Alexander Satariano and Shona Zammit take home top awards in MFA Awards 2025

Birkirkara midfielder Alexander Satariano and Swieqi United’s Shona Zammit won the Footballer of the Year of the men and women categories respectively during the Malta FA Awards 2025, held on Friday 23rd May.

The Foreign Player of the Year award was won by Birkirkara forward Maxuell Maia da Silva, while Floriana’s Darren Abdilla pipped Birkirkara’s Stefano De Angelis and Sliema Wanderers’ Paul Zammit to the Coach of the Year Award.

The Best Goal of the Year Award was won by Floriana’s Carlo Zammit Lonardelli for his long-range, left-footed strike against Gzira United in the 360Sports Malta Premier.

Sven Xerri’s impressive campaign for Hamrun Spartans, together with his performances with the Malta U21 National Team saw him named as the BOV Young Player of the Year, while Valletta duo Brandon Paiber and Zak Barbara took home the BOV Challenge League Best Player and Best Youth League Player (Men) respectively, capping off their remarkable title-winning season.

Birzebbuga St Peter’s Montekristo’s Julian Azzopardi and Victoria Hotspurs’ Ferdinando Apap were crowned the IZIBET National Amateur League 1 and 2 Best Players, respectively. Rabat Ajax won the Fair Play Award for this year, while the Football Social Responsibility Award was presented to Hamrun Spartans for the club’s work on Hamrun Hanin, featuring campaigns on education, disability, inclusivity and fights against discrimination.

The President’s Award was presented to former Malta international player Joe Cini, while the Gozitan Achievement Award was won by current Women’s National Team player and Sheffield United forward Maria Farrugia.

The highlight of this year’s event was the announcement of the Malta Best XI of All Time, a special award that was created as part of the Malta FA’s 125th Anniversary. For this award, the votes from fans, administrators, coaches, match officials, journalists, researchers, writers, and also presenters of sports programmes were taken into account. The public could submit their preference for each position, with over 800 public votes being received.

The final Best XI of All Time is the following:

Birkirkara and Malta WU17 midfielder Maia Gauci was named the Assikura Best Youth League Player (Women).

Antonio Briguglio has become the first referee to be inducted into the MFA Hall of Fame. He had started his career back in 1960 and spent over 16 years on the FIFA Panel, and officiated the local FA Trophy Final nine times, six of them consecutively. In 2022, he was awarded the 'Midalja għall-Qadi tar-Repubblika' for his significant service to Maltese sport.

The President’s Award was given to Joe Cini, who was a member of the first Malta National Team that faced Austria back in 1957. He has 18 caps to his name, and had also led Malta as captain against England in 1971. His career includes a stint at Queen’s Park Rangers, becoming the first Maltese player to play and score in English competitions.

The event, which was very well-attended, was held at DoubleTree by Hilton.

The full list of awards presented can be found below:

-Assikura Best Youth League Player (Women): Maia Gauci (Birkirkara)
-Best Youth League Player (Men): Zak Barbara (Valletta)
-BOV Young Player of the Year Award: Sven Xerri (Hamrun Spartans)
-IZIBET National Amateur League 1 Best Player: Julian Azzopardi (Birzebbuga St Peter’s Montekristo)
-IZIBET National Amateur League 2 Best Player: Ferdinando Apap (Victoria Hotspurs)
-Fair Play Award: Rabat Ajax Football Club
-The Gozitan Achievement Award: Maria Farrugia (Sheffield United)
-Foreign Player of the Year Award: Maxuell Maia da Silva (Birkirkara)
-President’s Award: Joe Cini
-The Football Social Responsibility Award: Hamrun Spartans Football Club
-BOV Challenge League Best Player: Brandon Paiber (Valletta)
-Coach of the Year Award: Darren Abdilla (Floriana)
-Hall of Fame: Antonio P. Briguglio
-Best Goal of the Year Award: Carlo Zammit Lonardelli (Floriana vs Gzira United)
-Footballer of the Year (Women): Shona Zammit (Swieqi United)
-Footballer of the Year (Men): Alexander Satariano (Birkirkara)

Top Scorers:
-360Sports Malta Premier – Maxuell Maia da Silva (Birkirkara): 22 goals
-BOV Challenge League – Sulahmana Mamadu Bah (Zurrieq): 20 goals
-IZIBET National Amateur League 1 – Joshua Ojelabi (Marsaskala): 20 goals
-IZIBET National Amateur League 2 – Timothy Thomas (Kalkara United): 17 goals
-Assikura Women’s League – Hailey Russell (San Gwann): 27 goals

Best XI of All Time:
Goalkeeper: David Cluett
Right-back: David Carabott
Centre-backs: John Holland and John Buttigieg
Left-back: Lolly Debattista
Holding midfielder: Joe Brincat
Central midfielder: Raymond Vella
Right winger: Gilbert Agius
Left winger: Michael Degiorgio
Forwards: Carmel Busuttil and Michael Mifsud