The 2016–17

Maltese FA Trophy The FA Trophy, currently known as the Meridianbet FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual football (soccer), football cup competition that takes place in Malta. The cup was founded in 1933; following a match between England national footba ...

was the 79th version of the tournament. This version of the competition began on 3 September 2016 and ended on 20 May 2017. For the first time since 1933 the new Malta Football Association FA Trophy was unveiled. The new trophy, which is partly financed by the English FA, was presented for the first time to the winners. With quarterfinal victory over

Pembroke Athleta Pembroke Athleta Football Club are a Maltese football club from the town of Pembroke, which currently plays in the Maltese National Amateur League. Originally they were founded in 1962 but they were in an amateur level. They competed in the M ...

, Victoria Wanderers became the first club from Gozo to advance to the semifinals.

Sliema Wanderers Sliema Wanderers Football Club, nicknamed "tax-Xelin" ( of the shilling), is a professional Maltese football club. It is the most successful team in Malta and hails from the seaside town of Sliema. It currently plays in the Maltese Premier Leagu ...

were the defending champions, but lost in the final to

Floriana Floriana ( or ''Il-Floriana''), also known by its title Borgo Vilhena, is a Floriana Lines, fortified town in the Port Region, Malta, Port Region area of Malta, just outside the capital city Valletta. It has a population of 2,205 as of March 2014 ...

Format

The Maltese FA Trophy was a single elimination tournament between 65 teams. The winner of the tournament, Floriana, earned a place in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. Matches which were tied after regulation went to extra time and if still tied after that, to penalties to determine a winner.

Schedule

Preliminary round

The draw for the preliminary, first, and second rounds was held 17 August 2016.

First round

Twelve first round matches were played 9–11 September 2016. , colspan="3" style="background:#fcc;", 9 September 2016 , - , colspan="3" style="background:#fcc;", 10 September 2016 , - , colspan="3" style="background:#fcc;", 11 September 2016

Second round

Twenty second round matches were played 21–23 October 2016. All teams from

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 ...

and

Maltese Second Division The Maltese Second Division (also known as the BOV Second Division due to sponsorship reasons) was the third-highest division in Maltese football until 2020 when it was merged with the Maltese Third Division to create the National Amateur Le ...

entered the second round. , colspan="3" style="background:#fcc;", 21 October 2016 , - , colspan="3" style="background:#fcc;", 22 October 2016 , - , colspan="3" style="background:#fcc;", 23 October 2016

Third round

Sixteen third round matches were played between 29 November – 14 December 2016. The draw for the third and fourth rounds was held 25 October 2016. All teams from

Maltese Premier League The Maltese Premier League, known as 360Sports Malta Premier for sponsorship reasons with 360Sports (colloquialism, colloquially known as ''Il-Kampjonat Premjer''), is the highest level of professional football in Malta. Managed by the Malta Foot ...

entered the third round. , colspan="3" style="background:#fcc;", 29 November 2016 , - , colspan="3" style="background:#fcc;", 30 November 2016 , - , colspan="3" style="background:#fcc;", 7 December 2016 , - , colspan="3" style="background:#fcc;", 13 December 2016 , - , colspan="3" style="background:#fcc;", 14 December 2016

Fourth round

Eight fourth round matches were played 17–18 January 2017.

Quarterfinals

Four quarterfinal matches were played 18–19 February 2017. The draw for the quarterfinals was held 20 January 2017.

Semifinals

Two semifinal matches were played 13 May 2017. The draw for the semifinals was held on 8 May 2017. Victoria Wanderers become the first football club in

Gozo Gozo ( ), known in classical antiquity, antiquity as Gaulos, is an island in the Malta#The Maltese archipelago, Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Republic of Malta. After the Malta Island, island of Malta ...

to reach the semifinals of Maltese FA Trophy.

Final

The final was played 20 May 2017. Floriana and Sliema Wanderers met in the final for the fifteenth time, having previously met in 1935, 1936, 1938, 1945, 1949, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1965, 1972, 1974, 1979 and 1993. Floriana had won eight times and Sliema Wanderers six times. The last time

and

met together in

was during the 2014-15 Third round when

beat

5–4 on penalties when the match ends 0–0 draw.

External links

maltafootball.comuefa.comsoccerway.com

References

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

Maltese FA Trophy seasons

Cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

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