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. Normal league activity resumed in the 1945, after the end of the war with the league format of four teams joining including
Sliema Wanderers and
Floriana. The Maltese football association league format soon changed however, to a multiple tier format as from the 1946 season. The passing of the North Africa conflict saw the Maltese football associations largest interest with fifteen clubs registering to join the
Maltese FA in the 1940s, doubling the size of the number of registered clubs within ten years. Many of today's familiar names joined the league including
Valletta and
Hibernians. Interest in the Maltese league continued throughout the 1950s, 1960's and 1970s with fifteen more clubs joining the league including
Birkirkara FC in 1950 . It was however
Hibernians and
Valletta who put together a good challenge to
Sliema Wanderers and
Floriana, winning eight championships between them, and three league trophies. The 1980s saw the monopolization of
Sliema Wanderers and
Floriana finally come to an end with four clubs taking most of the honours in this decade. The inauguration of the new national stadium,
Ta' Qali could have been a reason for this, with a large re-structuring of the Maltese league program to coincide with
Maltese football's new impressive home.
Hibernians F.C. went on to win the Maltese league championship in 1981 and 1982,
Rabat Ajax (formed 1930) won in 1985, and 1986, however the real surprise came from one of Malta's oldest clubs,
Ħamrun Spartans who won the league three times in 1983, 1987 and 1988, and won a five league trophies.
Floriana did win the league trophy in 1981, but were relegated to
Malta's second league in the 1985 season. The last decades of the century saw the league format expand to its fourth tier, now with fifty clubs registered in the league. A diverse range of clubs now sharing the trophies in the Maltese league's top tier to contribute to an entertaining and high quality semi-professional football league.
Valletta enjoyed a golden age in the 1990s winning five championships and four league cups. A re-juvenated
Floriana won the championship in 1993, as well as two league cups, and
Sliema Wanderers,
Ħamrun Spartans and
Hibernians also picked up notable honours. 1995 also saw the start of the
Maltese Women's League, initially at only 5-a-side, though rapidly expanding to full 11-a-side in the start of the millennium. A second division was also briefly active, though the small number of teams involved meant that it was not maintained. It would return for several seasons across 2008-17, however.
Hibernians F.C. were the main force in the early days of the league, winning 8 titles in a row from 1998 onwards. At present there are a number of clubs with the resources and capability of winning the men's championship trophy, which is now called the Maltese Premier League trophy.
Birkirkara FC are the notable new force in the Maltese league, after winning their first championship in the year 2000, and the team from Malta's largest town has regularly picked up honours since propelling itself into the history books. Other teams to have made relative impact were
Żurrieq in the 1980s and
Valletta in the late 1990s.
Birkirkara FC have also made a name for themselves in the women's league, winning a number of titles and wresting dominance from
Hibernians F.C. However, by the 2019/20 season,
Hibernians F.C. were spent and quickly fell out of the title races, leaving
Birkirkara FC unbeaten champions across the next 4 seasons. ==Early league format==