2008–09 Maltese Premier League

The Maltese Premier League 2008–09 was the 94th season of the Maltese Premier League, the top-tier association football competition 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 played for Qormi. Hibernians were crowned champions on 23 May 2009, surpassing rivals Valletta by two points and winning their tenth title.

Maltese Premier League
Season2008–09
Dates23 August 2008 – 24 May 2009
ChampionsHibernians
(10th title)
RelegatedMarsaxlokk
Champions LeagueHibernians
Europa LeagueValletta
Birkirkara
Matches played132
Goals scored387 (2.93 per match)
Top goalscorerMalta Terence Scerri (26)

Changes from 2007–08

Competition modus

In the First phase, 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 "Top Six" and teams finishing in positions 7–10 play in the "Play-Out".

First phase

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Hibernians 18 13 2 3 49 19 +30 41 Qualification for the Top Six
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 Qualification for the Play-Out
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 (in German)
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Play-offs (only if needed to decide champions, teams for relegation or teams for UEFA competitions).
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.

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 0–2[lower-alpha 1] 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 (in German)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. The match from 25 January 2009 was awarded to Qormi with a score of 2–0 because Floriana fielded an ineligible player.[1]

Second phase

Top Six
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation HIB VAL BIR SLI MRS FLO
1 Hibernians (C) 28 19 5 4 73 25 +48 42 Qualification for the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League — 0–0 2–0 0–0 2–2 4–1
2 Valletta 28 17 9 2 50 18 +32 40 Qualification for the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League 2–1 — 4–1 5–0 1–2 0–0
3 Birkirkara 28 12 7 9 43 45 −2 27 0–4 3–1 — 0–0 1–2 3–1
4 Sliema Wanderers[lower-alpha 1] 28 10 8 10 33 41 −8 25 0–5 0–3 1–0 — 1–3 3–0
5 Marsaxlokk (R) 28 10 6 12 46 52 −6 25 Relegation to the 2009–10 Maltese First Division[lower-alpha 2] 1–4 0–1 2–2 0–3 — 5–2
6 Floriana 28 7 6 15 25 44 −19 16 0–2 0–2 0–2 1–1 2–1 —
Source: maltafootball.com: 1, 2
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Play-offs (only if needed to decide champions, teams for relegation or teams for UEFA competitions).
Points earned in the first round have been halved.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Sliema Wanderers won the 2008–09 Maltese FA Trophy and thereby qualified for the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League.
  2. Marsaxlokk were relegated to the 2009–10 Maltese First Division for the season due to their involvement in a bribery scandal.

Play-Out
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts QOR TAR MSJ HAM
7 Qormi 24 7 6 11 30 31 −1 20 — 1–2 2–1 1–2
8 Tarxien Rainbows 24 6 5 13 32 44 −12 16[lower-alpha 1] 0–3 — 0–0 5–1
9 Msida Saint-Joseph[lower-alpha 2] 24 7 5 12 25 40 −15 16[lower-alpha 1] 0–5 2–2 — 2–0
10 Hamrun Spartans[lower-alpha 2] 24 7 3 14 31 48 −17 16 0–2 1–1 3–0 —
Source: maltafootball.com: 1, 2
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Play-offs (only if needed to decide champions, teams for relegation or teams for UEFA competitions).
Points earned in the first round have been halved.
Notes:
  1. Deciding game
  2. While 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.

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 Play-Out were decisive. Hamrun Spartans had the fewest 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
Rank Player Club Goals[2]
1 Malta Terence Scerri Hibernians 26
2 Brazil Daniel Mariano Bueno Tarxien Rainbows 23
3 Argentina Julio Alcorsé Marsaxlokk 17
4 Cameroon Njongo Priso Valletta 15
5 Brazil Pedro dos Santos Calçado Msida Saint-Joseph 13
6 Nigeria Alfred Effiong Qormi 12
7 Brazil Marcelo Pereira Marsaxlokk 11
8 Malta Andrew Cohen Hibernians 9
Netherlands Sylvano Comvalius Hamrun Spartans
Malta Ivan Woods Sliema Wanderers
Goals total 387
Matches total 132
Average per match 2.93

References
  1. "Qormi FC protest is upheld". Archived from the original on 2011-05-25. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
  2. "Malta: BOV Premier League 2008/09 Scorers". MaltaFootball.com. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
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