The 2015/16 BOV Premier League championship, won by Valletta on the penultimate day of the season after a tight duel with rivals Hibernians, lured more spectators to the stadia compared to the previous campaign when the Paolites walked away with the title.

A total of 104,025 fans watched games from the top flight last season, a two per cent rise on the previous term when the total attendance reached 101,027.

The attendance figures for the 2015/16 domestic season were given by Bjorn Vassallo, the Malta FA general secretary, before the draws of the 2016/17 BOV Division One, Two and Three league fixtures earlier this week.

The first division league registered the biggest increase with an overall turn-out of 25,200 spectators compared with 17,640 in 2014/15… a rise of 32 per cent.

The neck-and-neck title race between eventual champions Gżira United and traditional crowd-pullers Ħamrun Spartans, who were promoted to the Premier League as runners-up, was surely a key factor behind the upsurge in Division One attendances last season.

The only section that showed a decline in attendances was the second division with a total of 12,961 spectators, a drop of 12.5 per cent from the previous year (15,728).

More encouraging results were seen in the third division as attendances were up by 11.5 per cent – 6,641 spectators for all games compared to 5,580 in 2014/15.

Put together, attendances increased by six per cent overall.

The 2015/16 crowd figures made pleasant reading for Vassallo who hailed the brave decision taken by the MFA council members and delegates who, at the association’s Extraordinary General Meeting on Tuesday, voted to abolish the system whereby the points of Premier League teams are halved at the end of the opening two rounds.

Vassallo called on football administrators not to fear change.

“Don’t be afraid of challenges,” Vassallo said.

“We should strive to strengthen the development of football through a more open-minded approach to reforms and changes which will lead to an increase in the number of clubs in the Premier League.”

On Tuesday, the MFA EGM approved a proposal to augment the number of clubs in the Premier League from 12 to 14 from season 2017/18 but the Exco’s recommendation to introduce Europa League plays-offs and relegation play-outs was repelled by the Premier Division Standing Committee (PDSC).

The aim of the play-offs was to ensure that teams in mid-table positions and those outside the relegation zone would still have a lot to play for in the final weeks of the season but the representatives of top-flight clubs deemed otherwise.

“When the European Championship was expanded from 16 to 24 nations, a lot of people reacted with scepticism as this was a new idea but it has had a very positive impact judging by the achievements of a host of teams who are not among the traditional heavyweights,” Vassallo said in reference to the exploits of Wales, who reached the semi-finals of Euro 2016, and Iceland who lost to France in the quarter-finals.

“The same applies to our championship. An expanded league will give emerging clubs the opportunity to establish themselves and up their technical abilities.”

The MFA general secretary said statistics show that the decision to allow Premier League clubs to field up to seven foreigners didn’t hinder the progress of local players.

“The majority of the players used by the 12 Premier League clubs were Maltese and therefore it appears that the rise in foreigners only had a minor impact on the inclusion and performance of homegrown players,” Vassallo said.

“In the future, the discussion should focus on the quota of players from non-EU countries rather than the number of foreigners registered with local clubs.”

While appealing to the local sporting public to support their clubs throughout the season, Vassallo said the performances and results of the Maltese teams in Euro competitions vindicate their efforts to improve their standards.

“The results of Maltese clubs in this year’s UEFA competitions attest to the commitment and technical level of our teams,” Vassallo said.

“Two clubs (Valletta and Birkirkara) have progressed to the next round while Balzan suffered a narrow aggregate defeat but won the away game.”

Valletta have set up a tie against Red Star Belgrade after progressing to the second qualifying round of the Champions League on away goals following a 2-2 aggregate draw with B36 Torshavn, of Faroe Islands.

Birkirkara also secured a place in the second qualifying round of the Europa League for the second year running after beating Bosnia’s Siroki Brijeg 3-1 on aggregate while Balzan narrowly missed out on qualification after going down 3-2 on aggregate to Neftchi Baku, from Azerbaijan.

In Thursday’s away leg, striker Lydon Micallef stole the limelight with two clinical goals but Paul Fenech’s missed penalty in the second half proved costly for Balzan who would have qualified had they beaten Neftchi 3-1 on the night.

Of the four Maltese teams in this season’s European competitions, only Hibernians failed to cut a good figure as they were on the receiving end of a 6-0 aggregate defeat to Slovakian side Spartak Trnava.

“I believe we have potential but we can only exploit it to the full if our top teams embark on a more professional system,” Vassallo added.

“Our part-time approach will get us nowhere as most of our players have two jobs, training sessions are held late in the afternoon and some senior teams still train in half-pitches… if these flaws are addressed and the players are guaranteed a monthly wage, then football will give us back a lot more than it has in the 116 years since the foundation of the MFA.

“Iceland produces players who move to better and professional leagues where their level of confidence and technical ability grow.

“This also has a very positive effect on the national team.

“At domestic level, Iceland are on a par with us but they have more players in foreign leagues.”

Commitment

Vassallo reaffirmed the MFA’s drive to raise standards at all levels.

“Our commitment remains intact... we want to keep upgrading the facilities, strengthen coaching education and invest in grassroots and youth football projects,” Vassallo said.

“The first UEFA Pro Course began in 2015 and a new coach education pathway was presented by the MFA Technical Centre to the association’s Exco in early 2016.”

Vassallo is hopeful that Maltese football is about to undergo a culture change which is imperative for the country’s talented youngsters to flourish.

“We need to be patient and leave the experts in this field do their job,” Vassallo said.

“We are in for a culture change, football is a professional career and there is talent in Malta, but success entails sacrifice, commitment and dedication. If our youngsters do not commit themselves to all this, we might as well forget about footballing dreams and stick to amateurism.”