# 2003–04 Maltese Premier League

The 2003–04 Maltese Premier League (known as the MIA Premier League 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.

## Teams

The following teams were promoted from the First Division at the start of the season:
* Msida Saint-Joseph
* Balzan Youths
From the previous Premier League season, the following teams were relegated to the First Division:
* Marsa
* Mosta

## 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 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 3 | Hibernians | 18 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 31 | 25 | +6 | 34 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 4 | Marsaxlokk | 18 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 30 | 22 | +8 | 31 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 5 | Floriana | 18 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 33 | 26 | +7 | 27 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 6 | Pietà Hotspurs | 18 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 28 | 25 | +3 | 27 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 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 | Qualification for the Play-out |
| 9 | Msida Saint-Joseph | 18 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 18 | 35 | −17 | 10 | Qualification for the Play-out |
| 10 | Ħamrun Spartans | 18 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 11 | 46 | −35 | 4 | Qualification for the Play-out |

### 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 | — |

## 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 | 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 | — |
* ↑ 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 | Relegation to the 2004–05 Maltese First Division | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | — |

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

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

### Hat-tricks

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

## Awards
### Monthly awards

| Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month |
| Month | Player | Club |
| August/September | Etienne Barbara | Floriana |
| October | Gilbert Agius | Valletta |
| November | Daniel Dengaky | Ħamrun Spartans |
| December | Gilbert Agius | Valletta |
| January | Michael Mifsud | Sliema Wanderers |
| February | Haruna Doda | Birkirkara |
| March | Stefan Giglio | Sliema Wanderers |
| April | Daniel Bogdanović | Marsaxlokk |
| May | Stefan Giglio | Sliema Wanderers |