by The sequences of play for the opening rounds of the Assikura Women’s League, the Assikura Women’s Youth League and the BNF National League have been drawn. While transfer news is promising an exciting season up ahead, continuity is expected to prevail in structure with a few new team names at youth league level. Malta’s coach, Manuela Tesse, has urged national team players and those fighting for a spot to be the leaders in lifting the domestic level.
All Eight Teams Return To AWL
The Assikura Women’s League is set for continuity this season as all eight teams that featured in the 2023/24 season will return and will also play under the same format. This means that all teams will play each other twice, before a split is enacted based on the tally of points following the first two rounds.
Following the split, the top four will play three rounds (total nine games) to determine the league champion. The bottom four will play a similar format in the ‘play-out group’ to determine the best among them. For those new to the league a detailed breakdown of the structure may be read here.
The televised draws have tossed up the sequence for the first two rounds of the campaign. The opening day for the Assikura Women’s League is the 22nd August. The exact fixture dates, times and venues are still under wraps.
Champions Birkirkara will open their defence and search for a record-breaking thirteenth title against San Gwann, who on their part will be seeking to build on last year’s tally and close the gap to the top four.
Based on last year’s campaign, the first weekend will serve up two blockbusters as last year’s third place team, Assikura Women’s Knockout runners-up as well as joint-record league title holders, Hibernians, welcome last year’s league runners up, Swieqi United. Valletta and Lija Athletic also threw interesting battles last season, with that one being another promising fixture to keep an eye on in the opening weekend. Mgarr United will open against Mtarfa, with both teams having different trajectories last season, but undoubtedly both seeking to have better showings this season in their own respects.
The league will continue to feature a number of Malta’s national team players, who Malta’s coach Manuela Tesse is expecting to continue lifting the level of the game in Malta, following their own learnings from competing in League B.
Looking ahead, since the team wrapped up their UEFA Women’s European Qualification matches, the Italian underlined the importance of the league season. Offering a holistic view of lifting women’s football in Malta on an international and domestic level, Tesse underlined the link between the two, “We’ve grown a lot in the past matches, including during the friendly games that we have had. Now we need to improve the intensity in the league. It is in the hands of the players. I know that the local league is amateur, but if the players think in a professional way, then we can truly do something.”
Assikura Women’s Youth League To Feature Eight Teams
The split of SKMM, as well as the introduction of Lija Athletic, have resulted in eight teams competing in the Assikura Women’s Youth League this season, which mirror those competing in the Assikura Women’s League. There will be no change in the format from last year, meaning that the teams will play each other four times to determine the league champion.
There is also no expectation that the matchdays will move from Tuesday and Wednesdays, with the start date set to the 20th of August. Once again, exact fixtures, with venues and times are still under wraps.
Last year’s champions Swieqi United will open the campaign against Lija Athletic, who will be new competitors in the league from last year. Mgarr United will return under their own namesake against last year’s runners-up Valletta, while Mtarfa will open their campaign against San Gwann. The last match in the opening week will be between Birkirkara and Hibernians who will seek to get the better of each other for the first three points of the season.
BNF Women’s National League
Meanwhile, the women’s U16 league is set to feature a new team in Melita, while S.K. Lija will feature as a new namesake, following the split of SKMM and a new joint force between Gozitan side S.K. Victoria Wanderers and Lija Athletic. SKMM’s disbanding will also feature the return of Mgarr United and Mtarfa as separate teams, pushing the number of teams competing up to nine.
The full sequence for the first round of matches is listed below, with the league set to start on Sunday the 25th of August. The league format will also remain unchanged from last season, meaning that the teams will be split following the first round into the top four and bottom five. Following the split the top four group will play three rounds, while the bottom group will play two rounds.
Like in the Assikura Women’s Youth League, Mtarfa will open their campaign against San Gwann. Meanwhile, SK Lija will debut against Mgarr United, while Valletta and Swieqi United will rekindle their battle on the opening matchday. Last year’s runners-up Birkirkara will open their search for the title against debutants Melita. Last season’s undefeated league champions, Hibernians, will sit out the first matchday.
Stay up to date by following The Sporting Fan on social media: Instagram ~ Facebook ~ X
