Vincent Borg Bonaci
Vincent Borg Bonaci born in Valletta on December 11, 1943, he became a complete Valletta player, winning honours in the minor and U-21 competitions.
In 1962 he moved to St George’s making his debut against Floriana (2-3) in the last league match.
In 1963-64 Borg Bonaci returned to Valletta, making his league debut against Rabat FC (8-0) on May 5, 1964.
During the season he was the understudy of legendary Tommy Taylor who guarded City’s net in the club’s hey-days (1958-1962). When Borg Bonaci arrived, Valletta were assembling a new side due to the emigration of their star players.
Between 1963 and 1966, Borg Bonaci had only occasional appearances for Valletta but between seasons 1966-67 and 1971-72, he became the regular goalkeeper.
He played a total of 112 competitive matches.
Between 1969 and 1972 he played for the national team in three friendly matches (home vs Austria 1-3, va Algeria home 1-1, away 0-1) and another three matches in the 1972 European Championship (away vs Switzerland 0-5, away vs England 0-5 and away vs Greece 0-2) and in two 1974 World Cup qualifiers (home vs Hungary 0-2) and away vs Austria 0-4).
He also guarded the Malta net in the friendly match at the Stadium – League XI vs Russia U-23 (0-2) in season 1971-72.
Season 1968-69 was a memorable one for Borg Bonaci. He made superb saves, suffered the least number of goals, and went through 600 minutes without conceding a goal.
He was a protagonist when the Lilywhites defeated Sliema Wanderers 3-1 and 2-1 to win the Cassar Cup in 1965-66 and 1968-69. These were the main honours he won with Valletta FC.
The year 1969 was his best. He was a serious contender for the Footballer of the Year award and placed third in the Sportsman of the year national contest, organised by ‘The Sporting Star’, among a total of 63 candidates.
