The 2008–09 season of the

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

(also known as ''Jupiler Pro League'' after a sponsor) was the 106th season of top-tier football in Belgium. The regular season began on 16 August 2008 and ended on 16 May 2009.

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...

were the defending champions. On 19 April 2009, Mons were relegated after Dender beat

Roeselare Roeselare (; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke. The name of the city is derived from two ...

3–1 and made it mathematically impossible for Mons to climb into 16th position or higher. Tubize were relegated on 3 May 2009 after a 1–1 draw at home to Anderlecht. The 2008–09 champions were decided in a playoff because Standard and Anderlecht finished the regular season equal on points and number of wins. Standard won the playoff by 2–1 on aggregate and thereby retained the title.

Participating teams

The league consisted of 18 teams, the best 16 teams from last season and two promoted teams from the Second Division. The number of participants was reduced to 16 teams the season after, hence relegation was increased from two to three or four teams.

Team changes from the previous season

Sint-Truidense and

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

were relegated to the Second Division at the end of the previous season after finishing in the last two places. They were replaced by Second Division champions

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; or ''Kortrik''; ), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of We ...

and promotion playoff winners Tubize.

Overview

Managerial changes

During summer break

During the season

League standings

Final table

Championship playoff

Since Anderlecht and Standard were tied on both points and wins, a two-legged playoff was played in order to determine the league champions. Standard won the playoff 2–1 on aggregate and were crowned champions. ----

Positions by matchday

Note: The classification was made after the weekend of each matchday, so postponed matches were only processed at the time they were played to represent the ''real'' evolution in standings. These postponed matches are: * Matchday 1: Mechelen vs. Club Brugge (played between 4th and 5th matchday) * Matchday 2: Club Brugge vs. Zulte-Waregem (played between 8th and 9th matchday) * Matchday 13: Kortrijk vs. Zulte-Waregem (played between 16th and 17th matchday) * Matchday 19: Gent vs. Anderlecht (played between 22nd and 23rd matchday)

Results

Season statistics

Scoring

* First goal of the season: Dieumerci Mbokani for

against Dender (16 August 2008) * Widest winning margin: 6: Anderlecht 7–1

Mechelen Mechelen (; ; historically known as ''Mechlin'' in EnglishMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical context. T ...

(25 October 2008) and Tubize 0–6 Zulte Waregem (21 February 2009) * Most goals in a match: 8: Anderlecht 7–1

(25 October 2008) * Hat-tricks scored: ** Idir Ouali for Mouscron against Gent (13 September 2008) ** Nicolás Frutos for Anderlecht against

(25 October 2008) ** Habib Habibou for

Charleroi Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...

against Tubize (22 November 2008) ** Jérémy Perbet for Tubize against

(29 November 2008) ** Adnan Ćustović for Mouscron against Club Brugge (20 December 2008) ** Chris Makiese for Zulte Waregem against

(18 April 2009)

Cards

* First yellow card: Jimmy Hempte for

against

(16 August 2008) * First red card: Karim Belhocine for

against

(16 August 2008)

Goalscorers

''Sources
soccerway.com
'' ;17 goals (1 player) * Alfonso Ruiz ( Westerlo) ;16 goals (2 players) * Tom De Sutter ( Cercle Brugge (7) and Anderlecht (9)) * Dieumerci Mbokani (

) ;15 goals (1 player) * Joseph Akpala ( Club Brugge) ;14 goals (3 players) * Adnan Ćustović ( Mouscron (10) and Gent (4)) * Ouwo Moussa Maazou ( Lokeren) * Wesley Sonck ( Club Brugge) ;13 goals (2 players) * Mbaye Leye ( Zulte Waregem (9) and Gent (4)) * Jérémy Perbet ( Tubize) ;12 goals (5 players) * Mbark Boussoufa ( Anderlecht) * Oleg Iachtchouk ( Cercle Brugge) * Milan Jovanović (

) * Bryan Ruiz ( Gent) * Björn Vleminckx (

) ;11 goals (2 players) * Elimane Coulibaly (

) * David Destorme ( Dender) ;10 goals (1 player) * Giuseppe Rossini (

) ;9 goals (4 players) * Mohamed Dahmane ( Mons (7) and Club Brugge (2)) * Habib Habibou (

) * Adékambi Olufadé ( Gent) * Kevin Roelandts ( Zulte Waregem) ;8 goals (8 players) * Igor de Camargo (

) * Guillaume Gillet ( Anderlecht) * Faris Haroun ( Germinal Beerschot) * Mustapha Jarju ( Mons) * Ivan Leko ( Club Brugge (4) and Germinal Beerschot (4)) * Zlatan Ljubijankić ( Gent) * Marcin Wasilewski ( Anderlecht) * Axel Witsel (

) ;7 goals (7 players) * João Carlos (

Genk Genk () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality comprises only the town of Genk itself. It ...

) * Stijn De Smet ( Cercle Brugge) * Sven Kums (

) * Chris Makiese (

(1) and Zulte Waregem (6)) * Miloš Marić ( Gent) * Ernest Nfor ( Gent (1) and Zulte Waregem (6)) * Norman Sylla ( Dender) ;6 goals (9 players) * Grégory Dufer ( Tubize) * Nicolás Frutos ( Anderlecht) * Omer Golan ( Lokeren) * Sherjill MacDonald (

) * Sanharib Malki ( Germinal Beerschot) * Thomas Matton ( Zulte Waregem) * Idir Ouali ( Mouscron) * Tim Smolders (

(4) and Gent (2)) * Kevin Vandenbergh ( Germinal Beerschot) ;5 goals (14 players) * Admir Aganović ( Dender) * Willian (

) * Elyaniv Barda (

) * Frederik Boi ( Cercle Brugge) * Honour Gombami ( Cercle Brugge) * Dawid Janczyk ( Lokeren) * Jonathan Legear ( Anderlecht) * Christophe Lepoint ( Mouscron) * Ivan Perišić (

) * Jeroen Simaeys ( Club Brugge) * Sulejman Smajić ( Dender) * Bernd Thijs ( Gent) * Bertin Tomou ( Westerlo) * Balázs Tóth (

) ;4 goals (22 players) * Franck Berrier ( Zulte Waregem) * Thomas Chatelle ( Anderlecht) * Daniel Chávez ( Club Brugge) * Wilfried Dalmat (

) * Steven Defour (

) * Tom De Mul (

) * Mahamadou Dissa (

) * Tosin Dosunmu ( Germinal Beerschot) * Julien Gorius (

) * Mouhcine Iajour (

) * Jaycee Okwunwanne ( Mouscron) * Roland Juhász ( Anderlecht) * Geoffrey Mujangi Bia (

) * Joachim Mununga (

) * Adam Nemec (

) * Daniel Pudil (

) * Cyril Théréau (

) * Gonzague Van Dooren ( Mouscron) * Vittorio Villano ( Tubize) * Stanislav Vlček ( Anderlecht) * Jelle Vossen (

) * Stef Wils ( Westerlo (3) and Gent (1)) ;3 goals (37 players) * Antolín Alcaraz ( Club Brugge) * Anele Ngcongca (

) * Randall Azofeifa ( Gent) * Istvan Bakx (

) * Walter Baseggio ( Mouscron) * Christian Benteke (

) * Cédric Bétrémieux (

(2) and

(1)) * Fadel Brahami ( Mons) * Thomas Buffel ( Cercle Brugge) * Dmitri Bulykin ( Anderlecht) * Aboubacar Camara ( Lokeren) * Philippe Clement ( Club Brugge) * Daan De Pever ( Dender) * Nabil Dirar ( Club Brugge) * Christophe Grégoire (

) * Moussa Gueye ( Mons) * Jimmy Hempte (

) * Stijn Huysegems (

) * Jonas Ivens (

) * Cheikhou Kouyaté (

) * Tim Matthys ( Zulte Waregem) * Ilombe Mboyo (

) * Andréa Mbuyi-Mutombo ( Zulte Waregem) * Koen Persoons (

) * Obiora Odita ( Westerlo) * Marvin Ogunjimi (

) * Oguchi Onyewu (

) * Abdelmajid Oulmers (

) * Mustapha Oussalah ( Mouscron) * Tony Sergeant ( Cercle Brugge) * Valeri Sorokin ( Gent (0) and Tubize (3)) * Marko Šuler ( Gent) * Salim Tuama (

) * Jelle Van Damme ( Anderlecht) * Ronald Vargas ( Club Brugge) * Wouter Vrancken (

) * Dieter Wittesaele ( Dender) ;2 goals (33 players) * Abdessalam Benjelloun (

(1) and

(1)) * Lucas Biglia ( Anderlecht) * Mario Carević ( Lokeren) * Cédric Collet ( Mons) * Wouter Corstjens ( Westerlo) * Koen Daerden ( Club Brugge) * Stijn de Wilde ( Lokeren) * Kris De Wree ( Germinal Beerschot) * Mounir Diane ( Mons) * Rachid Farssi ( Westerlo) * Dominic Foley ( Gent (2) and Cercle Brugge (0)) *

Fred Fred or FRED may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Fred ...

( Dender) * Bart Goor ( Anderlecht (1) and Germinal Beerschot (1)) * Janne Hietanen (

) * Oleksandr Iakovenko ( Anderlecht) * Jean-Paul Kielo-Lezi (

) * Stijn Meert ( Zulte Waregem) * Pieterjan Monteyne ( Germinal Beerschot) * Dugary Ndabashinze (

) * Vuza Nyoni ( Cercle Brugge) * Azubuike Oliseh (

) * Kevin Oris ( Mons) * Sekou Ouattara (

) * Killian Overmeire ( Lokeren) * Jan Polák ( Anderlecht) * Roberto Rosales ( Gent) * Wouter Scheelen ( Westerlo) * Serhiy Serebrennikov ( Cercle Brugge) * Dániel Tőzsér (

) * Bart Van Den Eede ( Dender) * Ludwin Van Nieuwenhuyze ( Zulte Waregem) * Lukáš Zelenka ( Westerlo) * Yoav Ziv ( Lokeren) ;1 goal (77 players) * Mozes Adams ( Westerlo) * Karim Belhocine (

) * Leon Benko (

) * Víctor Bernárdez ( Anderlecht) * Sylvain Berton ( Mouscron) * Siebe Blondelle ( Dender) *

Ludovic Buyssens Ludovic Buysens (born 13 March 1986) is a Belgium, Belgian association football, footballer who is currently playing for Olsa Brakel in the Belgian Third Amateur Division. External links Guardian Football Stats
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Buysens, L ...

( Mons) * Jean-Philippe Caillet (

) * Fabien Camus (

) * Janis Coppin ( Zulte Waregem) * Alessandro Cordaro ( Mons) * Daniel Cruz ( Germinal Beerschot) * Jusuf Dajić ( Tubize) *

Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

(

) * Wim De Decker (

(0) and Germinal Beerschot (1)) * Dieter Dekelver ( Westerlo) * Bram de Ly (

) * Boubacar Dembélé (

) * Steven de Petter ( Dender) * Joeri Dequevy (

) * Jonas de Roeck ( Gent) * Karel D'Haene ( Zulte Waregem) * Didier Dheedene ( Germinal Beerschot) * Frédéric Dupré ( Lokeren) * Chemcedine El Araichi ( Mouscron) * Karel Geraerts ( Club Brugge) * Kevin Geudens (

) * Réginal Goreux (

) * Christophe Grondin ( Gent) * Romain Haghedooren ( Mouscron) * Alan Haydock ( Tubize) * Kristof Imschoot (

) * Steven Jacobs ( Dender) * Frédéric Jay ( Mons) * Torben Joneleit (

) * Yasin Karaca ( Tubize) * Mahamoudou Kéré (

) * Paul Kpaka ( Germinal Beerschot) * Mladen Lazarević (

) * Hernán Losada ( Anderlecht) * Marcel Mbayo ( Lokeren) * Damien Miceli (

) * Damir Mirvić (

) * Jimmy Mulisa (

) * Henri Munyaneza ( Germinal Beerschot) * Roy Myrie ( Gent) * Arsène Né ( Germinal Beerschot) * Grégoire Neels ( Tubize) * Benjamin Nicaise (

) *

Antti Okkonen Antti Okkonen (born 6 June 1982) is a former footballer who played in Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Belgium. In addition, he played for the national team. He was a defensive midfielder. Career Okkonen started youth career in Oulun Luistinse ...

( Mons) * King Gyan Osei ( Germinal Beerschot) * Jean-Baptiste Paternotte ( Tubize) * Nebojša Pavlović ( Lokeren) * Anthony Portier ( Cercle Brugge) * Silvio Proto ( Germinal Beerschot) * Vincent Provoost (

) * Vincent Ramaël ( Tubize) * Bassilia Sakanoko ( Mouscron) *

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

( Tubize) * Mohamed Sarr (

) * Asanda Sishuba ( Mouscron) * Björn Smits (

) * Tom Soetaers (