The BOV Challenge League 2023/24 will kick-off on Saturday September 16 with four matches – two at the Centenary Stadium and two at the Victor Tedesco Stadium.
Sixteen teams will be playing in the BOV Challenge League, compared to last year’s eighteen but there will be a number of changes following amendments to the regulations of the Malta FA following the approval by the Executive Board.
The number of non-homegrown players on the field of play will be of not more than three players, and not more than four on the match sheet for a particular game.
BOV Challenge League 2023/24
The Challenge League shall take the form of a league which shall be played in two phases, namely a First Phase which will be followed by a Second Phase, as follows:
(i) During the First Phase, the League shall be played by all the sixteen (16) clubs on a single round-robin basis.
(ii) At the end of the First Phase, the clubs classified in the first six (6) places in the League during the First Phase shall play against each other on a Double Round Robin basis known as Top Six. The clubs classified between the seventh (7th) and sixteenth (16th) place in the League at the end of the First Phase shall play against each other on a Single Round Robin basis known as Play-Out Round.
At the end of the Second Phase:
(i) the Club placed in the first (1st) position of the Top Six shall be declared the Champion of the Challenge League, and shall be promoted to the Premier League;
(ii) the Club classified second (2nd) in the Top Six shall be declared the Runner-Up of the Challenge League, and shall be promoted to the Premier League;
(iii) the Clubs placed in the bottom four places in the Play-Out Round shall be relegated to the following season’s National Amateur League.
BOV Challenge League 2024/25
As from 2024/25, the Challenge League will remain with sixteen clubs but will be played on a double round-robin basis.
At the end of the league the following shall apply:
(a) the Club placed in first position shall be declared the Champion of the Challenge League, and shall be promoted to the Premier League;
(b) the Club placed in second position shall be declared the Runner-Up of the Challenge League, and shall be promoted to the Premier League;
(c) the Clubs placed in fifteenth and sixteenth position shall be relegated to the following season’s National Amateur League;