The 2019–20 Maltese Premier League was the 105th season of the

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 ...

, the top-flight league football in Malta. The fixtures were announced on 2 July 2019; the season started on 23 August 2019 and was scheduled to conclude on 25 April 2020.

Valletta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

were the defending champions, having won their 25th title the previous season. On 12 March 2020, due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Malta, a decision was made by the

Malta Football Association The Malta Football Association (MFA; ) is the governing body of football (soccer), football in Malta. The Association organises the Maltese Football League for both men and women and several other competitions, including knockout competitions ...

(MFA) to suspend all football activities in Malta for ten days, after initially agreeing for football matches to be played behind closed doors. This suspension was further extended on 17 March to last until 5 April, and then suspended indefinitely on 30 March. On 18 May, the MFA Executive Committee decided to prematurely terminate the league competition and the ongoing

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

competition. On 25 May,

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 ...

were awarded the championship after a vote taken by the MFA council, their 26th title and level with Sliema Wanderers in the all-time champions list. Floriana topped the standings with 41 points at the time the league was halted.

, Hibernians and

Sirens Siren or sirens may refer to: Common meanings * Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies * Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology that lured sailors to their deaths. Places * Si ...

were awarded the three

UEFA 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 ...

spots based on sporting merits. Furthermore, relegation was scrapped across all leagues even if there was mathematic certainty.

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

The league season has been affected by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

since March. Valletta,

Birkirkara Birkirkara (abbreviated as B'Kara or BKR) is a city in the Eastern Region, Malta, Eastern Region of Malta. It is the second most populous on the Malta (island), island, with 24,356 inhabitants as of 2020. The town consists of five autonomous pari ...

and Gżira United proposed to the Malta Football Association that the league is not to be cancelled but resumes in June for training and in July when the first matches are to be played. These suggestions were dismissed by the Superintendent for Public Health, Charmaine Gauci, emphasizing that measures will only be lifted once the situation stabilizes. Eventually, the three clubs wrote to the

Prime Minister of Malta The prime minister of Malta () is the head of government, which is the highest official of Malta. The prime minister chairs Cabinet meetings, and selects its ministers to serve in their respective portfolios. The prime minister holds office b ...

Robert Abela Robert Abela (born 7 December 1977) is a Maltese lawyer and politician who has served as prime minister of Malta and leader of the Malta Labour Party since 2020. The son of former president George Abela, he was elected to Parliament in 2017 ...

to either resume the competition or cancel any sport until a

vaccine A vaccine is a biological Dosage form, preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease, infectious or cancer, malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verifi ...

is found. On 25 May 2020, upon the assigning of the league title to Floriana, spontaneous celebrations cropped up in the town's main square. This was later ended by the

Malta Police Force The Malta Police Force () is the national police force of the Republic of Malta. It falls under the responsibility of the Ministry for Home Affairs, Security, Reforms & Equality and its objectives are set out in ''The Police Act, Chapter 164'' ...

due to

social distancing In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious dise ...

measures still being in place, although some reports argued that this was not timely. This celebration was later decried by the public and local entities. The Superintendent of Public Health recommended that all those who attended the celebration get

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; a day after this appeal a surge in phonecalls on the COVID-19 helpline was reported related with this event. The police force started an investigation on the matter. Tarxien Rainbows, who gathered four points in 20 matches and were already mathematically relegated by 8 March 2020, kept their place in next season's top tier after it was agreed that relegations would be scrapped. The vote passed by the MFA council scrapped relegation to avoid an odd number in the following season and therefore avoid weekly byes.

Teams

Fourteen teams will compete in the league – the top eleven teams from the previous season and three teams promoted from the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

. The promoted teams are

Gudja United Gudja United Football Club is a Malta, Maltese professional football (soccer), football club from the south-eastern village of Gudja, that currently plays in the Maltese Premier League. Gudja United plays in blue and white striped jerseys. Their ...

and

St. Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

who will be playing their first season in the top division. They replace

Qormi Qormi (, , ), also known by its title Città Pinto, is a city in the Southern Region, Malta, Southern Region of Malta, southwest of Valletta in the centre of the island. It has a population of 16,324 (as of March 2018), making it Malta's fifth-la ...

Pietà Hotspurs The Pietà (; meaning "pity", "compassion") is a subject in Christian art depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary cradling the mortal body of Jesus Christ after his Descent from the Cross. It is most often found in sculpture. The Pietà is a specific ...

(both teams relegated after one season back in the league) and St. Andrews, the latter losing the relegation play-off against St. Lucia to become the first Premier League side to lose this play-off against a First Division team.

Personnel and kits

* Additionally, referee kits are made by

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

, sponsored by TeamSports and

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Managerial changes

Venues

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.

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

Hat-tricks

;Notes Player scored 4 goals

Awards

Monthly awards

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2019-20 Maltese Premier League Maltese Premier League seasons

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 ...