2008–09 Saudi Professional League

The 2008–09 Saudi Professional League was the 33rd season of Saudi Professional League since its establishment in 1976. Al-Hilal were the defending champions, having won their 11th title in the previous season. The campaign began on 13 September 2008 and ended on 12 April 2009. A total of 12 teams contested the league, 10 of which already contested in the 2007–08 season, and two of which were promoted from the First Division.

Professional League
Season2008–09
Dates13 September 2008 – 12 April 2009
ChampionsAl-Ittihad (8th title)
RelegatedAbha
Al-Watani
AFC Champions LeagueAl-Ittihad
Al-Hilal
Al-Ahli
Al-Shabab
Gulf Club Champions CupAl-Nassr
Al-Ettifaq
Matches played134
Goals scored371 (2.77 per match)
Top goalscorerNasser Al-Shamrani
Hicham Aboucherouane
(12 goals each)
Biggest home winAl-Hilal 7–0 Najran
(20 December 2008)
Biggest away winAl-Raed 0–4 Al-Shabab
(30 November 2008)
Al-Shabab 0–4 Al-Ittihad
(28 January 2009)
Highest scoringAl-Ittihad 7–2 Al-Watani
(15 December 2008)
Al-Raed 6–3 Al-Wehda
(8 April 2009)
Longest winning run5 games[1]
Al-Ittihad
Longest unbeaten run18 games[1]
Al-Hilal
Longest winless run12 games[1]
Abha
Longest losing run5 games[1]
Al-Raed

On 12 April 2009, in the final round of the season, Al-Ittihad won the title after a 2–1 victory over Al-Hilal.[2] It was their eighth league title overall. Al-Ittihad, Al-Hilal, Al-Ahli and Al-Shabab all secured a berth for the 2010 AFC Champions League, while Al-Nassr and Al-Ettifaq qualified for the 2009–10 Gulf Club Champions Cup. Al-Watani and Abha were relegated to the First Division.[3]

Changes

Professional League rebrand

On 26 May 2008, the Saudi FF announced that league would be rebranded and would be known as the Saudi Professional League. The changes were based on the criteria introduced by AFC President Mohammed bin Hammam to improve the football standards in Asia.[4] The changes also included a website dedicated to recording statistics of the league for the first time. It was also announced that the website would be run by the Saudi Professional League rather than the Saudi FF.[5]

Qualification and Prize money

The League champions, runners-up and third place as well as the winner of the King Cup of Champions qualified for the 2010 AFC Champions League.

The top eight teams qualified for King Cup of Champions.

Prize money:

  • First place: 2.5 million Saudi Riyals
  • Second place: 1.5 million Saudi Riyals
  • Third place: 1 million Saudi Riyals

Teams

Twelve teams competed in the league – the top ten teams from the previous season and the two teams promoted from the First Division. The promoted teams were Al-Raed (returning to the top flight after an absence of five years) and Abha (returning to the top flight after an absence of two years). They replaced Al-Tai (after seven consecutive years in the top-flight) and Al-Qadisiyah (after six consecutive years in the top-flight).

Stadiums and locations
Locations of teams in the 2008–09 Saudi Professional League
Club Location Stadium
Abha Abha Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium
Al-Ahli Jeddah Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium
Al-Ettifaq Dammam Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium
Al-Hazem Ar Rass Al-Hazem Club Stadium
Al-Hilal Riyadh King Fahd Stadium
Al-Ittihad Jeddah Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium
Al-Nassr Riyadh King Fahd Stadium
Al-Raed Buraydah King Abdullah Sport City Stadium
Al-Shabab Riyadh King Fahd Stadium
Al-Watani Tabuk King Khalid Sport City Stadium
Al-Wehda Mecca King Abdul Aziz Stadium
Najran Najran Al Akhdoud Club Stadium

Personnel
Club Coach Nationality City Stadium Capacity 2007–08 season Notes
Abha Idris Obeis Abha Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium 20,000 First Division runners-up
Al-Ahli Stoycho Mladenov Jeddah Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium 24,000 8th Qualified to the 2008 Gulf Club Champions Cup
Al-Ettifaq Ioan Andone Dammam Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium 30,000 4th Qualified to the 2009 AFC Champions League
Al-Hazem Ammar Souayah Ar Rass Al Hazm Club Stadium 11,000 7th Qualified to the 2008–09 Arab Champions League
Al-Hilal Georges Leekens Riyadh King Fahd Stadium 69,000 1st Qualified to the 2009 AFC Champions League
Al-Ittihad Gabriel Calderón Jeddah Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium 24,000 2nd Qualified to the 2009 AFC Champions League
Al-Nassr Edgardo Bauza Riyadh King Fahd Stadium 69,000 5th Qualified to the 2008 Gulf Club Champions Cup
Al-Raed Luiz Antonio Buraydah King Abdullah Sport City Stadium 35,000 First Division champions
Al-Shabab Enzo Trossero Riyadh King Fahd Stadium 69,000 3rd Qualified to the 2009 AFC Champions League
Al-Watani Hélio Vieira Tabuk King Khalid Sport City Stadium 20,000 9th
Al-Wehda Theo Bucker Mecca King Abdul Aziz Stadium 28,550 6th Qualified to the 2008–09 Arab Champions League
Najran Mokhtar Tlili Najran Al Akhdoud Club Stadium 10,000 10th

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Replaced by Date
Abha Abdelkader Youmir Sacked[6] Saad Al-Beshri (caretaker) October 2008
Al-Watani Moussa Saïb Sacked[7] Al Habib bin Ramadan (caretaker) October 2008
Al-Watani Al Habib bin Ramadan Caretaker period ended[8] Hélio Vieira November 2008
Abha Saad Al-Beshri Caretaker period ended Idris Obeis November 2008
Al-Shabab Nery Pumpido Sacked[9] Enzo Trossero December 2008
Al-Nassr Rodion Gačanin Sacked[10] Edgar (caretaker) December 2008
Al-Raed Mohammed Aldo Sacked[11] Luiz Antonio December 2008
Al-Ettifaq Toni Sacked[12] Ioan Andone December 2008
Najran Costică Ștefănescu Sacked[13] Mokhtar Tlili January 2009
Al-Nassr Edgar Caretaker period ended[14] Edgardo Bauza January 2009
Al-Hilal Cosmin Olaroiu Sacked[15] Catalin Necula (caretaker) March 2009
Al-Hilal Catalin Necula Caretaker period ended[16] Georges Leekens April 2009

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Al-Ittihad (C) 22 17 4 1 57 21 +36 55 Qualification for the Champions League group stage[lower-alpha 1]
2 Al-Hilal 22 15 5 2 41 9 +32 50
3 Al-Ahli 22 11 7 4 33 20 +13 40
4 Al-Shabab 22 10 5 7 37 29 +8 35
5 Al-Nassr 22 10 4 8 24 22 +2 34 Qualification for the Gulf Club Champions Cup
6 Al-Ettifaq 22 7 8 7 23 20 +3 29
7 Al-Wehda 22 7 5 10 33 39 −6 26
8 Al-Hazem 22 6 7 9 25 31 −6 25
9 Najran 22 6 3 13 22 42 −20 21
10 Al-Raed (O) 22 6 1 15 28 43 −15 19 Qualification to relegation play-offs
11 Abha (R) 22 4 7 11 19 40 −21 19
12 Al-Watani (R) 22 2 6 14 22 48 −26 12 Relegation to the First Division
Source: SLstat
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Play-offs (only if needed to decide champion, teams for relegation or teams for international competitions); 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored.
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Al-Shabab qualified for the Champions League group stage as 2009 King Cup of Champions winners.

Fixtures and results
Home \ Away ABH AHL ETT HAZ HIL ITT NSR RAE SHB WAT WHD NAJ
Abha 0–0 1–0 0–0 0–3 1–2 2–2 0–1 2–1 2–2 2–2 1–0
Al-Ahli 2–1 1–1 1–0 0–1 1–2 2–1 3–2 2–1 2–0 0–0 2–0
Al-Ettifaq 3–1 0–0 0–0 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–1 3–0 4–0 1–1
Al-Hazem 2–1 1–1 1–1 1–2 3–3 1–0 1–0 1–1 3–0 3–1 2–1
Al-Hilal 4–1 0–0 2–0 3–0 1–2 2–1 2–0 2–0 0–0 0–0 7–0
Al-Ittihad 3–0 1–2 3–0 3–0 0–0 1–0 5–1 2–1 7–2 2–1 3–2
Al-Nassr 0–1 2–1 1–0 3–1 0–2 2–2 1–0 0–0 1–0 3–1 1–0
Al-Raed 3–1 2–3 1–2 1–0 0–2 0–2 0–1 0–4 3–2 6–3 0–1
Al-Shabab 5–0 3–2 1–0 2–0 1–1 0–4 2–1 1–4 2–2 4–2 2–1
Al-Watani 0–0 2–2 0–1 3–3 1–3 1–2 1–2 3–1 0–2 0–2 3–1
Al-Wehda 4–1 0–2 1–0 2–1 0–1 1–3 1–2 3–1 1–1 4–0 2–1
Najran 1–1 1–4 0–2 2–1 2–1 1–4 1–0 2–1 0–2 2–0 2–2
Updated to match(es) played on 12 April 2009. Source: Goalzz.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation play-offs

Al-Raed, who finished 10th, faced Abha, who finished 11th for a two-legged play-off. The winner on aggregate score after both matches earned entry into the 2009–10 Professional League while the loser was relegated to the First Division. Al-Raed won 4–3 on aggregate and retained their place in the next edition.[17]

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Abha 3–4 Al-Raed 1–1 2–3

First leg
Abha1–1Al-Raed
Yaseen  20' Report Al-Amri  57'

Second leg
Al-Raed3–2Abha
Felipe Campos  37'
B. Al-Sherif  65'
Kabi  88'		 Report Al-Faraj  2'
Morjan  49'
Referee: Jérôme Laperrière (Switzerland)

Al-Raed won 4–3 on aggregate.

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals[18]
1 Nasser Al-Shamrani Al-Shabab 12
Hicham Aboucherouane Al-Ittihad
3 Emad Moteab Al-Ittihad 10
Yasser Al-Qahtani Al-Hilal
5 Amir Akrout Al-Wehda 9
Boris Kabi Al-Raed
Hassan Al-Raheb Al-Ahli
Naif Hazazi Al-Ittihad
9 Mohammad Al-Anbar Al-Hilal 8
10 Sultan Al-Nemri Al-Ittihad 7
Essa Al-Mehyani Al-Wehda

Hat-tricks
PlayerForAgainstResultDateRef
Nei4Al-ShababAl-Wehda4–2 (H)4 October 2008[19]
Nasser Al-ShamraniAl-ShababAbha5–0 (H)4 December 2008[20]
Hicham AboucherouaneAl-IttihadAl-Watani7–2 (H)15 December 2008[21]
Yasser Al-Qahtani4Al-HilalNajran7–0 (H)20 December 2008[22]
Notes

4 Player scored 4 goals
(H) – Home team
(A) – Away team

Most assists
Rank Player Club Assists[23]
1 Mohammed Noor Al-Ittihad 11
2 Abdoh Otaif Al-Shabab 7
3 Ahmed Al-Fraidi Al-Hilal 6
Christian Wilhelmsson Al-Hilal
5 Hamad Ji Al-Hazem 5
Saleh Al-Saqri Al-Ittihad
Tarik El Taib Al-Hilal
Hicham Aboucherouane Al-Ittihad
9 Al Hasan Al-Yami Najran 4
Hassan Al-Raheb Al-Ahli
Essa Al-Mehyani Al-Wehda

Clean sheets
Rank Player Club Clean
sheets[24]
1 Mohamed Al-Deayea Al-Hilal 14
2 Yasser Al-Mosailem Al-Ahli 7
3 Mabrouk Zaid Al-Ittihad 6
Waleed Abdullah Al-Shabab
5 Salem Asiri Abha 5
Saeed Al-Harbi Al-Hazem
7 Adnan Al-Salman Al-Ettifaq 3
Assaf Al-Qarni Al-Wehda
Jaber Al-Ameri Najran

Discipline

Player

Club
  • Most yellow cards: 52[26]
    • Abha
    • Al-Watani
  • Most red cards: 7[27]
    • Al-Wehda

See also

References
  1. "All Statistics:Teams". Archived from the original on 2017-05-23.
  2. "الاتحاد يتوج بلقب الدوري السعودي على حساب الهلال".
  3. "الحزن يسيطر على لاعبي الوطني بعد الهبوط".
  4. "دوري المحترفين في آسيا.. الحلم أصبح حقيقة!".
  5. "ثوب الاحتراف يزين الدوري السعودي بعد ثلاثة عقود".
  6. "هروب مدرب أبها".
  7. "الوطني يعين الحبيب مدرباً بعد هروب صايب".
  8. "البرازيلي فيريرا مدربا للوطني".
  9. "الشباب يقيل بومبيدو.. والبديل مواطنه هيكتور".
  10. "اقالة رادان و تكليف ادغر مؤقتا".
  11. "الرائد ينهي علاقته بالدو ويبحث عن بديله في أوروبا".
  12. "الاتفاق يقيل توني والنصر يفسد إتمام تعاقده مع اندوني".
  13. "التليلي مدرباً لنجران".
  14. http://www.the-afc.com/eng/articles/viewArticle.jsp_168493833.html Edgardo Bauza takes over as Al-Nasr Coach
  15. "اتحاد الكرة يقيل الروماني كوزمين من تدريب الهلال ويمنعه من السعودية".
  16. http://www.the-afc.com/eng/articles/viewArticle.jsp_168624529.html Leekens takes over at Al Hilal
  17. "الرائد وأبها بين الاستمرار في الأضواء والمغادرة إلى الأولى".
  18. "أكثر اللاعبين تسجيلاً للأهداف". slstat.com. Archived from the original on 30 June 2016.
  19. "Al Shabab 4 – 2 Al Wehda". Archived from the original on 29 June 2016.
  20. "Al Shabab 5 – 0 Abha". Archived from the original on 30 June 2016.
  21. "Al Ittihad 7 – 2 Al Watani". Archived from the original on 29 June 2016.
  22. "Al Hilal 7 – 0 Najran". Archived from the original on 29 June 2016.
  23. "أكثر اللاعبين صناعة للأهداف". slstat.com. Archived from the original on 30 June 2016.
  24. "أكثر الحراس محافظة على شباكه". slstat.com. Archived from the original on 30 June 2016.
  25. "عدد الكروت الملونة التي أبرزت". Archived from the original on 30 June 2016.
  26. "أكثر فريق حصل على كروت صفراء". Archived from the original on 30 June 2016.
  27. "أكثر فريق حصل على كروت حمراء". Archived from the original on 30 June 2016.
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