2014–15 Maltese Premier League

The 2014–15 Maltese Premier League is the 100th season of the Maltese Premier League, Valletta are the defending champions, having won their 22nd title the previous season.

Maltese Premier League

Season	2014–15
Champions	Hibernians (11th title)
Relegated	Pietà Hotspurs Żebbuġ Rangers
Champions League	Hibernians
Europa League	Valletta Birkirkara F.C. Balzan
Matches played	132
Goals scored	397 (3.01 per match)
Top goalscorer	Tarabei (23 goals)
Biggest home win	Hibernians 4–0 Balzan Naxxar Lions 4–0 Żebbuġ Rangers
Biggest away win	Żebbuġ Rangers 0–4 Birkirkara
Highest scoring	Balzan 5–3 Sliema Wanderers
← 2013–14 2015–16 → All statistics correct as of 8 February 2015.

The Premier League consists of three rounds for a total of 33 games. After the end of the second round, the points earned are halved.

Format

In a change from last season, the league will not split after twenty-two matches. All teams will advance to a second phase where half of the first phase points are carried over and teams will play each other once.^[1][2]

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

Teams

Balzan

Birkirkara

Floriana

Hibernians

Mosta

Naxxar

Pietà

Qormi

Sliema

Tarxien

Valletta

Żebbuġ

Location of teams in 2014–15 Maltese Premier League

Relegation and promotion

Vittoriosa Stars and Rabat Ajax were relegated finishing 11th and 12th, respectively, in the previous season.

Promoted were, Pietà Hotspurs and Zebbug Rangers finishing 1st and 2nd, respectively, in the First Division the previous season.

Club	City	Stadium	Capacity
Balzan F.C.	Balzan	Ta' Qali National Stadium	17.797
Birkirkara F.C.	Birkirkara	Infetti Ground	2.500
Floriana F.C.	Floriana	Ta' Qali National Stadium	17.797
Hibernians F.C.	Paola	Hibernians Ground	2.968
Mosta F.C.	Mosta	Mosta Ground	1.200
Naxxar Lions F.C.	Naxxar	Ta' Qali National Stadium	17.797
Pietà Hotspurs F.C.	Pietà	Ta' Qali National Stadium	17.797
Qormi F.C.	Qormi	Qormi Football Complex	-
Sliema Wanderers F.C.	Sliema	Ta' Qali National Stadium	17.797
Tarxien Rainbows F.C.	Tarxien	Ta' Qali National Stadium	17.797
Valletta F.C.	Valletta	Ta' Qali National Stadium	17.797
Zebbug Rangers F.C.	Zebbug	Zebbug Ground	1.000

First round

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Hibernians	22	19	3	0	68	13	+55	60
2	Valletta	22	14	2	6	51	17	+34	44
3	Birkirkara	22	13	4	5	41	22	+19	43
4	Balzan	22	9	7	6	35	33	+2	34
5	Floriana	22	7	8	7	38	41	−3	29
6	Sliema Wanderers	22	7	6	9	26	31	−5	27
7	Mosta	22	7	4	11	24	43	−19	25
8	Naxxar Lions	22	5	7	10	26	34	−8	22
9	Tarxien Rainbows	22	4	9	9	22	38	−16	21
10	Pietà Hotspurs	22	5	6	11	19	36	−17	21
11	Qormi	22	4	6	12	22	38	−16	18
12	Żebbuġ Rangers	22	4	6	12	25	51	−26	18

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

Results (matches 1-22)

Home \ Away	BAL	BIR	FLO	HIB	MOS	NXX	PTA	QOR	SLI	TAR	VAL	ZEB
Balzan	—	3–2	3–2	0–3	1–0	1–3	1–2	1–1	5–3	3–2	0–2	4–2
Birkirkara	0–0	—	1–2	1–1	2–0	1–0	2–1	2–0	1–0	2–1	1–1	3–1
Floriana	1–1	1–2	—	0–3	3–2	4–1	1–1	2–2	2–0	1–1	0–2	3–3
Hibernians	4–0	1–0	5–0	—	1–1	5–1	3–1	2–1	3–1	1–1	3–1	5–2
Mosta	1–0	1–5	1–3	0–5	—	1–2	3–1	3–1	1–2	2–1	1–0	2–0
Naxxar Lions	1–1	1–3	1–1	0–2	1–1	—	4–0	1–1	1–0	0–1	0–3	4–0
Pietà Hotspurs	1–1	4–3	1–3	0–3	0–1	1–1	—	0–0	0–2	0–0	0–3	1–0
Qormi	1–2	0–2	4–2	0–6	4–0	1–0	0–1	—	1–3	1–0	2–3	0–1
Sliema Wanderers	0–0	1–1	1–1	1–2	4–1	0–0	2–1	0–0	—	2–0	0–5	1–0
Tarxien Rainbows	0–5	3–1	1–1	1–4	1–1	2–1	0–0	2–1	1–1	—	0–6	1–2
Valletta	1–2	0–2	4–1	1–2	5–0	2–0	1–2	4–0	3–1	0–0	—	2–0
Zebbug Rangers	1–1	0–4	1–4	0–4	1–1	3–3	2–1	1–1	2–1	3–3	0–2	—

Source: Malta Football Association
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second round

All teams advance to the second round. Teams keep their records from the first round, but their points from the first round are halved. Teams will play each other once.^[1]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Hibernians (C)	33	27	5	1	97	24	+73	56	Qualification for the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League
2	Valletta	33	22	3	8	74	30	+44	47	Qualification for the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League
3	Birkirkara	33	19	7	7	59	31	+28	43
4	Balzan	33	17	8	8	59	45	+14	42
5	Floriana	33	13	11	9	58	51	+7	36
6	Sliema Wanderers	33	10	9	14	50	56	−6	26
7	Naxxar Lions	33	9	9	15	40	51	−11	25
8	Qormi	33	8	9	16	40	55	−15	24
9	Tarxien Rainbows	33	8	9	16	35	60	−25	23
10	Mosta (O)	33	9	6	18	38	72	−34	21	Qualification for the Relegation Play-Offs
11	Pietà Hotspurs (R)	33	6	8	19	30	58	−28	16	Relegation to the 2015–16 Maltese First Division
12	Żebbuġ Rangers (R)	33	5	6	22	37	84	−47	12

Source: MFA, uefa.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) play-off (only for deciding champion and UEFA competition places).^[1]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated

Results (matches 23-33)

Home \ Away	BAL	BIR	FLO	HIB	MOS	NXX	PTA	QOR	SLI	TAR	VAL	ZEB
Balzan	—	—	—	—	1–1	—	—	—	—	—	0–1	4–1
Birkirkara	0–1	—	—	0–0	—	1–0	—	2–2	—	—	—	—
Floriana	—	—	—	1–3	—	4–1	2–0	—	3–1	—	—	—
Hibernians	1–3	—	—	—	—	—	—	2–1	3–2	—	3–1	—
Mosta	—	0–3	2–2	—	—	1–2	—	—	—	—	—	—
Naxxar Lions	1–2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	4–3	0–1	—	—
Pietà Hotspurs	—	—	—	—	2–3	0–0	—	—	1–1	—	—	3–1
Qormi	1–5	—	—	—	—	—	2–1	—	—	—	1–3	—
Sliema Wanderers	—	—	—	—	5–1	—	—	—	—	3–2	3–3	—
Tarxien Rainbows	—	—	1–2	—	2–1	—	3–1	0–4	—	—	—	—
Valletta	—	2–1	1–0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	2–3
Zebbug Rangers	—	1–3	—	0–5	—	—	—	1–3	—	0–2	—	—

Source: Malta Football Association
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Premier League play-off

A play-off was played between the tenth placed team from the Premier League and the third placed team from the First Division. The winner will compete in the 2015–16 Maltese Premier League.^[3]

15 May 2015

19:30

Mosta	2–0	Gżira United
Udo Fortune 88' Gary Roberts 90+3'	Report

Ta' Qali National Stadium

Attendance: 1,023

Referee: Philip Farrugia

Top goalscorers

As of 10 May 2015

Rank	Player	Team	Goals
1	Edison Luiz dos Santos	Hibernians	25
	Jorginho	Hibernians
3	Bojan Kaljević	Balzan/Mosta	19
4	Clayton Failla	Hibernians	16
5	Matteo Picciolo	Floriana	15
	Gianmarco Piccioni	Balzan
7	Ellinton Antonio Costa Morais	Birkirkara	13
	Rafael Ledesma	Birkirkara
	Lateef Elford-Alliyu	Valletta
10	Abdelkarim Nafti	Valletta	12
	Vito Plut	Floriana
	Hamza Barry	Valletta
	Alfred Effiong	Qormi

Source: MFA