Maltese Premier League
Organising bodyMalta Football Association (MFA)
Founded1909 (1909)
Country Malta
ConfederationUEFA
Number of teams14 (12 from 2024–25)
Level on pyramid1
Relegation toMaltese Challenge League
Domestic cup(s)Maltese FA Trophy
Maltese Super Cup
International cup(s)UEFA Champions League
UEFA Europa Conference League
Current championsĦamrun Spartans (9th title)
(2022–23)
Most championshipsSliema Wanderers and Floriana (26th title each)
TV partnersTVMSport+ (Live Matches)
Websitemfa.com.mt/premier-league
Current: 2023–24 Maltese Premier League

The Maltese Premier League, known as BOV Premier League for sponsorship reasons with Bank of Valletta (colloquially known as Il-Kampjonat Premjer), is the highest level of professional football in Malta. Managed by the Malta Football Association, the Premier League is contested by 14 teams and operates on a promotion and relegation system with the Challenge League. As of June 2022, the Premier League ranks 46th out of 55 members in the UEFA coefficient.[1]

The league was first competed in 1909 as the First Division, before switching to its current name in 1980;[2] the First Division in turn replaced the Second Division. Sliema Wanderers and Floriana have won the title a record 26 times. The current champions are Ħamrun Spartans who won their 9th title in the 2022–23 season.

Format

Current design of Maltese Premier League Trophy since 2018

The Premier League consists of one round. In the First Round, every team plays each opponent twice, once "home" and once "away" (in actuality, the designation of home and away is purely arbitrary as most of the clubs do not have their own grounds), for a total of 26 games. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. The club with the most points is crowned as champion. If two teams are tied in points (for decide champions, for relegation or for UEFA competitions), there will be no tie-breakers will play a decider match. If three or more teams are tied in points (for decide champions, for relegation or for UEFA competitions), there will be check by Head-to-head points and the best two teams will play a decider match

To determine the champion or qualification to UEFA competitions, a play-off is played to determine the winner. The two lowest placed teams are relegated into the Challenge League and the twelfth-placed team plays a play-off against the third-placed team from the First Division with the winner either keeping their place or get promoted to the top-tier league.[3]

European qualification

UEFA coefficients 2020–21[4]
Rank Association Coefficient
-1 44 Finland Finland 6.875
-4 45 Moldova Moldova 6.875
-1 46 Malta Malta 6.375
6 47 Faroe Islands Faroe Islands 6.125
4 48 Kosovo Kosovo 5.833

Clubs finishing the season in the top positions of the Premier League are granted qualification to compete in one of UEFA's European competition. This is determined by Malta's position in the UEFA coefficients ranking system.

The league winner qualifies to the first qualifying round for the UEFA Champions League. The second- and third-placed teams qualify for the first qualifying round for the UEFA Europa Conference League, respectively. An additional Europa Conference League place is taken through the country's domestic cup competition, the FA Trophy. If the winner of the FA Trophy qualifies for Europe through their league position, the fourth-placed team in the league qualifies for the UEFA Europa Conference League's first qualifying round.

League committees

The Premier Division Standing Committee (PDSC) is a body composed of the Premier League club presidents who represent their club on a board. These do not have executive powers but are a formal body that has official influence with regards to rules, regulations and issues that relate to the league. From time to time the committee makes proposals to the respective and MFA bodies for approval.

Venues

Ta' Qali Ta' Qali Paola
Ta' Qali National Stadium Centenary Stadium Tony Bezzina Stadium
Capacity: 16,997 Capacity: 3,000 Capacity: 2,968

Clubs

Seasons in Maltese Premier League

There are 37 teams that have taken part in the Maltese Premier League that was played from the 1945-46 season (i.e. the season that introduced promotion and relegation, and during which the MFA changed the rules of the clubs that every locality they have to represent one club) until the 2023-24 season.

  • teams in bold never been relegated.
  • Teams in Italique are Defunct.

Champions

In total, ten clubs have won the Maltese championship, including titles in the old First Division which was replaced in 1980 by the Premier League.[5] Of the winners, three have been champions more than 20 times: Sliema Wanderers (26 titles), Floriana (26 titles), and Valletta (25 titles).

The honour of Golden Stars was introduced in football to recognize sides that have won multiple championships. In Malta, clubs are permitted to place a golden star above their crest for every ten nation championships won. Sliema Wanderers, Floriana and Valletta boast two golden stars, and Hibernians have one golden star placed above their crest on their jerseys.

Club Winners[5] Runners-up Third Place Winning years
Sliema Wanderers 26 31 18 1919–20, 1922–23, 1923–24, 1925–26, 1929–30, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1935–36, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1948–49, 1953–54, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1975–76, 1988–89, 1995–96, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05
Floriana 26 13 11 1909–10, 1911–12, 1912–13, 1920–21, 1921–22, 1924–25, 1926–27, 1927–28, 1928–29, 1930–31, 1934–35, 1936–37, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1954–55, 1957–58, 1961–62, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1976–77, 1992–93, 2019–20
Valletta 25 17 20 1914–15, 1931–32, 1944–45, 1945–46, 1947–48, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1962–63, 1973–74, 1977–78, 1979–80, 1983–84, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2007–08, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19
Hibernians 13 14 14 1960–61, 1966–67, 1968–69, 1978–79, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1993–94, 1994–95, 2001–02, 2008–09, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2021–22
Ħamrun Spartans 9 11 13 1913–14, 1917–18, 1946–47, 1982–83, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1990–91, 2020–21, 2022–23
Birkirkara 4 9 10 1999–2000, 2005–06, 2009–10, 2012–13
Rabat Ajax 2 1 1 1984–85, 1985–86
St. George's 1 4 5 1916–17
Marsaxlokk 1 1 1 2006–07
The King's Own Malta Regiment 1 0 0 1918–19

Bold teams are Current in the Maltese Premier League.

Italic Season Unbeaten

League appearances

Player Matches
Mario Muscat 501
Brian Said 425
Stefan Sultana 424

Bold denotes still active players.

References

  1. ↑ "UEFA Country Ranking 2019". kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl. July 26, 2018. Archived from the original on May 10, 2019. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
  2. ↑ "The Premier League Is 25 years old". The Malta Independent. August 14, 2005. Archived from the original on October 20, 2018. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
  3. ↑ Camilleri, Valhmor (July 5, 2016). "BOV Premier League to increase to 14 teams". Times of Malta. Archived from the original on September 8, 2018. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Country coefficients 2020/21". UEFA.com. UEFA. Archived from the original on December 4, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  5. 1 2 "Malta - List of Champions and Runners-Up". RSSSF. May 2, 2018. Archived from the original on February 7, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
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