| Competition: | TT Pro League |
| Season: | 2009 |
| Winners: | Joe Public 2nd Pro League title 3rd T&T title |
| Continentalcup1: | CFU Club Championship |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | San Juan Jabloteh Joe Public |
| Contninntalcup2: | Champions League |
| League Topscorer: | Kerry Baptiste (35 goals) |
| Biggest Home Win: | W Connection 8–0 Police (4 September 2009) |
| Biggest Away Win: | Police 0–7 Joe Public (29 August 2009) |
| Highest Scoring: | Caledonia AIA 7–2 Police (18 August 2009) Jabloteh 5–4 Defence Force (15 October 2009) |
| Total Goals: | 372 |
| Matches: | 125 |
| Prevseason: | 2008 |
| Nextseason: | 2010–11 |
The 2009 TT Pro League season (known as the Digicel Pro League for sponsorship reasons) was the eleventh season of the TT Pro League, the Trinidad and Tobago professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1999. A total of eleven teams contested the league, with San Juan Jabloteh the defending champions.[1] The season began on 8 May, with Super Friday, and ended on 27 October. The format of the season was changed from each club playing three rounds to two rounds in the regular season to facilitate the national team with its attempt to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[2]
Police were re-admitted into the league following a one-year absence, whereas FC South End were admitted as a new club.[3] However, North East Stars withdrew siting the state of their home ground, Sangre Grande Recreational Ground, for the past few years as the cause to sit out the season.[4] The Sangre Grande Boys stated that they intend to return to the league for 2010. Furthermore, Caledonia AIA changed the name of the club to Caledonia AIA of Morvant/Laventille.
The first goal of the season was scored by Caledonia AIA's Walter Moore against Joe Public in the second minute of the first game on 8 May.[5] Kendall Velox of Caledonia AIA scored the first hat-trick of the season against Police on 23 May. Kerry Baptiste won the Golden Boot by providing 35 goals for Joe Public on their way to becoming league champions.[6]
On 12 September, Joe Public used a 2–1 win over W Connection at Manny Ramjohn Stadium to clinch the regular season crown on 41 points. San Juan Jabloteh, Caledonia AIA, W Connection, Ma Pau, and Defence Force all qualified for the Big Six. On 24 October, Joe Public claimed the league title with a 1–1 draw against Caledonia AIA. The achievement marked their second Pro League title with the first coming in the 2006 season. Having finished as the league champion, Joe Public qualified for the 2010 CFU Club Championship. By finishing runners-up in the league, San Juan Jabloteh also qualified for the CFU Club Championship.
With an 8–0 loss to W Connection on 1 September, Police finished bottom in the league. The club had a disappointing campaign having only recorded nine points with a -48 goal difference. This marked the first season in which Tobago United did not finish the league season bottom of the table. Furthermore, on 8 January 2010, United Petrotrin announced that they had pulled the club from the Pro League.[7]
The following changes were made since the 2008 season:
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity | Manager | Captain | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caledonia AIA | Morvant/Laventille | align=center | 10,000 |  | |||
| Defence Force | Chaguaramas | Hasely Crawford Stadium | align=center | 27,000 | |||
| FC South End | Point Fortin | Manny Ramjohn Stadium | align=center | 10,000 | |||
| Joe Public | Arouca | Marvin Lee Stadium | align=center | 6,000 | |||
| Ma Pau | Woodbrook | Hasely Crawford Stadium | align=center | 27,000 | |||
| Police | Saint James | Hasely Crawford Stadium | align=center | 27,000 | |||
| San Juan Jabloteh | San Juan | Hasely Crawford Stadium | align=center | 27,000 |  | ||
| St. Ann's Rangers | San Juan | Hasely Crawford Stadium | align=center | 27,000 | |||
| Tobago United | Bacolet | Dwight Yorke Stadium | align=center | 7,500 | | ||
| United Petrotrin | Pointe-à-Pierre | Palo Seco Velodrome | align=center | 10,000 |  | ||
| W Connection | Point Lisas | Manny Ramjohn Stadium | align=center | 10,000 | | |
See main article: List of TT Pro League managers.
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment | Table | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Police | Re-admitted team | Richard De Coteau | 29 January 2009[14] | Pre-season | ||||
| FC South End | Expansion team | Leroy DeLeon | 9 May 2009 | Pre-season | ||||
| United Petrotrin | Leon Carpette | End of caretaker contract | 18 December 2008[15] | 6th (2008) | Marcos Tinoco | 21 February 2009[16] | Pre-season | |
| Defence Force | Sacked | 18 December 2008 | 8th (2008) | Ross Russell | 8 April 2009[17] | Pre-season | ||
| Ma Pau | Ronald La Forest | Sacked | 17 January 2009[18] | 9th (2008) | Ubirajara Veiga Da Silva | 21 January 2009[19] | Pre-season | |
| Ubirajara Veiga Da Silva | Mutual consent | 2 April 2009[20] | 9th (2008) | Michael McComie | 8 April 2009[21] | Pre-season | ||
| San Juan Jabloteh | Terry Fenwick | Resigned | 17 April 2009[22] | 1st (2008) | 18 April 2009[23] | Pre-season | ||
| San Juan Jabloteh | Earl Jean | Sacked | 26 November 2009[24] | 2nd | Terry Fenwick | 26 November 2009[25] | Post-season |
| Round 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Home team | Score | Away team | |
| San Juan Jabloteh | 5–4 | Defence Force | |
| Ma Pau | 1–3 | Joe Public | |
| W Connection | 1–0 | Caledonia AIA | |
| Round 2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Home team | Score | Away team | |
| Caledonia AIA | 1–0 | Ma Pau | |
| W Connection | 2–0 | Defence Force | |
| Joe Public | 3–1 | San Juan Jabloteh | |
| Round 3 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Home team | Score | Away team | |
| Defence Force | 1–2 | Joe Public | |
| Caledonia AIA | 1–2 | San Juan Jabloteh | |
| Ma Pau | 0–0 | W Connection | |
| Round 4 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Home team | Score | Away team | |
| San Juan Jabloteh | 1–1 | W Connection | |
| Ma Pau | 4–1 | Defence Force | |
| Joe Public | 1–1 | Caledonia AIA | |
| Round 5 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Home team | Score | Away team | |
| Defence Force | 0–2 | Caledonia AIA | |
| Joe Public | 0–0 | W Connection | |
| San Juan Jabloteh | 1–0 | Ma Pau | |
See also: List of top TT Pro League goal scorers by season.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kerry Baptiste | Joe Public | ||
| 2 | Keyon Edwards | Caledonia AIA | ||
| 3 | Devorn Jorsling | Defence Force | ||
| 4 | Kevon Carter | Defence Force | ||
| 5 | Arnold Dwarika | United Petrotrin | ||
 Jonathan Faña | W Connection | |||
| 7 | Anthony Wolfe | Ma Pau | ||
| 8 | Trevin Caesar | Ma Pau | ||
| Kendall Velox | Caledonia AIA | |||
| 10 | Noel Williams | San Juan Jabloteh |
See main article: List of TT Pro League hat-tricks.
| Player | For ! | Against | Result | Date | Ref(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Police | ||||||
| St. Ann's Rangers | ||||||
| Caledonia AIA | ||||||
| 5 | St. Ann's Rangers | |||||
| Defence Force | ||||||
| Ma Pau | ||||||
| St. Ann's Rangers | ||||||
| Police | ||||||
| St. Ann's Rangers | ||||||
| 4 | Police | |||||
| Police | ||||||
| United Petrotrin | ||||||
| 4 | W Connection | |||||
 | W Connection | |||||
| 4 | San Juan Jabloteh | |||||
| 4 | San Juan Jabloteh |
| Round | Player of the Round | Round's Statline | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round One | Kerry Baptiste (Joe Public) | 10 GP, 13 G, Joe Public 6-3-1 in Round One | |
| Round Two | Kerry Baptiste (Joe Public) | 10 GP, 22 G, Joe Public 6-2-2 in Round Two |
The 2009 TT Pro League awards distribution took place on 7 April 2010, at Cascadia Hotel in St. Ann's, Trinidad, prior to the 2010–11 season.[31]
Joe Public took home the majority of the league honours including Team of the Year. Eastern Lion Kerry Baptiste was named the league's Player of the Year for the first time in his career, by providing 35 league goals.[32] Baptiste also received the Golden Boot and was named the Best Forward. Joe Public manager Derek King became the youngest manager in the Pro League to win the league championship and claimed the Manager of the Year.[33] In addition, Joe Public's Alejandro Figueroa, Trent Noel, and Keyeno Thomas were named the league's Best Goalkeeper, Best Midfielder, and Best Defender respectively. The remaining team award was won by Caledonia AIA for the Most Disciplined Team of the Year. FIFA international referee, Neal Brizan, won the Referee of the Year for the third consecutive year, whereas Boris Punch won the Match Commissioner of the Year in back-to-back years.
| Award | Winner | |
|---|---|---|
| Player of the Year | Kerry Baptiste (Joe Public) | |
| Manager of the Year | Derek King (Joe Public) | |
| Best Goalkeeper |  Alejandro Figueroa (Joe Public) | |
| Best Defender | Keyeno Thomas (Joe Public) | |
| Best Midfielder | Trent Noel (Joe Public) | |
| Best Forward | Kerry Baptiste (Joe Public) | |
| Golden Boot | Kerry Baptiste (Joe Public) | |
| Team of the Year | Joe Public | |
| Most Disciplined Team of the Year | Caledonia AIA | |
| Referee of the Year | Neal Brizan | |
| Assistant Referee of the Year | Ainsley Rochard | |
| Match Commissioner of the Year | Boris Punch |