2008 Meistriliiga

The 2008 season of Meistriliiga, the first level in the Estonian football system, was the 18th season in the league's history. It began on 8 March 2008 and ended on 15 November 2008. The defending champions were Levadia.

Meistriliiga
Season2008
ChampionsLevadia
(6th title)
RelegatedVaprus
TVMK
Champions LeagueLevadia
Europa LeagueFlora
Narva Trans
Kalju
Matches played180
Goals scored639 (3.55 per match)
Top goalscorerIngemar Teever (23)
Biggest home winTVMK 8–0 Tallinna Kalev
Biggest away winTulevik 0–8 Flora
Highest scoringVaprus 3–10 TVMK
← 2007
2009 →

Promotion and relegation

10th placed Ajax were directly relegated after the end of the previous season. Since reserve squads are not allowed to be promoted to Meistriliiga, third placed Esiliiga team Sillamäe Kalev were directly promoted to 2008 Meistriliiga.

Kuressaare (9th placed Meistriliiga team) and Kalju (6th placed Esiliiga team) competed in promotion/relegation play-offs for one spot in 2008 Meistriliiga. The aggregate score was 2–2 and Nõmme Kalju were promoted due to scoring more away goals.

Clubs and venues
Flora
Kalju
Levadia
Tallinna Kalev
TVMK
Maag Tammeka
Tulevik
Vaprus
Trans
Location of teams in Meistriliiga 2008
Team Location Stadium Capacity Manager
Flora Tallinn A. Le Coq Arena 9,300 Pasi Rautiainen
Kalju Tallinn Hiiu Stadium 500 Getúlio Fredo
Levadia Tallinn Kadriorg Stadium 5,000[1] Igor Prins
Maag Tammeka Tartu Tartu Tamme Stadium 1,500[2] Sergei Zamogilnõi
Sillamäe Kalev Sillamäe Sillamäe Kalev Stadium 800 Vadym Dobizha
Tallinna Kalev Tallinn Kalev Keskstaadion 11,500[3] Aavo Sarap
Narva Trans Narva Kreenholm Stadium 1,065[4] Aleksei Yagudin
Tulevik Viljandi Viljandi linnastaadion 1,084[5] Marko Lelov
TVMK Tallinn Kadriorg Stadium 5,000[1] Sergei Ratnikov
Vaprus Pärnu Pärnu Kalev Stadium 1,900 Ants Kommussaar

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Levadia (C) 36 29 6 1 105 22 +83 93 Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round
2 Flora 36 28 7 1 113 28 +85 91 Qualification for Europa League second qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
3 Narva Trans 36 16 8 12 62 54 +8 56 Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round
4 Kalju 36 16 7 13 65 64 +1 55
5 Sillamäe Kalev 36 13 6 17 49 79 −30 45
6 Tulevik 36 9 4 23 31 74 −43 31[lower-alpha 2]
7 Maag Tammeka 36 9 4 23 45 76 −31 31[lower-alpha 2]
8 Tallinna Kalev 36 6 8 22 37 70 −33 26
9 Vaprus (R) 36 5 2 29 41 125 −84 17 Qualification for relegation play-off
10 TVMK[lower-alpha 3] (R) 36 20 6 10 91 47 +44 66 Relegation to Esiliiga
Source: Estonian Football Association (in Estonian)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) number of wins; 3) head-to-head points; 4) head-to-head goal difference; 5) head-to-head goals scored; 6) goal difference; 7) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Flora won the 2008–09 Estonian Cup and qualified for second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League. Therefore, Nõmme Kalju, fourth-placed team and cup runners-up, earned a spot in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.
  2. TUL: 6 pts, 7–5; M-T: 6 pts, 5–7
  3. On 6 November 2008, the Estonian Football Association decided not to grant TVMK a license to play in Meistriliiga or Esiliiga, due to financial difficulties during the season. The Estonian Football Association allowed them to play until the end of the season and as they finished in third place, the players and coaches received bronze medals, but the club itself was dropped to 10th place.[6][7] TVMK were eventually disbanded.

Relegation play-off

Vaprus and Esiliiga side Paide Linnameeskond competed in a two-legged relegation play-off for one spot in 2009 Meistriliiga. Aggregate score was 5–5 and Paide Linnameeskond secured their place in 2009 Meistriliiga because they scored more away goals (3–1).

Paide Linnameeskond2 – 1Vaprus
Polyansky  22' (o.g.)
Ellram  67'		 Report
(in Estonian)		 Kovalenko  90'
Paide Ühisgümnaasiumi stadium
Attendance: 150
Referee: Ainar Kuusk
Vaprus4 – 3Paide Linnameeskond
Joost  48'
Pakk  70', 75'
Polyansky  72'		 Report
(in Estonian)		 Saar  13'
Voolaid  43'
Ellram  65'
Pärnu Kalevi Stadium
Attendance: 100
Referee: Jaan Roos

Results

Each team played every opponent four times, twice at home and twice on the road, for a total of 36 games.

First half of season
Home \ Away FLO NÕM LEV M-T SIL T.K NAR TUL TVM VPR
Flora 1–1 0–2 3–1 4–0 4–1 3–3 3–1 3–1 7–0
Nõmme Kalju 1–7 0–4 2–1 3–0 2–1 1–1 2–0 1–5 3–1
Levadia 2–2 2–2 1–1 4–0 3–1 3–1 2–0 2–0 7–0
Maag Tammeka 1–3 2–1 1–3 2–0 0–2 0–1 2–0 1–2 4–1
Sillamäe Kalev 0–3 2–1 0–5 1–1 2–1 1–3 1–0 1–3 1–4
Tallinna Kalev 0–3 2–0 0–2 2–0 2–5 1–2 2–1 1–1 1–2
Narva Trans 1–2 1–0 0–3 1–1 3–1 0–0 4–1 1–1 1–0
Tulevik 0–8 0–0 0–1 3–1 1–1 3–2 1–0 0–3 0–1
TVMK 0–0 0–1 3–0 1–0 5–1 5–2 1–1 6–1 2–1
Vaprus 1–6 0–2 0–4 2–4 1–3 2–0 0–6 2–4 1–5
Source: Matchday 1–9 results Matchday 10–18 results (in Estonian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of season
Home \ Away FLO NÕM LEV M-T SIL T.K NAR TUL TVM VPR
Flora 4–0 0–0 6–2 7–1 1–1 2–1 4–1 4–2 3–0
Nõmme Kalju 0–3 1–2 2–1 2–2 3–2 7–3 2–0 2–0 5–1
Levadia 0–0 1–0 4–1 5–1 2–1 7–2 5–0 1–1 4–0
Maag Tammeka 1–2 2–3 1–3 0–2 1–0 1–4 2–1 2–3 1–0
Sillamäe Kalev 0–1 2–1 1–4 2–1 2–1 4–4 0–1 0–1 3–2
Tallinna Kalev 0–1 2–3 1–5 1–1 0–0 2–0 1–2 2–2 1–1
Narva Trans 0–2 1–1 0–1 4–1 0–3 1–0 3–0 1–0 3–0
Tulevik 1–2 1–4 0–5 3–0 0–0 0–0 1–0 0–1 1–2
TVMK 1–3 2–1 1–2 6–2 1–2 8–0 0–1 2–1 6–2
Vaprus 1–6 5–5 0–4 1–2 2–4 0–1 2–4 0–2 3–10
Source: Matchday 19–27 results Matchday 28–36 results (in Estonian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals[8]
1 Ingemar TeeverKalju23
2 Nikita AndreevLevadia22
3 Sander PostFlora19
4 Jarmo AhjuperaFlora17
Felipe NunesKalju
6 Tarmo KinkLevadia16
7 Henri AnierFlora15
Indrek ZelinskiLevadia
9 Irfan AmetovSillamäe Kalev13
Artjom DmitrijevTVMK
Vladislav GussevTVMK
Nikolai LõsanovNarva Trans

Awards

Monthly awards
Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month
ManagerClub PlayerClub
March[9] Getúlio FredoKalju Sander PostFlora
April[9] Igor PrinsLevadia Ingemar TeeverKalju
May[9] Pasi RautiainenFlora Konstantin NahkLevadia
June[9] Igor PrinsLevadia Vjatšeslav ZahovaikoFlora
July[9] Pasi RautiainenFlora Mihhail StarodubtsevSillamäe Kalev
August[9] Igor PrinsLevadia Juha HakolaFlora
September[9] Vadym DobizhaSillamäe Kalev Tarmo KinkLevadia
October[9] Aleksei YagudinNarva Trans Marek LemsaluLevadia

See also

References
  1. "Kadrioru Staadion" (in Estonian). Eesti Spordiregister.
  2. "Tartu Tamme staadion" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association.
  3. "Kalevi Keskstaadion" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association.
  4. "Narva Kreenholmi staadion" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association.
  5. "Viljandi linnastaadion" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association.
  6. FC TVMK meeskonnad langesid Meistri- ja Esiliigast välja. Archived 2009-06-21 at the Wayback Machine (in Estonian)
  7. TVMK kadumine ulatas Vaprusele õlekõrre (in Estonian)
  8. "MÄNGUDE AJALUGU" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association.
  9. "Oktoobri parimad Lemsalu ja Jagudin". Eesti Päevaleht (in Estonian). 31 October 2008.
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