Valletta enjoyed an extraordinary season in 1996-97.

Starting in July, they pipped their rivals Floriana to the Lowenbrau Cup and Super Five Tournament, and then went on to win the league championship, the FA Trophy and Super Cup.

Thus, at the time, the Citizens became the first and only Maltese club to win five trophies in one season.

It was a deserved feat, yet at one stage there was an aura of despondent ‘déjà vu’ around the City camp which stretched right up to the start of the third and final round.

Lying second in the league table, there was a lot of pressure on the team. Their closest rivals Birkirkara were matching them point for point. Then came the turning point in the vital third round encounter between the two protagonists.

Played on March 16 at the National Stadium in front of one of the largest crowds to attend a Premier League game for many years, Valletta romped to a 3-1 win.

There was no looking back now and in a scintillating run of nine matches, Valletta dropped only two points in a 0-0 draw against Floriana.

It was a wonderful moment for club supremo Joe Caruana Curran, his committee, coach Edward Aquilina and the players as the team went up to collect the league trophy.

It was also a very special moment for Serbian striker Danilo Doncic who scored an all-time record of 32 league goals, and Gilbert Agius who was later named MFA Footballer of the Year.

The 1996-97 season kicked off at the Hibs Ground with the Lowenbrau Cup tie between Valletta and Floriana.

Valletta took the lead early on through Agius but Mark Galea equalised soon after for Floriana. Doncic, however, was quick to put the Whites back in the lead when he lobbed the ball over goalkeeper Matthew Camilleri.

It seemed, now, that Valletta would hold on to their advantage until the end but once again Galea beat Sean Sullivan to square the encounter.

Five days later Floriana beat Sliema Wanderers 4-2 in the triangular tournament.

Valletta needed to beat the Blues handsomely to retain the trophy. Nothing less than a three-goal margin would have sufficed. Therefore, when with 10 minutes left the result stood at 1-1, it seemed that Floriana already had their hands on the trophy.

At this stage however, the game took a dramatic turn and Valletta scored three times to claim the first honour of the season.

Valletta’s run of success continued a few days later in the Super Five Tournament.

Holders Floriana became the first team to reach the final when they beat Hibernians 1-0. In the other semi-final, Valletta ousted the Wanderers 3-1.

In the final Floriana went ahead with an accurate John Buttigieg free-kick. Valletta reacted strongly but Floriana never yielded an inch.

Things got worse for Valletta when early in the second half, Darren Debono was shown the red card for retaliation.

A goal in arrears and playing with 10 men, Valletta’s task seemed impossible. They never gave up and on 66 minutes they were rewarded with a goal by Doncic.

The match seemed destined to end in a penalty shoot-out when, like a bolt out of the blue, Ivan Zammit headed in the winner for the Citizens.

On May 23, 1997 Valletta beat Hibernians 2-1 in the final of the FA Trophy.

The Citizens dominated the exchanges but it was only minutes before half-time that Zammit finally broke the deadlock.

It was, psychologically, a bad moment for Hibs and Valletta took full advantage. The game had hardly restarted when Doncic scored a second goal for Valletta.

Brian Crawley reduced the arrears on 59 minutes but, a minute later, the volatile Irish striker was sent off for dissent and Hibs had to battle on with 10 men.

The Paolites did not lose heart. Throwing caution to the wind, they took the game to Valletta’s penalty area. Forging one attack after another, they went close on a number of occasions but failed to break Valletta’s resistance.

The end came with City still leading 2-1.

For the rampaging Valletta side this was not only their fourth honour of the season but their third FA Trophy triumph in a row. It was a record of consistency hardly ever equalled in the history of our game.

This, however, was not enough as the Whites still had one last hurdle to tackle before ending the season on a high... the Super Cup.

With the league, FA Trophy, Lowenbrau Cup and Super Five Cup already tucked away under their belts, Valletta were expected to win this match against Birkirkara convincingly and the 5-2 scoreline certainly suggests so.

Valletta took a quick lead through Joe Zarb. Michael Cutajar equalised and Antoine Zahra put Birkirkara 2-1 ahead. However, six minutes from the break, Zammit levelled matters at two-all.

In the second half, Valletta won control of midfield and Zarb completed his hat-trick and Zammit a double.

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