Maltese Football League

Football in Malta is run by the Malta Football Association and was introduced to the Maltese Islands during British rule in the mid-19th century. The sport at the time was new to England, and was used as a means of entertainment for the soldiers stationed in Malta at the various barracks around Malta at the time. In 1863 a football association was formed which governed rules and regulations for this quickly changing sport, which was still in amateur competition stage and played in an un-scheduled format until 1909 when a league format was introduced.

The association runs the national football team, as well as administering the Maltese Football League and the Maltese Cup for club sides.

The first Maltese championship in the 1909-1910 season was won by Floriana. The league regularly changed in numbers as teams changed administrators, dropped out of the league, and new teams re-entered. Up until the season of 1939-1940 this first league remained the only league in Maltese football, and was called the Maltese division one. Sliema Wanderers and Floriana dominated, winning all but four championships up to 1940. The Maltese football league trophy was implemented in the 1935 season which Sliema Wanderers and Floriana continued to dominate up to the Second World War between them.

Unfortunately due to the Second World War, the league had to break-off since many Maltese players were drafted in to the defence of the island during the early 1940s when the Maltese archipelago were heavily involved in the North Africa conflict due to its strategic position in the Mediterranean sea.