2008–09 Syrian Premier League Explained

Competition:Syrian Premier League
Season:2008–09
Winners:Al-Karamah
Relegated:Al-Futowa
Hutteen
Continentalcup1:AFC Cup
Continentalcup1 Qualifiers:Al-Karamah
Al-Ittihad
Continentalcup2:Arab Champions League
Continentalcup2 Qualifiers:Al-Jaish
Al-Nawair
League Topscorer: Mohamed Al Zeno (17)
Prevseason:2007–08
Nextseason:2009–10

The 2008–09 Syrian Premier League is the 38th season of the Syrian Premier League, Syria's premier football 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.

At the end of the campaign, defending champions Al-Karamah were level on 52 points with Al-Ittihad and therefore were required to have a one off playoff match to determine the league champions.[1]

Al-Futowa and Hutteen were relegated and would be replaced by Afrin and Al-Jazeera for the 2009–10 Syrian Premier League campaign.

Syrian international Mohamed Al Zeno finished the campaign as leading goalscorer with 17 goals.

Continental Cups

AFC Cup

Al-Karamah and Al-Majd entered the AFC Cup 2009 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

Al-Ittihad and Al-Taliya entered the Arab Champions League but Al-Taliya found the going tough, being thumped by Raja Casablanca of Morocco in the first round.

Al-Ittihad went one round better but got beat by Wydad Casablanca, also of Morocco.

Premier League teams (2008–2009)

ClubCityStadium2007–2008 seasonNotes
Al-KaramahHomsKhaled bin Walid StadiumSyrian Premier League ChampionsAFC Cup 2009 representative
Al-MajdDamascusAbbasiyyin Stadium2nd in Syrian Premier LeagueAFC Cup 2009 representative
Al-IttihadAleppoAleppo International Stadium3rd in Syrian Premier League2008–09 Arab Champions League representative
Al-TaliyaHamahAl Baladi Stadium Hama4th in Syrian Premier League2008–09 Arab Champions League representative
Al-JaishDamascusAbbasiyyin Stadium5th in Syrian Premier League
Al-FutowaDeir ez-ZorAl Baladi Stadium Deir ez-Zor6th in Syrian Premier League
TeshrinLatakiaAl Basil Stadium7th in Syrian Premier League
HutteenLatakiaAl Basil Stadium8th in Syrian Premier League
Al-WahdaDamascusAbbasiyyin Stadium9th in Syrian Premier League
JablehJablehAl-Baath Stadium10th in Syrian Premier League
Al-ShortaDamascusAbbasiyyin Stadium11th in Syrian Premier League
Al-NawairHamahAl Baladi Stadium Hama12th in Syrian Premier League
Al-WathbaHomsKhaled bin Walid Stadium1st Division / North Champions
OmayyaIdlibAl Baladi Stadium Idlib1st Division / South Champions

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

Al-Ittihad:
GK 1 Mahmoud Karkar
DF 5 Omar Hemidi
DF 6 Majd Homsi
DF 30 Abdulkader Dakka
DF 32 Bakri Tarrab
MF 14 Wael Ayan
MF 17 Mahmoud Al Amenah
MF 19 Yehya Al Rashed
MF 99 Adel Abdullah
FW 12 Otto
FW 18 Anas Sari (c)
Substitutes:
FW 10 Abdul Fattah Al Agha
DF 21 Yousef Sheikh Al-Eshreh
MF 4 Khaled Al Zaher
Manager:
Hussain Afash
Al-Karamah:
GK 1 Mosab Balhous
DF 4 Hassan Abbas (c)
DF 13 Belal Abduldaim
DF 14 Anas Al Khouja
MF 25 Feras Esmaeel
MF 16 Tamer Haj Mohamad
MF 21 Aatef Jenyat
MF 15 Alaa Al Shbli
MF 11 Fahd Aodi
FW 9 Mohamad Hamwi
FW 26 Hani Al Taiar
Substitutes:
MF 10 Iyad Mando
MF 3 Yasser Shahen
Manager:
Mohammad Kwid
MATCH OFFICIALS

MATCH RULES

Winner

Top goalscorers

17 goals
14 goals
12 goals
11 goals
10 goals

Managerial changes

TeamOutgoing managerDate OutgoingReason of departureReplaced byDate of Replacement
Al-Wahda Damascus Emad ShoumanAugust 26, 2008Change of manager for new season Nizar MahrousAugust 26, 2008
Al-Wahda Damascus Nizar MahrousFebruary 4, 2009Left to go to Al-Faisaly[2] Assaf Khalefah

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.the-afc.com/eng/articles/viewArticle.jsp_168691292.html Ittihad, Karamah in league climax
  2. http://www.the-afc.com/eng/articles/viewArticle.jsp_168526208.html Mahrous takes up Al Faisaly job