2000–01 Maltese Premier League

The 2000–01 Maltese Premier League (known as the Rothmans Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 21st season of the Maltese Premier League, and the 86th season of top-tier football in Malta. The league started on 19 August 2000 with Birkirkara as the defending champions after their first title in the previous season.

Maltese Premier League
Season2000–01
Dates19 August 2000 – 30 April 2001
ChampionsValletta
(18th title)
RelegatedRabat Ajax
Xgħajra Tornadoes
Champions LeagueValletta
UEFA CupSliema Wanderers
Birkirkara
UEFA Intertoto CupHibernians
Matches played132
Goals scored506 (3.83 per match)
Top goalscorerMichael Mifsud (30 goals)
Highest scoringXgħajra Tornadoes 0–11 Sliema Wanderers
(14 October 2000)

Teams
Locations of the 2000–01 Maltese Premier League teams

The following teams were promoted from the First Division at the start of the season:

From the previous Premier League season, the following teams were relegated to the First Division:

First round
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Valletta 18 13 3 2 55 27 +28 42 Qualification for the Championship Pool
2 Sliema Wanderers 18 12 3 3 70 24 +46 39
3 Birkirkara 18 11 4 3 34 15 +19 37
4 Hibernians 18 10 5 3 44 23 +21 35
5 Floriana 18 10 3 5 42 31 +11 33
6 Ħamrun Spartans 18 7 4 7 24 31 −7 25
7 Pietà Hotspurs 18 4 5 9 40 40 0 17 Qualification for the Relegation Pool
8 Naxxar Lions 18 3 3 12 22 44 −22 12
9 Rabat Ajax 18 2 4 12 23 53 −30 10
10 Xgħajra Tornadoes 18 0 2 16 7 73 −66 2
Source: RSSSF

Results
Home \ Away BKR FRN HIB ĦMR NXR PTA RBT SLM VLT XJR
Birkirkara — 0–1 2–2 1–1 2–1 4–1 3–1 0–2 4–2 3–0
Floriana 2–2 — 1–4 4–1 3–2 3–2 4–2 3–2 1–3 1–0
Hibernians 0–2 2–2 — 2–0 3–0 2–2 1–0 2–2 3–3 6–0
Ħamrun Spartans 0–1 2–1 0–3 — 3–0 2–0 1–1 2–0 0–3 2–0
Naxxar Lions 0–1 1–1 0–3 1–1 — 3–1 1–3 3–3 1–3 3–2
Pietà Hotspurs 1–1 1–3 0–3 1–1 4–0 — 3–1 2–3 3–5 4–0
Rabat Ajax 0–4 0–7 2–3 2–3 2–0 2–2 — 1–3 1–3 3–3
Sliema Wanderers 0–3 3–2 5–0 6–1 7–0 4–2 6–0 — 4–1 7–0
Valletta 1–0 4–0 2–1 5–1 2–1 3–3 5–1 2–2 — 2–0
Xgħajra Tornadoes 0–1 0–3 0–4 0–3 0–5 0–8 1–1 0–11 1–6 —
Source: RSSSF
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second round

Championship Pool

The teams placed in the first six positions in the league table qualified for the Championship Pool, and the points obtained during the first round were halved (and rounded up) before the start of second round. As a result, the teams started with the following points before the second round: Valletta 21 points, Sliema Wanderers 20, Birkirkara 19, Hibernians 18, Floriana 17 and Ħamrun Spartans 13.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification VLT SLM BKR HIB FRN ĦMR
1 Valletta (C) 10 8 1 1 21 11 +10 46 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round — 2–0 2–1 1–3 2–1 2–0
2 Sliema Wanderers 10 6 2 2 26 13 +13 40 Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round 2–2 — 1–2 4–2 4–1 5–1
3 Birkirkara 10 5 2 3 16 12 +4 36 1–2 1–2 — 1–1 2–1 3–1
4 Hibernians 10 4 2 4 16 17 −1 32 Qualification for the Intertoto Cup first round 2–3 1–3 2–2 — 1–0 2–0
5 Floriana 10 3 1 6 12 17 −5 27 1–4 1–1 0–2 2–0 — 3–1
6 Ħamrun Spartans 10 0 0 10 4 25 −21 12 0–1 0–4 0–1 1–2 0–2 —
Source: RSSSF
(C) Champion.

Relegation Pool

The teams which finished in the last four league positions were placed in the Relegation Pool and at the end of the round the two lowest-placed teams were relegated to the First Division. The points obtained during the first round were halved (and rounded up) before the start of second round. As a result, the teams started with the following points before the second round: Pietà Hotspurs 9 points, Naxxar Lions 6, Rabat Ajax 5, Xgħajra Tornadoes 1.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Relegation PTA NXR RBT XJR
7 Pietà Hotspurs 6 3 2 1 16 9 +7 20 — 2–1 1–1 5–0
8 Naxxar Lions 6 3 2 1 18 11 +7 17 2–2 — 3–3 4–3
9 Rabat Ajax (R) 6 3 2 1 12 10 +2 16 Relegation to the First Division 4–2 1–4 — 1–0
10 Xgħajra Tornadoes (R) 6 0 0 6 4 20 −16 1 1–4 0–4 0–2 —
Source: RSSSF
(R) Relegated.

Season statistics
Sliema Wanderers' Michael Mifsud finished as the league top scorer with 30 goals, including four hat-tricks, the most by a single player in the league.

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals[1]
1 Michael Mifsud Sliema Wanderers 30
2 Adrian Mifsud Hibernians 23
3 Chris Oretan Valletta 22
Orosco Anonam Sliema Wanderers
5 Michael Galea Birkirkara 21
6 Malcolm Licari Pietà Hotspurs 19
7 Gilbert Agius Valletta 15
8 Rufin Oba Floriana 12
9 Eduardo do Nascimento Floriana 11
Massimo Grima Sliema Wanderers
Ivan Woods Pietà Hotspurs

Hat-tricks
Player[2] For Against Result Date
Paul Zammit Ħamrun Spartans Xgħajra Tornadoes 3–0 5 September 2000
Michael Mifsud Sliema Wanderers Rabat Ajax 6–0 9 September 2000
Michael Mifsud6 Sliema Wanderers Xgħajra Tornadoes 11–0 14 October 2000
Orosco Anonam Sliema Wanderers Xgħajra Tornadoes 11–0 14 October 2000
Ndubisi Chukunyere Hibernians Floriana 4–1 16 October 2000
Stefan Sultana4 Hibernians Xgħajra Tornadoes 6–0 21 October 2000
Rufin Oba Floriana Rabat Ajax 7–0 19 November 2000
Michael Mifsud Sliema Wanderers Ħamrun Spartans 6–1 10 December 2000
Malcolm Licari Pietà Hotspurs Naxxar Lions 4–0 1 December 2000
Michael Mifsud Sliema Wanderers Naxxar Lions 7–0 28 January 2001

References
  1. "Rothmans Premier League". MaltaFootball.com. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  2. "Rothmans Premier League Stats". MaltaFootball.com. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
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