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39-611: Football in Malta is run by the Malta Football Association and was introduced to Malta during British rule in the mid-19th century. The sport at the time was new to England , and was used as a means of entertainment for the soldiers stationed in Malta at the various barracks around Malta at the time. In 1863 a football association was formed which governed rules and regulations for this quickly changing sport, which

78-521: A 0–0 draw with Hamrun Spartans and Msida respectively. However, eventually Valletta hit good form with a 1–0 win over Birkirkara, a 7–0 trashing over champions Marsaxlokk and they gained revenge over Floriana with a 4–0 win on 8 December. After wins over Msida, Mqabba, Hamrun, Sliema and Marsaxlokk the club showed its winning pedigree. Valletta headed to the final round of the season on a high note. Valletta won their 19th Premier League title after Marsaxlokk failed to beat Birkirkara on Saturday 3 May after

117-489: A golden age in the 1990s winning five championships and four league cups. A re-juvenated Floriana won the championship in 1993, as well as two league cups, and Sliema Wanderers , Ħamrun Spartans and Hibernians also picked up notable honours. 1995 also saw the start of the Maltese Women's League , initially at only 5-a-side, though rapidly expanding to full 11-a-side in the start of the millennium. A second division

156-400: A good challenge to Sliema Wanderers and Floriana , winning eight championships between them, and three league trophies. The 1980s saw the monopolization of Sliema Wanderers and Floriana finally come to an end with four clubs taking most of the honours in this decade. The inauguration of the new national stadium, Ta' Qali could have been a reason for this, with a large re-structuring of

195-437: A name for themselves in the women's league, winning a number of titles and wresting dominance from Hibernians F.C. However, by the 2019/20 season, Hibernians F.C. were spent and quickly fell out of the title races, leaving Birkirkara FC unbeaten champions across the next 4 seasons! The first Malta Football Association Premier League (1st Division) 1909-1910: The fourth season of the women's league, 1998-1999: Currently

234-471: A professional team within the Italian football league system . The MFA is structured by having 53 member clubs, as well as 10 member associations. The clubs compete in four divisions; the premier, first, second and third. The member associations are specialised football associations who organise competitions for clubs affiliated to them. The member associations include: Valletta F.C. Valletta F.C.

273-472: A very successful Championship Pool campaign. However, with the title in the bag the long unbeaten streak soon came to an end, and the season ended with a number of defeats. The team also failed to reach the U*Bet F.A. Trophy 2008 final, after losing 4–2 to rivals Birkirkara in the semi-final. But except for the early stages and the post-championship games, Valletta had been the most consistent side. Valletta won

312-704: Is a professional football club based in Valletta , the capital city of Malta . They compete in the Maltese Challenge League , the second tier of Maltese football, following relegation from the Maltese Premier League in 2024. The club was founded in 1943 after a merge of Valletta Prestons, Valletta St. Paul's and Valletta United, the latter being a two-time league winner before the Second World War . Considered one of

351-553: Is now called the Maltese Premier League trophy. Birkirkara FC are the notable new force in the Maltese league, after winning their first championship in the year 2000, and the team from Malta's largest town has regularly picked up honours since propelling itself into the history books. Other teams to have made relative impact were Żurrieq in the 1980s and Valletta in the late 1990s. Birkirkara FC have also made

390-408: The 2010–11 BOV Premier League as an unbeaten team which brought the 20th title to Valletta FC's history. Valletta won The 2011–12 BOV Premier League with two matches still to go after beating Sliema Wanderers 3–0, this was the 21st title in the history of Valletta. They won three cups out of four cups in the domestic league: The 2011–12 BOV Premier League , The 2011–12 Maltese Super Cup , and

429-467: The Maltese FA in the 1940s, doubling the size of the number of registered clubs within ten years. Many of today's familiar names joined the league including Valletta and Hibernians . Interest in the Maltese league continued throughout the 1950s, 1960's and 1970s with fifteen more clubs joining the league including Birkirkara FC in 1950 . It was however Hibernians and Valletta who put together

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468-568: The Mediterranean Sea . Normal league activity resumed in the 1945, after the end of the war with the league format of four teams joining including Sliema Wanderers and Floriana . The Maltese football association league format soon changed however, to a multiple tier format as from the 1946 season. The passing of the North Africa conflict saw the Maltese football associations largest interest with fifteen clubs registering to join

507-425: The 100th Anniversary of the M.F.A. Hope for their first trophy in seven years was a huge thought running through Valletta fans in the summer of 2007. Valletta spent a lot of money in the transfer market and expectations were high. Valletta began the season in the worst possible fashion, with a 3–2 defeat to Eternal rivals, Floriana. Valletta's poor start continued with a 1–1 draw against Hibernians , defeat to Sliema,

546-497: The Euro Challenge Cup. They were champions of Malta again in 2013–14, 2015–16 and 2 year in a row 2017-18 and 2018-19 for a total of 25 titles Valletta were relegated for the first time in the club's history in the 2023-24 Maltese Premier League season. Valletta spent most of the season in the bottom half of the league. Towards the end of the season, a 1-1 draw against Ħamrun Spartans and a 1-0 win against Balzan showed

585-860: The European Championships and the World Cup. Malta also compete in the UEFA Futsal Championship , though not the UEFA Women's Futsal Championship to date. The MFA manages the National stadium and the Centenary Stadium nearby. This complex is based in Ta` Qali and includes training grounds, a gymnasium, a swimming pool and physiotherapy and medical clinics. The complex is also used by foreign clubs during

624-507: The Maltese Third Division during season 2009-10 . This ended up in a rivalry between the two teams who boasted stronger squads when compared to the other Third Division teams, thus attracting larger crowds than usual. However attendances remain relatively low in numbers. It is important to note that very few statistics are available. Most Maltese people prefer to watch English and Italian leagues. This traces its beginning to

663-540: The Maltese football offers. This was done by succeeding to win the Premier League, Rothmans Trophy, Super Five Cup, Lowenbrau Cup and Super Cup. In the season 2000–01, Valletta F.C. succeeded in breaking their own record from 1996 to 1997. This time they won the six competitions offered by the M.F.A. This particular season there was an additional one, namely the Centenary Cup. It had been added to celebrate

702-407: The Maltese league program to coincide with Maltese football 's new impressive home. Hibernians F.C. went on to win the Maltese league championship in 1981 and 1982, Rabat Ajax (formed 1930) won in 1985, and 1986, however the real surprise came from one of Malta's oldest clubs, Ħamrun Spartans who won the league three times in 1983, 1987 and 1988, and won a five league trophies. Floriana did win

741-582: The Maltese men's national and official system consists of 54 teams within 4 divisions. These are the Maltese Premier League , the Maltese Challenge League , and the Maltese National Amateur League I &II. The FA Trophy is a knockout competition for all clubs taking part in league competitions in Malta and Gozo; the winners play the Premier League champions in the Maltese Super Cup . A similar structure follows for

780-618: The Maltese one. During World Cups Maltese generally side with either the English or the Italians. Popular foreign clubs are mainly Manchester United , Liverpool , Juventus , Milan and Inter . Popular national teams apart from their own are mainly England and Italy , with Brazil in the third place, followed by Germany and the Netherlands to a lesser extent. These foreign fandoms generally divert attention from Maltese football to

819-561: The detriment of the Maltese leagues and the Malta national football team . Malta Football Association The Association organises the Maltese Football League for both men and women and several other competitions, including knockout competitions for the top teams for both genders. The men's national team , women's national team , as well as several youth representative teams compete regularly in international competitions organised by UEFA and FIFA . These include

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858-433: The football scene and thus the monopoly of Sliema and Floriana football clubs recommenced. Valletta United was not the only team from the city that played in the highest Division of the M.F.A. In the 1925–26 and the 1926–27 seasons there were Valletta Rovers who played in the highest Division of the M.F.A., then in the season 1937–38 and 1938–39 there was Valletta City. In 1996–97 Valletta F.C. won all five competitions that

897-666: The higher quality of foreign leagues (especially the Italian Serie A and the English Premier League ), slow-paced football, low interest, relatively unknown players, lack of professionalism and perceived corruption. This has improved since the promotion of Qormi to the top tier, a team which has had a strong following ever since getting promoted. A phenomenon also occurred in the lowest tier, where Zejtun Corinthians and Naxxar Lions , two sides from relatively large localities, started to push for promotion from

936-522: The history of the current club was the founding of Valletta United Football Club in 1903 by local youngsters. Despite their enthusiasm for the game which had been brought to the island by the British , the youngsters had a rough start with limited supplies. They cut their white trousers into long shorts and dyed their shirts into that of the club colours (brown, with yellow sleeves) for their uniforms. The Ditch at Porte des Bombes , which itself had been

975-409: The league trophy in 1981, but were relegated to Malta 's second league in the 1985 season. The last decades of the century saw the league format expand to its fourth tier, now with fifty clubs registered in the league. A diverse range of clubs now sharing the trophies in the Maltese league's top tier to contribute to an entertaining and high quality semi-professional football league. Valletta enjoyed

1014-502: The most supported and successful clubs in Maltese football, the club has won 25 league titles , 14 FA Trophies and a record 13 Super Cups . During the 2021/22 season the club was sponsored by Meridianbet. There is no clear evidence on when Valletta F.C. started, hence the fact that Valletta possessed two clubs at that era. The foundation of Valletta F.C. was laid with the creation of the Valletta United team. Valletta United

1053-514: The nation's political past, where in the 1930s a hot political issue was the Language Question , i.e. whether Malta had to adopt either Italian or English as an official language. This created pro-British and pro-Italian factions within the Maltese, virtually splitting the population in two. This rivalry now remains subtly in the nation's main political parties, but also in football, where as said before Maltese prefer foreign leagues to

1092-524: The nickname "the team of the square" because of this. Valletta first gained silverware during the 1914–15 season, when they won both the Cousis Shield and the Maltese League championship, it was only the fifth season the league had been competed in Malta. Much of Maltese football was dominated by Floriana and Sliema Wanderers up until the Second World War , Valletta attempted to upset

1131-623: The scene of the first ever recorded Maltese football match in 1886, was chosen to host Valletta United's first match on 9 January 1904. United faced off against a team from the Collegiate School and won 1–0 with a strike from a forward named L. Agius. The full Valletta United team that day included; The club soon found a more permanent home at St. George's Square , just opposite the Grandmaster's Palace in Valletta ; they gained

1170-517: The status quo several times; they won the Cousis Shield for the second time in 1920–21 and finished as runners-up in the Maltese League during both 1925–26 and 1926–27. During their last season, Valletta United upset the two main clubs in Malta of the time, by winning the Maltese League in 1931–32, however they did not enter the following season. Although Sliema and Floriana dominated the local scene in those times, by winning these trophies it

1209-610: The winter months, due to the mild temperatures of the Maltese Islands. The association is one of the oldest and one of the best in Europe, having been founded in 1900 with the first national league being organised in season 1909–1910. There are several important landmarks in the history of Maltese football, especially since Malta played its first official international friendly match against Austria in February 1957. The result

Football in Malta - Misplaced Pages Continue

1248-452: The women's temas, albeit smaller in scale. The Maltese Women's League is the only league currently in place, with a similar knockout tournament coming with the Maltese Women's Cup . Other football competitions run in Malta include: In the latest decades, particularly the 1990s the Maltese leagues have not had high attendances except for particular derby matches or league deciders. This has often been attributed to various reasons, including

1287-505: Was Valletta United that started to break into this duopoly and induce greater competition. Valletta United were very active in the Championship of the first division and in fact played 97 games. During the period that Valletta United played within the Malta Football Association ( i.e. , from 1909 to 1932), Valletta United won the championship in 1931–32. However, for some reason in the following season, Valletta United disappeared from

1326-641: Was a narrow 3–2 defeat for Malta. It took until 1959 for the MFA to join FIFA , also joining UEFA the year after in 1960. From then onwards, Malta become an ever-present in international competitions at national teams as well as at club levels. During 2019, the MFA has also entered into talks with the Italian Football Federation and the Lega Pro to discuss the possibility for the MFA to field

1365-400: Was also briefly active, though the small number of teams involved meant that it was not maintained. It would return for several seasons across 2008-17, however. Hibernians F.C. were the main force in the early days of the league, winning 8 titles in a row from 1998 onwards. At present there are a number of clubs with the resources and capability of winning the men's championship trophy, which

1404-478: Was implemented in the 1935 season which Sliema Wanderers and Floriana continued to dominate up to the Second World War between them. Unfortunately due to the Second World War , the league had to break-off since many Maltese players were drafted in to the defence of the island during the early 1940s when the Maltese archipelago were heavily involved in the North Africa conflict due to its strategic position in

1443-538: Was known as the "team of the square" since the club was located in St. George's Square. Valletta United represented the city from 1904 to 1932. The city of Valletta in Malta has a long footballing history, between 1886 and 1919 at some point or another, around fourteen teams had competed representing the city. Amongst these early teams included the popular Boys Empire League , Valletta College , St. George's Square , Dockyard Albion and Malta Athletic Club . An early step in

1482-409: Was still in amateur competition stage and played in an un-scheduled format until 1909 when a league format was introduced. The association runs the men's national football team , the women's national team , as well as administering the semi-professional Maltese Premier League , Maltese Women's League and the respective cups for club sides. The first Maltese championship in the 1909-1910 season

1521-417: Was won by Floriana . The league regularly changed in numbers as teams changed administrators, dropped out of the league, and new teams re-entered. Up until the season of 1939-1940 this first league remained the only league in Maltese football , and was called the Maltese division one. Sliema Wanderers and Floriana dominated, winning all but four championships up to 1940. The Maltese football league trophy

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