- Maltese football league system
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The Maltese football leagues system of association football is made up of a set of leagues organised and controlled by the Malta Football Association. Malta has had a top level football division since 1909, it continues on today with the current system.
Contents
Current system
Currently the system includes 4 tiers. All of the leagues are currently sponsored by Bank of Valletta:
Level League/Division 1 Maltese Premier League
10 clubs2 Maltese First Division
10 clubs3 Maltese Second Division
12 clubs4 Maltese Third Division
21 clubs split in two Sections: A and BPremier League
The Maltese Premier League is probably most criticised for a format that is similar to that of the Scottish Premier League, where the league is split up into two phases, a first one with two rounds (home and away - formally, since the league is played within 3 or 4 stadiums only), and the second phase accommodates a split of the 10 teams into a Championship Pool (top 6 teams) and the Relegation Pool (bottom 4 teams).[1][2] Also, a particular characteristic of the Maltese Premier League is that once the split takes place, the points gathered in the previous two rounds, are halved, supposedly to create more competition.[3][4]
Other competitions
In parallel to these leagues run a number of Knock Out competitions, the most prominent one being the FA Trophy.
New Format
On January 13, 2011, the Malta Football Association decided to restructure the format of the leagues as from season 2011-12.[5]
Thus the system in force from season 2011-12 came to read:
Level League/Division 1 Maltese Premier League
12 clubs2 Maltese First Division
12 clubs3 Maltese Second Division
14 clubs4 Maltese Third Division
14 clubsSee also
References
- ^ http://www.maltafootball.com/2010/02/21/championship-pool-kicks-off-on-friday/
- ^ http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100206/sport/city-condemn-spartans-to-relegation-pool
- ^ http://www.timesofmalta.com.mt/articles/view/20100226/sport/stripes-blues-out-to-make-statement-of-intent
- ^ http://www.mfa.com.mt/maltafootballassociation/content.aspx?id=158765
- ^ Changes to National League, FA Trophy format approved, http://www.maltafootball.com/2011/01/13/changes-to-national-league-fa-trophy-format-approved/
External links
Malta Football Association National teams League system men:Premier League · First Division · Second Division · Third Division
women: Women's 1st Division
youth: Minors' League · U-17 ChampionshipDomestic cups Awards Lists List of Maltese international footballers · List of clubs · List of venues · Foreign players · All-Time TableMen's Clubs · Women's Clubs · Men's Players · Women's Players · Expatriate footballers · Managers · Referees · Venues · Records Categories:- Football in Malta
- Football league systems
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