Birkirkara’s bid to defend their Premier League title faces a daunting start as the champions will meet Sliema Wanderers, Floriana, Hibernians and Valletta in their opening four matches of the new season.
The draw for the 2010/11 BOV Premier League, made yesterday at the Centenary Hall, threw up a string of intriguing matches on the opening weekend (September 11-13), most notably the clash between Sliema Wanderers and Birkirkara and the derby between Qormi and Ħamrun Spartans.
Valletta will kick off their quest to regain the Premier League crown with a match against Vittoriosa Stars who have bounced straight back into the upper echelon of Maltese football after a match-fixing scandal forced the Cottonera outfit to forfeit their top-flight status last season.
Marsaxlokk, who suffered the same fate as Vittoriosa Stars last season, are also back among the big boys after winning the Division One league in emphatic fashion.
The southerners start against Tarxien Rainbows, the surprise team of last season.
The remaining first-day fixture is a clash between Floriana and Hibs, two teams seeking redemption for their dismal league campaign last season.
While the Citizens should not be troubled by Vittoriosa in their opener, on paper at least, their second fixture promises to be tougher as they will be up against Hibs.
The encounter with the Paolites marks the start of a series of difficult fixtures for Valletta who then take on Qormi, Birkirkara, Tarxien Rainbows, Marsaxlokk, Sliema Wanderers and Ħamrun Spartans before ending their first round commitments with a clash against neighbouring adversaries Floriana.
The first derby between Hibs and Tarxien Rainbows, who earned the plaudits last season after finishing above their more illustrious rivals in fifth place, is scheduled for the eighth day.
The format of the BOV Premier League is unchanged from previous seasons.
After the first two rounds, the teams will be split into two groups with the top six going into the Championship Pool and the bottom four descending into the Relegation Pool. The teams will start the second phase with half the points they earned in the previous two rounds.
Joe Mifsud, the Malta FA president, reminded that, from this season, Premier League teams can field up to four foreign players (those who don’t meet the homegrown criteria set by the MFA).
For much of the past two decades, Premier League clubs could make use of up to three foreigners at the same time.
This being the sixth year of BOV’s sponsorship agreement with the Malta FA, Charles Borg, chief officer financial markets and investments at BOV, reiterated the reasons that prompted BOV to associate itself with the most popular sport on the islands.
“Looking back on our association with the Malta FA, it was six years ago that we initiated discussions about this sponsorship,” Borg said before yesterday’s draws.
“When we were evaluating this proposal, we felt a sense of enthusiasm and responsibility about supporting the biggest sport in the country.
“We were keen to contribute to the development of sport and football has a significant role in our society.
“We negotiated an attractive sponsorship package which is now in its sixth year.”