Charlie comes from a footballing family. His father Billy was a popular figure at the Old Gzira Stadium as a football referee and his mother was a staunch supporter of Floriana FC. His brother Donald played for Floriana while another brother, Micky, played for Sliema. His younger brother Billy played for Hamrun Spartans and is now coaching.
Charlie used to kick a ball with his friends at the famous Floriana Ajax area when he was very young. He always wore a white jersey as he was an admirer of Real Madrid who dominated Europe in the 1950s.
As a player, Charlie played for Melita and Msida whom he helped to the first division from the fourth.
When he stopped playing football, he turned his eyes to refereeing. He says: “That was early in the 60s. I was on and off, because at that time, I was still active as a player. In 1972, I was voted as referee of the year by the then Maltese daily Il-Hajja.
“I had a lot of satisfactions during my career. I was selected to be one of the linesmen in the Marsa-Juventus clash in a Fairs Cities Cup (now Uefa Cup) match at the Gzira Stadium. Joe Cassar Naudi was the other linesman (in those days linesmen were provided by the local club).
“Some years later, I was also one of the linesmen at the Milan-Red Boys (Luxembourg) Cup Winners Cup match during the Gianni Rivera era. In this match I remember I had an argument with the famous Nereo Rocco, coach of Milan, after I had annulled a couple of goals for Milan through the offside rule. The referee was Richard Casha and the other linesman was Lolly Desira.
“I had missed the bus on other overseas appointments but that’s another story,” said Charlie.
On other occasions, Charlie was saddened by what happened on the field of play. “One day in Gzira, Lolly Desira had to abandon the Sliema-St George’s match after he was attacked. Sliema had scored and St George’s claimed an offside infringement on my side. It was bad and the referee was also physically manhandled on that occasion.
“On another occasion, it was a black day at the Schreiber where three matches were abandoned because of violence — I was the referee in one of them and a linesman in the other two.
“But the worst was an incident which led to my quitting refereeing. It was in 1978 when the government had set up a rival federation to the Malta Football Association. As a worker with a government/parastatal body (Telemalta), I had accepted an offer from then Minister Lorry Sant to control the friendly between a government/parastatal team and the English visiting side Coventry City. I only did what I was allowed to do according to the statute.
“But the Monday after the match, I was informed by phone that my refereeing appointments had been withdrawn. I went to the MFA headquarters to ask why and it seemed as if I could get no headway with the president of the MFA, then Dr G. Mifsud Bonnici. I realised that I had become caught in a rift with which I had nothing to do. I felt I got no justice, but I walked out proudly with my head high,” he said.
During the war, as a five- or six-year-old, Charlie used to swim near the Tigne rocks. “I will always remember Dad saying ‘Budgy’s coming over’. The famous Valletta player used to come over from the Valletta side and go back together with a certain Demicoli (a goalie) nicknamed Canesi. Then, at that age, I never realised that one day, I would be playing against him.
“When we settled in St Julian’s after the war, I used to be impressed by the large crowds watching waterpolo matches along the promenade at Balluta’s old St Julian’s Pitch or the Neptunes Pitch. There would also have been a large number of boats coming over from Valletta and even from St Paul’s Bay, surrounding the open pitches. But I never stopped to see a match myself.
“At 15, I had not yet watched a match. One day in Paceville, a friend of mine, John Davies, a good swimmer with Balluta WPC, proposed a friendly match between the Paceville friends and the Balluta minors team. I played, but not in goal. As soon as I went into the water, Victor Privitera caught me by my wrist and said ‘if you swim, it will be your last one’.
“I was terrified and took his advice. The game finished and a certain Gilardu Tanti, brother of legendary Balluta coach Guzi Tanti, whom I call my father in waterpolo, asked me to try as a goalkeeper. I had a tall stature and long arms. But I declined, saying I did not like waterpolo. This was repeated the following season, that is in 1951, and this time I told Gilardu, ‘I like football not waterpolo’.”
Charlie recalled that a few days later, while travelling on a bus to Exiles, he met Gilardu again and the latter again tempted him. “I got off at Balluta and I went to Mass at Tal-Karmnu. I was a bit late and in those days, latecomers had to stay on the steps leading to the main door. I could hear a whistle blowing across the bay that haunted me throughout the Mass — something kept telling me to go and have a try. I did so and asked Guzi Tanti about it. After just five minutes and after a few shots were rained at me, Tanti asked me to go up. Being an expert in the knowledge of talent, he just asked me to sign on the dotted line.
“That was 53 years ago and I am still in the game today, though a few days ago I decided to quit coaching as well. From not liking the game I went crazy about it, training for about four hours a day — at the Lido in St George’s Bay in the morning and then at the club in the afternoon.”
Asked what were his clubs during his career, Charlie immediately replied that his only club was Balluta WPC. “Between 1951 and 1973, I only played for Balluta. In the first year, we won the minors championship and I remember the first goal scored against me was in a match against Neptunes at Gzira Pitch. It was scored by the late Tancred Gouder. I started playing in the first division at the age of 19, in 1955, and I was selected to play for the national team in 1958. I was on and off until the early 70s when Michael Soler took over between the posts.
“During my career, I won four league championships, four KO competitions, including a memorable double with Balluta in 1963. As a player I won everything — minors, reserves, first and KO, which I matched as a coach winning the minor league and double with Sliema, second division with Birzebbuga, best second division club with Sirens, when the league was coupled with the Under 21. I also won a double with Valletta (first division) and a championship with San Giljan. Also, at my last club, Ta’ Xbiex, I also won the league and the KO.
“The great Balluta team of 1963 included such stalwarts as A. Tonna, C. Borg, L. Falzon, F. Griscti, C. Dowling, J. Grima, E. Xuereb, Jul. Borg, Leli (Ghira) Micallef and Costantino Borg while Guzi Tanti was our coach. Among the great players of the game of waterpolo, I must mention J. Micallef Eynaud, Michael Soler, Joe Caruana Dingli, Budgy Dowling, Dennis Degiorgio, Sydney Scott, George Borg, Peter Bonello, Charles Triganza, Freddie Griscti (for me, the best all-round player I’ve ever known), Dirk and Kurt Dowling, Jonathan Valletta, John Paris, Nicky Lanzon, Guzi ‘Ors’ Attard, John ‘Buffalo’ Curmi, Harry Cutajar, Tony Galea, Bertie Portelli.
“I must also mention that in 1963, I also played for Malta in the Mediterranean Games when we faced the legendary Italian Settebello including such famous players as Fritz Denerlein, Eraldo Pizzo, Gianni Lonzi and goalie Dante Rossi. I also was in the squad for the match against Yugoslavia, but it was Jimmy Micallef Eynaud who played. I remember the Yugoslavs had the great Muscaterovic in goal.
“Now I have a waterpolo school with Neptunes and I am proud to say that several players like goalie Gouder, Brownrigg and Bianchi (now with Sliema) and several other players in the Under 17 and Under 19 leagues have emerged from my school,” said Charlie.
I asked him to tell me about his sons and their involvement, if there was any, in the game. “They all played waterpolo and had very promising futures, but Stephen and Michael, who was a very promising goalkeeper, stopped early and unfortunately, Peter, who persisted in the game, had to retire early because of a serious ear infection. He played for San Giljan. Still, the name Mock remains in the game through my grandson, Ryan, who plays for the Neptunes Under 15 side and looks to have a promising career – incidentally, his mother Monica, married to Peter, was the San Giljan ladies and national team goalkeeper. His younger brother, Kurt, eight, is very keen on goalkeeping. When you think that I started the game at 16, then this lad certainly has an advantage over me,” he said.
Among those who helped Charlie in his career was Balluta captain Carm Borg. “He was a great source of encouragement. He was actually related through marriage to Gilardu Tanti, the man that coaxed me into the game of waterpolo. I must say it was not easy.
“In those days, we never got paid. We used to train and play in rough seas, whether we liked it or not. The water was cold (19 degrees) when we would start training in late April and sometimes jellyfish were all around us. When one talks of sacrifices these days, it makes me laugh. The remuneration I got from playing waterpolo can never be paid in any sum of money,” he said. Finally, Charlie’s chapter ends with long distance swimming and also a boxing paragraph. He says: “In my late years, since I was 56, I started to swim the Gozo Channel and have had four out of four successful attempts, the last one when I was 64. For the over 60s, I hold the record – two hours and 11 minutes. The following year, I also had a nostalgic swim from Tigne to St George’s Bay on my 65th birthday. I have also swum a five-hour marathon in aid of the Ghana Mission Foundation at Sliema Pitch. He also had a stint in boxing. “In my 40s at St Edward’s College I played a couple of games of rugby and also cricket. But something I will reveal for the first time is that I also was very keen on boxing and had a bout or two at the then Villa Bonnici in The Strand, Sliema.