Stefan Giglio
The son of Tony Giglio, Stefan Giglio was born on 26th February 1970. A product of Valletta’s junior strings he made his league debut for the Lilywhites on April 29, 1995 against St George’s FC.
The next season Stefan made his league appearances for the Citizens and always as a substitute. However, he played in both legs of the Cup of Cups Winners encounter against Inter Bratislava. He also played his first full game for Valletta in the Pasienky stadium in Slovakia.
In 1996-97 he finally made the breakthrough he was seeking. That season he played in 25 league appearances for Valletta’s league championship edition. It was certainly not easy for an up-and-coming youngster to win a permanent place in the starstudded team of the champions. Giglio however was no ordinary youngster. His talent was way above average and he was hailed by the media as the outstanding newcomer of the season. Stefan capped an excellent first season by adding the uro Cup and Super Cup medals to his championship winner’s medal.
Giglio showed his potential quite early in his career and before he established himself as a Valletta FC regular he had already been capped at three international levels. In all he was selected to play 17 times for Malta Under 21, 7 times for Malta Under 21, 7 times for Malta Under 18, and 11 times for the Under 16 XI.
An attacking midfielder, his average season goal tally is the envy of many pure strikers. Stefan is one of the shortlist of Maltese footballers who have played professional football overseas. Between 1996 and 2000 he won four championship medals with Valletta and a host of other major honours.
By now he was being considered as the new ‘superstar’ of Maltese football. Then, around Christmas 2000 the news flashed around Valletta he was being sought after by Bulgarian club CSKA Sofia. It was a tough pill for any true Valletta supporter to swallow but no one grudged the youngster the chance to try his luck in professional football.
Giglio was an immediate success in Bulgaria and he played regularly in the Bulgarian league. He stayed with CSKA Sofia and Lokomotiv Sofia for two full seasons before he returned to Malta.
When he came back, however, he did not return to Valletta, Sliema Wanderers stepped in and signed Giglio from under the noses of the Citizens. In his first season with the Wanderers, he won the league championship, the FA Trophy and the Footballer of the Year Award.
Giglio rejoined Valletta FC in season 2007-08, during his stay with the Citizens he won the Championship and also the Betfair Cup vs Juventus.
(Carmel Baldacchino)
