Maltese football is in mourning at present. Everyone speaks of former Floriana and Malta goalkeeper David Cluett who passed away last Sunday in an English hospital after a long illness.

I have known David for a long time, in fact, since his early days at Floriana FC, following his transfer from Melita

David had made a name for himself in the mid-1980s and was soon called into the national team squad by Bulgarian national coach Gentscho Dobrev.

He was always an exemplary player on the field of play and I doubt whether he had received one red card throughout his career whether it was for Floriana, the national team or any other club.

Like all football players and sportsmen, David had his ups and downs in his career. Of course there were moments when he must have felt disappointed that he had let down his team’s fans. But there were other moments which I call glorious and which cannot be rubbished from my mind.

For example, the 2-2 and 1-1 draws with Hungary in Malta and Budapest respectively in the 1990 World Cup qualifiers, the narrow 1-2 defeat (World Cup qualifier) against Italy at Ta’ Qali in 1992 and the 1-0 victory over Estonia in Tallinn (also a World Cup qualifier) in 1993.

In the European Championship, some of his most memorable moments which produced lots of satisfactions for the Maltese fans were the 2-2 draw with Portugal in 1987 and the 1-1 draw with Switzerland, also in 1987. He also had a great performance in the goalless draw against the Czech Republic at Ta’ Qali in 1994.

He had also formed part of the Malta team that had beaten Belgium 1-0 in a friendly at a time when the Belgians were here in preparation for their participation in the 1994 World Cup finals.

In all, he won 69 international caps. And all this apart from the number of matches he played for Floriana in the European club competitions.

It was at Floriana that he spent the best years of his career, once going through a record 736 minutes without conceding a goal in the 1993/94 season. That record still stands till today.

He later had short spells with Gozo FC and Birkirkara before returning to Floriana. Last season he was goalkeeping coach at Msida St Joseph.

I am sure that all those who remember David on the field of play will never forget him.