Freddie Debono

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Freddie Debono (born January 21, 1944 in Sliema ) is a former Maltese football player on the position of goalkeeper . He was the first - and for a long time only - goalkeeper to be named Footballer of the Year in Malta .

career

Debono began his career in 1958 at FC Melita , but they had a good goalkeeper that Debono could not get past. Therefore, he moved to Rabat FC in 1959 . In 1961 he signed a contract with the Sliema Wanderers , the representative of his native city. Although he was initially only hired as the third goalkeeper, Debono knew what he was getting into: the other two goalkeepers had already passed their prime and were about to end their careers. Victor Scerri retired a year later and Raymond Cosby soon followed suit .

In the mid-1960s, Debono won three championship titles in a row with the Blues and was also successful twice in the cup competition . He also made the leap into the national team during these years , where he was number 2 behind national goalkeeper Freddie Mizzi .

After these successes, Debono said goodbye to the USA for a year and signed on his return to Hibernians FC , where national goalkeeper Mizzi was also under contract, who was supposedly on the "hit list" there due to internal quarrels. But soon after Debono had signed the contract, the matter was sorted out again, so that Debono had to spend most of the time in the bank. In his three years with the Hibernians Paola, he played only twelve games.

For the 1971/72 season Debono moved to Valletta FC , in whose ranks he found back on the road to success and a year later he was the first goalkeeper to be voted Footballer of the Year in Malta . With the Citizens , Debono won another championship title and twice the cup competition before he let his active career end in 1977. His last game was the victorious cup final against neighboring FC Floriana .

successes

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Debono, Freddie
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Maltese soccer goalkeeper
DATE OF BIRTH January 21, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH Sliema , Malta