2023–24 Maltese Premier League

Maltese Premier League
Season2023–24
Dates15 September 2023 – 4 May 2024
ChampionsĦamrun Spartans
(10th title)
RelegatedGudja United
Santa Lucia
Sirens
Valletta
UEFA Champions LeagueĦamrun Spartans
UEFA Conference LeagueFloriana
Marsaxlokk
Sliema Wanderers
Matches played182
Goals scored443 (2.43 per match)
Top goalscorerLuke Montebello
(21 Goals)
Biggest home winMarsaxlokk 5–1 Naxxar Lions
(15 September 2023)
Naxxar Lions 4–0 Santa Lucia
(1 October 2023)
Floriana 4–0 Mosta
(13 April 2024)
Naxxar Lions 4–0 Valletta
(28 April 2023)
Biggest away winBalzan 1–7 Ħamrun Spartans
(27 January 2024)
Gudja United 0–6 Sliema Wanderers (27 April 2024)
Highest scoringBalzan 1–7 Ħamrun Spartans
(27 January 2024)
Longest winning runĦamrun Spartans
(8 matches)
Longest unbeaten runFloriana
Ħamrun Spartans
(11 matches)
Longest winless runGudja United
(26 matches)
Longest losing runGudja United
(16 matches)
All statistics correct as of 5 May 2024.

The 2023–24 Maltese Premier League was the 109th season of top-flight league football in Malta. The season began on 15 September 2023 and ended in April 2024. The season saw the relegation of Valletta, one of the most historic teams in Maltese football, for the first time in their history. The Maltese Premier League saw a 22% increase in attendance, with the Floriana versus Ħamrun Spartans match on 27 April drawing the largest crowd of 9,090 spectators.[1]

Teams

The league consisted of fourteen teams; the top twelve teams from the previous season, and two teams promoted from the 2022–23 Maltese Challenge League. Ħamrun Spartans entered the season as defending champions.[2] Sliema Wanderers and Naxxar Lions were promoted and returned to the Maltese Premier League after one and five years of absence, respectively. They replaced the 2022–23 Maltese Premier League bottom two teams, Pietà Hotspurs and Żebbuġ Rangers (both relegated after one year in the top flight).

On 13 April 2023, The Malta Football Association announced that four clubs would be relegated to the Maltese Challenge League at the end of the season, as the number of clubs would be reduced to twelve starting from the 2024–25 season. As a result, the Maltese Premier League play-off was scrapped for this season, and this was the last season to consist of fourteen teams.

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Location of teams in 2023–24 Maltese Premier League
Team In league since City
Balzan 2011 Balzan
Birkirkara 1990 Birkirkara
Floriana 1986 Floriana
Gudja United 2019 Gudja
Gżira United 2016 Gżira
Ħamrun Spartans 2016 Ħamrun
Hibernians 1945 Paola
Marsaxlokk 2022 Marsaxlokk
Mosta 2011 Mosta
Naxxar Lions 2023 Naxxar
Santa Lucia 2019 Santa Luċija
Sliema Wanderers 2023 Sliema
Sirens 2019 St. Paul's Bay
Valletta 1944 Valletta

Venues

On 29 April 2024, the Malta Football Association introduced another stadium, Victor Tedesco Stadium due to the final fixture of the season that played four matches at the same time.

Ta' Qali Ta' Qali Paola Hamrun
Ta' Qali National Stadium Centenary Stadium Tony Bezzina Stadium Victor Tedesco Stadium
Capacity: 16,997 Capacity: 3,000 Capacity: 2,968 Capacity: 1,962

Personnel and kits

Team Manager Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor (front) Shirt sponsor (back) Shirt sponsor (sleeve)
Balzan Malta Oliver Spiteri Joma MBI Group Visit Malta (Bottom)
Birkirkara Malta Jose Borg Nike McDonald's Inter Sport (Top) Visit Malta (Right)
Floriana Italy Mauro Camoranesi Joma Harmont & Blaine, Greens Supermarket Go & Fun (Right)
Gudja United Malta Renzo Kerr-Cumbo Macron Handy Man, SixSevenEight Apex Group (Top) Thomas Smith Insurance Broker (Left)
Gżira United Malta Andrew Cohen Joma Finanzi (Top), Recruit Giant (Bottom), Visit Malta (Bottom)
Ħamrun Spartans Italy Luciano Zauri Puma J. Portelli Meridianbet (Bottom), Besteam audio (Bottom) Ta' Fonzu (Right), Tescoma (Left)
Hibernians Serbia Branko Nišević Joma Bezzina
Marsaxlokk Malta Winston Muscat Joma 1padel Mr. Fitz Restaurant Marsaxlokk (Left)
Mosta Malta Joseph Grech Macron Teamsport (Bottom)
Naxxar Lions Malta George Vella Joma Brown's, sottozero Zarb Coaches (Top), Badass, McQueen, Sammut Concrete Supplies (Bottom) Welbee's (Right), Würth, Centerparc (Left)
Santa Lucia Italy Alessandro Zinnari Capelli Sport Multivend, avanza Elmo (Top), Konica Minolta (Bottom) Yellow Army (Left), Levissima (Right)
Sliema Wanderers Malta Paul Zammit Adidas NMGroup, Comeon Group, Xace Daikin, Zarb Coaches (Bottom)
Sirens Malta Stephen Damato Macron Café del Mar Malta, Welbee's Arringo (Top), Malta National Aquarium (Bottom)
Valletta Argentina Juan Cruz Gill (Caretaker) Nike Iniala Inter Sport (Top) Toyotomi, Da Mattia (Left), 5 Beans (Right)
  • Additionally, referee kits are made by Macron

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of
departure 		Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Ħamrun Spartans Serbia Branko Nišević Resign 22 April 2023 Pre-season Italy Luciano Zauri 29 April 2023
Sirens Malta Winston Muscat 28 April 2023 Malta Stephen Damato 24 May 2023
Marsaxlokk Argentina Pablo Doffo End of Contract 6 May 2023 Malta Winston Muscat 14 June 2023
Floriana Italy Gianluca Atzori 10 May 2023 Italy Mauro Camoranesi 5 June 2023
Hibernians Malta Silvio Vella Mutual consent 1 June 2023 Serbia Branko Nišević 17 July 2023
Santa Lucia Italy Enzo Potenza Resign 21 June 2023 Italy Alessandro Zinnari 12 July 2023
Gudja United Malta Ludvic Bartolo End of Caretaker 29 July 2023 Malta Jesmond Zammit 29 July 2023
Valletta Malta Thane Micallef Sacked 2 October 2023 8th Italy Enzo Potenza 7 October 2023
Birkirkara Italy Giovanni Tedesco Resign 26 November 2023 10th Malta Brian Chetcuti (Caretaker) 26 November 2023
Gudja United Malta Jesmond Zammit Sacked 21 December 2023 14th Malta Renzo Kerr-Cumbo 27 December 2023
Gżira United Malta Darren Abdilla Resign 17 January 2024 9th Malta Andrew Cohen 18 January 2024
Birkirkara Malta Brian Chetcuti End of Caretaker 5 February 2024 7th Malta Jose Borg 5 February 2024
Valletta Italy Enzo Potenza Resign 26 February 2024 12th Argentina Juan Cruz Gill (Caretaker) 26 February 2024

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Ħamrun Spartans (C) 26 19 5 2 61 16 +45 62 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2 Floriana 26 18 3 5 53 19 +34 57 Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round
3 Sliema Wanderers 26 14 8 4 34 12 +22 50 Qualification for the Conference League second qualifying round[a]
4 Marsaxlokk 26 12 7 7 40 23 +17 43 Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round
5 Birkirkara 26 9 9 8 28 27 +1 36
6 Naxxar Lions 26 9 8 9 32 35 −3 35
7 Hibernians 26 9 8 9 29 28 +1 35
8 Balzan 26 8 10 8 26 28 −2 34
9 Gżira United 26 9 6 11 38 33 +5 33
10 Mosta 26 7 10 9 19 32 −13 31
11 Santa Lucia (R) 26 8 6 12 25 41 −16 30 Relegation to the Maltese Challenge League
12 Valletta (R) 26 6 9 11 26 31 −5 27
13 Sirens (R) 26 3 7 16 17 50 −33 16
14 Gudja United (R) 26 0 6 20 14 67 −53 6
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. ^ Sliema Wanderers qualified for the Conference League second qualifying round by winning the 2023–24 Maltese FA Trophy. Since they qualified based on league position, the second Conference League first round spot was passed to the fourth-placed team.


Results

Home \ Away BAL BIR FLO GUD GŻI ĦAM HIB MAR MOS NXR SLC SLI SIR VAL
Balzan — 0–3 0–3 2–0 1–0 1–7 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–2 0–1 1–1 3–0 0–0
Birkirkara 1–1 — 1–2 2–0 3–2 3–0 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–2 1–2 1–0 2–2 1–1
Floriana 2–2 2–0 — 5–1 0–1 0–5 2–0 3–2 4–0 1–1 2–0 2–0 3–0 1–0
Gudja United 2–2 1–1 1–1 — 1–6 0–4 0–3 1–1 0–1 2–4 0–4 0–6 1–2 0–3
Gżira United 1–1 0–0 3–1 3–0 — 0–1 0–4 2–4 2–1 1–1 1–2 0–2 1–0 1–1
Ħamrun Spartans 1–0 2–0 1–0 3–0 2–1 — 1–1 1–2 1–1 4–1 4–1 1–1 2–0 1–1
Hibernians 0–2 0–1 0–2 1–0 3–2 1–2 — 0–2 0–0 0–2 3–2 0–1 2–1 2–2
Marsaxlokk 0–1 0–0 1–0 2–1 1–1 0–1 1–1 — 1–2 5–1 3–0 1–2 3–1 0–1
Mosta 0–2 0–2 0–3 0–0 0–3 0–4 3–1 3–2 — 2–0 1–1 0–3 0–0 1–0
Naxxar Lions 1–1 2–0 0–3 2–1 0–1 0–4 0–0 0–0 0–0 — 4–0 1–4 1–2 4–0
Santa Lucia 0–1 2–2 0–4 1–1 2–1 1–3 0–2 0–3 1–0 1–0 — 0–1 1–1 2–0
Sliema Wanderers 1–0 0–0 0–2 2–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 3–1 — 3–0 1–0
Sirens 1–4 1–2 0–3 2–0 0–4 0–4 1–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 0–0 0–1 — 0–3
Valletta 1–0 0–1 0–2 5–2 1–1 1–2 0–2 0–2 1–1 1–2 1–1 1–1 2–0 —
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.

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

As of 28 April 2024[3]
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Malta Luke Montebello Ħamrun Spartans 21
2 Malta Kemar Reid Floriana 13
Brazil Yuri Marsaxlokk
4 Romania Andrei Ciolacu Birkirkara 11
Montenegro Uroš Đuranović Ħamrun Spartans
6 Brazil Pablo Naxxar Lions 10
7 Nigeria Sunday Akinbule Marsaxlokk 9
8 Malta Jurgen Degabriele Hibernians 8
Cape Verde Luis Willis Alves Furtado Floriana

Hat-tricks

Player For Against Result Stadium Date
Malta Luke Montebello4 Ħamrun Spartan Balzan 7-1 (A) Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali 27 January 2024
Australia George Blackwood Balzan Sirens 4-1 (A) Centenary Stadium, Ta' Qali 6 April 2024
Brazil Pablo Naxxar Lions Gudja United 4-2 (A)
Ghana Seth Paintsil4 Ħamrun Spartan Floriana 5-0 (A) Ta' Qali National Stadium, Ta' Qali 27 April 2024
Notes

4 Player scored 4 goalss

Clean sheets

Rank Player Club Clean sheets
1 Bulgaria Georgi Kitanov Floriana 15
Malta Rashed Al-Tumi Sliema Wanderers
3 Poland Marcel Zapytowski Birkirkara 10
4 Nigeria Akpan David Udoh Mosta 9
Malta Matthias Debono Naxxar Lions
6 Malta Henry Bonello Ħamrun Spartans 8
Guinea Ibrahim Koné Hibernians
8 Serbia Danilo Golovic Balzan 7
Serbia Marko Drobnjak Marsaxlokk
Brazil Francisco Celio Da Paz Silva Filho Santa Lucia

Discipline

Player

  • Most yellow cards: 11
    • Ghana Evans Damian Aneni (Mosta)
  • Most red cards: 2
    • Ivory Coast Ali Diakite (Birkirkara)

Club

Monthly awards

Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month
Manager Club Player Club
September Italy Mauro Camoranesi Floriana Malta Kemar Reid Floriana
October Malta George Vella Naxxar Lions Malta Luke Montebello Hamrun Spartans
November No Winner
December Malta Paul Zammit Sliema Wanderers
January Italy Luciano Zauri Hamrun Spartans Malta Luke Montebello Hamrun Spartans
February

References

  1. ^ https://maltadaily.mt/premier-league-sees-22-attendance-increase-in-2023-24/
  2. ^ Camilleri, Valhmor (11 March 2023). "Watch: Late goal hands Ħamrun Spartans ninth Premier League title". Times of Malta. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  3. ^ "Tables & Statistics". maltafootball.com. 20 September 2020.