2008–09 Maltese Premier League

Maltese Premier League

Season	2008–09
Champions	Hibernians 10th Premier League title
Relegated	Marsaxlokk
Champions League	Hibernians
Europa League	Valletta Birkirkara
Goals scored	387
Average goals/game	2.93
Top goalscorer	Terence Scerri (26)
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

The Maltese Premier League 2008–09 was the 94th season of the Maltese Premier League, the top-tier football in Malta. It began on 23 August 2008 with a scoreless draw between Floriana and Hamrun Spartans and ended on 24 May 2009. The first goal in the season was scored by Ivan, who plays for Qormi. Hibernians were crowned champions on the 23 May 2009, winning their 10th title, surpassing rivals Valletta by two points.

Changes from 2007–08

• Promoted: Qormi, Tarxien
• Relegated: Mqabba, Pieta Hotspurs

Competition modus

In the First Round, every team played each opponent twice, once home and once away, for a total of 18 games. The league was then split in two pools. Earned points were halved. Teams that finished in positions 1–6 compete in the "Championship Pool" and teams finishing in positions 7–10 play in the "Relegation Pool".

First round

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Hibernians	18	13	2	3	49	19	+30	41
2	Valletta	18	11	7	0	31	11	+20	40
3	Birkirkara	18	9	5	4	31	28	+3	32
4	Sliema Wanderers	18	7	5	6	24	24	0	26
5	Floriana	18	6	4	8	18	21	−3	22
6	Marsaxlokk	18	6	4	8	28	33	−5	22
7	Msida Saint-Joseph	18	6	3	9	20	28	−8	21
8	Hamrun Spartans	18	5	2	11	24	37	−13	17
9	Qormi	18	3	6	9	16	26	−10	15
10	Tarxien Rainbows	18	4	2	12	22	36	−14	14

Source: kicker.de (German)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
Note: Teams ranked 1 through 6 qualified for the championship pool, teams ranked 7 through 10 play in the relegation pool. Earned points were halved and taken over to the respective pools.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Results

Home ╲ Away	BIR	FLO	HIB	HAM	MRS	MSJ	QOR	SLI	TAR	VAL
Birkirkara		0–1	0–6	3–2	2–3	2–0	1–1	4–2	1–0	2–2
Floriana	1–2		2–1	0–0	3–1	0–1	0–22	0–0	3–1	0–1
Hibernians	3–2	1–1		1–0	4–1	5–1	3–0	2–3	2–0	1–1
Hamrun Spartans	0–1	0–1	1–4		4–3	1–0	3–2	0–2	0–4	1–3
Marsaxlokk	1–1	2–1	2–3	4–2		2–1	1–1	1–2	2–1	0–1
Msida Saint-Joseph	2–2	4–1	0–2	3–2	1–1		1–1	0–3	1–0	0–2
Qormi	0–1	0–0	1–3	1–4	1–3	0–1		1–2	1–0	0–2
Sliema Wanderers	2–3	0–3	0–1	0–3	0–0	2–1	1–1		4–2	1–1
Tarxien Rainbows	1–3	3–0	2–7	1–1	3–1	0–2	0–3	1–0		1–3
Valletta	1–1	2–1	2–0	4–0	2–0	2–1	0–0	0–0	2–2

Source: kicker.de (German)
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
²The match from 25 January 2009 was awarded to Qormi with a score of 2–0 because Floriana fielded an ineligible player.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second round

Championship Pool

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Hibernians (C)	28	19	5	4	73	25	+48	42	2009–10 UEFA Champions League First qualifying round
2	Valletta	28	17	9	2	50	18	+32	40	2009–10 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round
3	Birkirkara	28	12	7	9	43	45	−2	27
4	Marsaxlokk (R)	28	10	6	12	46	52	−6	25	Relegation to Maltese First Division 2
5	Sliema Wanderers	28	10	8	10	33	41	−8	25	2009–10 UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round 1
6	Floriana	28	7	6	15	25	44	−19	16

Source: maltafootball.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
Points earned in the first round have been halved.
¹Sliema Wanderers won the Maltese Cup 2008–09 and thereby qualified for the second qualifying round of UEFA Europa League.
²Marsaxlokk were relegated to the First Division for the 2009-10 season due to their involvement in a bribery scandal.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Results

Home ╲ Away	BIR	FLO	HIB	MRS	SLI	VAL
Birkirkara		3–1	0–4	1–2	0–0	3–1
Floriana	0–2		0–2	2–1	1–1	0–2
Hibernians	2–0	4–1		2–2	0–0	0–0
Marsaxlokk	2–2	5–2	1–4		0–3	0–1
Sliema Wanderers	1–0	3–0	0–5	1–3		0–3
Valletta	4–1	0–0	2–1	1–2	5–0

Source: maltafootball.com
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation Pool

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
7	Qormi	24	7	6	11	30	31	−1	20
8	Tarxien Rainbows	24	6	5	13	32	44	−12	016DG
9	Msida Saint-Joseph	24	7	5	12	25	40	−15	016DG,1
10	Hamrun Spartans	24	7	3	14	31	48	−17	0161

Source: maltafootball.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
Points earned in the first round have been halved.
¹While Msida Saint-Joseph and Hamrun Spartans were relegated, they were returned to the Premier League in the wake of corruption scandals involving Vittoriosa Stars and Marsaxlokk.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Results

Home ╲ Away	HAM	MSJ	QOR	TAR
Hamrun Spartans		3–0	0–2	1–1
Msida Saint-Joseph	2–0		0–5	2–2
Qormi	1–2	2–1		1–2
Tarxien Rainbows	5–1	0–0	0–3

Source: maltafootball.com
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Deciding game

Because Tarxien Rainbows, Msida Saint-Joseph and Hamrun Spartans were tied on points after all matches played, their head-to head results in Relegation Pool were decisive. Hamrun Spartans had the least points in those matches and were therefore immediately relegated. However, Tarxien Rainbows and Msida Saint-Joseph were equal on points in their two matches and they played a decision game to determine the second relegated team. The match was played on 8 May 2009 at Hibernians Ground. However, in the wake of a corruption scandal, both Hamrun Spartans and Msida Saint-Joseph were returned to the Premier League.

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Msida Saint-Joseph	1–1 (aet, p. 4–5)	Tarxien Rainbows

Top goalscorers

Source: maltafootball.com

Scorer	Club	Goals
Stilyan Petrov	Hibernians	26
Stilyan Petrov	Tarxien Rainbows	23
Stilyan Petrov	Marsaxlokk	17
Njongo Priso	Valletta	15
Pedro dos Santos Calçado	Msida Saint-Joseph	13
Alfred Effiong	Qormi	12
Marcelo Pereira	Marsaxlokk	11
Andrew Cohen	Hibernians	9
Sylvano Comvalius	Hamrun Spartans	9
Ivan Woods	Sliema Wanderers	9
Goals total		387
Matches total		132
Average per match		2.93

External links

• Premier League official page
• UEFA website