Subsequently Floriana quickly became one of Malta’s most successful teams, winning 25 Championships (two less than Sliema Wanderers), and 18 FA Cups. In total they won 103 trophies.
In 1962 the greens became the first ever Maltese club to compete in a European competition. In that years UEFA Cup they were knocked out by a much stronger Upjest Dozsa side. The first game at home was lost 2-5. They also scored two goals in the away leg but unfortunately conceded exactly double, letting in ten. Since then they have played against Borussia Dortmund (lost 1-5 at home, 0-8 away), Porto, Ferencvaros, Inter-Milan, Standard Liege, and Panathinaikos, amongst others.
It was the home match against Ferencvaros that Floriana won 1-0 that is still talked of today. They lost the second leg 0-6 but it was still an impressive achievement. Liege inflicted a horrific 9-0 defeat. Inter Milan meanwhile were given a tougher time winning 3-1 in Malta and 5-1 in the San Siro.
Dundee United were held 0-0 and only won the second leg 1-0 to edge Floriana out. In 1994 they progressed to the first round proper of the UEFA Cup going out 2-0 on aggregate to Porto.
Floriana quickly formed a fierce rivalry with Sliema Wanderers, partly due to the fact that the league was often dominated by the two teams who often met in vital league-deciding matches and cup finals.
Floriana remained one of the top Maltese sides for roughly sixty years but since then they have only managed to add two more championships in 1977 and 1993. Geographical rivalry also developed with Valletta owing to the extremely close proximity of both teams.
Amongst Floriana’s achievements are winning four consecutive championships between 1950 and 1953. In 1962 they won the same trophy without losing a single point. They have also clocked up 10 league and cup doubles, spanning from 1913 to the last in 1993. In recent times their team that competed during the late seventies is fondly remembered for being unbeaten in 37 consecutive games, and winning seven trophies in the process.
At the time of writing Floriana are in a now customary mid table position. However their long and successful history ensures that they remain one of Malta’s most well known club sides.
VALLETTA FC
The capital's own club side was formed in 1943 as an amalgamation of several teams including twice Championship winning Valletta United. The new team won the Championship two years on the trot in 1959 and 1960. They added a third in 1963 and three more in the following decade.
Championships in 1992, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2001, further cemented their reputation as one of Malta’s top sides.
Article comments
1 - Dr Dreadful
I understand that the national stadium at least is much-improved nowadays, but time was not too long ago when the big European powers used to dread being drawn to play away in Malta. As weak a footballing power as the country is, visiting teams frequently struggled on the bumpy dirt pitch. There was the occasional surprise result - which, however, was invariably overturned with interest in the return leg! Mighty England famously limped to a 1-0 win in Valletta in a European Championship qualifier in 1971 before thumping Malta 5-0 in the return match at Wembley.
In an era where top coaches are fond of saying that 'there are no easy games any more', Malta remain one of the whipping-boys of the game (the national team has only ever won four competitive matches).