2021–22 Maltese Premier League

Maltese Premier League
Season2021–22
Dates13 August 2021 – 7 May 2022
ChampionsHibernians (13th title)
RelegatedSliema Wanderers
Champions LeagueHibernians
Europa Conference LeagueFloriana
Ħamrun Spartans
Gżira United
Matches played126
Goals scored350 (2.78 per match)
Top goalscorerBrazil Maxuell
(17 goals)
Biggest home winFloriana 3–0 Valletta
(11 September 2021) Ħamrun Spartans 3–0 St. Lucia
(28 November 2021) Gżira United 4–1 Ħamrun Spartans
(5 February 2022)
Biggest away winSirens 1–6 Balzan
(21 November 2021)
Highest scoringValletta 5–3 St. Lucia
(30 October 2021)
Longest winning run5 matches
Floriana
Longest unbeaten run18 matches
Hibernians
Longest winless run14 matches
Sliema Wanderers
Longest losing run7 matches
Sliema Wanderers
All statistics correct as of 9 May 2022.

The 2021–22 Maltese Premier League was the 107th season of the Maltese Premier League, the top-flight league football in Malta. Ħamrun Spartans were the defending champions, having won their eighth title in the previous season.

On 9 April, the previous season was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Malta.[1] Following the decision of the Maltese Football Association Executive Committee, the teams that had finished in the relegation places in the previous Premier League season would be relegated to the Challenge League due to having played the prerequisite 75% of matches for the seasons result to stand. However, as the Challenge League teams did not complete 75% of matches, they would not be promoted to the Premier League to replace the exiting teams, meaning that the 2021–22 season will have only 12 teams competing.[2][3][4]

The Premier League consists of two rounds. 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 22 games. The league then splits into two groups. Teams that finish in positions 1–6 compete in the "Top Six" and teams that finish in positions 7–12 play in the "Play-Out".

Teams

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Location of teams in 2021–22 Maltese Premier League

Twelve teams will compete in the 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
Mosta 2011 Mosta
St. Lucia 2019 Santa Luċija
Sirens 2019 St. Paul's Bay
Sliema Wanderers 1984 Sliema
Valletta 1944 Valletta

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 Spain Alejandro Pantoja (Caretaker) Joma Investors Mutual Limited
Birkirkara Malta Jonathan Holland (Caretaker) Nike McDonald's (Front), Inter Sport (Back Top), Visit Malta (Back Bottom)
Floriana Italy Gianluca Atzori Joma Harmont & Blaine, Boggi
Gudja United Malta Thane Micallef Macron All Nuts, Handy Man, Green Finance
Gżira United Malta Darren Abdilla Puma
Ħamrun Spartans Serbia Branko Nišević Puma J. Portelli Projects
Hibernians Italy Stefano Sanderra Joma Bezzina
Mosta Malta Joseph Grech Macron Dimbros, Nilmar
Sirens Malta Winston Muscat Macron Café del Mar Malta (Front), Welbee's (Front), Malta National Aquarium (Back), Ozo Group (Sleeves Both)
Sliema Wanderers Malta Noel Turner (Caretaker) Jartazi NM group, Sixt
Santa Lucia Italy Giovanni Tedesco Capelli Sport Multivend, avanza
Valletta Serbia Danilo Dončić Puma Iniala

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of
departure 		Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Sirens Italy Giovanni Tedesco Resign 27 May 2021 Pre-season Malta Winston Muscat 27 May 2021
Floriana Malta John Buttigieg End of Contract 14 June 2021 Italy Gianluca Atzori 17 June 2021
Balzan England Mark Miller Mutual consent 19 October 2021 9th Malta Paul Zammit 23 October 2021
Santa Lucia Malta Oliver Spiteri Sacked 20 January 2022 11th Italy Giovanni Tedesco 12 January 2022
Valletta Portugal Cardoso Mendes 3 February 2022 7th Serbia Danilo Dončić 3 February 2022
Ħamrun Spartans Malta Mark Buttigieg 14 February 2022 5th Serbia Branko Nišević 15 February 2022
Sliema Wanderers Italy Andrea Pisanu 16 February 2022 12th Malta Noel Turner (Caretaker) 16 February 2022
Balzan Malta Paul Zammit 15 April 2022 11th Spain Alejandro Pantoja (Caretaker) 23 April 2022
Birkirkara Netherlands André Paus 20 April 2022 3rd Malta Jonathan Holland (Caretaker) 20 April 2022

First phase

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Hibernians 22 13 8 1 39 18 +21 47 Qualification for the Top Six
2 Floriana 22 13 6 3 36 19 +17 45
3 Birkirkara 22 9 9 4 30 22 +8 36
4 Ħamrun Spartans 22 10 5 7 28 22 +6 35
5 Gżira United 22 9 6 7 39 33 +6 33
6 Gudja United 22 9 2 11 26 25 +1 29
7 Sirens 22 7 6 9 28 38 −10 27 Qualification for the Play-Out
8 Valletta 22 7 5 10 28 34 −6 26
9 Mosta 22 6 7 9 32 41 −9 25
10 Balzan 22 7 2 13 30 33 −3 23
11 Santa Lucia 22 4 10 8 28 38 −10 22
12 Sliema Wanderers 22 2 6 14 12 33 −21 12
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).

Results

Home \ Away BAL BIR FLO GUD GŻI ĦAM HIB MOS SIR SLI SLC VAL
Balzan — 1–2 1–2 1–0 1–3 2–2 1–2 2–3 2–1 1–0 0–1 2–1
Birkirkara 3–2 — 1–1 2–0 1–0 2–1 1–1 2–2 1–1 2–0 2–3 1–1
Floriana 2–1 1–0 — 2–0 2–1 1–2 1–4 2–0 1–2 2–0 2–2 3–0
Gudja United 1–0 0–1 0–1 — 1–2 1–3 1–2 1–0 0–1 1–0 2–2 2–0
Gżira United 1–2 1–1 1–2 3–2 — 4–1 1–3 3–4 2–1 1–1 2–2 1–1
Ħamrun Spartans 0–1 0–0 2–2 0–1 0–1 — 0–0 2–1 1–0 3–1 3–0 1–2
Hibernians 1–0 2–3 0–0 2–1 3–1 1–0 — 3–2 1–1 1–0 1–1 1–1
Mosta 2–1 0–3 1–1 0–3 2–2 1–2 1–1 — 2–3 1–0 1–0 2–2
Sirens 1–6 3–2 0–3 0–0 1–3 1–1 1–3 1–1 — 2–2 2–1 2–1
Sliema Wanderers 1–0 0–0 0–0 2–3 1–3 0–2 0–3 2–3 1–0 — 1–1 0–3[a]
Santa Lucia 3–3 2–0 1–3 0–3 1–1 0–1 0–0 2–2 1–3 0–0 — 2–1
Valletta 1–0 0–0 0–2 1–3 0–2 0–1 1–4 3–1 3–1 1–0 5–3 —
Source: Malta Football Association
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. ^ Valletta were awarded a 3–0 win after the Malta Football Association's Protests Board upheld their protest. Originally, the match ended in a 2–1 to Sliema Wanderers.[5]

Second phase

Top Six

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification HIB FLO ĦAM GŻI BIR GUD
1 Hibernians (C) 27 15 9 3 46 23 +23 54 Qualification for the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League — 0–0 — — 3–1 —
2 Floriana 27 14 9 4 38 21 +17 51 Qualification for the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League — — 0–0 0–1 — —
3 Ħamrun Spartans 27 13 6 8 33 24 +9 45 2–1 — — 2–0 — —
4 Gżira United 27 12 7 8 46 38 +8 43 2–1 — — — 1–1 3–1
5 Birkirkara 27 10 11 6 35 27 +8 41 — 0–0 0–1 — — 3–0
6 Gudja United 27 10 2 15 29 35 −6 32 0–2 1–2 1–0 — — —
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

Play-Out

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Relegation VAL SIR MOS BAL SLC SLI
7 Valletta 27 10 6 11 39 40 −1 36 — — 2–3 — 2–1 3–1
8 Sirens 27 9 7 11 40 48 −8 34 0–3 — — 2–3 — —
9 Mosta 27 8 8 11 41 50 −9 32 — 2–3 — 3–2 1–1 —
10 Balzan 27 9 3 15 37 42 −5 30 1–1 — — — 0–3 —
11 Santa Lucia[a] 27 5 12 10 36 45 −9 27 Relegation to the 2022–23 Maltese Challenge League — 2–2 — — — 1–2
12 Sliema Wanderers (R) 27 4 6 17 16 43 −27 18 Relegation to the 2022–23 Maltese Challenge League — 0–5 1–0 0–1 — —
Updated to match(es) played on 7 May 2022. 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).
(R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ Santa Lucia were originally relegated to 2022–23 Maltese Challenge League. On 16 June 2022 the Malta Football Association decide that they will play in the Premier League instead of Pembroke Athleta (originally Promoted) due to Financing Problems.

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

As of 6 May 2022
Rank Player Club Goals[6]
1 Brazil Maxuell Gżira United 17
2 Malta Jurgen Degabriele Hibernians 14
3 Italy Mario Fontanella Valletta 12
4 Malta Luke Montebello Birkirkara 11
Nigeria Sunday Akinbule Mosta
Brazil Jefferson Assis Gżira United
7 Malta Jake Grech Hibernians 9
Jamaica Kemar Reid Floriana
Brazil Vitor da Silva Vieira Sirens
10 Slovenia Vito Plut Santa Lucia 8
Romania Bogdan Gavrila Sirens

Hat-tricks

Player For Against Result Date
Italy Mario Fontanella Valletta Sirens 3–1 (H) 17 October 2021
Brazil Jefferson Assis Gżira United Ħamrun Spartans 4–1 (H) 5 February 2022

Clean sheets

Rank Player Club Clean sheets
1 Bulgaria Georgi Kitanov Floriana 11
2 Malta Henry Bonello Ħamrun Spartans 10
3 Malta Glenn Zammit Gudja United 9
4 Guinea Ibrahim Koné Hibernians 7
5 Portugal Daniel Fernandes Birkirkara 5
Malta Amara Sylla
7 Italy Alessandro Guarnone Valletta 4
8 Malta Justin Haber Santa Lucia 3
9 Serbia Vukasin Vranes Balzan 2
Malta Anthony Curmi Gżira United
Malta Matthew Calleja Cremona Hibernians
Malta Timothy Aquilina Sliema Wanderers
Malta Rashed Al-Tumi
Saint Kitts and Nevis Julani Archibald Santa Lucia
Nigeria Ini Etim Akpan Mosta
Malta Johnathan Debono Sirens

Discipline

Player

  • Most yellow cards: 11
    • Brazil Leandro Almeida (Hibernians)

Club

Awards

Monthly awards

Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month
Manager Club Player Club
August and
September 		Italy Stefano Sanderra Hibernians Malta Jake Grech Hibernians
October Malta Winston Muscat Sirens Malta Luke Montebello Birkirkara
November Italy Stefano Sanderra Hibernians Malta Jake Grech Hibernians
December Malta Paul Zammit Balzan Malta Jurgen Degabriele
January Malta Thane Micallef Gudja United Malta Kurt Shaw Sliema Wanderers
February Italy Gianluca Atzori Floriana Malta Jan Busuttil Floriana
March Italy Stefano Sanderra Hibernians Malta Jurgen Degabriele Hibernians
April and May Malta Jan Busuttil Floriana

References

  1. ^ "Sports ban forces termination of domestic competitions". MFA. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  2. ^ "MFA EXCO step up fight against money laundering and bad practices in Maltese football". Times of Malta. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  3. ^ "MFA Exco approve proposals to increase of number of overseas players in matchday squads". Times of Malta. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  4. ^ "New format proposed by MFA EXCO for expanded Challenge League". Times of Malta. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  5. ^ "Valletta protest upheld". Malta Football Association. 26 November 2021. Archived from the original on 19 August 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  6. ^ "Top Scorers". Malta Football Association. Retrieved 6 May 2022.