The 2008–09 Saudi Professional League was the 33rd season of Saudi Pro League since its establishment in 1976 and first after rebranding to the Saudi Pro League. 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.
On 12 April 2009, in the final round of the season, Al-Ittihad won the title after a 2–1 victory over Al-Hilal. 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 Gulf Club Champions Cup. Al-Watani and Abha were relegated to the Saudi First Division League.
Changes
Professional League rebrand On 26 May 2008, the SAFF announced that the league would be rebranded as Saudi Pro League. The changes were based on the criteria introduced by AFC President Mohammed bin Hammam to improve the football standards in Asia. 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 Pro League board rather than the SAFF.
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 Saudi First Division League. 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-Qadsiah (after six consecutive years in the top-flight).
Stadiums and locations
Club Location Stadium Capacity Abha Abha Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Sports City 20,000 Al-Ahli Jeddah Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City 24,000 Al-Ettifaq Dammam Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium 30,000 Al-Hazem Ar Rass Al-Hazem Club Stadium 11,000 Al-Hilal Riyadh King Fahd Sports City 69,000 Al-Ittihad Jeddah Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City 24,000 Al-Nassr Riyadh King Fahd Sports City 69,000 Al-Raed Buraidah King Abdullah Sports City 35,000 Al-Shabab Riyadh King Fahd Sports City 69,000 Al-Watani Tabuk King Khalid Sport City Stadium 20,000 Al-Wehda Mecca King Abdulaziz Sports City 28,550 Najran Najran Prince Hathloul bin Abdulaziz Sports City 10,000
Personnel Club Head coach 2007–08 season Notes Abha Idris Obeis First Division runners-up Al-Ahli Stoycho Mladenov 8th Qualified to the 2008 Gulf Club Champions Cup Al-Ettifaq Ioan Andone 4th Qualified to the 2009 AFC Champions League Al-Hazem Ammar Souayah 7th Qualified to the 2008–09 Arab Champions League Al-Hilal Georges Leekens 1st Qualified to the 2009 AFC Champions League Al-Ittihad Gabriel Calderón 2nd Qualified to the 2009 AFC Champions League Al-Nassr Edgardo Bauza 5th Qualified to the 2008 Gulf Club Champions Cup Al-Raed Luis Antônio Zaluar First Division champions Al-Shabab Enzo Trossero 3rd Qualified to the 2009 AFC Champions League Al-Watani Hélio Vieira 9th Al-Wehda Theo Bücker 6th Qualified to the 2008–09 Arab Champions League Najran Mokhtar Tlili 10th
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Replaced by Date Abha Abdelkader Youmir Sacked Saad Al-Beshri (caretaker) October 2008 Al-Watani Moussa Saïb Sacked Habib Ben Romdhane (caretaker) October 2008 Al-Watani Habib Ben Romdhane Caretaker period ended Hélio Vieira November 2008 Abha Saad Al-Beshri Caretaker period ended Idris Obeis November 2008 Al-Shabab Nery Pumpido Sacked Enzo Trossero December 2008 Al-Nassr Rodion Gačanin Sacked Edgar (caretaker) December 2008 Al-Raed Mohammed Aldo Sacked Luis Antônio Zaluar December 2008 Al-Ettifaq Toni Sacked Ioan Andone December 2008 Najran Costică Ștefănescu Sacked Mokhtar Tlili January 2009 Al-Nassr Edgar Caretaker period endedhttp://www.the-afc.com/eng/articles/viewArticle.jsp_168493833.html Edgardo Bauza takes over as Al-Nasr Coach Edgardo Bauza January 2009 Al-Hilal Cosmin Olăroiu Sacked Cătălin Necula (caretaker) March 2009 Al-Hilal Cătălin Necula Caretaker period endedhttp://www.the-afc.com/eng/articles/viewArticle.jsp_168624529.html Leekens takes over at Al Hilal Georges Leekens April 2009
Foreign players The number of foreign players was limited to 3 per team, and should not be a goalkeeper. For the January transfer window, the SAFF added an additional slot for a player from one of the AFC countries.
Players name in bold indicates the player was registered during mid-season transfer window. Players name in italic indicates the player was de-registered or left their respective clubs during mid-season transfer window.
Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 AFC Player Former players Abha Aziz Ayat Aabi Khalid Zouine Al-Ahli Youcef Saïbi Walid Soliman Ibrahima Gueye Baha' Abdel-Rahman Adel Maïza Harison Ndubuisi Eze Al-Ettifaq Paulo Sérgio Prince Tagoe Salaheddine Aqqal Mohannad Ibrahim Al-Hazem Karim Eddafi Hamad Ji Mohamed Rebeiz Bashar Bani Yaseen Kodjo Afanou Al-Hilal Tarik El Taib Mirel Rădoi Christian Wilhelmsson Seol Ki-hyeon Ronald Raldes Al-Ittihad Renato Cajá Emad Moteab Hicham Aboucherouane Ahmed Hadid Al-Mukhaini Al-Nassr Éder Gaúcho Élton Arábia Hossam Ghaly Hassan Rabia Razak Omotoyossi Al-Raed Felipe Campos Leandro Sena Boris Kabi Saleh Abdulhameed Tarik Miri Zakaria Aboub Al-Shabab Marcelo Camacho Ricardo Bóvio Ahmad Ajab Talal Al-Bloushi Nei Al-Watani Josimar Assane Sy Makhete Diop Basem Fathi Mamadou Ba Camara Mousa Conde Al-Wehda Harison Amir Akrout Mejdi Traoui Raja Rafe Omar Daoud Daouda N'Diaye Bilel Sabri Najran Vinícius Wilsinho Abdulfatah Safi Talal Khalfan
League table
Fixtures and results
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 Pro league next season while the loser were relegated to the First Division. Al-Raed won 4–3 on aggregate and retained their place in the next edition.
First leg
Second leg
Al-Raed won 4–3 on aggregate.
Season statistics
Scoring
Top scorers Rank Player Club Goals1 Hicham AboucherouaneAl-Ittihad12 Nasser Al-ShamraniAl-Shabab3 Emad MoteabAl-Ittihad10 Yasser Al-QahtaniAl-Hilal5 Boris KabiAl-Raed9 Hassan Al-RahebAl-Ahli Naif HazaziAl-Ittihad Amir AkroutAl-Wehda9 Mohammad Al-AnbarAl-Hilal810 Essa Al-MehyaniAl-Wehda7 Sultan Al-NemriAl-Ittihad
Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Ref Nei4 Al-Shabab Al-Wehda 4–2 (H) Nasser Al-Shamrani Al-Shabab Abha 5–0 (H) Hicham Aboucherouane Al-Ittihad Al-Watani 7–2 (H) Yasser Al-Qahtani4 Al-Hilal Najran 7–0 (H)
Notes 4 Player scored 4 goals(H) – Home team(A) – Away team
Most assists Rank Player Club Assists1 Mohammed NoorAl-Ittihad112 Abdoh OtaifAl-Shabab73 Ahmed Al-FraidiAl-Hilal6 Christian WilhelmssonAl-Hilal5 Hamad JiAl-Hazem5 Saleh Al-SaqriAl-Ittihad Tarik El TaibAl-Hilal Hicham AboucherouaneAl-Ittihad9 Al Hasan Al-YamiNajran4 Hassan Al-RahebAl-Ahli Essa Al-MehyaniAl-Wehda
Clean sheets RankPlayerClubCleansheets1 Mohamed Al-DeayeaAl-Hilal142 Yasser Al-MosailemAl-Ahli73 Mabrouk ZaidAl-Ittihad6 Waleed AbdullahAl-Shabab5 Saeed Al-HarbiAl-Hazem5 Salem AsiriAbha7 Adnan Al-SalmanAl-Ettifaq3 Assaf Al-QarniAl-Wehda Jaber Al-AmeriNajran
Discipline
Player Most yellow cards: 6 Harison (Al-Ahli/Al-Wehda) Abdullah Al-Dossari (Al-Wehda) Abdullah Huwais (Al-Watani) Ahmed Al-Fraidi (Al-Hilal) Ahmed Menawer (Al-Hazem) Basem Al-Sherif (Al-Raed) Ibrahim Al-Kaabi (Al-Watani) Ibrahim Hazzazi (Al-Ahli) Taisir Al-Jassim (Al-Ahli)
Most red cards: 2 Naif Al-Qadi (Al-Shabab) Redha Tukar (Al-Ittihad) Sultan Al-Balawi (Al-Watani)
Club Most yellow cards: 52 Abha Al-Watani
Most red cards: 7 Al-Wehda
Awards The following awards were given following the conclusion of the season. The awards were known as the Arriyadiyah and Mobily Awards for Sports Excellence and were sponsored by Saudi newspaper Arriyadiyah and Saudi telecommunication company Mobily. The awards were presented on 30 May 2009.
Award Winner Club Player of the Season Ahmed Otaif Tarik El Taib Osama Hawsawi Al-ShababAl-HilalAl-Hilal Young Player of the Season Hamad Al-Hamad Salman Al-Faraj Mansoor Al-Harbi Al-EttifaqAl-HilalAl-Ahli Goldent Boot Hicham Aboucherouane Nasser Al-Shamrani Al-IttihadAl-Shabab
See also 2009 King Cup of Champions 2008–09 Saudi Crown Prince Cup
References
External links Saudi Arabia Football Federation