2023–24 Maltese National Amateur League

Maltese National Amateur League
Season	2023–24
Dates	15 September 2023 – 23 April 2024
Champions	Mgarr United
Promoted	Mgarr United; Mtarfa
Relegated	Dingli Swallows; Ghaxaq; Kalkara United; Mdina Knights; Mqabba; Santa Venera Lightning; Siggiewi; St. George's; Ta' Xbiex
Matches played	239
Goals scored	908 (3.8 per match)
Top goalscorer	Kurt Borg; (33 Goals)
Biggest home win	San Ġwann 11-0 Ta' Xbiex; (28 January 2024)
Biggest away win	Ta' Xbiex 0-10 Mgarr United; (28 October 2023)
Highest scoring	Ta' Xbiex 1-10 Vittoriosa Stars; (20 January 2024); San Ġwann 11-0 Ta' Xbiex; (28 January 2024); Kirkop United 10-1 Ta' Xbiex; (7 April 2024)
Longest winning run	Mtarfa; (8 Games)
Longest unbeaten run	Mtarfa; (13 Games)
Longest winless run	Mdina Knights; (23 Games)
Longest losing run	Mdina Knights; (21 Games)
	← 2022–23 2024–25 → All statistics correct as of 23 April 2024.

The 2023–24 Maltese National Amateur League (referred to, for sponsorship reasons, as the IZIBet National Amateur League) occurs between August 2023 and April 2024. This is the fourth season since the Second and Third divisions were unified into the two-group Amateur League system. The Maltese National Amateur League is Malta's third-highest professional football division. The 2023-24 League winners will be promoted to the Maltese Challenge League.

Team changes[edit]

The following teams have changed divisions since the 2022–23 season:

Promoted from 2022–23 Maltese National Amateur League	Relegated from 2022–23 Maltese Challenge League
Senglea Athletic Msida Saint-Joseph Luqa St. Andrew's Zabbar St. Patrick	Marsaskala Mqabba Mtarfa Qrendi San Gwann Vittoriosa Stars

Teams[edit]

Twenty-Three teams competed in the 2023-24 League. These teams were split into two groups.

Birzebbuga St. Peter's

Santa Venera Lightning

Location of Maltese clubs played in Maltese Premier League

Team	Location	Manager
Birzebbuga St. Peter's	Birzebbuga	Edward Azzopardi
Dingli Swallows	Dingli	Nicolai Caruana
Gharghur	Gharghur	Kevin Borg Degiorgio
Ghaxaq	Ghaxaq	Spiridione Curmi
Kalkara United	Kalkara	Paul Bugeja
Kirkop United	Kirkop	Matthew Caruana
Marsaskala	Marsaskala	Brian Vella
Mdina Knights	Mdina	Roland Sollars
Mellieħa	Mellieħa	Warren Said
Mgarr United	Mgarr	Brian Spiteri
Mqabba	Mqabba	Vincent Carbonaro
Mtarfa	Mtarfa	George Magri
Pembroke Athleta	Pembroke	Jeffrey Mifsud
Qormi	Qormi	Lydon Fenech
Qrendi	Qrendi	Gotthard Conti
Rabat Ajax	Rabat	Paul Falzon
San Ġwann	San Ġwann	Xavier Saliba
Santa Venera Lightnings	Santa Venera	Marco Grech
Siggiewi	Siggiewi	David Mifsud
St. George's	Cospicua	Trevor Thomas
Ta' Xbiex	Ta' Xbiex	Mario Fenech
Vittoriosa Stars	Birgu	Dennis Apap
Xgħajra Tornados	Xghajra	Keith Darmanin

Managerial changes[edit]

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Mellieha	Antoine Camilleri	Sacked	6 October 2023	9th (Group A)	Roger Walker and Ivan Mandic (Caretakers)	6 October 2023
Siġġiewi	Alexander Delia	Sacked	19 November 2023	11th (Group A)	David Mifsud	19 November 2023
Mellieha	Roger Walker and Ivan Mandic	End of Caretakers	3 January 2024	9th (Group A)	Warren Said	3 January 2024
Mġarr United	Jason Camenzuli	Sacked	4 February 2024	2nd (Group B)	Brian Spiteri	5 February 2024

Venues[edit]

Pembroke	Mosta	San Pawl il-Baħar	Ta' Qali	Hamrun
Luxol Stadium	Charles Abela Stadium	Sirens Stadium	Centenary Stadium	Victor Tedesco Stadium
Capacity: 600	Capacity: 700	Capacity: 800	Capacity: 3,000	Capacity: 1,962

League stage[edit]

Group A[edit]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Mtarfa (P)	22	17	4	1	71	13	+58	55	Promotion to the 2024–25 Maltese Challenge League and Championship play-offs
2	Birzebbuga St. Peter's	22	15	4	3	67	26	+41	49
3	Qrendi	22	13	2	7	55	28	+27	41
4	Xgħajra Tornados	22	11	4	7	33	30	+3	37
5	Mellieħa	22	11	4	7	50	29	+21	37
6	Rabat Ajax^[a]	22	10	4	8	31	29	+2	34
7	Mqabba^[a] (R)	22	11	1	10	33	32	+1	34	Qualification for the relegation play-offs
8	Pembroke Athleta	22	9	3	10	50	51	−1	30	Qualification for the relegation play-offs
9	Santa Venera Lightning (R)	22	7	4	11	32	47	−15	25	Relegation to the 2024–25 Maltese National Amateur League 2
10	Siggiewi (R)	22	5	3	14	23	47	−24	18
11	Kalkara United (R)	22	4	4	14	30	73	−43	16
12	Mdina Knights (R)	22	0	1	21	6	75	−69	1

Updated to match(es) played on 14 April 2024. Source: [1]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Play-offs (only if needed to decide champions, relegation, or teams for relegation play-offs).
(P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

^ ^a ^b Rabat Ajax and Mqabba finished equal on points, A play-off decider determines the seventh place and Qualification for the relegation play-offs

Group A Results[edit]

Home \ Away	BRZ	KLK	MDI	MLĦ	MQA	MTF	PBK	QRE	RBT	SVL	SIG	XJR
Birzebbuga St. Peter's	—	7–1	6–0	3–3	3–0	0–3	3–1	1–0	3–1	5–1	2–0	2–1
Kalkara United	1–1	—	3–0	0–9	0–1	2–5	1–5	0–4	2–4	2–2	1–4	0–0
Mdina Knights	0–5	0–2	—	0–5	1–3	0–4	1–6	1–3	0–2	0–4	0–3	1–1
Mellieħa	3–2	1–2	2–0	—	0–3	0–0	2–0	2–1	1–3	2–2	4–0	0–1
Mqabba	1–4	4–2	3–1	0–3	—	0–3	1–3	0–3	2–0	1–0	2–0	1–2
Mtarfa	1–1	7–0	7–0	2–1	2–0	—	1–1	2–4	4–0	4–0	4–1	3–0
Pembroke Athleta	2–7	8–3	2–0	1–3	1–1	1–8	—	4–5	0–0	0–3	4–1	2–1
Qrendi	4–1	3–0	4–1	1–3	0–3	0–1	5–3	—	0–0	6–0	3–0	1–2
Rabat Ajax	1–2	2–4	2–0	2–1	0–3	1–1	2–1	0–0	—	4–0	2–0	1–0
Santa Venera Lightning	1–3	2–1	2–0	3–3	1–0	0–3	1–2	2–1	3–1	—	0–1	2–3
Siggiewi	1–1	3–2	2–0	1–2	1–3	0–4	0–3	1–4	0–2	1–1	—	1–1
Xgħajra Tornados	0–5	1–1	4–0	2–0	2–1	1–2	2–0	1–3	2–1	4–2	2–1	—

Updated to match(es) played on 14 April 2024. Source: [2]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Group B[edit]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Mgarr United (C)	20	14	4	2	68	18	+50	46	Promotion to the 2024–25 Maltese Challenge League and Championship play-offs
2	Qormi	20	11	4	5	47	31	+16	37
3	Marsaskala	20	12	1	7	39	29	+10	37
4	San Ġwann	20	10	5	5	52	29	+23	35
5	Gharghur	20	10	4	6	34	25	+9	34
6	Kirkop United	20	10	2	8	52	27	+25	32
7	St. George's (R)	20	9	4	7	47	35	+12	31	Qualification for the relegation play-offs
8	Vittoriosa Stars	20	9	5	6	50	27	+23	29^[a]	Qualification for the relegation play-offs
9	Ghaxaq (R)	20	4	2	14	35	63	−28	14	Relegation to the 2024–25 Maltese National Amateur League 2
10	Dingli Swallows (R)	20	3	1	16	18	67	−49	10
11	Ta' Xbiex (R)	20	2	0	18	23	113	−90	6

Updated to match(es) played on 20 April 2024. Source: [3]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Play-offs (only if needed to decide champions, relegation, or teams for relegation play-offs).
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

^ Vittoriosa Stars were docked three points.^[1]

Group B Results[edit]

Home \ Away	DIN	GHR	GHX	KRK	MRK	MGR	QOR	SGN	STG	XBX	VIT
Dingli Swallows	—	0–4	0–3	0–1	2–1	0–4	1–4	1–2	2–1	1–2	1–5
Gharghur	0–1	—	2–1	0–2	1–0	2–2	3–0	1–5	1–2	4–0	0–0
Ghaxaq	1–0	0–4	—	2–3	1–3	1–4	1–4	1–6	1–5	5–1	2–2
Kirkop United	9–1	5–0	1–0	—	0–2	0–1	3–3	0–1	1–3	10–1	0–2
Marsaskala	3–2	1–0	4–3	0–2	—	0–1	5–2	0–1	3–2	4–1	0–3
Mgarr United	6–0	0–0	10–0	2–1	5–3	—	2–2	3–1	1–0	9–0	2–0
Qormi	3–0	1–1	3–0	2–1	0–1	1–2	—	1–1	5–2	4–1	1–0
San Ġwann	0–0	2–3	3–2	3–3	1–2	2–0	3–1	—	1–4	11–0	1–1
St. George's	6–1	1–2	2–2	2–1	0–2	1–1	2–5	1–1	—	6–3	1–0
Ta' Xbiex	4–6	0–3	2–8	1–7	1–4	0–10	1–2	1–5	0–4	—	1–10
Vittoriosa Stars	7–0	3–2	4–1	1–2	1–1	4–3	1–2	4–2	2–2	0–3^[a]	—

Updated to match(es) played on 14 April 2024. Source: [4]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:

^ Ta' Xbiex were awarded a 3–0 win after the Malta Football Association's Protests Board upheld their protest. Originally, the match ended in a 5–1 to Vittoriosa Stars.

Group A Sixth Place tie-breaker[edit]

With both Mqabba and Rabat Ajax level on 34 points, a play-off match was conducted to the looser qualify for the Relegation Play-offs

18 April 2024	Rabat Ajax	2–1	Mqabba	Ħamrun
20:00 CEST	Andy Paul Camilleri 29' Immy Micallef 72' (pen)		Nikolai Farrugia Cross 60' Ishmael Galea 90+5'	Stadium: Victor Tedesco Stadium Referee: Slawomir Olucha

Championship final[edit]

20 April 2024	Mtarfa	0–2	Mgarr United	Ta' Qali
16:00 CEST	Luca Bugeja 15' Jeremy Busuttil 23' Andrea Azzopardi 33' Gabriel Nazareno Mannino 90+7'		Nicholas Schembri 19' Julian Camilleri 21' Jurgen Suda 45+1' (pen), 45+1' Jacob Chircop St John 84' Saint Ebisindor Christian 90+4'	Stadium: Centenary Stadium Referee: Vladimir Rizoski

Relegation play-offs[edit]

23 April 2024	St. George's	0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–5 p)	Pembroke Athleta	Ta' Qali
20:45 CEST	Erson Schembri 14' Irvin Abela 40' Loumar Cutajar 62' Owen Galea 109'		Kyle Sciberras Balbi 19' Weverton Gomes 41' Jordan Busuttil 73'	Stadium: Centenary Stadium Referee: Daniel Casha
	Penalties
	Ivan Bojovic Erson Schembri Neil Buttigieg Adrian Caruana Dylan Grima		Weverton Gomes Kyle Sciberras Balbi Mouied Algazali Nigel Zahra Jordan Vella

23 April 2024	Mqabba	1–2	Vittoriosa Stars	Hamrun
19:30 CEST	Daniel Scerri 60' Andrei Spiteri 71' Leighton Grech 77' Andres Tenorio Viveros 70' Shaban Chikh Ali 90+4'		Gabriel Sant 51' Joseph Jojo Ogunnupe 52', 90+3' (pen)	Stadium: Victor Tedesco Stadium Referee: Joseph Scerri

Season statistics[edit]

Scoring[edit]

Top scorers[edit]

As of 23 April 2024^[2]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Kurt Borg	Mtarfa	33
2	Samuel Saldanha	Birżebbuġa St. Peter's	30
3	Weverton Gomes Souza	Pembroke Athleta	28
4	Saint Ebisindor Christian	Mgarr United	23
5	Brandon Bray	Qrendi	21
6	Richmond Baratuipre Hanson	Santa Venera Lightnings	19
7	Luka Mijic	Mellieha	17
8	Ryan Dalli	Kirkop United	16
8	Joseph Jojo Ogunnupe	Vittoriosa Stars	16
10	Jayden Borg	Qormi	14
11	Nezar Fawzi Abouhaisa	San Gwann	13
12	Jurgen Suda	Mgarr United	12
12	Gianfranco Micallef	Mtarfa	12

Hat-tricks[edit]

Player	For	Against	Result	Group	Stadium	Date
Samuel Saldanha	Birżebbuġa St. Peter's	Pembroke Athleta	7–2 (A)	A	Sirens Stadium, San Pawl il-Baħar	24 September 2023
Weverton Gomes	Pembroke Athleta	Mdina Knights	6–1 (A)		Charles Abela Memorial Stadium, Mosta	7 October 2023
Andres Tenorio Viveros	Mqabba	Kalkara United	4–2 (H)		Sirens Stadium, San Pawl il-Baħar	7 October 2023
Saint Ebisindor Christian⁶	Mgarr United	Ghaxaq	10–0 (H)	B	Centenary Stadium, Ta' Qali	20 October 2023
Saint Ebisindor Christian⁵	Mgarr United	Ta' Xbiex	10–0 (A)	B	Sirens Stadium, San Pawl il-Baħar	28 October 2023
Samuel Saldanha	Birżebbuġa St. Peter's	Santa Venera Lightnings	5–1 (A)	A		29 October 2023
Morientes Muscat	St. George's	Ghaxaq	5–1 (A)	B		12 November 2023
Deison Arvey Cuero	Siggiewi	Mdina Knights	3–0 (A)	A		25 November 2023
Aaron Agius	Ghaxaq	Ta' Xbiex	8–2 (A)	B		26 November 2023
Brandon Bray⁴	Qrendi	Birżebbuġa St. Peter's	4–1 (H)	A		10 December 2023
Kurt Borg	Mtarfa	Mdina Knights	7–0 (H)		Centenary Stadium, Ta' Qali	10 December 2023
Kurt Borg⁴		Pembroke Athleta	8-1 (A)		Sirens Stadium, San Pawl il-Baħar	16 December 2023
Gianfranco Micallef		Pembroke Athleta	8-1 (A)		Sirens Stadium, San Pawl il-Baħar	16 December 2023
Ryan Dalli⁴	Kirkop United	Ta' Xbiex	7–1 (A)	B	Centenary Stadium, Ta' Qali	5 January 2024
Brandon Bray⁴	Qrendi	Pembroke Athleta	5–3 (H)	A	Victor Tedesco Stadium, Hamrun	8 January 2024
Weverton Gomes	Pembroke Athleta	Qrendi	3–5 (A)	A	Victor Tedesco Stadium, Hamrun	8 January 2024
Giovanni Galea	Kirkop United	Dingli Swallows	9–1 (H)	B	Charles Abela Memorial Stadium, Mosta	14 January 2024
Ryan Dalli	Kirkop United	Dingli Swallows	9–1 (H)		Charles Abela Memorial Stadium, Mosta	14 January 2024
Nezar Fawzi Abouhaisa	San Ġwann	Ghaxaq	6–1 (A)		Centenary Stadium, Ta' Qali	19 January 2024
Jayden Borg	Qormi	Dingli Swallows	4–1 (A)		Charles Abela Memorial Stadium, Mosta	20 January 2024
Shaban Chikh Ali⁴	Vittoriosa Stars	Ta' Xbiex	10–1 (A)		Sirens Stadium, San Pawl il-Baħar	20 January 2024
Samuel Saldanha	Birżebbuġa St. Peter's	Mdina Knights	5–0 (A)	A	Luxol Stadium, Pembroke	21 January 2024
Andre Joe Cutajar⁴	San Ġwann	Ta' Xbiex	11–0 (A)	B	Sirens Stadium, San Pawl il-Baħar	28 January 2024
Syzmon Grzegorz Plocica
Nezar Fawzi Abouhaisa
Brandon Bray	Qrendi	Siggiewi	4–1 (A)	A	Luxol Stadium, Pembroke	4 February 2024
Samuel Saldanha	Birżebbuġa St. Peter's	Kalkara United	7–1 (H)		Sirens Stadium, San Pawl il-Baħar	10 February 2024
Weverton Gomes⁵	Pembroke Athleta	Kalkara United	8–3 (H)		Charles Abela Memorial Stadium, Mosta	24 February 2024
Richmond Baratuipre Hanson	Santa Venera Lightnings	Mdina Knights	4–0 (A)		Sirens Stadium, San Pawl il-Baħar	24 February 2024
Luka Mijic	Mellieħa	Kalkara United	9–0 (A)			3 March 2024
Weverton Gomes	Pembroke Athleta	Siggiewi	4–1 (H)			9 March 2024
Timothy John Thomas	St. George's	Ta' Xbiex	6–3 (H)	B		10 March 2024
Jurgen Gerada	Ghaxaq	Dingli Swallows	3–0 (A)			10 March 2024
Shamison Farrugia	Dingli Swallows	Ta' Xbiex	6–4 (A)			16 March 2024
Brandon Bray	Qrendi	Pembroke Athleta	5–4 (A)	A	Luxol Stadium, Pembroke	6 April 2024
Ryan Dalli	Kirkop United	Ta' Xbiex	10–1 (H)	B	Charles Abela Memorial Stadium, Mosta	6 April 2024
Kurt Borg⁴	Mtarfa	Kalkara United	7–0 (H)	A	Centenary Stadium, Ta' Qali	14 April 2024

Notes

⁴ Player scored 4 goalss
⁵ Player scored 5 goalss
⁶ Player scored 6 goals

Clean sheets[edit]

As of 20 April 2024

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Dunstan Zarb	Mtarfa	11
1	Jacob Chircop St John	Mgarr	11
3	Dean Sciberras	Rabat Ajax	9
4	Andrew Joseph Zammit	Gharghur	8
5	James Abela	Mqabba	7
5	Christian Cassar	Qrendi	7
7	Mario Bartolo	Birzebbuga St. Peter's	6
8	Clayton Rapa	Kirkop United	5
8	Anthony Curmi	Mellieha	5
10	Clyde Aquilina	Santa Venera Lightning	4
10	Jonathan Grech	Vittoriosa Stars	4

Discipline[edit]

Player[edit]

Most yellow cards: 10
- Domenico Marsala (Dingli Swallows)
Most red cards: 2
- Nicholas Formosa (Gharghur)
- Clive Fenech (Ghaxaq)
- Neil Borg (Mellieħa)
- Gianluca Sultana (St. George's)
- Theodoric Catania (Santa Venera Lightning)
- Miguel Agius (Ta' Xbiex)
- Liam Ciantar (Vittoriosa Stars)

Club[edit]

Most yellow cards: 53
- St. George's
Most red cards: 5
- Qormi
- Ta' Xbiex

Awards[edit]

Round	Manager of the First Round		Player of the First Round
Round	Manager	Club	Player	Club
First Round	Lydon Fenech	Qormi	Kurt Borg	Mtarfa

References[edit]

^ "Decision On Vittoriosa Stars". mfa.com.mt/. Maltese National Amateur League. 5 September 2023. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
^ "Tables & Statistics". maltafootball.com. 20 September 2020.

External links[edit]

Official website Archived 2021-05-06 at the Wayback Machine

[table_note_RBT0.17987238484429-1] Rabat Ajax and Mqabba finished equal on points, A play-off decider determines the seventh place and Qualification for the relegation play-offs

[table_hth_VIT0.27194653370974-3] Vittoriosa Stars were docked three points.^[1]

[table_note_1_VIT_XBX0.81379099647225-4] Ta' Xbiex were awarded a 3–0 win after the Malta Football Association's Protests Board upheld their protest. Originally, the match ended in a 5–1 to Vittoriosa Stars.

[2] "Decision On Vittoriosa Stars". mfa.com.mt/. Maltese National Amateur League. 5 September 2023. Retrieved 5 September 2023.

[5] "Tables & Statistics". maltafootball.com. 20 September 2020.

[a]

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v t e Maltese National Amateur League seasons
Seasons	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
Clubs	Attard Birżebbuġa St. Peter's Dingli Swallows Għargħur Għaxaq Kalkara Kirkop United Luqa St. Andrew's Marsaskala Mdina Knights Mellieħa Mġarr United Msida St. Joseph Mtarfa Siġġiewi St. Venera Ta' Xbiex Xgħajra Tornadoes Żurrieq

v t e 2023–24 in Maltese football
« 2022–23
Domestic leagues	Premier League Challenge League National Amateur League
Domestic cups	FA Trophy Super Cup
European competitions	Champions League Europa Conference League
List of Maltese football transfers 2023–24