their powerful attack.
With Pullu Demanuele playing on top of his game and with centre forward Tony Cauchi showing the deadly skills of a born striker, the team only needed the scheming of Borg to hit top form.
Demanuele finished top scorer with 14 goals to his credit which included three hat-tricks.
Floriana rarely moved out of the top spot in the league standings throughout the season.
They found very little opposition from the other clubs except, perhaps from Ħamrun Spartans. The Reds surprised everyone when they beat Floriana twice in the league but their challenge fizzled out late in the campaign.
Great things were expected from Valletta after the promise of the previous season but the hopes of the City faithful were not fulfilled.
The same could be said of Sliema. This was one of the worst seasons for the Blues since the end of the war.
Injuries, suspensions and a good slice of bad luck cost them precious points in critical moments of the campaign which forced them to surrender the championship.
Due to the hot weather, the Trophy quarter-finals were played in one weekend.
The traditional luck of the Irish did not desert Floriana who were helped in no small way by the draw to reach the final. In the quarter-finals, they found little opposition from Rabat. The Greens beat the Magpies 6-1.
In the semis, Floriana could hardly have got it easier.
Facing a dispirited St George’s side which had just been relegated from the top division they disposed of the Saints by five clear goals.
Sliema had a far harder task to reach the final. In the quarter-finals they could only beat Valletta after extra-time and later they had to play Hibernians twice in the semi-finals.
The replay between Sliema Wanderers and Hibernians was anything but a sporting contest. The match was riddled by fouls with Fred Barry and Frans Xuereb, of Hibernians, and Sliema’s Ġużi Bonnici received marching orders.
Sliema won 4-0 but they had to face Floriana in the final without their most experienced defender.
Bonnici’s expulsion unsettled the Blues’ defence and Floriana never had it easier.
The Greens added the trophy to their season’s trophy haul with a 2-0 victory.
Floriana FC as they lined-up against Sliema Wanderers in the 1957-58 FA Trophy final. The Greens had the better of their Old Firm rivals Sliema 4-0 to complete the League, Cassar Cup and FA Trophy Triple.