[attach id=233310 size="large"]The Aitken’s Cup.[/attach]
Of the many cups and trophies that have been presented throughout the years to the league champions, perhaps the bulkiest was supplied by the firm Aitken Ltd in season 1922-23.
‘It-Tazza l-Kbira’ or ‘In-Nanna’, as it was affectionately known, added spice to the season’s competition.
The first league championship played at the Empire Sports Ground was one of the best played up to that time.
For once, all matches were staged without any serious incidents and this, in those days, was rare indeed!
The teams that took part in the First Division were Floriana, Sliema Wanderers, Valletta United, Ħamrun Spartans, Sliema Rangers and Vittoriosa.
The first match of the league was played on November 2, 1922 between Sliema Rangers and Valletta United.
The game was rough and devoid of any good football.
Rangers won 1-0 but Valletta were not the team of old. This was evident in their next game when they lost 7-0 to Floriana.
That humiliation was followed by another 1-2 defeat against Vittoriosa which completely shattered the team’s spirits.
Valletta paid a £5 fine, packed up their boots and withdrew from the competition.
The Spartans also had a poor season, winning only one match. Their only victory came against Vittoriosa. In other matches, the Reds were beaten 1-4 by Sliema, 0-1 by Floriana and 0-1 by Sliema Rangers.
Both Sliema and Floriana still had maximum points when they faced each other on January 28, 1923. For the Greens this was to be their last game of the campaign while Sliema still had to play against Vittoriosa.
The match was given a lot of publicity and hours before kick-off, thousands of supporters made their way to Gżira.
Sliema great Ruġġieru Friggieri was playing against his old club for the first time.
The Greens, on their part, had old ‘war-horse’ Gejtu Psaila who had just joined them from the Malta Police.
The game started with Floriana seeking an early goal but the opposite really happened.
In fact, after only seven minutes, Salvu Tabone miskicked a clearance and Frankie Busuttil pounced on the ball to score the opener.
A roaring applause greeted this goal and, as though by magic, one half of the spectators displayed a flutter of light blue and dark blue mufflers, ribbons and rosettes, while the other half at the stadium stood grimly silent.
This was a hard blow for Floriana and for the rest of the game they tried their best to equalise. Sliema, however, defended tenaciously till the very end.
Ironically, none of the Sliema players played better than Friggieri who many times seemed to take on his old colleagues single-handedly.
That evening Sliema was en fete. There was music in the streets and all the shops put on their brightest lights.
This was one of the first big moments in the Blues’ glorious history.