Frank Temile stole the show at last night's Melita Digital Malta Football Awards after becoming the first player in the relatively short history of this annual event to win three awards.

The Valletta FC starlet crowned an excellent first season in senior football by capturing three awards as the most promising youngster, best forward and best foreigner in the 2007-08 Premier League.

Temile's achievement becomes all the more remarkable when one considers his tender age, 17, and the fact that he made his debut for the Citizens in October, two months after the start of the league campaign.

Valletta, the 2007-08 Premier League champions, produced no fewer than six award winners yesterday.

Apart from Temile, Paul Zammit was named best coach, Andrew Hogg best goalkeeper and Gilbert Agius best Maltese player.

Agius's nomination, arguably the most prestigious title in these awards, will have alleviated his disappointment at missing out on the best midfielder accolade which went to Marsaxlokk's Kevin Sammut. The latter was also among the three finalists in the best Maltese player category.

Ronnie Hartvig was the only player of FA Trophy winners Birkirkara to collect an award at the Corinthia Palace Hotel last night. The lanky Dane was voted best defender of the Premier League in his first season in Maltese football.

Ħamrun Spartans striker Stefan Sultana, the all-time top scorer in Maltese football, scooped the Best Veteran Award. Sliema forward Ivan Woods was also among the award winners after his goal in the Championship Pool, second round match against Marsaxlokk received the highest number of votes in the best goal category.

Benny Pace, local football historian and former general secretary of Valletta FC, and Tony Bezzina, who has been president of Hibernians FC for 30 years, were honoured for their contribution to Maltese football.

The winners

Best Goalkeeper: Andrew Hogg (Valletta).

Best Defender: Ronnie Hartvig (Birkirkara).

Best Midfielder: Kevin Sammut (Marsaxlokk).

Best Forward: Frank Temile (Valletta).

Best Coach: Paul Zammit (Valletta).

Most Promising Youngster: Frank Temile (Valletta).

Best Maltese Player: Gilbert Agius (Valletta).

Best Foreigner: Frank Temile (Valletta).

Best Female Player: Eleonora Agliano (Birkirkara).

Best Veteran Player: Stefan Sultana (Ħamrun).

Best Goal: Ivan Woods (Sliema W. vs Marsaxlokk 26/04/2008).

Best Futsal First Division Player: Predrag Babic (Scandals FC).

Best GFA First Division Player: Errol Grima (Sannat Lions).

Best First Division Player: Joseph Farrugia (Qormi)/Elton Vella (Mosta).

Best Second Division Player: Julian Galea (Melita).

Career Awards: Benny Pace, Tony Bezzina.

Coke Zero Best Support Award: Ħamrun Spartans.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.