2017–18 Maltese Premier League

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Maltese Premier League
Season2017–18
Dates18 August 2017 – 22 April 2018
ChampionsValletta
(24th title)
RelegatedNaxxar Lions
Lija Athletic
Champions LeagueValletta
Europa LeagueBalzan
Gżira United
Birkirkara
Matches played182
Goals scored505 (2.77 per match)
Top goalscorerAmadou Samb (21 goals)
All statistics correct as of 21 April 2018.

The 2017–18 Maltese Premier League (known as the BOV Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 103rd season of top-flight league football in Malta. The season began on 18 August 2017 and ended on 22 April 2018. Hibernians were the defending champions, having won their 12th title the previous season.

Balzan and Valletta contended the league title for the whole season and were head-to-head in the final phases.[1] On the last day of the season, on 21 April 2018, Valletta defeated Gżira United 2–1, while Balzan slipped in a 0–1 defeat against Hibernians, and as a result Valletta were crowned champions for the 24th time in their history.[2]

Teams[edit]

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Locations of the 2017–18 Maltese Premier League teams

Pembroke Athleta are relegated after they finished twelfth the previous season. They are replaced by Lija Athletic the 2016–17 Maltese First Division champions, Senglea Athletic the 2016–17 Maltese First Division runners-up, and Naxxar Lions the 2016–17 Maltese First Division Third Place.

Team In league since City Training Stadium Capacity
Balzan 2011 Balzan Victor Tedesco Stadium 6,000
Birkirkara 1990 Birkirkara Ta' Qali National Stadium 17,797
Floriana 1986 Floriana Independence Arena 3,000
Gżira United 2016 Gżira Ta' Qali National Stadium 17,797
Ħamrun Spartans 2016 Ħamrun Victor Tedesco Stadium 6,000
Hibernians 1945 Paola Hibernians Ground 2,968
Lija Athletic 2017 Lija Lija Stadium 500
Mosta 2011 Mosta Charles Abela Memorial Stadium 600
Naxxar 2017 Naxxar Centenary Stadium 2,000
Senglea Athletic 2017 Senglea Ta' Qali National Stadium 17,000
Sliema Wanderers 1984 Sliema Tigne Sports Complex 1,000
Saint Andrews 2015 St. Andrew's Luxol Stadium 800
Tarxien Rainbows 2008 Tarxien Tony Cassar Sports Ground 1,000
Valletta 1944 Valletta Centenary Stadium 2,000

Kits[edit]

Team Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Balzan Joma Investors Mutual Limited
Birkirkara Adidas McDonald's
Floriana Joma Scotts Supermarket
Gżira United Joma Tipbet
Ħamrun Spartans Sportika SA Talocan
Hibernians Joma Bezzina
Lija Athletic Adidas The Falzon Group Of Companies
Mosta Macron Computer Domain
Naxxar Macron VINC
Senglea Athletic Acerbis
Sliema Wanderers Adidas DIZZ
Saint Andrews Macron Tipico
Tarxien Rainbows Erreà Cassar Ship Repairs
Valletta Joma Iniala
  • Additionally, referee kits are made by Adidas, sponsored by TeamSports and FXDD, and Nike has a new match ball.

Venues[edit]

 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

Managerial changes[edit]

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Replaced by Date of appointment
Balzan Malta Oliver Spiteri Mutual consent 5 May 2017[3] Pre-season Serbia Marko Mićović 24 May 2017[4]
Valletta Malta Paul Zammit Resigned 30 May 2017[5] Serbia Zoran Popović 18 June 2017[6]
Birkirkara Croatia Nikola Jaroš End of contract 1 June 2017[7] Malta Peter Pullicino 1 June 2017[7]
Malta Peter Pullicino Sacked 1 September 2017[8] 11th Malta Paul Zammit 1 September 2017[8]
St. Andrews Serbia Danilo Dončić Resigned 7 September 2017[9] 9th Serbia Marko Glumac 12 September 2017
Naxxar Malta Dennis Fenech 13th England Stuart Watkiss 8 September 2017[10]
Valletta Serbia Zoran Popović Mutual consent 20 December 2017 3rd Serbia Danilo Dončić 20 December 2017[11]
Hibernians England Mark Miller Resigned 5 March 2018[12] 6th Malta Mario Muscat
Malta Neil Zarb Cousin 		6 March 2018[13]

League table[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Valletta (C) 26 17 7 2 40 11 +29 58 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2 Balzan 26 16 7 3 42 19 +23 55 Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round
3 Gżira United 26 15 6 5 52 33 +19 51 Qualification for the Europa League preliminary round
4 Birkirkara 26 15 2 9 44 28 +16 47
5 Hibernians 26 13 7 6 43 16 +27 46
6 Floriana 26 12 10 4 48 18 +30 46
7 Sliema Wanderers 26 11 7 8 35 26 +9 40
8 Hamrun Spartans 26 10 5 11 39 33 +6 35
9 Senglea Athletic 26 7 5 14 29 47 −18 26
10 Mosta 26 7 5 14 28 52 −24 26
11 St. Andrews 26 6 6 14 21 41 −20 24
12 Tarxien Rainbows (O) 26 6 5 15 34 56 −22 23 Qualification for the Relegation Play-Offs
13 Naxxar Lions (R) 26 5 7 14 27 41 −14 22 Relegation to the 2018–19 Maltese First Division
14 Lija Athletic (R) 26 1 3 22 23 84 −61 6
Source: Malta Football Association, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Play-offs (only if needed to decide champions, teams for relegation or teams for UEFA competitions).[14]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated

Results[edit]

Each team plays every other team in the league home-and-away for a total of 26 matches played each.

Home \ Away BAL BIR FLO GŻI HAM HIB LIJ MOS NAX SEN SLI STA TAR VAL
Balzan — 2–1 1–1 0–0 2–0 1–0 4–3 2–0 2–0 2–1 0–0 3–1 1–0 2–1
Birkirkara 1–3 — 1–1 4–0 4–2 1–3 2–1 2–0 3–2 5–0 2–1 2–0 3–1 0–3
Floriana 1–1 0–2 — 1–1 1–0 0–1 6–0 5–0 2–0 3–0 1–0 4–0 5–0 1–1
Gżira United 1–2 2–0 0–0 — 4–0 3–2 3–2 2–2 3–1 4–1 2–1 1–1 3–1 2–1
Ħamrun Spartans 0–0 0–1 0–1 1–2 — 0–1 1–1 5–2 2–0 3–0 2–3 1–1 2–1 0–0
Hibernians 1–0 1–0 1–1 2–0 0–0 — 7–0 3–0 1–1 5–1 0–1 4–0 2–2 0–0
Lija Athletic 0–3 0–2 2–6 0–4 1–5 0–3 — 1–5 0–4 2–3 0–2 1–2 0–4 1–3
Mosta 0–5 0–3 2–2 3–5 0–2 0–0 3–1 — 0–2 2–1 1–1 1–0 3–1 0–1
Naxxar Lions 0–0 0–2 1–2 0–2 1–4 0–0 1–1 2–0 — 3–0 1–5 3–1 1–2 0–1
Senglea Athletic 0–1 1–0 0–0 1–1 1–3 0–1 2–0 5–2 2–1 — 3–0 2–1 2–2 0–1
Sliema Wanderers 1–2 3–0 2–2 2–1 1–0 1–0 2–0 0–1 1–1 2–2 — 1–0 1–1 0–1
St. Andrews 3–2 1–0 1–0 2–3 1–2 2–1 1–1 0–0 0–0 1–0 0–2 — 2–3 0–1
Tarxien Rainbows 3–1 1–3 0–2 1–2 1–4 0–3 2–3 0–1 5–2 1–1 2–1 0–0 — 0–2
Valletta 0–0 0–0 1–0 2–1 3–0 2–1 4–2 1–0 0–0 1–0 1–1 3–0 6–0 —
Source: Malta Football Association
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation play-offs[edit]

A play-off match took place between the twelfth-placed team from the Premier League, Tarxien Rainbows, and the third-placed team from the First Division, Zejtun Corinthians, for a place in the 2018–19 Maltese Premier League.

27 April 2018 Tarxien Rainbows (1) 1–0 Zejtun Corinthians (2) Paola
19:00 CEST J. Brincat 8' Stadium: Hibernians Stadium
Referee: Stefan Pace

Top scorers[edit]

As of 21 April 2018[15]
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Senegal Amadou Samb Gżira United 21
2 Italy Mario Fontanella Floriana 17
3 Montenegro Bojan Kaljevic Balzan 14
4 Malta Jake Grech Birkirkara 11
Albania Erjon Beu Lija Athletic
Malta Jurgen Degabriele Hibernians
7 Malta Clayton Failla Hibernians 10
Nigeria Emmanuel Okoye Gżira United
Mali Samba Tounkara Tarxien Rainbows
Brazil Ricardo da Silva Faria Tarxien Rainbows

Awards[edit]

Monthly awards[edit]

Month Player of the Month
Player Club
August[16] Malta Michael Mifsud Valletta
September[17] Senegal Amadou Samb Gżira United
October[18] Brazil Cadú Balzan
November[19] Brazil Cadú Balzan
December[20] Italy Maurizio Vella Floriana
January[21] Jamaica Kemar David Reid St. Andrews
February[22] Brazil Jackson Lima Hibernians
March[23] Italy Matteo Piciollo Valletta
April[24] Jamaica Kevaughn Atkinson St. Andrews

References[edit]

  1. ^ Camilleri, Valhmor (21 April 2018). "Balzan and Valletta ready for title-winning effort". Times of Malta.
  2. ^ "It's Valletta's 24th Premier League title as Hibernians shatter Balzan's dreams". The Malta Independent. 21 April 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  3. ^ "Replay (Net Television)". Facebook (in Maltese). Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  4. ^ "Balzan name Micovic as new head coach". Times of Malta. 25 May 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  5. ^ Carbonaro, Matthew (31 May 2017). "Valletta Football Club Press Release". Valletta F.C. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  6. ^ "Zoran Popovic appointed Valletta FC coach". Valletta F.C. 18 June 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  7. ^ a b Mizzi, Ivan (1 June 2017). "Mr. Peter Pullicino appointed as Club's Head Coach". Birkirkara F.C. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  8. ^ a b Galea, Ayrton (1 September 2017). "Mr. Paul Zammit appointed as the new Club's Head Coach". Birkirkara F.C. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  9. ^ "Danilo Doncic m'għadux coach ta' St Andrews Luxol". TVM (in Maltese). 7 September 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  10. ^ "New Technical Director | Stuart Watkiss". Naxxar Lions F.C. 3 September 2017. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  11. ^ "Danilo Doncic is new head coach of Valletta FC". Valletta F.C. 20 December 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  12. ^ "Hibernians FC part ways with coach Mark Miller". The Malta Independent. 5 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  13. ^ "Hibernians FC: Mansueto jirriżenja; Mario Muscat jieħu f'idejh it-taħriġ; Tedesco pole-position". TVM (in Maltese). 6 March 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  14. ^ "Premier League 2017/2018 - Season rules". Scoresway. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  15. ^ "Top Scorers". MFA. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  16. ^ "Michael Mifsud wins BOV Player of the Month Award for August". MFA. 10 October 2017.
  17. ^ "BOV Player of the Month: Amadou Samb wins September Award". MaltaFootball.com. 10 October 2017.
  18. ^ "BOV Player of the Month: Cadu wins October award". MaltaFootball.com. 11 November 2017.
  19. ^ "BOV Player of the Month - Balzan's Cadu' wins October award". Bank of Valletta. 11 November 2017. Archived from the original on 2 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  20. ^ "Maurizio Vella claims BOV award for December". Malta Football Association. 4 January 2018.
  21. ^ "BOV Player of the Month: Kemar David Reid (St Andrew's FC) wins January Award". Malta Independent. 7 February 2018.
  22. ^ "BOV Player of the Month: Jackson Lima (Hibernians) wins February award". Malta Independent. 2 March 2018.
  23. ^ "BOV Player of the Month: Valletta's Piciollo wins March award". Malta Independent. 10 April 2018.
  24. ^ "BOV Player of the Month: St Andrew's Kevaun Atkinson wins April award". Malta Independent. 26 April 2018.

External links[edit]

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