The 2018–19 Maltese Premier League was the 104th season of top-flight league

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

in Malta. The season began on 17 August 2018 and ended in April 2019. Defending champions

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit and capital city, capital of Malta. Located on the Malta (island), main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, i ...

won their 25th title, following a penalty shootout win against Hibernians in a championship decider match.

Teams

Lija Athletic Lija ( mt, Ħal Lija) is a small village in the Central Region, Malta, Central Region of Malta. It forms part of the Three villages of Malta, along with Attard and Balzan. Lija has a baroque parish church and seven other small chapels. The pari ...

and

Naxxar Lions Naxxar Lions Football Club is a football club from the town of Naxxar in northern Malta Their historical and arch-rivals are Mosta FC. A match between Naxxar Lions and Mosta FC, is known as the derby of the north, but because there are other ...

were relegated after they finished thirteenth and fourteenth the previous season. They are replaced by

Qormi Qormi ( mt, Ħal Qormi ; pronounced in the Qormi dialect), also known by its title Città Pinto, is a city in the Southern Region of Malta, southwest of Valletta in the centre of the island. It has a population of 16,324 (as of March 2018), mak ...

and

Pietà Hotspurs The Pietà (; meaning "pity", "compassion") is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus after his body was removed from the cross. It is most often found in sculpture. The Pietà is a specific form o ...

, the 2017–18

Maltese First Division The Maltese Challenge League (referred to as the BOV Challenge League for sponsorship reasons) is the second-highest division in Maltese football, behind the Maltese Premier League. The First Division was the precursor of the present Premier L ...

champions and runners-up respectively. Tarxien Rainbows retained Premiership status by defeating Żejtun Corinthians in a play-off decider.

Personnel and kits

* Additionally, referee kits are made by

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

, sponsored by TeamSports and

FXDD FXDirectDealer, LLC (known as FXDD) is a provider of foreign exchange trading for retail and institutional clients. The company provides access to the spot foreign exchange market through proprietary and third-party trading software, including: M ...

, and Nike has a new match ball.

Venues

Managerial changes

League table

Results

Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards.

Championship play-off

At the end of the season, Valletta and Hibernians finished off equal on 58 points; in the last matchday, Valletta were few minutes away from winning the title as they were leading 1–0 against Ħamrun Spartans, but a goal in stoppage time levelled the match. Hibernians had a convincing 5–1 win over

Balzan Balzan ( mt, Ħal Balzan) is a municipality in the Central Region of Malta, one of the so-called three villages, together with Attard and Lija. The village originally consisted of a group of small dwellings and farms but eventually grew, becom ...

to force a championship decider to be played between the two on 4 May. *

qualified for the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League First qualifying round. * Hibernians qualified for the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round.

Relegation play-offs

A play-off match took place between the twelfth-placed team from the Premier League, St. Andrews, and the third-placed team from the First Division,

St. Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerin ...

, for a place in the 2019–20 Maltese Premier League. St. Lucia became the first First Division club to win a Premier League play-off, thereby booking a place in next season's Premier League for the first time in their history.

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

Hat-tricks

Awards

Monthly awards

Annual awards

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2018-19 Maltese Premier League Maltese Premier League seasons

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...