2003–04 Maltese Premier League

The 2003–04 Maltese Premier League (known as the MIA Premier League[1] for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th season of the Maltese Premier League, and the 89th season of top-tier football in Malta. The league started on 22 August 2003 and finished on 9 May 2004. Sliema Wanderers successfully defended last season's league triumph, equalling Floriana's league title record of 25 championships.

Maltese Premier League
Season2003–04
Dates22 August 2003 – 9 May 2004
ChampionsSliema Wanderers
(25th title)
RelegatedBalzan
Ħamrun Spartans
Champions LeagueSliema Wanderers
UEFA CupBirkirkara
Marsaxlokk
UEFA Intertoto CupHibernians
Matches played132
Goals scored407 (3.08 per match)
Top goalscorerDanilo Dončić (19 goals)

Teams
Locations of the 2002–03 Maltese Premier League teams

The following teams were promoted from the First Division at the start of the season:

From the previous Premier League season, the following teams were relegated to the First Division:

First phase

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Sliema Wanderers 18 13 2 3 37 15 +22 41 Qualification for the Top Six
2 Birkirkara 18 11 2 5 41 18 +23 35
3 Hibernians 18 10 4 4 31 25 +6 34
4 Marsaxlokk 18 9 4 5 30 22 +8 31
5 Floriana 18 7 6 5 33 26 +7 27
6 Pietà Hotspurs 18 7 6 5 28 25 +3 27
7 Valletta 18 6 5 7 27 29 −2 23 Qualification for the Play-out
8 Balzan 18 5 3 10 22 37 −15 18
9 Msida Saint-Joseph 18 2 4 12 18 35 −17 10
10 Ħamrun Spartans 18 0 4 14 11 46 −35 4
Source: RSSSSF

Results
Home \ Away BZN BKR FRN HIB ĦMR MXK MSD PTA SLM VLT
Balzan — 0–1 1–5 1–0 1–0 2–4 2–1 2–0 1–3 1–2
Birkirkara 3–0 — 0–2 2–4 3–0 3–2 0–0 5–1 0–1 4–1
Floriana 2–2 2–1 — 1–2 4–1 1–2 2–1 1–1 0–2 1–1
Hibernians 2–1 2–1 2–4 — 2–1 3–2 1–0 0–0 0–2 2–2
Ħamrun Spartans 1–1 0–6 1–1 1–2 — 0–1 0–2 0–3 0–3 2–2
Marsaxlokk 5–1 0–1 0–0 3–2 1–1 — 2–0 1–0 2–2 2–1
Msida Saint-Joseph 1–1 1–7 2–4 2–3 2–2 0–1 — 0–2 0–1 0–2
Pietà Hotspurs 2–1 2–3 1–1 2–1 4–0 1–1 1–1 — 0–3 3–3
Sliema Wanderers 4–2 0–1 4–1 0–0 4–0 2–1 1–4 1–3 — 1–0
Valletta 1–2 0–0 2–1 2–4 2–0 2–0 3–1 1–2 0–3 —
Source: RSSSF
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second phase

Top Six

The teams placed in the first six positions in the league table qualified for the Top Six, and the points obtained during the first phase were halved (and rounded up) before the start of second phase. As a result, the teams started with the following points before the second phase: Sliema Wanderers 21 points, Birkirkara 18, Hibernians 17, Marsaxlokk 16, Floriana and Pietà Hotspurs 14.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SLM BKR HIB MXK PTA FRN
1 Sliema Wanderers (C) 10 7 1 2 24 12 +12 43 Qualification for the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League — 2–2 3–1 3–1 2–1 4–1
2 Birkirkara 10 6 3 1 18 12 +6 39 Qualification for the 2004–05 UEFA Cup 2–1 — 3–1 1–3 1–1 2–0
3 Hibernians 10 6 0 4 16 13 +3 35 Qualification for the 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup 3–0 0–1 — 0–3 1–0 3–1
4 Marsaxlokk 10 3 2 5 16 17 −1 27 Qualification for the 2004–05 UEFA Cup[lower-alpha 1] 0–2 3–4 1–4 — 0–0 0–0
5 Pietà Hotspurs 10 2 3 5 12 15 −3 23 1–5 1–1 0–1 2–0 — 2–3
6 Floriana 10 1 1 8 8 25 −17 18 0–2 0–1 1–2 1–5 1–4 —
Source: RSSSF
(C) Champions
Notes:
  1. Marsaxlokk qualified to the 2004–05 UEFA Cup as losing finalists in the 2003–04 Maltese FA Trophy.

Play-out

The teams which finished in the last four league positions were placed in the play-out and at the end of the phase the two lowest-placed teams were relegated to the First Division. The points obtained during the first phase were halved (and rounded up) before the start of second phase. As a result, the teams started with the following points before the second phase: Valletta 12 points, Balzan Youths 9, Msida Saint-Joseph 5 and Ħamrun Spartans 2.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Relegation VLT MSD BZN ĦMR
7 Valletta 6 5 0 1 14 4 +10 27 — 1–3 3–1 3–0
8 Msida Saint-Joseph 6 4 1 1 14 7 +7 22 0–1 — 2–1 3–3
9 Balzan (R) 6 2 0 4 6 14 −8 11 Relegation to the 2004–05 Maltese First Division 0–5 0–3 — 2–0
10 Ħamrun Spartans (R) 6 0 1 5 5 14 −9 3 0–1 1–3 1–2 —
Source: RSSSF
(R) Relegated

Season statistics

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals[2]
1 Serbia and Montenegro Danilo Dončić Sliema Wanderers 19
2 Malta Etienne Barbara Marsaxlokk 15
3 Malta Michael Galea Birkirkara 14
4 Malta Daniel Bogdanović Sliema Wanderers/Marsxalokk 13
Nigeria Daniel Nwoke Msida Saint-Joseph
6 Malta Gilbert Agius Valletta 10
Nigeria Haruna Doda Birkirkara
Malta Ivan Woods Pietà Hotspurs
Malta Stefan Giglio Sliema Wanderers
10 Nigeria Olumuyiwa Aganun Msida Saint-Joseph 9
Malta Stefan Zahra Balzan

Hat-tricks
Player[3][4] For Against Result Date
Nigeria Daniel Nwoke Msida Saint-Joseph Sliema Wanderers 4–1 29 August 2003
Malta Michael Galea Birkirkara Msida Saint-Joseph 7–1 13 September 2003
Malta Etienne Barbara Marsaxlokk Balzan 4–2 10 October 2003
Malta Adrian Mifsud Hibernians Valletta 4–2 19 December 2003
Serbia and Montenegro Danilo Dončić Sliema Wanderers Pietà Hotspurs 3–0 7 February 2004
Malta Jonathan Holland Floriana Msida Saint-Joseph 4–2 8 February 2004
Serbia and Montenegro Danilo Dončić Sliema Wanderers Pietà Hotspurs 5–1 12 April 2004
Malta Ian Zammit Valletta Balzan 5–0 18 April 2004
Malta Daniel Bogdanović Marsaxlokk Floriana 5–1 29 April 2004

Awards

Monthly awards
Month[5] Player of the Month
Player Club
August/September Malta Etienne Barbara Floriana
October Malta Gilbert Agius Valletta
November Republic of the Congo Daniel Dengaky Ħamrun Spartans
December Malta Gilbert Agius Valletta
January Malta Michael Mifsud Sliema Wanderers
February Nigeria Haruna Doda Birkirkara
March Malta Stefan Giglio Sliema Wanderers
April Malta Daniel Bogdanović Marsaxlokk
May Malta Stefan Giglio Sliema Wanderers

References
  1. "MIA to sponsor Malta FA leagues". Times of Malta. 12 March 2004. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  2. "MIA Premier League Scorers 2003/04". MaltaFootball.com. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  3. "MIA Premier League Results - 2003/04". MaltaFootball.com. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  4. "MIA Premier League Results - Championship Pool 2003/04". MaltaFootball.com. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  5. "Player of the Month". MaltaFootball.com. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
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