2021–22 Maltese Premier League

The 2021–22 Maltese Premier League will be the 107th season of the Maltese Premier League, the top-flight league football in Malta. Ħamrun Spartans are the defending champions, having won their 8th title the previous season.

Maltese Premier League
Season2021–22
Dates13 August 2021 – May 2022
Matches played71
Goals scored200 (2.82 per match)
Top goalscorer
Jake Grech
(8 goals)
Biggest home winFloriana 3–0 Valletta
(11 September 2021)
Valletta 5–3 St. Lucia
(30 October 2021) Hamrun Spartans 3–0 St. Lucia
(28 November 2021)
Biggest away winSirens 1–6 Balzan
(21 November 2021)
Highest scoringValletta 5–3 St. Lucia
(30 October 2021)
Longest winning run4 matches
Hibernians
Longest unbeaten run12 matches
Hibernians
Longest winless run11 matches
Sliema Wanderers
Longest losing run5 matches
Gudja United
2022–23 →
All statistics correct as of 5 December 2021.

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 on 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 "Championship Group" and teams that finish in positions 7–12 play in the "Relegation Group".

Teams
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 Paul Zammit Joma Investors Mutual Limited
Birkirkara André Paus Nike McDonald's
Floriana Gianluca Atzori Joma Harmont & Blaine, Boggi
Gudja United Cyril Buttigieg Macron All Nuts, Handy Man, Green Finance
Gżira United Darren Abdilla Puma
Ħamrun Spartans Mark Buttigieg Puma J. Portelli Projects
Hibernians Stefano Sanderra Joma Bezzina
Mosta Davor Filipovic Macron Dimbros, Nilmar
Sirens Winston Muscat Macron Gillieru Harbour Hotel, Valyou Supermarket, AX Hotels, Café del Mar
Sliema Wanderers Andrea Pisanu Jartazi NM group, Sixt
Santa Lucia Paul Schembri Capelli Sport Multivend, avanza
Valletta Cardoso Mendes Puma Iniala
  • Additionally, referee kits are made by Macron, sponsored by TeamSports and FXDD.

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of
departure		 Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Sirens Giovanni Tedesco Resign 27 May 2021 Pre-season Winston Muscat 27 May 2021
Floriana Vincenzo Potenza End of Contract 14 June 2021 Gianluca Atzori 17 June 2021
Balzan Mark Miller Mutual consent 19 October 2021 9th Paul Zammit 23 October 2021

First phase

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Hibernians 12 8 4 0 23 10 +13 28 Qualification for the Championship Group
2 Ħamrun Spartans 12 7 0 5 16 10 +6 21
3 Floriana 12 5 5 2 17 11 +6 20
4 Birkirkara 12 5 5 2 18 12 +6 20
5 Valletta 12 6 2 4 18 15 +3 20
6 Balzan 11 5 1 5 18 14 +4 16
7 Gżira United 12 4 4 4 18 18 0 16 Qualification for the Relegation Group
8 Sirens 12 4 3 5 16 23 −7 15
9 Gudja United 12 3 2 7 14 17 −3 11
10 Mosta 12 2 5 5 17 25 −8 11
11 Santa Lucia 12 1 7 4 18 25 −7 10
12 Sliema Wanderers 11 0 4 7 7 20 −13 4
Updated to match(es) played on 13 December 2021. 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 GZI HAM HIB MOS SIR SLI SLC VAL
Balzan — 1–2 1–2 1–0 1–2 1–0 19/12
Birkirkara — 1–1 2–0 2–1 1–1 2–2 2–0
Floriana — 2–1 1–2 1–2 19/12 2–2 3–0
Gudja United 0–1 — 1–3 19/12 0–1 2–2 2–0
Gżira United 1–2 1–1 3–2 — 1–3 1–1 18/12
Ħamrun Spartans 0–1 18/12 0–1 — 1–0 3–0 1–2
Hibernians 0–0 2–1 3–1 1–0 — 3–2 1–1 1–1
Mosta 2–1 0–3 1–1 0–3 2–2 1–2 — 18/12
Sirens 1–6 3–2 0–0 1–3 1–3 1–1 — 2–2
Sliema Wanderers 0–0 2–3 0–2 0–3 2–3 — 0–3[lower-alpha 1]
Santa Lucia 3–3 2–0 1–3 1–1 2–2 1–3 0–0 —
Valletta 1–0 0–0 a 0–2 0–1 3–1 3–1 5–3 —
Updated to match(es) played on 13 December 2021. 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. 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]

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Jake Grech Hibernians 8
2 Luke Montebello Birkirkara 6
Mario Fontanella Valletta
Maxuell Gzira United
Jurgen Degabriele Hibernians
6 Federico Falcone Birkirkara 5
Milos Mijic Balzan
Sunday Akinbule Mosta
9 Kemar David Reid Sirens 4
Vito Plut Santa Lucia
Yuri Messias Gzira United
Bogdan Gavrilă Sirens

Hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date
Mario Fontanella Valletta Sirens 3–1 (H) 17 October 2021

Clean sheets
Rank Player Club Clean sheets
1 Daniel Fernandes Birkirkara 4
2 Georgi Kitanov Floriana 3
Henry Bonello Hamrun
Glenn Zammit Gudja United
5 Vukasin Vranes Balzan 2
Timothy Aquilina Sliema Wanderers
Anthony Curmi Gzira United
Ibrahim Koné Hibernians
Julanni Archibald Santa Lucia
Alessandro Guarnone Valletta
11 Sean Mintoff Sirens 1
Jake Galea Balzan

Player
  • Most yellow cards: 7
    • Jonas Rodriguez Ekani (Mosta)
  • Most red cards: 1
    • 23 players

Club

Awards

Monthly awards
Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month Goal of the Month Save of the Month
ManagerClubPlayerClubPlayerClubPlayerClub
August Stefano Sanderra Hibernians Jake Grech Hibernians
September Ryan Camenzuli Floriana Jonathan Debono Sirens
October Winston Muscat Sirens Luke Montebello Birkirkara Gianluca Sciberras Mosta
November

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. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
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