2020–21 Maltese Premier League

Maltese Premier League
Season2020–21
Dates11 September 2020 – 9 April 2021
ChampionsĦamrun Spartans (8th title)
RelegatedŻejtun
Tarxien
Lija
Senglea Athletic
Champions LeagueHibernians
Europa Conference LeagueGżira
Birkirkara
Mosta
Matches played184
Goals scored552 (3 per match)
Top goalscorerKevin Rosero (17)[1]
Biggest home winHibernians 8–1 Lija Athletic
(25 October 2020)
St. Lucia 7-0 Tarxien Rainbows
(13 February 2021)
Biggest away winSenglea Athletic 0–5 Tarxien Rainbows
(24 October 2020)
Highest scoringHibernians 8–1 Lija Athletic
(25 October 2020)
Longest winning run6 matches
Gżira United
Longest unbeaten run13 matches
Ħamrun Spartans
Longest winless run18 matches
Senglea Athletics
Longest losing run9 matches
Senglea Athletics
Highest attendanceN/A
Lowest attendanceN/A

The 2020–21 Maltese Premier League was the 106th season of the Maltese Premier League, the top-flight league football in Malta. Floriana were the defending champions, having won their 26th title the previous season.

On 10 March 2021, due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Malta, a decision was made by the Government of Malta to suspend all football activities in Malta for one month.[2]

On 9 April, the season was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Malta.[3] Hamrun Spartans, who were top of the table at the time of the season's suspension, were declared the champions. Their first league title in exactly 30 years.[4]

Teams

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Location of teams in 2020–21 Maltese Premier League

Sixteen teams will compete in the league which will include the two teams promoted from the First Division. The promoted teams are Żejtun Corinthians, who will be playing their first season in the top division, and Lija Athetlic.

Team In league since City Training Stadium Capacity
Balzan 2011 Balzan St. Aloysius Sports and Recreational Complex 100
Birkirkara 1990 Birkirkara Mgarr Ground
Floriana 1986 Floriana Independence Arena
Gudja United 2019 Gudja Louis Azzopardi Stadium
Gżira United 2016 Gżira Gzira Football Ground
Ħamrun Spartans 2016 Ħamrun Victor Tedesco Stadium 6,000
Hibernians 1945 Paola Hibernians Ground 2,968
Lija Athletic 2020 Lija Lija Stadium 500
Mosta 2011 Mosta Charles Abela Memorial Stadium 600
St. Lucia 2019 Santa Luċija Grawnd Santa Luċija
Senglea Athletic 2017 Senglea Corradino C 100
Sirens 2019 St. Paul's Bay Sirens Stadium 600
Sliema Wanderers 1984 Sliema Tigne Sports Complex 1,000
Tarxien Rainbows 2008 Tarxien Tony Cassar Sports Ground 1,000
Valletta 1944 Valletta Sirens Stadium 600
Żejtun Corinthians 2020 Żejtun

Venues

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

Personnel and kits

Team Manager Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Balzan England Mark Miller Joma Investors Mutual Limited
Birkirkara Netherlands André Paus Adidas McDonald's
Floriana Malta John Buttigieg Joma Scotts Supermarket, Boggi
Gudja United Malta Cyril Buttigieg Givova All Nuts, Emilio Bilocca Handy Man
Gżira United Malta Darren Abdilla Puma
Ħamrun Spartans Malta Mark Buttigieg Puma J. Portelli Projects
Hibernians Italy Stefano Sanderra Joma Bezzina
Lija Athletic Malta Joseph Galea Macron The Falzon Group Of Companies
Mosta Croatia Davor Filipović Macron Dimbros, Nilmar
Senglea Athletic Malta Clive Mizzi Givova Palumbo
Sirens Italy Giovanni Tedesco Macron Teamsport, Gillieru Harbour Hotel, Valyou Supermarket
Sliema Wanderers Italy Andrea Pisanu Jartazi Catco Capital Investment, Catco Group Holding, Sixt, Sharjah
St. Lucia Malta Oliver Spiteri Macron Multivend
Tarxien Rainbows Malta Winston Muscat Erreà Cassar Ship Repairs
Valletta Portugal Cardoso Mendes Puma Iniala
Żejtun Corinthians Nigeria Orosco Anonam Adidas

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of
departure 		Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Tarxien Rainbows Malta Demis Paul Scerri Resign 21 May 2020[5] Pre-season Malta Winston Muscat 12 June 2020[6]
Gudja United Malta Josef Mansueto 21 May 2020[5] Malta Jesmond Zammit 16 June 2020[7]
Gżira United Malta Paul Zammit 29 May 2020[8] Malta Darren Abdilla 24 June 2020[9]
Valletta Italy Giovanni Tedesco 13 June 2020[10] Malta Jesmond Zerafa 18 June 2020[11]
Mosta England Mark Miller Mutual consent 16 June 2020[12] Croatia Davor Filipović 21 June 2020[13]
Balzan Malta Ludvig Bartolo End of caretaker 22 June 2020[14] England Mark Miller 22 June 2020[14]
Valletta Malta Jesmond Zerafa Resign 30 November 2020 9th Portugal Cardoso Mendes 28 December 2020
Sirens Malta Steve D'Amato Sacked 14 December 2020 11th Italy Giovanni Tedesco 14 December 2020
Floriana Italy Vincenzo Potenza Resign 24 December 2020 10th Malta John Buttigieg 25 December 2020

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Ħamrun Spartans[a] (C) 23 17 5 1 56 20 +36 56
2 Hibernians 23 16 3 4 53 20 +33 51 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
3 Gżira United 23 14 4 5 49 21 +28 46 Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round
4 Birkirkara 23 13 5 5 45 25 +20 44
5 Sliema Wanderers[b] 23 12 4 7 39 31 +8 40
6 Mosta 23 10 6 7 41 36 +5 36 Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round
7 Valletta 23 9 6 8 27 35 −8 33
8 St. Lucia 23 7 8 8 38 35 +3 29
9 Sirens 23 7 7 9 27 35 −8 28
10 Balzan 23 6 9 8 31 29 +2 27
11 Gudja United 23 8 3 12 29 35 −6 27
12 Floriana 23 7 6 10 26 34 −8 27
13 Żejtun Corinthians (R) 23 6 6 11 28 40 −12 24 Relegation to the 2021–22 Maltese Challenge League
14 Tarxien Rainbows (R) 23 6 3 14 25 48 −23 21
15 Lija Athetlic (R) 23 5 5 13 25 46 −21 20
16 Senglea Athletic (R) 23 0 2 21 13 62 −49 2
Source: Malta Football Association
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Play-offs (only if needed to decide champions, teams for relegation or teams for UEFA competitions).
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ Ħamrun Spartans were banned from competing in European competitions for a match fixing case dating back to 2013.[15]
  2. ^ Sliema Wanderers failed to obtain a UEFA license.[16]

Results

Home \ Away BAL BIR FLO GUD GZI HAM HIB LIJ MOS SEN SIR SLI SLC TAR VAL ZEJ
Balzan — — 0–0 — 0–2 2–2 — 1–0 4–1 1–1 1–0 5–1 1–1 0–1 0–1 3–1
Birkirkara 2–2 — 2–0 3–0 1–1 0–2 — 4–1 0–3 — — 1–2 — 3–0 2–0 2–3
Floriana 0–0 2–5 — 1–0 2–1 — 1–1 1–2 0–2 1–0 3–2 0–1 1–1 — — 0–0
Gudja United 3–2 — 1–2 — 0–3[a] 0–1 1–4 2–0 0–1 — 1–3 1–1 — 0–2 0–0 0–1
Gżira United — — 4–1 — — 1–2 0–1 1–0 6–1 4–0 — 3–2 2–2 1–1 2–0 2–1
Ħamrun Spartans 3–2 0–2 3–1 3–1 2–2 — 1–0 — 3–1 3–0 5–1 — 2–2 5–0 — 4–0
Hibernians 2–1 0–1 3–1 — — 2–2 — 8–1 2–0 3–0 1–2 1–0 — 2–0 1–1 2–0
Lija Athetlic 1–1 0–0 — 0–1 0–3 2–2 0–5 — 1–1 4–0 0–2 — 3–1 2–0 1–2 —
Mosta 3–3 0–1 — 2–2 1–2 — 2–3 — — 5–1 0–0 — 1–0 1–0 2–2 3–0
Senglea Athletic — 1–2 0–2 0–2 — 0–1 — 1–3 1–3 — 0–1 0–2 — 0–5 1–3 1–1
Sirens — 2–4 2–1 — 1–0 0–1 — 1–1 2–2 — — 0–0 0–2 2–2 0–1 0–4
Sliema Wanderers 3–1 2–2 — 1–2 2–0 0–2 3–1 4–1 1–3 3–1 1–3 — 3–1 — — —
St. Lucia — 0–0 2–1 3–2 — 1–4 0–3 3–2 2–3 4–1 — 0–1 — 7–0 1–1 1–1
Tarxien Rainbows 0–1 0–3 2–2 0–5 0–2 — 0–1 — — 4–2 3–1 1–2 0–2 — 3–1 —
Valletta 1–0 4–2 0–3 2–4 1–3 0–3 1–4 — — 2–1 1–1 0–0 1–0 — — 2–1
Żejtun Corinthians 0–0 0–3 — 0–1 0–4 — 2–3 2–0 — 3–1 1–1 2–4 2–2 3–1 —
Source: Malta Football Association
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.
Notes:
  1. ^ Gżira United were awarded a 3–0 win after the Malta Football Association's Protests Board upheld their protest. Originally, the match ended in a 1–1 draw.[17]

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

As of 10 March 2021
Rank Player Club Goals[18]
1 Colombia Kevin Rosero St. Lucia 17
2 Montenegro Bojan Kaljević Mosta 14
3 Cape Verde Dodô Ħamrun Spartans 13
Malta Luke Montebello Birkirkara
Nigeria Franklin Sasere Ħamrun Spartans
6 Malta Jean Paul Farrugia Sliema Wanderers 12
Malta Jake Grech Hibernians
8 Malta Jurgen Degabriele Hibernians 11
Brazil Maxuell Gżira United
10 Brazil Yuri Gudja United 10
Slovenia Vito Plut Tarxien Rainbows

Red Cards

Rank Club Most Red Cards
1 Gżira United 7
2 Senglea Athletic 6
Sirens
Valletta
5 Sliema Wanderers 5
Żejtun Corinthians
7 Balzan 4
St. Lucia
9 Gudja United 3
Mosta
11 Birkirkara 2
Floriana
Ħamrun Spartans
Hibernians
Lija Athletic

References

  1. ^ "BOV Premier League". Malta Football Association. Archived from the original on 13 August 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Football competitions suspended until 11th April, 2021". Malta Football Association. 10 March 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Sports ban forces termination of domestic competitions". MFA. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  4. ^ "Ħamrun Spartans declared champions as MFA halts Premier League". Times of Malta. 9 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  5. ^ a b Farrugia, Jordi (21 May 2020). "Josef Mansueto u Demis Paul Scerri jħallu lil Gudja United u Tarxien Rainbows rispettivament" (in Maltese). Net News. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  6. ^ "Muscat takes over at Tarxien Rainbows". Times of Malta. 12 June 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  7. ^ Camilleri, Valhmor (16 June 2020). "Zammit to take over at Gudja United". Times of Malta. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  8. ^ Camilleri, Valhmor (29 May 2020). "Zammit leaves Gżira United". Times of Malta. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  9. ^ "Darren Abdilla re-appointed Gzira United coach". MaltaFootball.com. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  10. ^ Camilleri, Valhmor (13 June 2020). "Tedesco parts way with Valletta". Times of Malta. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  11. ^ "Valletta FC appoint Jesmond Zerafa as their new coach". Valletta F.C. 18 June 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  12. ^ "Mark Miller no longer Mosta FC coach". MaltaFootball.com. 16 June 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  13. ^ Camilleri, Valhmor (21 June 2020). "Filipovic named new Mosta coach". Times of Malta. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  14. ^ a b Camilleri, Valhmor (22 June 2020). "Miller named as new Balzan coach". Times of Malta. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  15. ^ "UEFA board turns down Ħamrun Spartans' appeal to compete in 2021-22 Champions League". Sportsdesk.com.mt. Times of Malta. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  16. ^ "Hamrun Spartans to be excluded from Champions League by UEFA over past match fixing case". Malta Independent. 9 June 2021.
  17. ^ "Malta FA Protests Board decision". Malta Football Association. 11 February 2021. Archived from the original on 19 August 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  18. ^ "Topscorers".