2018–19 Maltese Premier League

Maltese Premier League
Season	2018–19
Dates	17 August 2018 – 5 May 2019
Champions	Valletta; (25th title)
Relegated	St. Andrews; Qormi ; Pietà Hotspurs
Champions League	Valletta
Europa League	Hibernians; Gżira United; Balzan
Matches played	182
Goals scored	495 (2.72 per match)
Top goalscorer	Taylon Nicolas Correa (18 goals)
Biggest home win	Valletta 6–0 Qormi; (21 September 2018)
Biggest away win	Tarxien Rainbows 0–7 Valletta; (8 December 2018)
Highest scoring	Tarxien Rainbows 0–7 Valletta; (8 December 2018)
	← 2017–18 2019–20 → All statistics correct as of 4 May 2019.

The 2018–19 Maltese Premier League was the 104th season of top-flight league football in Malta. The season began on 17 August 2018 and ended in April 2019. Defending champions Valletta won their 25th title, following a penalty shootout win against Hibernians in a championship decider match.

Teams

Lija Athletic and Naxxar Lions were relegated after they finished thirteenth and fourteenth the previous season. They are replaced by Qormi and Pietà Hotspurs, the 2017–18 Maltese First Division champions and runners-up respectively. Tarxien Rainbows retained Premiership status by defeating Żejtun Corinthians in a play-off decider.

Team	In league since	City	Training Stadium	Capacity
Balzan	2011–12	Balzan	St. Aloysius Sports and Recreational Complex	100
Birkirkara	1990–91	Birkirkara	Mġarr Ground	0
Floriana	1986–87	Floriana	Independence Arena	0
Gżira United	2016–17	Gżira	Gżira Football Ground	0
Ħamrun Spartans	2016–17	Ħamrun	Victor Tedesco Stadium	6,000
Hibernians	1945–46	Paola	Hibernians Ground	2,968
Mosta	2011–12	Mosta	Charles Abela Memorial Stadium	600
Pietà Hotspurs	2018–19	Pietà	Trinity Stadium
Qormi	2018–19	Qormi	Thomaso Ground	500
Senglea Athletic	2017–18	Senglea	Ta' Qali National Stadium	17,797
Tarxien Rainbows	2008–09	Tarxien	Tony Cassar Sports Ground	1,000
Sliema Wanderers	1984–85	Sliema	Tigne Sports Complex	1,000
St. Andrews	2015–16	St. Andrew's	Luxol Stadium	800
Valletta	1944–45	Valletta	Sirens Stadium	600

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Balzan	Jacques Scerri	Joma	Investors Mutual Limited
Birkirkara	John Buttigieg	Adidas	McDonald's
Floriana	Guido Ugolotti	Joma	Scotts Supermarket, Guess?
Gżira United	Jesmond Zerafa	Joma	Jeep
Ħamrun Spartans	Giovanni Tedesco	Sportika SA
Hibernians	Stefano Sanderra	Joma	Bezzina
Mosta	Mark Miller	Macron	Dimbros, Nilmar
Pietà Hotspurs	Ramon Zammit	Nike	Famalco.net
Qormi	Matthew Psaila	Macron
Senglea Athletic	Enzo Potenza	Macron	Palumbo
Sliema Wanderers	Stefano Maccoppi	Adidas	DIZZ, DSM Sports
St. Andrews	Michael Woods	Macron
Tarxien Rainbows	Jose Borg	Erreà	Cassar Ship Repairs
Valletta	Gilbert Agius (caretaker)	Joma	Iniala

Additionally, referee kits are made by Adidas, sponsored by TeamSports and FXDD, and Nike has a new match ball.

Venues

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

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Replaced by	Date of appointment
Ħamrun Spartans	Jacques Scerri	Mutual consent	31 May 2018	Pre-season	Giovanni Tedesco	31 May 2018
Hibernians	Mario Muscat Neil Zarb Cousin	End of caretaker	4 July 2018		Stefano Sanderra	4 July 2018
Senglea Athletic	Steve D'Amato	End of contract	30 June 2018		Bruno Russo	17 July 2018
Floriana	Nicolás Chiesa	Sacked	27 August 2018	12th	Luís Oliveira	29 August 2018
Senglea Athletic	Bruno Russo	Sacked	15 September 2018	13th	Enzo Potenza	20 September 2018
Qormi	Brian Spiteri	Resigned	6 November 2018	13th	Matthew Psaila
Floriana	Luís Oliveira	Sacked	14 November 2018	9th	Guido Ugolotti	14 November 2018
Mosta	Enrico Piccioni		16 November 2018	12th	Mark Miller	22 November 2018
Sliema Wanderers	John Buttigieg		26 January 2019	6th	Stefano Maccoppi	11 February 2019
Balzan	Marko Mićović	Resigned	3 February 2019	6th	Jacques Scerri	5 February 2019
Gżira United	Darren Abdilla		12 February 2019	3rd	Jesmond Zerafa	12 February 2019
Birkirkara	Paul Zammit		26 March 2019	7th	John Buttigieg	18 April 2019
Valletta	Danilo Dončić		8 April 2019	1st	Gilbert Agius (caretaker)	8 April 2019

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Valletta (C)	26	18	4	4	61	18	+43	58	Qualification for the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League
2	Hibernians	26	18	4	4	54	27	+27	58	Qualification for the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League
3	Gżira United	26	13	11	2	42	21	+21	50	Qualification for the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League
4	Ħamrun Spartans	26	12	10	4	35	20	+15	46
5	Sliema Wanderers	26	13	6	7	37	26	+11	45
6	Balzan	26	12	7	7	41	31	+10	43	Qualification for the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League
7	Birkirkara	26	12	3	11	33	26	+7	39
8	Floriana	26	9	5	12	28	25	+3	32
9	Mosta	26	7	8	11	30	45	−15	29
10	Tarxien Rainbows	26	8	2	16	29	58	−29	26
11	Senglea Athletic	26	7	5	14	33	46	−13	26
12	St. Andrews (R)	26	7	3	16	25	45	−20	24	Qualification for the Relegation Play-Offs
13	Qormi (R)	26	6	2	18	25	51	−26	20	Relegation to the 2019–20 Maltese First Division
14	Pietà Hotspurs (R)	26	3	4	19	25	59	−34	13	Relegation to the 2019–20 Maltese First Division

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; (R) Relegated
Notes:

Valletta and Hibernians finished equal on points, and a championship play-off to determine the winner was won by Valletta
Balzan qualified for the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League as the 2018–19 Maltese FA Trophy winners

Results

Home \ Away	BAL	BIR	FLO	GŻI	ĦAM	HIB	MOS	PIE	QOR	SEN	SLI	STA	TAR	VAL
Balzan	—	0–0	2–0	0–0	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–0	4–2	1–2	2–1	0–2	2–0	1–2
Birkirkara	1–0	—	0–0	1–2	0–1	2–3	1–2	3–0	2–1	2–3	2–0	2–0	2–0	0–3
Floriana	0–0	0–2	—	0–1	1–1	0–1	1–0	1–2	0–1	4–1	0–1	0–1	4–0	2–0
Gżira United	3–0	1–1	1–0	—	0–0	3–2	3–3	5–2	1–0	3–1	1–1	2–1	1–1	0–0
Ħamrun Spartans	1–1	2–1	2–0	1–1	—	1–1	0–1	3–2	2–1	1–0	0–0	1–0	3–0	1–1
Hibernians	5–1	2–1	0–2	1–0	2–1	—	1–1	2–1	1–3	2–0	2–2	2–0	5–0	1–2
Mosta	0–0	0–3	3–3	1–1	0–0	0–4	—	3–2	2–0	0–3	1–2	1–3	3–1	0–1
Pietà Hotspurs	0–3	1–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	3–1	—	0–2	1–1	0–3	3–1	0–3	0–4
Qormi	1–3	1–0	1–3	1–4	0–2	1–2	1–1	2–2	—	1–0	2–3	0–2	1–2	1–2
Senglea Athletic	0–5	0–2	0–1	0–1	2–2	0–2	0–2	2–1	4–0	—	0–2	5–0	1–2	1–5
Sliema Wanderers	1–3	0–1	1–1	0–2	2–1	0–1	3–1	2–1	2–0	0–0	—	1–1	3–1	3–0
St. Andrews	0–1	2–0	3–0	1–0	0–3	1–2	1–1	3–3	0–2	1–2	0–2	—	1–5	0–4
Tarxien Rainbows	1–3	0–2	0–3	1–4	2–1	2–4	0–2	2–0	1–0	2–2	1–2	2–1	—	0–7
Valletta	4–1	2–0	1–0	1–1	0–1	1–2	5–0	3–0	6–0	3–3	2–0	1–0	1–0	—

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:

St. Andrew's were awarded a 3–0 win after the Malta Football Association's Protests Board upheld their protest as Floriana didn't have 11 homegrown players in their squad. Originally, the match ended in a 0–0 draw.

Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards.

	Leader and 2019–20 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round
	2019–20 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round
	2019–20 UEFA Europa League preliminary round
	Relegation play-offs
	Relegation to First Division

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
Team ╲ Round
Valletta	14	14	10	6	4	3	3	2	2	3	3	2	3	3	1	1	1	2	2	1	1	1	2	1	1	1
Hibernians	6	2	6	9	5	5	5	3	3	2	2	1	2	1	2	2	2	1	1	2	2	2	1	2	2	2
Gżira United	1	4	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	3	1	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3
Ħamrun Spartans	3	5	2	5	7	7	7	6	5	6	6	6	5	4	6	4	4	4	5	6	5	4	4	4	4	4
Sliema Wanderers	2	1	5	3	3	2	2	4	4	4	4	5	4	6	7	7	7	6	4	4	4	6	5	5	5	5
Balzan	8	7	3	2	2	4	4	5	6	5	5	4	7	7	5	6	6	5	7	7	7	7	6	6	5	6
Birkirkara	5	3	7	4	6	8	6	7	7	7	7	7	6	5	4	5	5	7	6	5	6	5	7	7	7	7
Floriana	11	12	11	11	9	6	8	8	10	9	10	10	8	9	9	9	9	10	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8
Mosta	12	8	4	8	9	9	10	12	12	12	12	12	11	11	11	11	12	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
Tarxien Rainbows	13	6	9	7	10	10	11	10	9	10	8	8	9	10	8	8	8	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10
Senglea Athletic	10	13	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	13	13	12	11	12	12	12	11	11	11	11	11	11
St. Andrews	4	10	12	12	12	11	9	9	8	8	9	9	10	8	10	10	10	11	11	11	12	12	12	12	12	12
Qormi	7	9	8	10	11	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	14	14	14	14	13	14	13	13	13	14	13	13	13
Pietà Hotspurs	9	11	13	13	13	12	12	11	11	11	11	11	12	12	12	13	13	14	13	14	14	14	13	14	14	14

Updated to match(es) played on 27 April 2019. Source: Scoresway

Championship play-off

At the end of the season, Valletta and Hibernians finished off equal on 58 points; in the last matchday, Valletta were few minutes away from winning the title as they were leading 1–0 against Ħamrun Spartans, but a goal in stoppage time levelled the match. Hibernians had a convincing 5–1 win over Balzan to force a championship decider to be played between the two on 4 May.

4 May 2019	Valletta	2–2 (a.e.t.) (4–2 p)	Hibernians	Ta' Qali
16:30 CEST	Jonathan Caruana 59' Mario Fontanella 98'	Report	Taylon Correa 12' Marco Sahanek 118'	Stadium: Ta' Qali National Stadium Attendance: 9,544 Referee: Malcolm Spiteri Man of the Match: Taylon Nicolas Correa (Hibernians)
	Penalties
	Miguel Alba Santiago Malano Bogdan Gavrila Mario Fontanella		Marco Sahanek Jake Grech Tiago Fonseca Taylon Nicolas Correa

Valletta qualified for the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League First qualifying round.
Hibernians qualified for the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round.

Relegation play-offs

A play-off match took place between the twelfth-placed team from the Premier League, St. Andrews, and the third-placed team from the First Division, St. Lucia, for a place in the 2019–20 Maltese Premier League. St. Lucia became the first First Division club to win a Premier League play-off, thereby booking a place in next season's Premier League for the first time in their history.

5 May 2019	St. Andrews (1)	1–4	St. Lucia (2)	Paola
16:00 CEST	Martin Davis 12'	Report	Patrick Jean 10', 75' (pen.) Jackson Mendonza 17', 60'	Stadium: Hibernians Stadium Referee: Etienne Antoine Mangion

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

As of 5 May 2019

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Taylon Nicolas Correa	Hibernians	18
2	Mario Fontanella	Valletta	17
3	Haruna Garba	Gżira United	12
4	Bojan Kaljević	Valletta	11
	Tiago Adan	Hibernians
	Jake Grech	Hibernians
7	Andrija Majdevac	Balzan	10
7	Miguel Alba	Valletta	10
9	Alfred Effiong	Balzan	9
10	Younes Bnou Marzouk	Sliema Wanderers	8
	Kevin Tulimieri	Ħamrun Spartans
	Augusto Cáseres	Senglea Athletic

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Kevaun Atkinson	St. Andrews	Mosta	3–1	18 August 2018
Bojan Kaljević	Valletta	Senglea Athletic	5–1	28 September 2018
Haruna Garba	Gżira United	Balzan	3–0	27 October 2018
Mario Fontanella	Valletta	Tarxien Rainbows	7–0	8 December 2018
Diego Venancio	Senglea Athletic	St. Andrews	5–0	14 March 2019
Justin Mengolo	Gżira United	Pietà Hotspurs	5–2	30 March 2019
Taylon Nicolas Correa	Hibernians	Balzan	5–1	27 April 2019

Awards

Monthly awards

Month	Player of the Month
Month	Player	Club
August	Michele Paolucci	Tarxien Rainbows
September	Bojan Kaljević	Valletta
October	Mario Fontanella	Valletta
November	Martin Davis	St. Andrews
December	Taylon Correa	Hibernians
January	Augusto Cáseres	Senglea Athletic
February	Wilfried Domoraud	Ħamrun Spartans
March	Younes Bnou Marzouk	Sliema Wanderers
April/May	Jake Grech	Hibernians

Annual awards

Award	Winner	Club
MFA Footballer of the Year	Andrei Agius	Hibernians
Coach of the Year	Stefano Sanderra	Hibernians
Young Player of the Year	Matthew Guillaumier	Birkirkara
Foreign Player of the Year	Miguel Alba	Valletta
Best Goal Award	Jurgen Degabriele (vs Floriana)	Hibernians
Best Fans Award		Valletta

[table_note_VAL0.47423870790482-24] Valletta and Hibernians finished equal on points, and a championship play-off to determine the winner was won by Valletta

[table_note_res_FAEL10.47423870790482-25] Balzan qualified for the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League as the 2018–19 Maltese FA Trophy winners

[table_note_1_STA_FLO0.095695179000355-28] St. Andrew's were awarded a 3–0 win after the Malta Football Association's Protests Board upheld their protest as Floriana didn't have 11 homegrown players in their squad. Originally, the match ended in a 0–0 draw.