# 2021–22 Maltese Premier League

The 2021–22 Maltese Premier League was the 107th season of the Maltese Premier League, the top-flight league football in Malta. Ħamrun Spartans were the defending champions, having won their eighth title in the previous season.
On 9 April, the previous season was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Malta. Following the decision of the Maltese Football Association Executive Committee, the teams that had finished in the relegation places in the previous Premier League season would be relegated to the Challenge League due to having played the prerequisite 75% of matches for the seasons result to stand. However, as the Challenge League teams did not complete 75% of matches, they would not be promoted to the Premier League to replace the exiting teams, meaning that the 2021–22 season will have only 12 teams competing.
The Premier League consists of two rounds. In the first round, every team plays each opponent twice, once "home" and once "away" (in actuality, the designation of home and away is purely arbitrary as most of the clubs do not have their own grounds), for a total of 22 games. The league then splits into two groups. Teams that finish in positions 1–6 compete in the "Top Six" and teams that finish in positions 7–12 play in the "Play-Out".

## Teams

Twelve teams will compete in the league.
| Team | In league since | City |
| Balzan | 2011 | Balzan |
| Birkirkara | 1990 | Birkirkara |
| Floriana | 1986 | Floriana |
| Gudja United | 2019 | Gudja |
| Gżira United | 2016 | Gżira |
| Ħamrun Spartans | 2016 | Ħamrun |
| Hibernians | 1945 | Paola |
| Mosta | 2011 | Mosta |
| St. Lucia | 2019 | Santa Luċija |
| Sirens | 2019 | St. Paul's Bay |
| Sliema Wanderers | 1984 | Sliema |
| Valletta | 1944 | Valletta |

### Venues

| Ta' QaliTa' QaliTony Bezzina Stadium | Ta' Qali | Ta' Qali | Paola |
| Ta' QaliTa' QaliTony Bezzina Stadium | Ta' Qali National Stadium | Centenary Stadium | Tony Bezzina Stadium |
| Ta' QaliTa' QaliTony Bezzina Stadium | Capacity: 16,997 | Capacity: 3,000 | Capacity: 2,968 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Balzan | Alejandro Pantoja (Caretaker) | Joma | Investors Mutual Limited |
| Birkirkara | Jonathan Holland (Caretaker) | Nike | McDonald's (Front), Inter Sport (Back Top), Visit Malta (Back Bottom) |
| Floriana | Gianluca Atzori | Joma | Harmont & Blaine, Boggi |
| Gudja United | Thane Micallef | Macron | All Nuts, Handy Man, Green Finance |
| Gżira United | Darren Abdilla | Puma | |
| Ħamrun Spartans | Branko Nišević | Puma | J. Portelli Projects |
| Hibernians | Stefano Sanderra | Joma | Bezzina |
| Mosta | Joseph Grech | Macron | Dimbros, Nilmar |
| Sirens | Winston Muscat | Macron | Café del Mar Malta (Front), Welbee's (Front), Malta National Aquarium (Back), Ozo Group (Sleeves Both) |
| Sliema Wanderers | Noel Turner (Caretaker) | Jartazi | NM group, Sixt |
| Santa Lucia | Giovanni Tedesco | Capelli Sport | Multivend, avanza |
| Valletta | Danilo Dončić | Puma | Iniala |
* 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 |
| Sirens | Giovanni Tedesco | Resign | 27 May 2021 | Pre-season | Winston Muscat | 27 May 2021 |
| Floriana | John Buttigieg | End of Contract | 14 June 2021 | Pre-season | Gianluca Atzori | 17 June 2021 |
| Balzan | Mark Miller | Mutual consent | 19 October 2021 | 9th | Paul Zammit | 23 October 2021 |
| Santa Lucia | Oliver Spiteri | Sacked | 20 January 2022 | 11th | Giovanni Tedesco | 12 January 2022 |
| Valletta | Cardoso Mendes | Sacked | 3 February 2022 | 7th | Danilo Dončić | 3 February 2022 |
| Ħamrun Spartans | Mark Buttigieg | Sacked | 14 February 2022 | 5th | Branko Nišević | 15 February 2022 |
| Sliema Wanderers | Andrea Pisanu | Sacked | 16 February 2022 | 12th | Noel Turner (Caretaker) | 16 February 2022 |
| Balzan | Paul Zammit | Sacked | 15 April 2022 | 11th | Alejandro Pantoja (Caretaker) | 23 April 2022 |
| Birkirkara | André Paus | Sacked | 20 April 2022 | 3rd | Jonathan Holland (Caretaker) | 20 April 2022 |

## First phase
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Hibernians | 22 | 13 | 8 | 1 | 39 | 18 | +21 | 47 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 2 | Floriana | 22 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 36 | 19 | +17 | 45 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 3 | Birkirkara | 22 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 30 | 22 | +8 | 36 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 4 | Ħamrun Spartans | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 28 | 22 | +6 | 35 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 5 | Gżira United | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 39 | 33 | +6 | 33 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 6 | Gudja United | 22 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 26 | 25 | +1 | 29 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 7 | Sirens | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 28 | 38 | −10 | 27 | Qualification for the Play-Out |
| 8 | Valletta | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 28 | 34 | −6 | 26 | Qualification for the Play-Out |
| 9 | Mosta | 22 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 32 | 41 | −9 | 25 | Qualification for the Play-Out |
| 10 | Balzan | 22 | 7 | 2 | 13 | 30 | 33 | −3 | 23 | Qualification for the Play-Out |
| 11 | Santa Lucia | 22 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 28 | 38 | −10 | 22 | Qualification for the Play-Out |
| 12 | Sliema Wanderers | 22 | 2 | 6 | 14 | 12 | 33 | −21 | 12 | Qualification for the Play-Out |

### Results

| Home \ Away | BAL | BIR | FLO | GUD | GŻI | ĦAM | HIB | MOS | SIR | SLI | SLC | VAL |
| Balzan | — | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| Birkirkara | 3–2 | — | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 |
| Floriana | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 |
| Gudja United | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | 1–2 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 |
| Gżira United | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–2 | — | 4–1 | 1–3 | 3–4 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| Ħamrun Spartans | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 |
| Hibernians | 1–0 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | — | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Mosta | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | — | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 |
| Sirens | 1–6 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | — | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| Sliema Wanderers | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 2–3 | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–3 |
| Santa Lucia | 3–3 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 0–0 | — | 2–1 |
| Valletta | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 5–3 | — |
* ↑ Valletta were awarded a 3–0 win after the Malta Football Association's Protests Board upheld their protest. Originally, the match ended in a 2–1 to Sliema Wanderers.

## Second phase
### Top Six

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | HIB | FLO | ĦAM | GŻI | BIR | GUD |
| 1 | Hibernians (C) | 27 | 15 | 9 | 3 | 46 | 23 | +23 | 54 | Qualification for the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League | — | 0–0 | — | — | 3–1 | — |
| 2 | Floriana | 27 | 14 | 9 | 4 | 38 | 21 | +17 | 51 | Qualification for the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League | — | — | 0–0 | 0–1 | — | — |
| 3 | Ħamrun Spartans | 27 | 13 | 6 | 8 | 33 | 24 | +9 | 45 | Qualification for the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League | 2–1 | — | — | 2–0 | — | — |
| 4 | Gżira United | 27 | 12 | 7 | 8 | 46 | 38 | +8 | 43 | Qualification for the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League | 2–1 | — | — | — | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| 5 | Birkirkara | 27 | 10 | 11 | 6 | 35 | 27 | +8 | 41 | | — | 0–0 | 0–1 | — | — | 3–0 |
| 6 | Gudja United | 27 | 10 | 2 | 15 | 29 | 35 | −6 | 32 | | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | — | — | — |

### Play-Out

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation | VAL | SIR | MOS | BAL | SLC | SLI |
| 7 | Valletta | 27 | 10 | 6 | 11 | 39 | 40 | −1 | 36 | | — | — | 2–3 | — | 2–1 | 3–1 |
| 8 | Sirens | 27 | 9 | 7 | 11 | 40 | 48 | −8 | 34 | | 0–3 | — | — | 2–3 | — | — |
| 9 | Mosta | 27 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 41 | 50 | −9 | 32 | | — | 2–3 | — | 3–2 | 1–1 | — |
| 10 | Balzan | 27 | 9 | 3 | 15 | 37 | 42 | −5 | 30 | | 1–1 | — | — | — | 0–3 | — |
| 11 | Santa Lucia | 27 | 5 | 12 | 10 | 36 | 45 | −9 | 27 | Relegation to the 2022–23 Maltese Challenge League | — | 2–2 | — | — | — | 1–2 |
| 12 | Sliema Wanderers (R) | 27 | 4 | 6 | 17 | 16 | 43 | −27 | 18 | Relegation to the 2022–23 Maltese Challenge League | — | 0–5 | 1–0 | 0–1 | — | — |
* ↑ Santa Lucia were originally relegated to 2022–23 Maltese Challenge League. On 16 June 2022 the Malta Football Association decide that they will play in the Premier League instead of Pembroke Athleta (originally Promoted) due to Financing Problems.

## Season statistics
### Scoring
#### Top scorers

    As of 6 May 2022
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Maxuell | Gżira United | 17 |
| 2 | Jurgen Degabriele | Hibernians | 14 |
| 3 | Mario Fontanella | Valletta | 12 |
| 4 | Luke Montebello | Birkirkara | 11 |
| 4 | Sunday Akinbule | Mosta | 11 |
| 4 | Jefferson Assis | Gżira United | 11 |
| 7 | Jake Grech | Hibernians | 9 |
| 7 | Kemar Reid | Floriana | 9 |
| 7 | Vitor da Silva Vieira | Sirens | 9 |
| 10 | Vito Plut | Santa Lucia | 8 |
| 10 | Bogdan Gavrila | Sirens | 8 |

#### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Mario Fontanella | Valletta | Sirens | 3–1 (H) | 17 October 2021 |
| Jefferson Assis | Gżira United | Ħamrun Spartans | 4–1 (H) | 5 February 2022 |

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Georgi Kitanov | Floriana | 11 |
| 2 | Henry Bonello | Ħamrun Spartans | 10 |
| 3 | Glenn Zammit | Gudja United | 9 |
| 4 | Ibrahim Koné | Hibernians | 7 |
| 5 | Daniel Fernandes | Birkirkara | 5 |
| 5 | Amara Sylla | Birkirkara | 5 |
| 7 | Alessandro Guarnone | Valletta | 4 |
| 8 | Justin Haber | Santa Lucia | 3 |
| 9 | Vukasin Vranes | Balzan | 2 |
| 9 | Anthony Curmi | Gżira United | 2 |
| 9 | Matthew Calleja Cremona | Hibernians | 2 |
| 9 | Timothy Aquilina | Sliema Wanderers | 2 |
| 9 | Rashed Al-Tumi | Sliema Wanderers | 2 |
| 9 | Julani Archibald | Santa Lucia | 2 |
| 9 | Ini Etim Akpan | Mosta | 2 |
| 9 | Johnathan Debono | Sirens | 2 |

### Discipline
#### Player

* Most yellow cards: 11
** Leandro Almeida (Hibernians)
* Most red cards: 2
** Enrico Pepe (Birkirkara)
** Luke Tabone (Gżira United)
** Claude Dielna (Ħamrun Spartans)
** Victor Luiz (Santa Lucia)
** Danny Holla (Sliema Wanderers)

#### Club

* Most yellow cards: 94
** Sliema Wanderers
* Most red cards: 6
** Valletta

## Awards
### Monthly awards

| Month | Manager of the Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month |
| Month | Manager | Club | Player | Club |
| August and September | Stefano Sanderra | Hibernians | Jake Grech | Hibernians |
| October | Winston Muscat | Sirens | Luke Montebello | Birkirkara |
| November | Stefano Sanderra | Hibernians | Jake Grech | Hibernians |
| December | Paul Zammit | Balzan | Jurgen Degabriele | Hibernians |
| January | Thane Micallef | Gudja United | Kurt Shaw | Sliema Wanderers |
| February | Gianluca Atzori | Floriana | Jan Busuttil | Floriana |
| March | Stefano Sanderra | Hibernians | Jurgen Degabriele | Hibernians |
| April and May | Stefano Sanderra | Hibernians | Jan Busuttil | Floriana |