2007–08 Maltese Premier League
# 2007–08 Maltese Premier League

The 2007–08 Maltese Premier League (known as the BOV Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 28th season of the Maltese Premier League, and the 93rd season of top-level league football in Malta. Valletta won their nineteenth league title overcoming last season's champions, Marsaxlokk.

## Teams

The following teams were promoted from the First Division at the start of the season:

* Mqabba
* Ħamrun Spartans

From the previous Premier League season, the following teams were relegated to the First Division:

* St. George's
* Marsa

## First phase

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Valletta | 18 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 40 | 16 | +24 | 36 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 2 | Marsaxlokk | 18 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 35 | 26 | +9 | 33 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 3 | Sliema Wanderers | 18 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 31 | 18 | +13 | 32 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 4 | Floriana | 18 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 33 | 28 | +5 | 28 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 5 | Birkirkara | 18 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 27 | 18 | +9 | 27 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 6 | Ħamrun Spartans | 18 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 30 | 29 | +1 | 27 | Qualification for the Top Six |
| 7 | Hibernians | 18 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 22 | 19 | +3 | 25 | Qualification for the Play-out |
| 8 | Msida Saint-Joseph | 18 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 25 | 35 | −10 | 21 | Qualification for the Play-out |
| 9 | Pietà Hotspurs | 18 | 5 | 0 | 13 | 21 | 40 | −19 | 15 | Qualification for the Play-out |
| 10 | Mqabba | 18 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 15 | 50 | −35 | 6 | Qualification for the Play-out |

### Results

| Home \ Away | BKR | FRN | ĦMR | HIB | MXK | MQB | MSD | PTA | SLM | VLT |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Birkirkara | — | 3–2 | 5–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Floriana | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 4–1 | 2–3 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 0–4 |
| Ħamrun Spartans | 2–2 | 2–1 | — | 2–2 | 7–3 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 0–3 | 0–0 |
| Hibernians | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 |
| Marsaxlokk | 3–1 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 5–0 | — | 1–0 | 5–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Mqabba | 1–4 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | — | 2–1 | 1–6 | 3–2 | 1–2 |
| Msida Saint-Joseph | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 4–3 | — | 7–0 | 1–4 | 1–1 |
| Pietà Hotspurs | 2–1 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 5–0 | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | 1–3 |
| Sliema Wanderers | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | — | 2–2 |
| Valletta | 2–1 | 2–3 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 7–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | — |

## Second phase

### Top Six

The teams placed in the first six positions in the league table qualified for the Top Six, and the points obtained during the first phase were halved (and rounded up) before the start of second phase. As a result, the teams started with the following points before the second phase: Valletta 18 points, Marsaxlokk 16, Sliema Wanderers 16, Floriana 14, Birkirkara 13 and Ħamrun Spartans 13.

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | VLT | MXK | BKR | SLM | FRN | ĦMR |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Valletta (C) | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 11 | +7 | 40 | Qualification for the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League | — | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 |
| 2 | Marsaxlokk | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 21 | 14 | +7 | 34 | Qualification for the 2008–09 UEFA Cup | 4–0 | — | 0–2 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 |
| 3 | Birkirkara | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 15 | +1 | 31 | Qualification for the 2008–09 UEFA Cup | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | 1–2 | 1–1 | 4–0 |
| 4 | Sliema Wanderers | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 19 | 8 | +11 | 36 | | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–3 | — | 0–2 | 5–3 |
| 5 | Floriana | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 14 | −7 | 22 | | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | — | 1–1 |
| 6 | Ħamrun Spartans | 10 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 12 | 31 | −19 | 14 | | 2–4 | 3–4 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | — |

### Play-out

The teams which finished in the last four league positions were placed in the play-out and at the end of the phase the two lowest-placed teams were relegated to the First Division. The points obtained during the first phase were halved (and rounded up) before the start of second phase. As a result, the teams started with the following points before the second phase: Hibernians 12 points, Msida Saint-Joseph 10, Pietà Hotspurs 7, Mqabba 3.

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | HIB | MSD | PTA | MQB |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 7 | Hibernians | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 8 | +5 | 25 | Qualification for the 2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup | — | 3–0 | 4–2 | 2–1 |
| 8 | Msida Saint-Joseph | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 11 | +5 | 23 | | 3–1 | — | 3–1 | 4–2 |
| 9 | Pietà Hotspurs (R) | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 13 | −7 | 10 | Relegation to the 2008–09 Maltese First Division | 1–2 | 2–4 | — | 1–0 |
| 10 | Mqabba (R) | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 12 | −3 | 8 | Relegation to the 2008–09 Maltese First Division | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | — |

## Season statistics

### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Omar Sebastian Monesterolo | Valletta | 19 |
| 2 | Marcelo Pereira | Mqabba | 14 |
| 3 | Julio Alcorsé | Marsaxlokk | 12 |
| 4 | Terence Scerri | Hibernians | 11 |
| 4 | Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza | Birkirkara | 11 |
| 4 | Njongo Priso | Msida Saint-Joseph | 11 |
| 7 | Aleksandar Madžar | Marsaxlokk | 10 |
| 7 | Frank Temile | Valletta | 10 |
| 7 | Ryan Darmanin | Floriana | 10 |
| 7 | Alfred Effiong | Ħamrun Spartans | 10 |
| 7 | Ivan Woods | Sliema Wanderers | 10 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Marcelo Pereira | Mqabba | Sliema Wanderers | 3–2 | 20 September 2007 |
| Martin Deanov | Pietà Hotspurs | Mqabba | 6–1 | 20 October 2007 |
| Omar Sebastian $Monesterolo^4$ | Valletta | Marsaxlokk | 7–0 | 1 December 2007 |
| Njongo $Priso^4$ | Msida Saint-Joseph | Pietà Hotspurs | 7–0 | 27 December 2007 |
| Omar Sebastian Monesterolo | Valletta | Ħamrun Spartans | 4–1 | 19 January 2008 |
| Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza | Birkirkara | Ħamrun Spartans | 4–0 | 5 April 2008 |

## Awards

### Monthly awards

| Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month |
| - | - | - |
| Month | Player | Club |
| August | Darko Krsteski | Floriana |
| September | Gilbert Agius | Valletta |
| October | Andrew Cohen | Hibernians |
| November/December | Shaun Bajada | Birkirkara |
| January | Cleavon Frendo | Marsaxlokk |
| February | Kevin Sammut | Marsaxlokk |
| March | Frank Temile | Valletta |
| April | Kevin Sammut | Marsaxlokk |
| May | Kevin Sammut | Marsaxlokk |

### Annual awards

Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.

| Best Maltese Player of the Year | Best Foreign Player of the Year |
| - | - |
| Gilbert Agius (Valletta) Andrew Hogg (Valletta) Kevin Sammut (Marsaxlokk) | Frank Temile (Valletta) Marcelo Pereira (Mqabba) Njongo Priso (Msida Saint-Joseph) |
| Best Goalkeeper of the Year | Best Defender of the Year |
| Andrew Hogg (Valletta) Omar Borg (Birkirkara) Reuben Debono (Marsaxlokk) | Ronni Hartvig (Birkirkara) Brian Said (Sliema Wanderers) Josef Mifsud (Valletta) |
| Best Midfielder of the Year | Best Attacker of the Year |
| Kevin Sammut (Marsaxlokk) Gilbert Agius (Valletta) David Camilleri (Valletta) | Frank Temile (Valletta) Omar Sebastián Monesterolo (Valletta) Marcelo Pereira (Mqabba) |
| Coach of the Year | Most Prominent Youngster |
| Paul Zammit (Valletta) Brian Talbot (Marsaxlokk) John Buttigieg (Birkirkara) | Frank Temile (Valletta) Ryan Fenech (Ħamrun Spartans) Steve Bezzina (Valletta) |
