2020–21 Maltese Premier League

Maltese Premier League
Season	2020–21
Dates	11 September 2020 – 9 April 2021
Champions	Ħamrun Spartans (8th title)
Relegated	Żejtun ; Tarxien ; Lija ; Senglea Athletic
Champions League	Hibernians
Europa Conference League	Gżira ; Birkirkara ; Mosta
Matches played	184
Goals scored	552 (3 per match)
Top goalscorer	Kevin Rosero (17)
Biggest home win	Hibernians 8–1 Lija Athletic; (25 October 2020); St. Lucia 7-0 Tarxien Rainbows; (13 February 2021)
Biggest away win	Senglea Athletic 0–5 Tarxien Rainbows; (24 October 2020)
Highest scoring	Hibernians 8–1 Lija Athletic; (25 October 2020)
Longest winning run	6 matches; Gżira United
Longest unbeaten run	13 matches; Ħamrun Spartans
Longest winless run	18 matches; Senglea Athletics
Longest losing run	9 matches; Senglea Athletics
Highest attendance	N/A
Lowest attendance	N/A
	← 2019–20 2021–22 →

The 2020–21 Maltese Premier League was the 106th season of the Maltese Premier League, the top-flight league football in Malta. Floriana were the defending champions, having won their 26th title the previous season.

On 10 March 2021, due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Malta, a decision was made by the Government of Malta to suspend all football activities in Malta for one month.^[2]

On 9 April, the season was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Malta.^[3] Hamrun Spartans, who were top of the table at the time of the season's suspension, were declared the champions. Their first league title in exactly 30 years.^[4]

Teams

Location of teams in 2020–21 Maltese Premier League

Sixteen teams will compete in the league which will include the two teams promoted from the First Division. The promoted teams are Żejtun Corinthians, who will be playing their first season in the top division, and Lija Athetlic.

Team	In league since	City	Training Stadium	Capacity
Balzan	2011	Balzan	St. Aloysius Sports and Recreational Complex	100
Birkirkara	1990	Birkirkara	Mgarr Ground
Floriana	1986	Floriana	Independence Arena
Gudja United	2019	Gudja	Louis Azzopardi Stadium
Gżira United	2016	Gżira	Gzira Football Ground
Ħamrun Spartans	2016	Ħamrun	Victor Tedesco Stadium	6,000
Hibernians	1945	Paola	Hibernians Ground	2,968
Lija Athletic	2020	Lija	Lija Stadium	500
Mosta	2011	Mosta	Charles Abela Memorial Stadium	600
St. Lucia	2019	Santa Luċija	Grawnd Santa Luċija
Senglea Athletic	2017	Senglea	Corradino C	100
Sirens	2019	St. Paul's Bay	Sirens Stadium	600
Sliema Wanderers	1984	Sliema	Tigne Sports Complex	1,000
Tarxien Rainbows	2008	Tarxien	Tony Cassar Sports Ground	1,000
Valletta	1944	Valletta	Sirens Stadium	600
Żejtun Corinthians	2020	Żejtun

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	Mark Miller	Joma	Investors Mutual Limited
Birkirkara	André Paus	Adidas	McDonald's
Floriana	John Buttigieg	Joma	Scotts Supermarket, Boggi
Gudja United	Cyril Buttigieg	Givova	All Nuts, Emilio Bilocca Handy Man
Gżira United	Darren Abdilla	Puma
Ħamrun Spartans	Mark Buttigieg	Puma	J. Portelli Projects
Hibernians	Stefano Sanderra	Joma	Bezzina
Lija Athletic	Joseph Galea	Macron	The Falzon Group Of Companies
Mosta	Davor Filipović	Macron	Dimbros, Nilmar
Senglea Athletic	Clive Mizzi	Givova	Palumbo
Sirens	Giovanni Tedesco	Macron	Teamsport, Gillieru Harbour Hotel, Valyou Supermarket
Sliema Wanderers	Andrea Pisanu	Jartazi	Catco Capital Investment, Catco Group Holding, Sixt, Sharjah
St. Lucia	Oliver Spiteri	Macron	Multivend
Tarxien Rainbows	Winston Muscat	Erreà	Cassar Ship Repairs
Valletta	Cardoso Mendes	Puma	Iniala
Żejtun Corinthians	Orosco Anonam	Adidas

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
Tarxien Rainbows	Demis Paul Scerri	Resign	21 May 2020^[5]	Pre-season	Winston Muscat	12 June 2020^[6]
Gudja United	Josef Mansueto		21 May 2020^[5]		Jesmond Zammit	16 June 2020^[7]
Gżira United	Paul Zammit		29 May 2020^[8]		Darren Abdilla	24 June 2020^[9]
Valletta	Giovanni Tedesco		13 June 2020^[10]		Jesmond Zerafa	18 June 2020^[11]
Mosta	Mark Miller	Mutual consent	16 June 2020^[12]		Davor Filipović	21 June 2020^[13]
Balzan	Ludvig Bartolo	End of caretaker	22 June 2020^[14]		Mark Miller	22 June 2020^[14]
Valletta	Jesmond Zerafa	Resign	30 November 2020	9th	Cardoso Mendes	28 December 2020
Sirens	Steve D'Amato	Sacked	14 December 2020	11th	Giovanni Tedesco	14 December 2020
Floriana	Vincenzo Potenza	Resign	24 December 2020	10th	John Buttigieg	25 December 2020

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Ħamrun Spartans^[a] (C)	23	17	5	1	56	20	+36	56
2	Hibernians	23	16	3	4	53	20	+33	51	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
3	Gżira United	23	14	4	5	49	21	+28	46	Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round
4	Birkirkara	23	13	5	5	45	25	+20	44
5	Sliema Wanderers^[b]	23	12	4	7	39	31	+8	40
6	Mosta	23	10	6	7	41	36	+5	36	Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round
7	Valletta	23	9	6	8	27	35	−8	33
8	St. Lucia	23	7	8	8	38	35	+3	29
9	Sirens	23	7	7	9	27	35	−8	28
10	Balzan	23	6	9	8	31	29	+2	27
11	Gudja United	23	8	3	12	29	35	−6	27
12	Floriana	23	7	6	10	26	34	−8	27
13	Żejtun Corinthians (R)	23	6	6	11	28	40	−12	24	Relegation to the 2021–22 Maltese Challenge League
14	Tarxien Rainbows (R)	23	6	3	14	25	48	−23	21
15	Lija Athetlic (R)	23	5	5	13	25	46	−21	20
16	Senglea Athletic (R)	23	0	2	21	13	62	−49	2

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:

^ Ħamrun Spartans were banned from competing in European competitions for a match fixing case dating back to 2013.^[15]
^ Sliema Wanderers failed to obtain a UEFA license.^[16]

Results

Home \ Away	BAL	BIR	FLO	GUD	GZI	HAM	HIB	LIJ	MOS	SEN	SIR	SLI	SLC	TAR	VAL	ZEJ
Balzan	—	—	0–0	—	0–2	2–2	—	1–0	4–1	1–1	1–0	5–1	1–1	0–1	0–1	3–1
Birkirkara	2–2	—	2–0	3–0	1–1	0–2	—	4–1	0–3	—	—	1–2	—	3–0	2–0	2–3
Floriana	0–0	2–5	—	1–0	2–1	—	1–1	1–2	0–2	1–0	3–2	0–1	1–1	—	—	0–0
Gudja United	3–2	—	1–2	—	0–3^[a]	0–1	1–4	2–0	0–1	—	1–3	1–1	—	0–2	0–0	0–1
Gżira United	—	—	4–1	—	—	1–2	0–1	1–0	6–1	4–0	—	3–2	2–2	1–1	2–0	2–1
Ħamrun Spartans	3–2	0–2	3–1	3–1	2–2	—	1–0	—	3–1	3–0	5–1	—	2–2	5–0	—	4–0
Hibernians	2–1	0–1	3–1	—	—	2–2	—	8–1	2–0	3–0	1–2	1–0	—	2–0	1–1	2–0
Lija Athetlic	1–1	0–0	—	0–1	0–3	2–2	0–5	—	1–1	4–0	0–2	—	3–1	2–0	1–2	—
Mosta	3–3	0–1	—	2–2	1–2	—	2–3	—	—	5–1	0–0	—	1–0	1–0	2–2	3–0
Senglea Athletic	—	1–2	0–2	0–2	—	0–1	—	1–3	1–3	—	0–1	0–2	—	0–5	1–3	1–1
Sirens	—	2–4	2–1	—	1–0	0–1	—	1–1	2–2	—	—	0–0	0–2	2–2	0–1	0–4
Sliema Wanderers	3–1	2–2	—	1–2	2–0	0–2	3–1	4–1	1–3	3–1	1–3	—	3–1	—	—	—
St. Lucia	—	0–0	2–1	3–2	—	1–4	0–3	3–2	2–3	4–1	—	0–1	—	7–0	1–1	1–1
Tarxien Rainbows	0–1	0–3	2–2	0–5	0–2	—	0–1	—	—	4–2	3–1	1–2	0–2	—	3–1	—
Valletta	1–0	4–2	0–3	2–4	1–3	0–3	1–4	—	—	2–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	—	—	2–1
Żejtun Corinthians	0–0	0–3	—	0–1	0–4	—	2–3	2–0	—	3–1	1–1	2–4	2–2	3–1		—

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:

^ Gżira United were awarded a 3–0 win after the Malta Football Association's Protests Board upheld their protest. Originally, the match ended in a 1–1 draw.^[17]

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

As of 10 March 2021

Rank	Player	Club	Goals^[18]
1	Kevin Rosero	St. Lucia	17
2	Bojan Kaljević	Mosta	14
3	Dodô	Ħamrun Spartans	13
	Luke Montebello	Birkirkara
	Franklin Sasere	Ħamrun Spartans
6	Jean Paul Farrugia	Sliema Wanderers	12
6	Jake Grech	Hibernians	12
8	Jurgen Degabriele	Hibernians	11
8	Maxuell	Gżira United	11
10	Yuri	Gudja United	10
10	Vito Plut	Tarxien Rainbows	10

Red Cards

Rank	Club	Most Red Cards
1	Gżira United	7
2	Senglea Athletic	6
	Sirens
	Valletta
5	Sliema Wanderers	5
5	Żejtun Corinthians	5
7	Balzan	4
7	St. Lucia	4
9	Gudja United	3
9	Mosta	3
11	Birkirkara	2
	Floriana
	Ħamrun Spartans
	Hibernians
	Lija Athletic