2003–04 Maltese Premier League

The 2003–04 Maltese Premier League (known as the MIA Premier League[1] for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th season of the Maltese Premier League, and the 89th season of top-tier football in Malta. The league started on 22 August 2003 and finished on 9 May 2004. Sliema Wanderers successfully defended last season's league triumph, equalling Floriana's league title record of 25 championships.

Maltese Premier League
Season2003–04
Dates22 August 2003 – 9 May 2004
ChampionsSliema Wanderers
(25th title)
RelegatedBalzan Youths
Ħamrun Spartans
Champions LeagueSliema Wanderers
UEFA CupBirkirkara
Marsaxlokk
UEFA Intertoto CupHibernians
Matches played132
Goals scored407 (3.08 per match)
Top goalscorerDanilo Dončić (19 goals)

Teams
Locations of the 2002–03 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 Sliema Wanderers 18 13 2 3 37 15 +22 41 Qualification for the Championship Pool
2 Birkirkara 18 11 2 5 41 18 +23 35
3 Hibernians 18 10 4 4 31 25 +6 34
4 Marsaxlokk 18 9 4 5 30 22 +8 31
5 Floriana 18 7 6 5 33 26 +7 27
6 Pietà Hotspurs 18 7 6 5 28 25 +3 27
7 Valletta 18 6 5 7 27 29 −2 23 Qualification for the Relegation Pool
8 Balzan Youths 18 5 3 10 22 37 −15 18
9 Msida Saint-Joseph 18 2 4 12 18 35 −17 10
10 Ħamrun Spartans 18 0 4 14 11 46 −35 4
Source: RSSSSF

Results
Home \ Away BZN BKR FRN HIB ĦMR MXK MSD PTA SLM VLT
Balzan Youths —
Birkirkara —
Floriana —
Hibernians —
Ħamrun Spartans —
Marsaxlokk —
Msida Saint-Joseph —
Pietà Hotspurs —
Sliema Wanderers —
Valletta —
Source: RSSSF
Colours: 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: Sliema Wanderers 21 points, Birkirkara 18, Hibernians 17, Marsaxlokk 16, Floriana and Pietà Hotspurs 14.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SLM BKR HIB MXK PTA FRN
1 Sliema Wanderers (C) 10 7 1 2 24 12 +12 43 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round — 2–2 3–1 3–1 2–1 4–1
2 Birkirkara 10 6 3 1 18 12 +6 39 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round[lower-alpha 1] 2–1 — 3–1 1–3 1–1 2–0
3 Hibernians 10 6 0 4 16 13 +3 35 Qualification for the Intertoto Cup first round 3–0 0–1 — 0–3 1–0 3–1
4 Marsaxlokk 10 3 2 5 16 17 −1 27 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round[lower-alpha 1] 0–2 3–4 1–4 — 0–0 0–0
5 Pietà Hotspurs 10 2 3 5 12 15 −3 23 1–5 1–1 0–1 2–0 — 2–3
6 Floriana 10 1 1 8 8 25 −17 18 0–2 0–1 1–2 1–5 1–4 —
Source: RSSSF
(C) Champion.
Notes:
  1. Marsaxlokk qualified to the first qualifying round of the 2004–05 UEFA Cup as losing finalists in the Maltese FA Trophy.

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: Valletta 12 points, Balzan Youths 9, Msida Saint-Joseph 5 and Ħamrun Spartans 2.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Relegation VLT MSD BZN ĦMR
7 Valletta 6 5 0 1 14 4 +10 27 — 1–3 3–1 3–0
8 Msida Saint-Joseph 6 4 1 1 14 7 +7 22 0–1 — 2–1 3–3
9 Balzan Youths (R) 6 2 0 4 6 14 −8 11 Relegation to the First Division 0–5 0–3 — 2–0
10 Ħamrun Spartans (R) 6 0 1 5 5 14 −9 3 0–1 1–3 1–2 —
Source: RSSSF
(R) Relegated.

Season statistics

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals[2]
1 Danilo Dončić Sliema Wanderers 19
2 Etienne Barbara Marsaxlokk 15
3 Michael Galea Birkirkara 14
4 Daniel Bogdanović Sliema Wanderers/Marsxalokk 13
Daniel Nwoke Msida Saint-Joseph
6 Gilbert Agius Valletta 10
Haruna Doda Birkirkara
Ivan Woods Pietà Hotspurs
Stefan Giglio Sliema Wanderers
10 Olumuyiwa Aganun Msida Saint-Joseph 9
Stefan Zahra Balzan Youths

Hat-tricks
Player[3][4] For Against Result Date
Daniel Nwoke Msida Saint-Joseph Sliema Wanderers 4–1 29 August 2003
Michael Galea Birkirkara Msida Saint-Joseph 7–1 13 September 2003
Etienne Barbara Marsaxlokk Balzan Youths 4–2 10 October 2003
Adrian Mifsud Hibernians Valletta 4–2 19 December 2003
Danilo Dončić Sliema Wanderers Pietà Hotspurs 3–0 7 February 2004
Jonathan Holland Floriana Msida Saint-Joseph 4–2 8 February 2004
Danilo Dončić Sliema Wanderers Pietà Hotspurs 5–1 12 April 2004
Ian Zammit Valletta Balzan Youths 5–0 18 April 2004
Daniel Bogdanović Marsaxlokk Floriana 5–1 29 April 2004

Awards

Monthly awards
Month[5] Player of the Month
Player Club
August/September Etienne Barbara Floriana
October Gilbert Agius Valletta
November Daniel Dengaky Ħamrun Spartans
December Gilbert Agius Valletta
January Michael Mifsud Sliema Wanderers
February Haruna Doda Birkirkara
March Stefan Giglio Sliema Wanderers
April Daniel Bogdanović Marsaxlokk
May Stefan Giglio Sliema Wanderers

References
  1. "MIA to sponsor Malta FA leagues". Times of Malta. 12 March 2004. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  2. "MIA Premier League Scorers 2003/04". MaltaFootball.com. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  3. "MIA Premier League Results - 2003/04". MaltaFootball.com. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  4. "MIA Premier League Results - Championship Pool 2003/04". MaltaFootball.com. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  5. "Player of the Month". MaltaFootball.com. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.