As the Malta FA prepare to honour the outstanding performers of season 2013/14, Bjorn Vassallo, the CEO of local football’s governing body, has announced that attendances for domestic competitions rose by 10 per cent compared with the previous year.
Addressing a news conference about the 2014 MFA Awards, to be held on Friday at the National Stadium, Vassallo said the turnout for Premier League games increased by nine per cent on 2012/13.
“In all competitions, namely the BOV leagues across four divisions and the U*Bet FA Trophy, we have registered an increase in attendances of 10 per cent,” Vassallo said.
“In the Premier League alone, the figures show an increase of nine per cent.
“This is a positive statistic which dispels widespread suggestions that attendances in local football dropped drastically last season.”
Vassallo said Friday’s MFA Awards will bring the curtains down on an eventful season.
“The MFA Awards is an important event for all those who have Maltese football at heart,” Vassallo remarked.
“Last season was shorter than usual as we had to finish early due to the UEFA U-17 Championship (held in Malta last month).
“As always, our football offered controversy, a lot of emotions, spectacular goals and enhanced choreo-graphy from the fans as there were many derby games.”
“For the first time in many a year, we had the chance to give our players an extended break,” Vassallo added.
“The players had, more or less, six weeks off but obviously this has its pros and cons. After a six-week pause, the national side suffered an unexpected defeat to a team (Gib-raltar) not at our level.”
While the BOV Premier League enjoyed an enthralling finale with the title, won by Valletta, and relegation issues decided on the last day of the season, Vassallo noted that there was also an upsurge in the level of interest for the third division championship.
Premier format
Looking ahead to 2014/15, Vassallo said the Premier League will be played over three rounds with points halved after the first two.
It will end with a relegation/promotion play-off between the third-bottom team in the Premier and the third-placed side in Division One.
Chris Bonett, the MFA vice-president and chairman of the organising committee of the MFA Awards, said Friday’s event will be on the same lines as that of last year.
“The format of the awards will be the same as last year,” Dr Bonett said.
“In 2013, we decided to enhance the quality of the awards evening with the backing of PBS. The only difference this time is that we are playing at home as the MFA Awards are being held at the National Stadium, beneath the South Stand.”
Dr Bonett reminded that the MFA Awards is now the only event of its kind after talks between the association and the organisers of the other contests, namely the Malta Football Awards and Replay Gala Night, led to an agreement to merge the three events into one nationwide celebration.
The coaches and captains of clubs, national coaches and a pool of journalists were eligible to vote for the MFA Awards.
As the voting closed yesterday, the finalists – three in every category bar the MFA Footballer of the Year award which will have five candidates – will be announced on Monday.
Birkirkara midfielder Paul Fenech was the MFA Footballer of the Year last season.
Dr Bonett said that the two-hour show, directed by Peter Busuttil, will centre around two main themes... Brazil, which is currently hosting the World Cup, and grassroots.
The members of the Malta U-17 squad who represented the country at the UEFA Championship last month, will present awards to the winners.
A new trophy will be handed out to the best player of the Gozo FA league while the draws of the 2014/15 BOV Premier League will also be made during Friday’s event which will be shown live on TVM2.
Peter Cossai, head of sports at PBS, said that the winner of the goal of the year accolade will be decided by public vote.
The final six-goal shortlist was selected by a panel of journalists.