2021–22 Maltese Challenge League
# 2021–22 Maltese Challenge League

The 2021–22 Maltese Challenge League (referred to as the BOV Challenge League for sponsorship reasons) was the second-level league football in Malta. It was the second season that the competition ran in its present form.

Following the decision of the Maltese Football Association Executive Committee, the teams that had finished in the promotion and relegation places in the previous Challenge League season would remain in the Challenge League in the 2021-22 season (with the exception of Qormi, due to less than 75% of the matches having been completed in the competition. Relegation from the Premier League and promotion from the National Amateur League remained in place due to these competitions being adequately completed. This season therefore saw twenty-two teams competed rather than the sixteen that had been originally expected. This took place within two groups on eleven teams with the top two clubs from either group earning promotion to the Premier League. The six teams to finish in the bottom three places of both groups relegated to the National Amateur League the following season.

## Teams

Twenty-two teams competed in the league which included the four teams promoted from the Amateur League and four teams relegated from the Premier League. The top two teams from either group achieved automatic promotion with the end of season leaders of the two groups meeting in a playoff to decide who will be the champion for 2021-22. The bottom three clubs of both groups automatically relegated without any playoffs.

| Team | Location |
| - | - |
| Fgura United | Fgura |
| Lija Athletic | Lija |
| Luqa St. Andrew's | Luqa |
| Marsa | Marsa |
| Marsaxlokk | Marsaxlokk |
| Melita | San Ġiljan |
| Mġarr United | Mġarr |
| Mqabba | Mqabba |
| Naxxar Lions | Naxxar |
| Pembroke Athleta | Pembroke |
| Pietà Hotspurs | Pietà |
| Qrendi | Qrendi |
| Rabat Ajax F.C. | Rabat |
| San Ġwann | San Ġwann |
| Senglea Athletic | Senglea |
| St. Andrews | St. Andrew's, Malta |
| St. George's | Cospicua |
| Swieqi United | Swieqi |
| Tarxien Rainbows | Tarxien |
| Vittoriosa Stars | Birgu |
| Żebbuġ Rangers | Żebbuġ |
| Żejtun Corinthians | Żejtun |

## League tables

### Challenge League Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Pembroke Athleta (R) | 20 | 14 | 6 | 0 | 49 | 16 | +33 | 48 | Relegation to the 2022-23 Maltese National Amateur League |
| 2 | Marsaxlokk (P) | 20 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 40 | 22 | +18 | 41 | Promotion to the 2022–23 Maltese Premier League |
| 3 | Żejtun Corinthians | 20 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 44 | 24 | +20 | 40 | |
| 4 | Naxxar Lions | 20 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 37 | 22 | +15 | 37 | |
| 5 | Melita | 20 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 28 | 22 | +6 | 33 | |
| 6 | San Ġwann | 20 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 38 | 22 | +16 | 30 | |
| 7 | Lija Athletic | 20 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 39 | 37 | +2 | 28 | |
| 8 | Mqabba | 20 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 29 | 41 | −12 | 20 | |
| 9 | Vittoriosa Stars | 20 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 23 | 61 | −38 | 16 | Relegation to the 2022-23 Maltese National Amateur League |
| 10 | Rabat Ajax (R) | 20 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 20 | 42 | −22 | 13 | Relegation to the 2022-23 Maltese National Amateur League |
| 11 | St. George's (R) | 20 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 13 | 51 | −38 | 5 | Relegation to the 2022-23 Maltese National Amateur League |

* ↑ On 20 May 2022 Pembroke Athleta ask the Malta Football Association that they want to play in the National Amateur League instead Premier League due to Financing Problems.
* ↑ Vittoriosa Stars were originally relegated to National Amateur League. On 16 June 2022 the Malta Football Association decide that they will play in the Maltese Challenge League instead of Pembroke Athleta

### Challenge League Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Żebbuġ Rangers (P) | 20 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 46 | 15 | +31 | 45 | Promotion to the 2022–23 Maltese Premier League |
| 2 | Pietà Hotspurs (P) | 20 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 39 | 19 | +20 | 40 | Promotion to the 2022–23 Maltese Premier League |
| 3 | Tarxien Rainbows | 20 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 45 | 24 | +21 | 38 | |
| 4 | Marsa | 20 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 35 | 22 | +13 | 33 | |
| 5 | Fgura United | 20 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 35 | 27 | +8 | 31 | |
| 6 | St. Andrews | 20 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 36 | 30 | +6 | 28 | |
| 7 | Qrendi | 20 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 30 | 37 | −7 | 24 | |
| 8 | Swieqi United | 20 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 21 | 29 | −8 | 24 | |
| 9 | Senglea Athletic (R) | 20 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 24 | 50 | −26 | 15 | Relegation to the 2022-23 Maltese National Amateur League |
| 10 | Mġarr United (R) | 20 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 11 | 36 | −25 | 14 | Relegation to the 2022-23 Maltese National Amateur League |
| 11 | Luqa St. Andrew's (R) | 20 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 9 | 42 | −33 | 10 | Relegation to the 2022-23 Maltese National Amateur League |

* ↑ Marsa received a 2 point deduction after their player assaulted a match official in a match against Pietà Hotspurs

## Results

### Challenge League Group A Results

| Home \ Away | LIJ | MXK | MEL | MQA | NXL | PEM | RAB | SĠW | STG | VST | ŻEJ |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Lija Athletic | — | 0–1 | 1–2 | 4–3 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 |
| Marsaxlokk | 3–4 | — | 0–2 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 6–0 | 1–3 |
| Melita | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–3 |
| Mqabba | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–2 | — | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 0–4 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 2–4 |
| Naxxar Lions | 2–0 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 5–0 | — | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 |
| Pembroke Athleta | 5–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | — | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 |
| Rabat Ajax | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | — | 2–7 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 |
| San Ġwann | 4–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | — | 4–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 |
| St. George's | 2–2 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 0–6 | 0–3 | 2–0 | — | 1–2 | 3–5 |
| Vittoriosa Stars | 1–5 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–9 | 1–4 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | — | 1–4 |
| Żejtun Corinthians | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–3 | — |

### Challenge League Group B Results

| Home \ Away | FGU | LSA | MSA | MĠA | PHS | QND | SEN | STA | SWI | TAR | ŻEB |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Fgura United | — | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 5–1 | 2–2 | 2–5 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 3–0 |
| Luqa St. Andrew's | 1–2 | — | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–8 |
| Marsa | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–3 |
| Mġarr United | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | — | 0–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 0–4 | 0–4 |
| Pietà Hotspurs | 1–3 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | — | 3–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 |
| Qrendi | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–4 | 3–1 | 1–1 | — | 2–3 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 |
| Senglea Athletic | 2–3 | 1–0 | 3–5 | 0–0 | 0–6 | 2–3 | — | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–6 | 0–3 |
| St. Andrews | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | — | 2–2 | 1–3 | 0–1 |
| Swieqi United | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–4 | — | 2–2 | 0–3 |
| Tarxien Rainbows | 1–4 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 |
| Żebbuġ Rangers | 2–1 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | — |
