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Maltese Premier League

Organising body	Malta Football Association (MFA)
Founded	1909; 109 years ago (1909)
Country	Malta (14 teams)
Confederation	UEFA
Number of teams	14
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Maltese First Division
Domestic cup(s)	Maltese FA Trophy Maltese Super Cup
International cup(s)	UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League
Current champions	Valletta (24th title) (2017–18)
Most championships	Sliema Wanderers (26 titles)
TV partners	TVM2 & Melita Sports 1 (live matches)
Website	MFA.com.mt
2018–19 Maltese Premier League

The Maltese Premier League, known as BOV Premier League for sponsorship reasons with Bank of Valletta (colloquially known as Il-Kampjonat Premjer), is the semi-professional top level league for football in Malta.^[1] Managed by the Malta Football Association, the Premier League is contested by 14 teams and operates on a promotion and relegation system with the First Division. As of August 2018, the Premier League ranks 45th out of 55 members in the UEFA coefficient.^[2]

The league was first competed in 1909 as the First Division, before switching to its current name in 1980;^[3] the First Division in turn replaced the Second Division. Sliema Wanderers have won the title a record 26 times. The current champions are Valletta who won their 24th title in the 2017–18 season.

Format

Starting from the 2017–18 season, the Premier League is contested by 14 clubs.^[4][5] Played from August to April, each club plays each others twice (a double round-robin system), for a total of 26 games. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. The club with the most points is crowned as champion. If two or more teams are tied in points (for any place), there will be no tie-breakers will play a decider match.

To determine the champion or qualification to UEFA competitions, a play-off is played to determine the winner. The two lowest placed teams are relegated into the First Division and the twelfth-placed team plays a play-off against the third-placed team from the First Division with the winner either keeping their place or get promoted to the top-tier league.^[4]

European qualification

UEFA coefficients 2018–19

Rank	Association	Coefficient
43	Luxembourg	5.625
44	Armenia	5.250
45	Malta	5.250
46	Estonia	5.000
47	Georgia	4.750

Clubs finishing the season in the top positions of the Premier League are granted qualification to compete in one of UEFA's European competition. This is determined by Malta's position in the UEFA coefficients ranking system.

As of the 2017–18 season, the league winner qualifies to the first qualifying round for the UEFA Champions League. The second- and third-placed teams qualify for the first qualifying round and the preliminary round for the UEFA Europa League, respectively. An additional Europa League place is taken through the country's domestic cup competition, the FA Trophy. If the winner of the FA Trophy qualifies for Europe through their league position, the fourth-placed team in the league qualifies for the Europa League's preliminary round.

Corporate structure

The Premier Division Standing Committee (PDSC) is a body composed of the Premier League club presidents who represent their club on a board. These do not have executive powers but are a formal body that has official influence with regards to rules, regulations and issues that relate to the league. From time to time the committee makes proposals to the respective and MFA bodies for approval.

Clubs

2018–19 season

Balzan

Birkirkara

Floriana

Gżira

Ħamrun

Hibernians

Mosta

Pietà

Qormi

Senglea

Sliema

St. Andrews

Tarxien

Valletta

Location of teams in 2018–19 Maltese Premier League

The following 14 clubs will compete in the Premier League during the 2018–19 season.

Champions

In total, ten clubs have won the Maltese championship, including titles in the old First Division which was replaced in 1980 by the Premier League.^[6] Of the winners, three have been champions more than 20 times: Sliema Wanderers (26 titles), Floriana (25 titles), and Valletta (24 titles).

The honour of Golden Stars was introduced in football to recognize sides that have won multiple championships. In Malta, clubs are permitted to place a golden star above their crest for every ten nation championships won. Sliema Wanderers, Floriana and Valletta boast two golden stars, and Hibernians have one golden star placed above their crest on their jerseys.

Club	Winners[6]	Runners-up	Winning years
Sliema Wanderers	26	29	1919–20, 1922–23, 1923–24, 1925–26, 1929–30, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1935–36, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1948–49, 1953–54, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1975–76, 1988–89, 1995–96, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05
Floriana	25	12	1909–10, 1911–12, 1912–13, 1920–21, 1921–22, 1924–25, 1926–27, 1927–28, 1928–29, 1930–31, 1934–35, 1936–37, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1954–55, 1957–58, 1961–62, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1976–77, 1992–93
Valletta	24	18	1914–15, 1931–32, 1944–45, 1945–46, 1947–48, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1962–63, 1973–74, 1977–78, 1979–80, 1983–84, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2007–08, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2017–18
Hibernians	12	13	1960–61, 1966–67, 1968–69, 1978–79, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1993–94, 1994–95, 2001–02, 2008–09, 2014–15, 2016–17
Ħamrun Spartans	7	11	1913–14, 1917–18, 1946–47, 1982–83, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1990–91
Birkirkara	4	8	1999–2000, 2005–06, 2009–10, 2012–13
Rabat Ajax	2	1	1984–85, 1985–86
Marsaxlokk	1	1	2006–07
St. George's	1	4	1916–17
The King's Own Malta Regiment	1	0	1918–19

League appearances

Bold denotes still active players.

References

External links

• Malta Football Association


• 
  League321.com, Maltese football league tables, records and statistics database


• 
  List of champions and runners-Up, RSSSF