The 2013/2014 Bank of Valletta Premier League gets under way this weekend with six matches being played between today and tomorrow – two today and four tomorrow.

Birkirkara will be starting their defence of the title this afternoon at the National Stadium when they meet Rabat Ajax in the opener at 6.30pm. That match will be followed by the Vittoriosa-Balzan clash at 8.30pm.

Tomorrow, also at the National Stadium, Valletta face Mosta at 6.30pm and that will be followed at 8.30pm by the clash of the weekend between Tarxien Rainbows and Hibernians.

Also tomorrow, at the Centenary Stadium, Naxxar face Floriana at 6.30pm while in the second match, at 8.30pm, Sliema Wanderers face Qormi.

As everyone is aware, there will be no Friday or Monday matches this season as the clubs have insisted to have the matches played only on Saturdays and Sundays.

It is still to be seen whether this decision will have any positive effect on the attendances especially when four matches are played – two at the same time but obviously in a different venue.

Matches will be played at the National Stadium and The Centenary Stadium at Ta’ Qali, but from the end of this month, some matches will also be played at the Victor Tedesco Stadium which is being renovated. The Hibernians Stadium – also undergoing renovation – will become available near the end of November.

The top teams – Birkirkara, Valletta, Hibernians and Sliema – will again be among the protagonists. They have all – except Hibernians so far – been strengthened with some foreign players who have shown glimpses of good form in the matches they have played so far.

Champions Birkirkara and Valletta have been among the most active on the transfer market. They have more than six foreigners each in their squad, even if they – like all the other clubs – will only be allowed to make use of five at any one time during the league matches.

On the other hand, Trophy holders Hibernians have maintained more or less the same squad of last season, though changing their coach – from Michael Woods to Branko Nisevic.

But it was not only Birkirkara and Valletta. All the clubs, in fact, even newly promoted Naxxar Lions and Vittoriosa Stars, embarked on a programme of squad strengthening. Of course, the latter two teams’ aim is different from that of the top clubs – they will be all out to maintain their hard-won Premier League status.

Floriana have been dealt a big blow. As everyone by now must be aware, the Greens will be starting with a handicap of –6 points after a decision taken by the MFA for failing to make payments to players and clubs. This will certainly make life harder for them, but their AME Cup win earlier this month showed that there is enough talent in their squad to be able to fight for a place even among the Top Six. After all, the League campaign is quite long.

Among the foreign players, there are some interesting newcomers in the form of Abdelkarim Nafti, Aziz Corr, Romulo and Pietro Marino of Valletta, Richard, Demba Toure, Frank Temile (both formerly of Valletta) and Clinch McCallister of Birkirkara, Pape Geuge of Sliema, Emmanuel Edet Ibok, Daniel Hanford, Gary Muir and Diego Pinheiro of Floriana, Evaldo and Danilo Santos of Tarxien Rainbows.

Some of last year’s foreigners have been retained and these include Barry Hamza and Denni Dos Santos of Valletta, Shola Shodiya and Alejandro Mendoza of Birkirkara, Marcelo Dias, Obinna Obiefule and Edison dos Santos (Tarabaj) of Hibernians, Tan Ohawuchi and the Italians of Sliema, Igor Coronado of Floriana, Jose Luis Armario Negrin, now with Balzan and Andrezinho of Tarxien.

Among the local players, there have been no big name transfers as all the teams – mainly the top ones – have confirmed last season’s players. However, one must not forget that the transfer window closes at the end of the match and there still remain a few days during which some deals might be concluded.

The only one big name missing so far is that of Michael Mifsud – he has not been retained by Valletta and is still seeking a new club. Rumours have it that Sliema W. might be his destination this season.

It should be an interesting, albeit long, season. One sincerely hopes that sporting spirit and fair play will be at the top of the agenda of each club and that such words and doping and match-fixing are eradicated from our football dictionary as quickly as possible.