Birkirkara captain Antoine Zahra holding the Lowenbrau Cup in the presence of former club president Victor Zammit.

If you ask the average Birkirkara supporter when the game in their town first took off, he/she would probably say 1950.

They would not be far wrong because the present club of Birkirkara FC was founded that year. However, the first club in the town came to life in 1917 when Birkirkara United were founded by former Floriana footballer Salvu Troisi.

We know very little about this team and it probably died a natural death after a short period. The name, however, survived and after the war a team bearing the same name joined the Malta FA.

The game took a long time to sprout its roots in Birkirkara though and it was only during the summer of 1951 when the club was re-organised and from Birkirkara United the name was changed to the more representative Birkirkara FC.

Success was well overdue but 1951-52 proved to be Birkirkara’s coming of age season. That year, the enthusiasm of the supporters knew no bounds and this ensured that the Second Division league would be one of the best contested for many a season, developing into a bitter fight for promotion between Birkirkara and Żebbuġ Rangers.

They started to win one game after the other until they clashed on December 9, 1951.

Success had been long-time coming but in 1998-99 the Stripes had something to shout about

This was the match of the season. Trained to peak fitness by player-coach Frankie Tabone, Birkirkara were at their best form. They dominated the game and gave Rangers a lesson in football.

That was the first honour won by Birkirkara FC and the first time they got promoted to the top tier. That success opened a long and arduous period in the club’s history during which the Stripes kept alternating between the top two ladders of the league.

This situation prevailed up to the late 1990s when, at long last, the club established itself among the best in the country.

Success for Birkirkara had been long-time coming but in 1998-99 their fans had something to shout about. The long wait was over as the pre-season Lowenbrau Cup became the first-ever major trophy won by the club from the valley. However, even this success had its tribulations.

The competition started with Hibernians beating Valletta 3-1. It seemed at this stage that Hibernians already had their hands on the trophy especially after the Citizens recovered to beat Birkirkara 3-1 in the second match of the tournament.

Hibs seemed to be home and dry. A drawn result or even a 0-3 defeat would have given them the trophy. In football, however, nothing is certain until the final whistle.

Playing in their own ground, Hibs were perhaps too confident. Birkirkara, on the other hand, refused to give up. They came out fighting and before the end of the match two Michael Galea goals and other strikes from Ivan Zammit and Michael Cutajar gave them an unexpected 4-0 victory and the trophy.

This was not enough, however.

In fact, after all those years of waiting, the Stripes soon chalked up their second major trophy and they did so in a flourish, beating Sliema Wanderers 4-0 in the Super Five tournament title match.

In the semi-finals, Birkirkara just managed to beat Hibernians with a single goal scored by Joe Brincat.

In the final, Birkirkara started rather cautiously. The Wanderers dominated for most of the first 45 minutes but in the second half the Stripes were a transformed team.

They ran riot against their more fancied opponents.

Brincat opened the score on 53 minutes and Chucks Nwoko soon made it 2-0. Brincat added a third before Zammit completed the rout eight minutes from time.