The 1988-89 Premier League was contested by nine teams. It was on the whole an eventful campaign, full of attractive football. The teams were well-balanced, resulting in keen encounters at both ends of the standings.
Sliema Wanderers deserved to win the championship but they never dominated the competition. The Blues had to wait until their very last game to make sure of the title.
At the end, Sliema emerged scratched and battle-worn but worthy winners. Many agreed that the Blues displayed the best blend of football that season.
The championship started with reigning champions Ħamrun Spartans, Valletta, Floriana and the Wanderers showing their ambitions to win the title.
Floriana started like a house on fire but soon hit a bad patch and were the first of the pretenders to drop out of the race.
The Spartans’ prospects of retaining the title for the third year in a row seemed quite strong at first but, as the season wore on, they began to falter. The team lost its consistency and when they were beaten by Sliema in the second round, they threw in the towel.
The interest evoked by the championship race was equalled and perhaps even surpassed by the struggle against relegation.
Birkirkara were already doomed by the end of the first round but Żurrieq, Hibs, Naxxar and Rabat were involved in the fight beyond the last kick of the competition.
Żurrieq were the first to save their status. Yet they had to wait until their penultimate match before they could breathe easier.
Naxxar, back in the Premier League after 39 years in the wilderness, started strongly.
By the end of the first round the Lions seemed to have collected enough points to beat the drop. Then, they lost rhythm and before they knew it, they were up to their necks in the relegation battle.
For Hibs and Rabat it was a continuous uphill struggle.
The battle raged on and on up to the end of the competition. Still nothing was solved because Hibs, Naxxar and Rabat all finished with the same number of points. There was nothing left to do to break the deadlock but to play a series of deciders.
Hibs could perhaps consider themselves unlucky to suffer the indignity of playing in the deciders. In their last league match, they led Ħamrun 2-1 when Stefan Sultana scored the equaliser seconds before the final whistle.
The Paolites rose to the challenge in the deciders. They beat Rabat in the first game to retain their Premier League status and send the Magpies into deep trouble.
The second decider was a dramatic encounter. Nothing but a victory sufficed for the Magpies in their game against Naxxar. They took the field as if their very lives depended on the final result.
For most of the game they penned Naxxar in their own area. They took a two-goal lead which they defended up to the last seven minutes .They seemed to be home and dry.
Then, the incredible happened. Naxxar came back from the grave to score three times for a dramatic 3-2 victory.
Rabat joined Birkirkara in Division One but one could not but feel sorry for them. Luck had deserted the Magpies when they needed it most.