# 2001–02 Maltese Premier League

The 2001–02 Maltese Premier League (known as the Rothmans Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 22nd season of the Maltese Premier League, and the 87th season of top-tier football in Malta. The league started on 18 August 2001 and finished on 5 May 2002. Valletta were the defending champions.

## Teams

The following teams were promoted from the First Division at the start of the season:
* Marsa
* Lija Athletic
From the previous Premier League season, the following teams were relegated to the First Division:
* Rabat Ajax
* Xgħajra Tornadoes

## First phase
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Birkirkara | 18 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 46 | 16 | +30 | 40 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 2 | Hibernians | 18 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 41 | 22 | +19 | 40 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 3 | Sliema Wanderers | 18 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 48 | 16 | +32 | 38 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 4 | Valletta | 18 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 40 | 21 | +19 | 35 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 5 | Ħamrun Spartans | 18 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 23 | 33 | −10 | 23 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 6 | Floriana | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 27 | 24 | +3 | 22 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 7 | Marsa | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 32 | 38 | −6 | 22 | Qualification for the Play-out |
| 8 | Pietà Hotspurs | 18 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 20 | 36 | −16 | 15 | Qualification for the Play-out |
| 9 | Naxxar Lions | 18 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 24 | 54 | −30 | 12 | Qualification for the Play-out |
| 10 | Lija Athletic | 18 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 14 | 55 | −41 | 8 | Qualification for the Play-out |
* 1 2 Floriana won the sixth-place play-off against Marsa, played on 26 February 2002, 4–3 via a penalty shoot-out after the game had finished 0–0 after extra time.

### Results

| Home \ Away | BKR | FRN | HIB | ĦMR | LJA | MRS | NXR | PTA | SLM | VLT |
| Birkirkara | — | 3–1 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 5–1 | 5–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 |
| Floriana | 0–1 | — | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 |
| Hibernians | 0–1 | 2–1 | — | 1–1 | 5–0 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 5–4 |
| Ħamrun Spartans | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | — | 2–0 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–5 | 0–3 |
| Lija Athletic | 1–4 | 2–2 | 0–4 | 1–2 | — | 1–2 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 |
| Marsa | 2–4 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 5–1 | — | 2–1 | 2–3 | 2–4 | 1–0 |
| Naxxar Lions | 1–6 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 2–0 | — | 2–0 | 1–4 | 1–4 |
| Pietà Hotspurs | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | — | 0–3 | 1–1 |
| Sliema Wanderers | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 7–0 | 4–1 | 6–0 | 3–1 | — | 1–2 |
| Valletta | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 3–3 | 5–1 | 0–0 | 0–3 | — |
* ↑ Marsa were awarded a 2–0 win after a protest. Originally, Ħamrun Spartans won the first encounter with a 1–0 score.

## 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: Birkirkara 20 points, Hibernians 20, Sliema Wanderers 19, Valletta 18, Ħamrun Spartans 12 and Floriana 11.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | HIB | SLM | BKR | VLT | FRN | ĦMR |
| 1 | Hibernians (C) | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 26 | 12 | +14 | 43 | Qualification for the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League | — | 4–2 | 2–2 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 2–0 |
| 2 | Sliema Wanderers | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 14 | +5 | 36 | Qualification for the 2002–03 UEFA Cup | 1–3 | — | 2–2 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 4–0 |
| 3 | Birkirkara | 10 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 14 | 13 | +1 | 31 | Qualification for the 2002–03 UEFA Cup | 1–3 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | 1–2 | 4–0 |
| 4 | Valletta | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 30 | Qualification for the 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | — | 0–2 | 1–0 |
| 5 | Floriana | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 14 | −2 | 25 | | 0–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | — | 1–1 |
| 6 | Ħamrun Spartans | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 12 | −9 | 17 | | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | — |

### 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: Marsa 11 points, Pietà Hotspurs 8, Naxxar Lions 6, Lija Athletic 4.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation | PTA | MRS | NXR | LJA |
| 7 | Pietà Hotspurs | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 20 | | — | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| 8 | Marsa | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 18 | | 1–2 | — | 2–1 | 4–0 |
| 9 | Naxxar Lions (R) | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 8 | +5 | 14 | Relegation to the 2002–03 Maltese First Division | 2–1 | 1–1 | — | 6–0 |
| 10 | Lija Athletic (R) | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 15 | −8 | 11 | Relegation to the 2002–03 Maltese First Division | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–2 | — |

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Danilo Dončić | Sliema Wanderers | 32 |
| 2 | Adrian Mifsud | Hibernians | 27 |
| 3 | Chris Oretan | Valletta | 15 |
| 3 | Michael Galea | Birkirkara | 15 |
| 5 | Malcolm Licari | Pietà Hotspurs | 12 |
| 6 | Daniel Bogdanović | Naxxar Lions | 12 |
| 6 | Stefan Sultana | Ħamrun Spartans | 12 |
| 8 | Matthew Calascione | Birkirkara | 10 |
| 9 | Ivan Zammit | Valletta | 9 |
| 9 | Eduardo do Nascimento | Floriana | 9 |
| 9 | Ndubisi Chukunyere | Hibernians | 9 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Chimezie Nwoke | Naxxar Lions | Lija Athletic | 4–2 | 19 August 2001 |
| Chucks Nwoko | Birkirkara | Pietà Hotspurs | 5–2 | 18 August 2001 |
| Danilo Dončić | Sliema Wanderers | Pietà Hotspurs | 3–1 | 8 September 2001 |
| Danilo Dončić | Sliema Wanderers | Naxxar Lions | 6–0 | 29 September 2001 |
| Danilo Dončić | Sliema Wanderers | Valletta | 3–0 | 12 October 2001 |
| Danilo Dončić | Sliema Wanderers | Ħamrun Spartans | 4–0 | 3 March 2002 |
| Adrian Mifsud | Hibernians | Sliema Wanderers | 4–2 | 9 March 2002 |
| Danilo Dončić | Sliema Wanderers | Floriana | 3–2 | 21 April 2002 |

## Awards
### Monthly awards

| Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month |
| Month | Player | Club |
| August | Sean Sullivan | Valletta |
| September | Danilo Dončić | Sliema Wanderers |
| October | Matthew Calascione | Birkirkara |
| November | Simon Agius | Lija Athletic |
| December | Daniel Bogdanović | Naxxar Lions |
| January | Joe Brincat | Birkirkara |
| February | Malta national team | |
| March | Adrian Mifsud | Hibernians |
| April | Adrian Mifsud | Hibernians |
| May | Joe Brincat | Birkirkara |