2011–12 Maltese Premier League

The 2011–12 Maltese Premier League was the 97th season of the Maltese Premier League, the top-tier football league in Malta. It began on 19 August 2011 and it ended in May 2012. Valletta were the defending champions, having won their 20th title last season.

Maltese Premier League

Season	2011–12
Champions	Valletta (21st title)
Relegated	Marsaxlokk Mqabba
Champions League	Valletta
Europa League	Hibernians Birkirkara Floriana
Matches played	126
Goals scored	384 (3.05 per match)
Top goalscorer	Obinna Obiefule (34 goals)
Biggest home win	Hibernians 5–0 Birkirkara
Biggest away win	Hamrun Spartans 0–4 Birkirkara
Highest scoring	Marsaxlokk 5–3 Hamrun Spartans
← 2010–11 2012–13 →

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 pools. Earned points are subsequently halved. 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".

On 13 January 2011, the Malta Football Association decided to expand the league to 12 teams starting with this season.^[1]

Teams

Vittoriosa Stars were relegated to the First Division after finishing in last place of the Play-Out last season. This ended a one-year stay in the Premier League for them. Taking their place in the competition are Balzan, the champions of the Maltese First Division. Balzan are playing in the Premier League after a seven season absence.

Because of the league's expansion for this season, the second- and third-place finishers of the First Division, Mqabba and Mosta respectively, were also promoted to the Premier League for this season. Mqabba return to the top league after a three year absence while Mosta return after five years away.

Venues

Ta' Qali Tony Bezzina Stadium Victor Tedesco Stadium	Ta' Qali	Ta' Qali	Paola	Hamrun
	Ta' Qali National Stadium	Centenary Stadium	Tony Bezzina Stadium	Victor Tedesco Stadium
	Capacity: 16,997	Capacity: 3,000	Capacity: 2,968	Capacity: 1,962

Stadia and training grounds

Only a few stadia have the infrastructure needed to host Premier League matches. These are Ta' Qali National Stadium and Centenary Stadium at Ta' Qali, Attard, Victor Tedesco Stadium at Ħamrun and Hibernians Ground at Paola. Additional to that, each team has been assigned to a dedicated training ground. On a few occasions, Hibernians and Hamrun Spartans play at their home ground, but otherwise all games are played on neutral ground, rendering "home" and "away" games purely symbolic.

Balzan

Birkirkara

Floriana

Hamrun S.

Hibernians

Marsaxlokk

Mosta

Mqabba

Qormi

Sliema W.

Tarxien R.

Valletta

Location of teams in 2011–12 Maltese Premier Division

Team	Location of origin	Ground	Location of ground
Balzan	Balzan
Birkirkara	Birkirkara	Infetti Ground	Birkirkara
Floriana	Floriana	Victor Tedesco Stadium	Ħamrun
Hibernians	Paola	Hibernians Ground	Paola
Hamrun Spartans	Ħamrun	Victor Tedesco Stadium	Ħamrun
Marsaxlokk	Marsaxlokk	Marsaxlokk Ground	Marsaxlokk
Mosta	Mosta	Mosta Ground	Mosta
Mqabba	Mqabba
Qormi	Qormi	Thomaso Grounds	Qormi
Sliema Wanderers	Sliema	Tigné Point	Sliema
Tarxien Rainbows	Tarxien	Tarxien Ground	Tarxien
Valletta	Valletta	Salinos Ground	Valletta

First phase

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Valletta	22	17	4	1	52	17	+35	55	Qualification for the Top Six
2	Hibernians	22	15	6	1	55	16	+39	51
3	Floriana	22	12	6	4	34	19	+15	42
4	Sliema Wanderers	22	8	11	3	34	24	+10	35
5	Birkirkara	22	11	2	9	34	29	+5	35
6	Balzan	22	9	4	9	28	34	−6	31
7	Qormi	22	9	2	11	36	37	−1	29	Qualification for the Play-Out
8	Mosta	22	6	5	11	23	35	−12	23
9	Mqabba	22	5	5	12	25	43	−18	20
10	Hamrun Spartans	22	5	4	13	31	52	−21	19
11	Tarxien Rainbows	22	5	3	14	26	44	−18	18
12	Marsaxlokk	22	3	2	17	25	53	−28	11

Source: MFA, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Play-offs (only if needed to decide champions, teams for relegation or teams for UEFA competitions).

Results

Home \ Away	BAL	BIR	FLO	HIB	HAM	MRS	MOS	MQA	QOR	SLI	TAR	VAL
Balzan	—	0–4	2–2	3–2	2–0[a]	3–1	1–1	1–2	2–0	2–1	1–0	0–2
Birkirkara	2–1	—	0–1	0–3	3–1	1–0	0–0	1–0	2–0	0–1	2–3	1–4
Floriana	3–1	0–3	—	0–0	4–2	4–0	1–2	2–0	2–1	0–1	1–0	0–1
Hibernians	3–1	5–0	1–1	—	5–0	2–1	2–1	4–1	4–0	1–1	2–0	1–1
Hamrun Spartans	1–2	0–4	0–1	1–1	—	6–2	2–2	0–2	2–3	4–2	3–1	0–2
Marsaxlokk	0–1	1–2	0–4	0–2	5–3	—	5–2	0–2	1–2	0–2	2–2	0–2
Mosta	1–0	1–3	2–3	0–2	0–1	0–0	—	3–0	1–0	3–2	2–1	0–3
Mqabba	2–2	2–2	0–1	1–6	2–3	1–0	1–1	—	1–4	0–2	1–1	2–4
Qormi	3–0	2–0	1–1	0–2	3–0	3–1	4–1	0–1	—	1–3	4–1	1–4
Sliema Wanderers	1–1	1–0	0–0	3–3	1–1	2–2	2–0	1–1	3–3	—	3–0	0–0
Tarxien Rainbows	1–2	1–3	1–2	1–2	1–1	2–4	1–0	3–2	2–0	1–1	—	1–4
Valletta	2–0	2–1	1–1	0–2	4–0	5–2	1–0	2–1	3–1	1–1	4–2	—

Source: MFA
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:

1. This match originally ended 1-3 for Hamrun Spartans, but was awarded to Balzan 2-0 following an appeal.^[2]

Second phase

Top Six

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		VAL	HIB	BIR	FLO	SLI	BAL
1	Valletta (C)	32	25	5	2	75	24	+51	54	Qualification for the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League		—	1–2	1–1	2–0	3–0	1–0
2	Hibernians	32	22	6	4	74	26	+48	46	Qualification for the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League[a]		2–3	—	0–1	1–0	2–1	3–0
3	Birkirkara	32	17	4	11	55	37	+18	38			0–2	2–0	—	3–1	1–1	3–0
4	Floriana	32	16	6	10	46	32	+14	29			0–1	0–2	2–1	—	1–4	3–1
5	Sliema Wanderers	32	9	14	9	43	50	−7	23			0–2	1–3	1–4	1–3	—	1–1
6	Balzan	32	9	6	17	36	64	−28	15			2–7	1–4	0–5	0–3	3–3	—

Source: MFA, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Play-offs (only if needed to decide champions, teams for relegation or teams for UEFA competitions).
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. The winners of the 2011–12 Maltese FA Trophy, Hibernians, qualified for the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League. As they finished second, the fourth-placed team of the league also qualified for the Europa League.

Play-Out

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Relegation		QOR	MOS	TAR	HAM	MQA	MRS
7	Qormi	32	15	2	15	54	48	+6	33			—	1–4	1–0	6–0	2–1	5–1
8	Mosta	32	10	8	14	45	47	−2	27			2–0	—	0–2	2–2	2–2	5–0
9	Tarxien Rainbows	32	11	3	18	45	54	−9	27			1–2	2–1	—	1–2	1–0	2–4
10	Hamrun Spartans	32	9	7	16	47	71	−24	25			1–0	1–1	0–3	—	0–0	3–1
11	Mqabba (R)	32	9	7	16	40	55	−15	24	Relegation to the 2012–13 Maltese First Division		0–1	1–0	0–5	4–1	—	3–0
12	Marsaxlokk[a] (R)	32	5	2	25	34	88	−54	8			1–0	1–5	0–2	1–6	0–4	—

Source: MFA, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Play-offs (only if needed to decide champions, teams for relegation or teams for UEFA competitions).
(R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Marsaxlokk has 9 points deducted.

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[3]
1	Obinna Obiefule	Marsaxlokk / Mosta	34
2	Tarabai	Hibernians	21
3	Clayton Failla	Hibernians	11
4	Moises Avila Perez	Birkirkara	10
5	Joseph Farrugia	Qormi	9
	Denni	Valletta	9
	Alfred Effiong	Valletta	9
8	Danail Mitev	Sliema Wanderers	10
	Bojan Mamić	Mqabba	8
10	Thiago Mazzitelli	Mqabba	7