Centenary Stadium to host four Premier League matches in midweek

All four Premier League matches scheduled for yesterday and today have been postponed by the Malta FA after the pitches of the National Stadium and the Victor Tedesco Ground were deemed unfit to host football games.

The postponement of the entire Premier League programme came as no surprise in the light of the bad weather that hit the Maltese islands in the last few days.

On Friday, the Premier League match between Valletta and Marsa went ahead as planned at the all-weather Centenary Stadium. The Citizens won the match 2-1 with goals from Beppe Pace and Gilbert Agius. Malcolm Tirchett scored Marsa's goal.

Yesterday, two Premier League matches, namely Birkirkara vs Pietà Hotspurs and Floriana vs Hibernians, should have taken place at the National Stadium before the decision to postpone them was made in the morning.

These two games will now be played at the Centenary Stadium on Tuesday. The first match between Pietà and Birkirkara kicks off at 6 p.m. followed by the Floriana-Hibernians clash at 8 p.m.

Sliema Wanderers will take on Marsaxlokk at the Centenary Stadium on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Hamrun Spartans cross swords with Mosta at 8 p.m. These two matches were originally scheduled to take place this afternoon but the pitch at the Victor Tedesco Stadium was also rendered unfit for play by the heavy downpours.

This is not the first time that the MFA has been forced to call off football matches because of adverse weather conditions. The encounters Mosta vs Marsa and Hamrun vs Marsaxlokk were played on Tuesday evening at the Centenary Stadium after being postponed from last Sunday.

In spite of the widespread lamentations about its synthetic pitch, the Centenary Stadium has indeed established itself as a most useful football venue, staging matches from the Premier League down to Division Three.

As a result of these changes in the fixtures, the Premier League match between Birkirkara and Marsaxlokk, originally pencilled in for Thursday at the Centenary Stadium, has been moved to the following Tuesday, December 17. Kick-off time has been set for 7 p.m.

The Premier League was not the only casualty of the bad weather as today's Division One three-match programme was also called off.

The two matches that should have been played at the Hibernians Ground this morning have been rescheduled for Thursday at the Centenary Stadium.

The first match between St Patrick and Balzan Youths will kick off at 6 p.m. while Senglea Athletics vs Naxxar Lions will start at 8 p.m.

Gozo's match against Lija Athletic at the Gozo Stadium has also been postponed.

Revised Premier League programme...

Tuesday, Dec. 10

Centenary Stadium
6 p.m. Pietà H. vs Birkirkara
8 p.m. Floriana vs Hibernians

Wednesday, Dec. 11

Centenary Stadium
6 p.m. Marsaxlokk vs Sliema W.
8 p.m. Mosta vs Hamrun S.

Saturday, Dec. 14

National Stadium
2 p.m. Hamrun S. vs Valletta
4 p.m. Sliema W. vs Floriana

Sunday, Dec. 15

Hibs Ground
12.45 p.m. Pietà H. vs Marsa
2.45 p.m. Hibernians vs Mosta

Tuesday, Dec. 17

Centenary Stadium
7 p.m. Birkirkara vs Marsaxlokk

Division One

Thursday, Dec. 12

Centenary Stadium
6 p.m. St Patrick vs Balzan Y.
8 p.m. Senglea A. vs Naxxar L.