2012–13 Maltese Premier League

The 2012–13 Maltese Premier League was the 98th season of the Maltese Premier League, the top-tier football league in Malta. It began in August 2012 and ended in May 2013. Valletta were the defending champions, having won their 21st title last season.

Maltese Premier League
Season2012–13
ChampionsBirkirkara
(4th title)
RelegatedHamrun Spartans
Melita
Champions LeagueBirkirkara
Europa LeagueHibernians
Valletta
Sliema Wanderers
Top goalscorerNegrin
(22 goals)

The Premier League consisted of two rounds. In the First Round, every team played each opponent twice, once "home" and once "away" (in actuality, the designation of home and away were purely arbitrary as most of the clubs did not have their own grounds), for a total of 22 games. The league was then split into two pools. Earned points were subsequently halved. Teams that finished in the positions 1–6 compete in the "Championship Pool" and teams that finished in positions 7–12 play in the "Relegation Pool".

Teams

Marsaxlokk were relegated to the First Division after finishing in last place of the relegation pool last season. This ended a three-year stay in the Premier League for them.

Promoted to the top flight were Rabat Ajax, who returned to the Premier League after an eleven-season absence, and Melita, who became the first amateur club to reach the Premier League as well as being the only amateur club in the world taking part in the top tier of a professional league.

Stadia and training grounds

Only a few stadia have the infrastructure needed to host Premier League matches. These are Ta' Qali National Stadium and Centenary Stadium at Ta' Qali, Victor Tedesco Stadium at Ħamrun and Hibernians Ground at Paola. Additional to that, each team has been assigned to a dedicated training ground. On a few occasions, Hibernians and Hamrun Spartans play at their home ground, but otherwise all games are played on neutral ground, rendering "home" and "away" games purely symbolic.

Location of teams in 2012–13 Maltese Premier Division
Team Location of origin Ground Location of ground
Balzan Youths Balzan
Birkirkara Birkirkara Infetti Ground Birkirkara
Floriana Floriana Independence Parade Ground Floriana
Hibernians Paola Hibernians Ground Paola
Hamrun Spartans Ħamrun Victor Tedesco Stadium Ħamrun
Mosta Mosta Charles Abela Stadium Mosta
Melita St. Julian's Gianni Bencini Ground St. Julian's
Qormi Qormi Thomaso Grounds Qormi
Rabat Ajax Rabat Rabat Ajax Football Ground Mtarfa
Sliema Wanderers Sliema Tigné Point Sliema
Tarxien Rainbows Tarxien Tarxien Ground Tarxien
Valletta Valletta Zebbug Rovers FC Ground / Melita Ground Zebbug or St Julians

First phase

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Valletta 22 13 7 2 49 15 +34 46 Qualification for the Championship pool
2 Hibernians 22 14 3 5 47 24 +23 45
3 Birkirkara 22 12 7 3 47 19 +28 43
4 Tarxien Rainbows 22 11 5 6 39 32 +7 38
5 Sliema Wanderers 22 11 4 7 34 22 +12 37
6 Mosta 22 11 1 10 39 33 +6 34
7 Qormi 22 9 3 10 32 34 −2 30 Qualification for the Relegation pool
8 Balzan 22 7 6 9 34 36 −2 27
9 Floriana 22 5 9 8 26 31 −5 24
10 Hamrun Spartans 22 4 4 14 24 58 −34 16
11 Melita 22 3 5 14 18 56 −38 14
12 Rabat Ajax 22 1 8 13 16 45 −29 11
Source: Malta Football Association
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results
Home \ Away BAL BIR FLO HAM HIB MEL MOS QOR RAB SLI TAR VAL
Balzan — 1–2 1–3 3–2 2–3 2–1 0–0 2–1 1–1 1–0 3–4 1–1
Birkirkara 2–2 — 1–1 1–3 1–0 4–0 7–1 2–1 2–0 1–3 5–0 1–1
Floriana 3–1 0–3 — 1–1 0–3 0–0 1–2 2–2 3–0 2–0 2–3 0–2
Hamrun Spartans 2–2 0–3 0–2 — 1–6 0–1 0–3 1–0 1–1 0–2 1–1 2–8
Hibernians 2–0 0–0 1–0 2–1 — 3–1 3–2 0–1 6–0 2–1 0–0 0–1
Melita 0–4 0–3 2–2 1–3 1–5 — 0–5 1–2 3–3 0–0 0–3 1–5
Mosta 2–0 0–1 3–1 4–1 0–1 3–1 — 4–2 2–0 0–2 1–3 1–3
Qormi 1–2 1–1 0–0 4–0 2–4 2–3 2–1 — 3–0 2–1 2–1 0–2
Rabat Ajax 0–2 3–3 1–1 1–3 0–3 0–0 3–2 0–1 — 0–2 1–3 1–1
Sliema Wanderers 3–2 0–0 1–1 2–1 4–0 4–0 0–2 3–1 1–0 — 1–2 0–2
Tarxien Rainbows 2–1 1–4 1–1 4–1 2–2 2–0 2–0 1–2 1–0 2–3 — 1–1
Valletta 1–1 1–0 3–0 6–0 4–1 1–2 0–1 3–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 —
Source: Malta Football Association
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second round

Championship Pool
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification BIR HIB VAL SLI TAR MOS
1 Birkirkara (C) 32 19 9 4 62 22 +40 45 Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round — 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 7–1
2 Hibernians 32 21 4 7 70 33 +37 45 Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 1] 1–1 — 4–2 0–2 3–0 6–0
3 Valletta 32 17 8 7 69 27 +42 36 Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round 0–2 1–2 — 0–0 3–1 6–1
4 Sliema Wanderers 32 16 6 10 48 32 +16 36 1–0 2–3 0–2 — 0–0 4–1
5 Tarxien Rainbows 32 14 6 12 54 51 +3 29 0–1 0–3 3–2 3–4 — 4–2
6 Mosta 32 11 2 19 45 72 −27 18 0–0 1–3 0–5 0–1 0–3 —
Source: Malta Football Association: ,
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion.
Notes:
  1. The winners of the 2012–13 Maltese FA Trophy.

Relegation Pool
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Relegation FLO QOR BAL RAB HAM MEL
7 Floriana 32 14 10 8 48 38 +10 40 — 1–0 1–1 2–1 3–1 2–0
8 Qormi 32 15 4 13 61 50 +11 34 2–4 — 5–2 4–0 6–2 2–0
9 Balzan 32 9 9 14 48 61 −13 23 0–2 4–4 — 0–5 3–1 0–0
10 Rabat Ajax 32 6 9 17 38 60 −22 22 1–2 2–1 3–0 — 1–2 2–2
11 Hamrun Spartans (R) 32 6 5 21 39 88 −49 15 Relegation to the First Division 0–3 0–2 3–2 1–3 — 3–5
12 Melita (R) 32 4 8 20 31 78 −47 13 1–2 1–3 1–2 1–4 2–2 —
Source: Malta Football Association: ,
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(R) Relegated.

Championship play-off

Birkirkara and Hibernians finished the season level on points. A play-off decided the title.[1]

Birkirkara3–1Hibernians
Herrera  56'
Vukanac  67'
Muscat  74'		 Failla  33' (pen.)
Attendance: 9,200
Referee: Alan Mario Sant

Season statistics

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals[2]
1 Negrin Rabat Ajax / Melita 22
2 Daniel Bueno Tarxien Rainbows 19
3 Michael Mifsud Valletta 18
4 Ryan Darmanin Balzan Youths 14
Elton Balzan Youths 14
Jhonnattann Birkirkara 14
Igor Coronado Floriana 14
8 Clayton Failla Hibernians 13
9 Danail Mitev Mosta 12
Obinna Obiefule Mosta / Hibernians 12

References
  1. Birkirkara are 2012/13 Premier League winners
  2. "Malta: BOV Premier League 2012/13 Scorers". MaltaFootball.com. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
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