Joseph Mbong and Yulya Carella crowned Footballers of the Year in 2026 Malta FA Awards

Hamrun Spartans FC forward Joseph Mbong and Mgarr United’s Yulya Carella won the Footballer of the Year of the male and female categories respectively during the 2026 Malta FA Awards Night, held on Tuesday 26th May.

Floriana FC duo Federico Nicolás Varela Escudero and Daniel Portela took home the Foreign Player of the Year award and the Coach of the Year award respectively, as the Greens secured their first YoHealth Malta Premier title since 2019-20.

The Best Goal of the Year Award was won by Xewkija Tigers FC’s Armando Melo Dos Santos Brenner, who won the award for his sensational halfway-line strike against Melita FC in the Meridianbet FA Trophy.

Jake Azzopardi was named BOV Young Player of the Year, in recognition for his impressive campaign, where he won the Jubilee Cup and the Meridianbet FA Trophy with Valletta FC, while also receiving a number of call-ups to the Malta National ‘A’ Team. Thomas Melillo, also of Valletta, was named the Men’s Youth League Best Player for his remarkable performances throughout the season where he was an integral part of the team that won the BOV Youth League A title.

Hibernians FC’s Nyorah Celeste was crowned the Assikura Women’s Youth League Best Player after a standout campaign that saw the Paolites win a double, securing the Assikura Women’s Youth League and Assikura Women’s Youth Knockout, scoring a total of 17 goals in the process.

Birzebbuga St Peter’s FC was named the BOV Challenge League Best Player, while Precious Uchechukwu Nwankwo (Attard FC) and Ryan Dalli (Kalkara United) won the BOV Amateur League 1 Best Player and the BOV Amateur League 2 Best Player, respectively.

The President’s Award was presented to Valletta defender Sava Radić after his heroic act in the Meridianbet FA Trophy Quarter-Final against Hamrun Spartans, where he realised that Mattias Garcia was motionless after a collision, and he acted quickly to clear his airway and get him to breathe again, making the crucial intervention before the medical teams could reach Garcia.

The Gozitan Achievement Award was presented to Swieqi United and Malta U21 National Team player Benjamin Hili.

This year’s Malta FA Hall of Fame inductee is Alfred Mizzi, known as ‘Il-Pampalun’. Mizzi is regarded as one of the best Maltese goalkeepers of his generation, and is widely known for his time at Hibernians FC, the club where he stayed at for 20 years. He won three league titles, three FA Trophies, and the Sons of Malta Cup with the Paolites, among other honours. He is widely known for holding a record of clean sheets that last a total of 1,055 minutes, all coming in competitive matches.

The Malta FA Awards Night was held at DoubleTree by Hilton.

The full list of awards presented can be found below:

-Assikura Women’s Youth League Best Player – Nyorah Celeste (Hibernians FC)
-Men’s Youth League Best Player – Thomas Melillo (Valletta FC)
-BOV Young Player of the Year – Jake Azzopardi (Valletta FC)
-BOV Challenge League Best Player – Paul Lapira (Birżebbuġa St Peter’s FC)
-BOV Amateur League 1 Best Player – Precious Uchechukwu Nwankwo (Attard FC)
-BOV Amateur League 2 Best Player – Ryan Dalli (Kalkara United FC)
-Fair Play Award – Swieqi United
-The Gozitan Achievement Award – Benjamin Hili (Swieqi United FC)
-Foreign Player of the Year – Federico Nicolás Varela Escudero (Floriana FC)
-The Football Social Responsibility Award – Thomas Debono
-President’s Award – Sava Radić (Valletta FC)
-Coach of the Year – Daniel Portela (Floriana FC)
-Hall of Fame – Freddie Mizzi ‘Il-Pampalun’
-Best Goal of the Year Award – Armando Melo Dos Santos Brenner (Xewkija Tigers FC) vs Melita FC
-Women’s Footballer of the Year – Yulya Carella (Mġarr United FC)
-Men’s Footballer of the Year – Joseph Mbong (Ħamrun Spartans FC)

Top Scorers:
-YoHealth Malta Premier – Joseph Mbong (Ħamrun Spartans FC): 14 goals
-BOV Challenge League – Arthur Felippe Stelmach Santana (Pietà Hotspurs FC) and Cristhyan Noto Souza (Mġarr United FC): 18 goals
-BOV National Amateur League 1 – Precious Uchechukwu Nwankwo (Attard FC): 32 goals
-BOV National Amateur League 2 – Ronaldinho Nathaniel Daley (Dingli Swallows FC): 20 goals
-Assikura Women’s League – Salamatu Abdulai (Swieqi United FC): 22 goals