The 2008–09 Syrian Premier League is the 38th season of the

Syrian Premier League The Syrian Premier League () is a professional association football league in Syria and the top division of the Syrian football league system. The league comprises 12 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Syrian Le ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

's premier

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

league. The season began on 10 October 2008 and finished on 12 June 2009. Afrin and Al-Horriya were relegated from the previous season. Al-Wathba and Omyyah moved up from the

Syrian League 1st Division Syrian League 1st Division () is the second division in football in Syria. It is operated by the Syrian Football Association (SFA). The league started in the 1960s. After each season, the two top clubs are promoted to the Premier League. In the 2 ...

. At the end of the campaign, defending champions Al-Karamah were level on 52 points with

Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad may refer to: Sports Football Men Teams * Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia * Al Ittihad SCSC (Tripoli), Tripoli, Libya * Al Ittihad Gheryan, Gharyan, Libya * Al Ittihad Misurata SC, Misurata, Libya * Al Ittihad SC ...

and therefore were required to have a one off playoff match to determine the league champions.Ittihad, Karamah in league climax
/ref> Al-Futowa and Hutteen were relegated and would be replaced by Afrin and

Al-Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pr ...

for the 2009–10 Syrian Premier League campaign. Syrian international

Mohamed Al Zeno Mohamed Al-Zeno (; born 5 February 1983) is a Syrian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Taliya in the Syrian Premier League. Club career Early career Mohamed Al-Zeno's career began with the Al-Ittihad Aleppo youth squad under c ...

finished the campaign as leading goalscorer with 17 goals.

Continental Cups

AFC Cup

Al-Karamah and Al-Majd entered the

AFC Cup 2009 The 2009 AFC Cup was the sixth season of the AFC Cup, a competition among clubs from member nations of the Asian Football Confederation. With the Asian Football Confederation reviewed the format of the AFC Champions League and made significant c ...

tournament. A tournament for second ranked Asian nations. During the domestic Syrian league season, only the group phases of this prestigious tournament is played until the knockout rounds which will take place in the next Syrian season. Al-Majd comfortably qualified with one game to spare to reach the knockout rounds whilst Al-Karamah had somewhat of a shaky start and after 5 games find themselves in 3rd position.

Arab Champions League

and Al-Taliya entered the

Arab Champions League The Arab Club Champions Cup (, ) is a club football competition organised by the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) and contested by top clubs from the Arab world. The tournament is contested by a total of 37 teams from Asia and Africa. F ...

but Al-Taliya found the going tough, being thumped by

Raja Casablanca Raja Club Athletic, widely known as Raja Casablanca or simply Raja, is a Football team, football club based in Casablanca, Morocco, that competes in Botola, the top flight of Moroccan football league system, Moroccan football. Founded on 20 M ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

in the first round.

went one round better but got beat by

Wydad Casablanca Wydad Athletic Club (, ), often known outside Morocco as Wydad Casablanca, is a Moroccan sports club based in Casablanca. Wydad AC is best known for its professional football team that competes in Botola, the top tier of the Moroccan football ...

, also of Morocco.

Premier League teams (2008–2009)

Final league standings

Playoffs

5th and 6th placed teams Al-Wathba and Al-Majd had a one match playoff at the end of the season due to both clubs finishing the regular season on 37 points. Al-Wathba won the tie 3–2 to claim 5th position in the final standings.

Championship match

MATCH OFFICIALS * Assistant referees: ** Fayez Al Basha (

) ** Hamdi Al Kadrie (

) * Fourth official: ** Mohamad Baderaldin (

) MATCH RULES * 90 minutes. * 30 minutes of

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

if necessary. *

Penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

if scores still level. * Seven named substitutes. * Maximum of 3 substitutions.

Winner

Top goalscorers

;17 goals *

''( Al-Majd)'' ;14 goals * Abdul Fattah Al Agha ''(

)'' ;12 goals * Ibrahim Al Hasan ''(

Jableh Jableh (; ', also spelt ''Jebleh'', ''Jabala'', ''Jablah, Gabala'' or ''Gibellum'') is a Mediterranean coastal city in Syria, north of Baniyas and south of Latakia, with c. 80,000 inhabitants (2004 census). As Ancient ''Gabala'', it was a By ...

)'' * Omar Al Soma ''( Al-Futowa)'' ;11 goals * Maher Al Sayed ''( Al-Wahda)'' * Ali Ghalium ''( Al-Wathba)'' * Samer Yazji ''( Omayya)'' * Obode Efe ''(

Teshrin Tishreen Sports Club () is a Syrian professional football club based in Latakia. The club was founded in 1947 and currently competes in the Syrian Premier League. Its home ground is Latakia Municipal Stadium. Tishreen has won five league titles. ...

)'' ;10 goals *

Majed Al Haj Majed Al Haj (, born 6 April 1985 in Damascus, Syria) is a Syrian footballer. He currently plays for Al-Wahda. He plays as a striker. Club career On 8 August 2014, Al Haj scored the only goal in a 1–0 win over Al-Jaish in the Championship ...

''( Al-Jaish)'' * Anas Sari ''(

)'' * Oday Al-Jafal ''( Al-Futowa)'' * Amar Zakour ''( Omayya)''

Managerial changes

References

External links

Details at fifa.com

Details at goalzz.com

Details at soccerway.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:2008-09 Syrian Premier League Syrian Premier League seasons 1