2001–02 Maltese Premier League

The 2001–02 Maltese Premier League (known as the Rothmans Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 22nd season of the Maltese Premier League, and the 87th season of top-tier football in Malta. The league started on 18 August 2001 and finished on 5 May 2002. Valletta were the defending champions.

Maltese Premier League
Season2001–02
Dates18 August 2001 – 5 May 2002
ChampionsHibernians
(9th title)
RelegatedNaxxar Lions
Lija Athletic
Champions LeagueHibernians
UEFA CupSliema Wanderers
Birkirkara
UEFA Intertoto CupValletta
Matches played132
Goals scored440 (3.33 per match)
Top goalscorerDanilo Dončić (32 goals)

Teams
Locations of the 2001–02 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 Birkirkara 18 12 4 2 46 16 +30 40 Qualification for the Championship Pool
2 Hibernians 18 12 4 2 41 22 +19 40
3 Sliema Wanderers 18 12 2 4 48 16 +32 38
4 Valletta 18 10 5 3 40 21 +19 35
5 Ħamrun Spartans 18 7 2 9 23 33 −10 23
6 Floriana 18 6 4 8 27 24 +3 22[lower-alpha 1]
7 Marsa 18 6 4 8 32 38 −6 22[lower-alpha 1] Qualification for the Relegation Pool
8 Pietà Hotspurs 18 4 3 11 20 36 −16 15
9 Naxxar Lions 18 4 0 14 24 54 −30 12
10 Lija Athletic 18 2 2 14 14 55 −41 8
Source: RSSSSF
Notes:
  1. Floriana won the sixth place play-off against Marsa, played on 26 February 2002, 4–3 via a penalty shoot-out after the game had finished 0–0 after extra time.

Results
Home \ Away BKR FRN HIB ĦMR LJA MRS NXR PTA SLM VLT
Birkirkara — 3–1 1–1 5–0 3–0 3–0 5–1 5–2 0–1 1–3
Floriana 0–1 — 1–2 0–0 3–1 2–2 2–1 5–1 2–0 1–2
Hibernians 0–1 2–1 — 1–1 5–0 3–2 3–2 4–1 2–1 5–4
Ħamrun Spartans 1–2 1–0 0–1 — 2–0 2–3 2–1 2–1 1–5 0–3
Lija Athletic 1–4 2–2 0–4 1–2 — 1–2 3–2 2–1 0–0 0–2
Marsa 2–4 1–1 2–2 2–0[lower-alpha 1] 5–1 — 2–1 2–3 2–4 1–0
Naxxar Lions 1–6 0–3 1–3 2–4 4–2 2–0 — 2–0 1–4 1–4
Pietà Hotspurs 1–1 3–1 0–1 0–3 3–0 2–0 0–1 — 0–3 1–1
Sliema Wanderers 1–1 0–1 2–0 3–2 7–0 4–1 6–0 3–1 — 1–2
Valletta 0–0 2–1 2–2 3–0 4–0 3–3 5–1 0–0 0–3 —
Source: RSSSF
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. Marsa were awarded a 2–0 win after a protest. Originally, Ħamrun Spartans won the first encounter with a 1–0 score.[1]

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: Birkirkara 20 points, Hibernians 20, Sliema Wanderers 19, Valletta 18, Ħamrun Spartans 12 and Floriana 11.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification HIB SLM BKR VLT FRN ĦMR
1 Hibernians (C) 10 7 2 1 26 12 +14 43 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round — 4–2 2–2 2–4 3–1 2–0
2 Sliema Wanderers 10 5 2 3 19 14 +5 36 Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round 1–3 — 2–2 2–1 3–2 4–0
3 Birkirkara 10 2 5 3 14 13 +1 31 1–3 0–0 — 1–1 1–2 4–0
4 Valletta 10 3 3 4 12 12 0 30 Qualification for the Intertoto Cup first round 1–1 2–0 1–2 — 0–2 1–0
5 Floriana 10 4 2 4 12 14 −2 25 0–2 0–3 1–1 1–0 — 1–1
6 Ħamrun Spartans 10 1 2 7 3 12 −9 17 0–2 0–2 1–0 1–1 0–2 —
Source: RSSSF
(C) Champion.

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: Marsa 11 points, Pietà Hotspurs 8, Naxxar Lions 6, Lija Athletic 4.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Relegation PTA MRS NXR LJA
7 Pietà Hotspurs 6 4 0 2 9 6 +3 20 — 2–1 2–1 2–0
8 Marsa 6 2 1 3 10 10 0 18 1–2 — 2–1 4–0
9 Naxxar Lions (R) 6 2 2 2 13 8 +5 14 Relegation to the First Division 2–1 1–1 — 6–0
10 Lija Athletic (R) 6 2 1 3 7 15 −8 11 1–0 4–1 2–2 —
Source: RSSSF
(R) Relegated.

Season statistics

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals[2]
1 Danilo Dončić Sliema Wanderers 32
2 Adrian Mifsud Hibernians 27
3 Chris Oretan Valletta 15
Michael Galea Birkirkara
5 Malcolm Licari Pietà Hotspurs 12
6 Daniel Bogdanović Naxxar Lions 12
Stefan Sultana Ħamrun Spartans
8 Matthew Calascione Birkirkara 10
9 Ivan Zammit Valletta 9
Eduardo do Nascimento Floriana
Ndubisi Chukunyere Hibernians

Hat-tricks
Player[3][4][5] For Against Result Date
Chimezie Nwoke Naxxar Lions Lija Athletic 4–2 19 August 2001
Chucks Nwoko Birkirkara Pietà Hotspurs 5–2 18 August 2001
Danilo Dončić Sliema Wanderers Pietà Hotspurs 3–1 8 September 2001
Danilo Dončić Sliema Wanderers Naxxar Lions 6–0 29 September 2001
Danilo Dončić Sliema Wanderers Valletta 3–0 12 October 2001
Danilo Dončić Sliema Wanderers Ħamrun Spartans 4–0 3 March 2002
Adrian Mifsud Hibernians Sliema Wanderers 4–2 9 March 2002
Danilo Dončić Sliema Wanderers Floriana 3–2 21 April 2002

Awards

Monthly awards
Month[6] Player of the Month
Player Club
August Sean Sullivan Valletta
September Danilo Dončić Sliema Wanderers
October Matthew Calascione Birkirkara
November Simon Agius Lija Athletic
December Daniel Bogdanović Naxxar Lions
January Joe Brincat Birkirkara
February  Malta national team
March Adrian Mifsud Hibernians
April Adrian Mifsud Hibernians
May Joe Brincat Birkirkara

References
  1. "Marsa get derby defeat overturned". UEFA. 12 December 2001. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  2. "Rothmans Premier League Table 2001/02". MaltaFootball.com. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  3. "Rothmans Premier League Results - First Round 2001/02". MaltaFootball.com. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  4. "Rothmans Premier League Results - Second Round 2001/02". MaltaFootball.com. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  5. "Rothmans Premier League Results - Championship Pool 2001/02". MaltaFootball.com. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  6. "Player of the Month". MaltaFootball.com. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
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