# 2004–05 Maltese Premier League

The 2003–04 Maltese Premier League was the 25th season of the Maltese Premier League, and the 90th season of top-tier football in Malta. The league started on 7 September 2004 and finished on 8 May 2005. Sliema Wanderers successfully defended last season's league triumph, surpassing Floriana's league title record of 25 championships.

## Teams

The following teams were promoted from the First Division at the start of the season:
* Żabbar St. Patrick
* Lija Athletic
From the previous Premier League season, the following teams were relegated to the First Division:
* Balzan
* Ħamrun Spartans

## First phase
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Sliema Wanderers | 18 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 33 | 15 | +18 | 42 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 2 | Valletta | 18 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 42 | 26 | +16 | 36 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 3 | Hibernians | 18 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 34 | 22 | +12 | 36 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 4 | Birkirkara | 18 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 44 | 25 | +19 | 32 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 5 | Marsaxlokk | 18 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 32 | 23 | +9 | 26 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 6 | Floriana | 18 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 21 | 22 | −1 | 24 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 7 | Pietà Hotspurs | 18 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 34 | 33 | +1 | 19 | Qualification for the Play-out |
| 8 | Msida Saint-Joseph | 18 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 27 | 34 | −7 | 16 | Qualification for the Play-out |
| 9 | Żabbar St. Patrick | 18 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 17 | 45 | −28 | 9 | Qualification for the Play-out |
| 10 | Lija Athletic | 18 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 10 | 49 | −39 | 7 | Qualification for the Play-out |
* ↑ Msida Saint-Joseph has 2 points deducted.

### Results

| Home \ Away | BKR | FRN | HIB | LIJ | MXK | MSD | PTA | SLM | ZAB | VLT |
| Birkirkara | — | 3–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 5–3 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 7–2 | 1–2 |
| Floriana | 1–3 | — | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 |
| Hibernians | 4–2 | 2–0 | — | 2–1 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 2–1 |
| Lija Athletic | 1–6 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| Marsaxlokk | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 5–1 | — | 2–1 | 4–1 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| Msida Saint-Joseph | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 4–1 |
| Pietà Hotspurs | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 0–3 | 2–2 | — | 2–3 | 4–0 | 2–3 |
| Sliema Wanderers | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | — | 2–1 | 3–1 |
| Żabbar St. Patrick | 3–3 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 0–5 | 0–1 | — | 1–2 |
| Valletta | 0–1 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 5–1 | 4–1 | 3–2 | 5–0 | — |

## 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, Valletta 18, Hibernians 18, Birkirkara 17, Marsaxlokk 15 and Floriana 13.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | SLM | BKR | HIB | VLT | MXK | FRN |
| 1 | Sliema Wanderers (C) | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 14 | 8 | +6 | 40 | Qualification for the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League | — | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| 2 | Birkirkara | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 25 | 14 | +11 | 38 | Qualification for the 2005–06 UEFA Cup | 3–1 | — | 1–1 | 6–3 | 2–2 | 3–0 |
| 3 | Hibernians | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 15 | 10 | +5 | 35 | Qualification for the 2005–06 UEFA Cup | 1–1 | 2–2 | — | 0–3 | 3–0 | 1–1 |
| 4 | Valletta | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 34 | Qualification for the 2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–2 | — | 4–1 | 2–1 |
| 5 | Marsaxlokk | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 11 | 25 | −14 | 17 | | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 0–1 | — | 1–0 |
| 6 | Floriana | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 17 | −10 | 16 | | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 4–3 | — |

### 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: Pietà Hotspurs 10 points, Msida Saint-Joseph 8, St. Patrick 5, Lija Athletic 4.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | PTA | MSD | ZAB | LIJ |
| 7 | Pietà Hotspurs | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 20 | | — | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 |
| 8 | Msida Saint-Joseph | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 7 | +4 | 19 | | 2–1 | — | 3–0 | 2–0 |
| 9 | Żabbar St. Patrick | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | Relegation to the 2005–06 Maltese First Division | 2–0 | 4–2 | — | 4–1 |
| 10 | Lija Athletic (R) | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 11 | −8 | 8 | Relegation to the 2005–06 Maltese First Division | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | — |

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Andrew Cohen | Hibernians | 21 |
| 2 | Ivan Woods | Sliema Wanderers | 20 |
| 3 | Michael Galea | Birkirkara | 14 |
| 4 | Daniel Nwoke | Msida Saint-Joseph | 13 |
| 5 | Terence Scerri | Hibernians | 12 |
| 5 | Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza | Birkirkara | 12 |
| 7 | Haruna Doda | Birkirkara | 11 |
| 7 | Danilo Dončić | Sliema Wanderers | 11 |
| 7 | Gilbert Agius | Valletta | 11 |
| 10 | Massimo Grima | Valletta | 10 |
| 10 | Etienne Barbara | Birkirkara | 10 |
| 10 | Cleavon Frendo | Marsaxlokk | 10 |