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 – 7 May 2022
ChampionsHibernians
RelegatedSliema Wanderers
Champions LeagueHibernians
Europa Conference LeagueFloriana
Matches played126
Goals scored350 (2.78 per match)
Top goalscorer Maxuell
(15 goals)
Biggest home winFloriana 3–0 Valletta
(11 September 2021) Hamrun Spartans 3–0 St. Lucia
(28 November 2021) Gżira United 4–1 Hamrun 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 1 May 2022.

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 "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 Alejandro Pantoja (Caretaker) Joma Investors Mutual Limited
Birkirkara Jonathan Holland (Caretaker) Nike McDonald's (Front), Inter Sport (Back Top), Visit Malta (Back Bottom)
Floriana Gianluca Atzori Joma Harmont & Blaine, Boggi
Gudja United Thane Micallef Macron All Nuts, Handy Man, Green Finance
Gżira United Darren Abdilla Puma
Ħamrun Spartans Branko Nisevic Puma J. Portelli Projects
Hibernians Stefano Sanderra Joma Bezzina
Mosta Joseph Grech Macron Dimbros, Nilmar
Sirens Winston Muscat Macron Café del Mar Malta (Front), Malta National Aquarium (Back), Ozo Group (Sleeves Both)
Sliema Wanderers Noel Turner (Caretaker) Jartazi NM group, Sixt
Santa Lucia Giovanni Tedesco Capelli Sport Multivend, avanza
Valletta Danilo Dončić 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
Santa Lucia Oliver Spiteri Sacked 20 January 2022 11th Giovanni Tedesco 12 January 2022
Valletta Cardoso Mendes 3 February 2022 7th Danilo Dončić 3 February 2022
Ħamrun Spartans Mark Buttigieg 14 February 2022 5th Branko Nisevic 15 February 2022
Sliema Wanderers Andrea Pisanu 16 February 2022 12th Noel Turner (Caretaker) 16 February 2022
Balzan Paul Zammit 15 April 2022 11th Alejandro Pantoja (Caretaker) 23 April 2022
Birkirkara André Paus 20 April 2022 3rd 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-6
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 GZI HAM 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[lower-alpha 1]
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.
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]

Second round

Top-6
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification HIB FLO HAM BIR GZI GUD
1 Hibernians (C, Q) 26 15 9 2 45 21 +24 54 Qualification for the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League — 0–0 — 3–1 — —
2 Floriana (Q) 26 13 9 4 36 20 +16 48 Qualification for the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League — — 0–0 — 0–1 —
3 Ħamrun Spartans 26 12 6 8 32 23 +9 42 2–1 — — — 2–0 —
4 Birkirkara 26 10 11 5 35 26 +9 41 — 0–0 — — 3–0
5 Gżira United 26 11 7 8 44 37 +7 40 — — 1–1 — 3–1
6 Gudja United 26 10 2 14 28 33 −5 32 0–2 1–0 — — —
Updated to match(es) played on 1 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).
(C) Champion; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated

Play-Out
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Relegation VAL SIR MOS SLC BAL SLI
7 Valletta 25 9 6 10 35 36 −1 33 — — 2–3 — 3–1
8 Sirens 25 8 7 10 35 43 −8 31 0–3 — — — 2–3 —
9 Mosta 25 7 8 10 36 45 −9 29 — — 1–1 3–2 —
10 Santa Lucia 25 5 12 8 31 44 −13 27 — 2–2 — — — 1–2
11 Balzan 25 7 3 15 33 40 −7 24 Relegation to the 2022–23 Maltese Challenge League 1–1 — — 0–3 — —
12 Sliema Wanderers (R) 25 3 6 16 14 41 −27 15 — 0–5 1–0 — —
Updated to match(es) played on 24 April 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

Top scorers
As of 23 January 2022
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Maxuell Gzira United 15
2 Jurgen Degabriele Hibernians 13
3 Luke Montebello Birkirkara 11
Sunday Akinbule Mosta
Jefferson Assis Gzira United
6 Mario Fontanella Valletta 10
7 Jake Grech Hibernians 9
Kemar Reid Floriana
9 Vitor da Silva Vieira Sirens 8
Vito Plut Santa Lucia

Hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date
Mario Fontanella Valletta Sirens 3–1 (H) 17 October 2021
Jefferson Assis Gzira United Hamrun 4–1 (H) 5 February 2022

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

Player

Club

Awards

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

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.
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