2008 Estoril Open
The women's draw was headlined by Viña del Mar and Acapulco champion Flavia Pennetta, Auckland quarterfinalist Maria Kirilenko, and Antwerp runner-up Karin Knapp. Also present in the field were 2005 Estoril titlist Lucie Šafářová, 2000 Estoril semifinalist Tathiana Garbin, Klára Zakopalová, Sofia Arvidsson and Camille Pin.


2008 Estoril Open, Finals, Men's Doubles
Jeff Coetzee /  Wesley Moodie defeated  Jamie Murray /  Kevin Ullyett, 6–2, 4–6, [10–8]


2008 Estoril Open, Finals, Women's Doubles
Maria Kirilenko /  Flavia Pennetta defeated  Mervana Jugić-Salkić /  İpek Şenoğlu, 6–4, 6–4


2008 Estoril Open – Men's Doubles
Marcelo Melo and André Sá were the defending champions, but Sa chose not to participate, and only Melo competed that year. Melo partnered with Sebastián Prieto, but lost in the quarterfinals to Yves Allegro and Nicolas Mahut.


2008 Estoril Open – Men's Doubles
Jeff Coetzee and Wesley Moodie won in the final 6–2, 4–6, [10–8], against Jamie Murray and Kevin Ullyett.


2008 Estoril Open – Men's Singles
Novak Djokovic was the defending champion, but chose not to participate that year.


2008 Estoril Open – Men's Singles
First-seeded Roger Federer won in the final 7–6(7–5), 1–2, after Nikolay Davydenko retired due to a left leg injury.


2008 Estoril Open – Women's Doubles
Andreea Ehritt-Vanc and Anastasia Rodionova were the defending champions, but chose not to participate that year.


2008 Estoril Open – Women's Doubles
Maria Kirilenko and Flavia Pennetta won in the final 6–4, 6–4, against Mervana Jugić-Salkić and İpek Şenoğlu.


2008 Estoril Open – Women's Singles
Gréta Arn was the defending champion, but chose not to participate that year.


2008 Estoril Open – Women's Singles
Maria Kirilenko won in the final 6–4, 6–2, against Iveta Benešová.


2008 Estoril Superleague Formula round
The 2008 Estoril Superleague Formula round was the fourth round of the inaugural Superleague Formula championship, with the races taking place on October 19, 2008. Eighteen football teams were represented on the grid, the same number of teams as there was at the previous two rounds. There were four driver changes for this round of the championship: Franck Perera joined A.S. Roma replacing Enrico Toccacelo, with Toccacelo moving to the Borussia Dortmund car, replacing Paul Meijer as original driver Nelson Philippe was on GP2 Asia Series duty in Shanghai.


2008 Estoril Superleague Formula round
Meijer also stayed in the series, moving to the Al Ain car, as both of their previous drivers Andreas Zuber (also in Shanghai) and Bertrand Baguette (in Barcelona for the final World Series by Renault round of the season) were unavailable. Just like Baguette, Duncan Tappy was unavailable to drive the Tottenham Hotspur car, and was replaced by Dominik Jackson. The meeting saw a second win for Liverpool F.C. and a first win for Al Ain. Beijing Guoan extended their championship lead to 35 points, thanks to a pair of fifths for Davide Rigon.


2008 Estoril Superleague Formula round, Report, Qualifying
After the random draw which split the eighteen-car field into two groups, the fastest four qualifiers from each progressed into the knockout stages to decide places 1 to 8 on the grid. For the first time in Superleague Formula, the eight knockout qualifiers were the eight fastest drivers out of the two groups. As fastest drivers in their groups, Franck Perera (A.S. Roma) and Kasper Andersen (Olympiacos CFP) were expected to meet in the final, however Robert Doornbos' A.C. Milan machine knocked out the Dane in the semis. In the final itself, Perera recorded the fastest lap to become the fourth different polesitter in four races.


2008 Estoril Superleague Formula round, Report, Race 1
From the start, Perera led away from Doornbos, Adrián Vallés (Liverpool F.C.) and Tristan Gommendy (F.C. Porto), with Andersen being delayed from third on the grid. Lower down the field, tenth-placed Max Wissel (FC Basel 1893) collided with seventh-placed Enrico Toccacelo (Borussia Dortmund) collided at Curva 1, with Wissel retiring on the spot and Toccacelo retiring at the end of the lap, with front wing damage from the accident. It stayed that way until the mandatory stops, with Davide Rigon (Beijing Guoan) joining in on the fun also.


2008 Estoril Superleague Formula round, Report, Race 1
Lap 10 saw Perera pitting with a four-second lead, closely followed by Vallés. A fumble by a rear tyre changer cost the French driver time and the place to Vallés. Doornbos came in to pit next time around with Rigon which put Gommendy into the lead, for home side Porto. He would lead for a couple of laps, before pitting which allowed Antônio Pizzonia (SC Corinthians) to lead for a lap. When all the stops cycled through, Liverpool led from Milan, Roma and Beijing with Pizzonia up to fifth.


2008 Estoril Superleague Formula round, Report, Race 1
Pizzonia would pass Rigon for fourth towards the end of the race as the Italian was nursing an ailing car home with only fourth through sixth gears, and closed to a second behind Perera at the finish. Gommendy's strong run was ended by a water pump failure on lap 26, ruling that car out for the rest of the day.


2008 Estoril Superleague Formula round, Report, Race 1
So, Vallés won his second Superleague race by 0.948 seconds from Doornbos, and then followed by Perera, Pizzonia, Rigon, Andy Soucek (Atlético Madrid), Alessandro Pier Guidi (Galatasaray S.K. ), Borja García (Sevilla FC), Yelmer Buurman (PSV Eindhoven), Andersen, Tuka Rocha (CR Flamengo), Paul Meijer (Al Ain), Ryan Dalziel (Rangers F.C. ), Craig Dolby (R.S.C. Anderlecht) and debutant Dominik Jackson rounding out the field for Tottenham Hotspur in 15th.


2008 Estoril Superleague Formula round, Report, Race 2
Rigon started from the pit lane, following a gearbox change after race one. From the start, polesitter Wissel led from Toccacelo and Jackson with action towards the back with Soucek's engine blowing. Jackson moved up to second, passing Toccacelo around the back of the circuit and closed up on Wissel down the front straight, and at Curva 1, Jackson would take the lead for a couple of laps. On lap 4, Toccacelo came up to the back of the Englishman's car, having already disposed of Wissel and did the same to Jackson.


2008 Estoril Superleague Formula round, Report, Race 2
Towards the back, Perera and Vallés would collide at turn six, with Perera spinning into the gravel and retirement and Vallés retreating to the pits for a new nosecone. Dalziel also had a moment, and spun into retirement as well, with unrepairable accident damage. Out front, Toccacelo was establishing a healthy lead before his pit-stop on lap 14. Andersen then led for three laps before his pitstop, handing the lead back to Toccacelo, with Meijer now in tow, thanks to an early pitstop on lap 10.


2008 Estoril Superleague Formula round, Report, Race 2
Wissel and Andersen would both retire in the late stages with mechanical problems and with three laps to go, gremlins would strike Toccacelo. Fading oil pressure switched the engine's ECU into safety mode, and was helpless in stopping Meijer through to the lead. After recording his first pole at Zolder, Meijer recorded his first win by nearly two seconds from Doornbos (up from 17th) with Pier Guidi, Pizzonia and Rigon further deposing Toccacelo before the flag. García, Buurman, Dolby, Rocha, Jackson and Vallés completed the finishers. Healthy finishes for Rigon allowed Beijing to head to the penultimate round at Vallelunga with a 35-point lead from PSV, with Liverpool now in third just a point further back. With a maximum of 200 points available, the championship is still wide open.


2008 Ethiopian local elections
Ethiopia held nationwide elections for local offices in the kebele and woreda assemblies on 13 and 20 April 2008. By-elections were also held for seats in the Addis Ababa City Council, and in the national and regional parliaments that were vacant due to the Coalition for Unity and Democracy’s (CUD) refusal to participate at the same time. By law, the local elections were supposed to be held as part of the 2005 general elections, but due to the resulting unrest they were postponed.


2008 Ethiopian local elections, Background
This election was important for the victors would control the local government structures, the kebeles and woredas, which are the key institutions for controlling local communities and are the main service providers. "For members of the local councils," writes Aalen and Tronvoll, "re-election is a matter of keeping their daily bread; and for new candidates, membership in one of the councils is viewed as a way of getting access to scarce state resources."


2008 Ethiopian local elections, Background
While the international community was a significant player in the 2005 elections, in this election they were on the sidelines.


2008 Ethiopian local elections, Background
In a letter sent to a group of nations providing foreign aid to Ethiopia, of 26 December 2007, three party leaders -- Beyene Petros (United Ethiopian Democratic Forces), Temesken Zewdie (CUD), and Bulcha Demeksa (Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement) -- desperately pleaded for their intervention: "We are drawing your attention to this critical matter of election observing because we are afraid that the manner in which the NEB is currently running the process leading up to the elections is predictably a way to a non-consensual election outcome."


2008 Ethiopian local elections, Background
Possible pressure by donor countries on the Ethiopian government was neutralized by the desire to fulfill the Millennium Development Goals, a fact which the government knows well. When a group of donor countries tried to play hard-ball with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and suspended money payments in the aftermath of the 2005 election, he calmly told them to pack up and go home if they weren’t interested in supporting the development of the country. "After a few weeks," notes Aalen and Tronvoll, "all donor countries caved in and resumed full development assistance to the country."


2008 Ethiopian local elections, Results
The ruling party, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), regained control of the Addis Ababa city council, and won all but one of the 39 parliamentary by-elections. In local elections, the EPRDF won more than 3.5 million of the 3.6 million open seats. The National Elections Board of Ethiopia reported the turnout was 93% of eligible voters.


2008 Ethiopian local elections, Results
Although this was the first election in Ethiopia since the tumultuous 2005 general election, several opposition parties sat out the election. Bulcha Demeksa, said his party had only been able to put forward 2% of the 6,000 candidates it wanted to because they had been threatened by government supporters. Likewise, another opposition party, the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces said that of its 20,000 candidates who attempted to register, only 10,000 succeeded, and only 6,000 of those actually had their names placed on the lists at polling stations.


2008 Euro Beach Soccer Cup
The 2008 Euro Beach Soccer Cup was the tenth Euro Beach Soccer Cup, one of Europe's three major beach soccer championships of the 2008 beach soccer season, held in September 2008, in Baku, Azerbaijan. Spain won the championship for the second time, with Switzerland finishing second. Hosts Azerbaijan beat Norway in the third place play off to finish third and fourth respectively.


2008 Euro Beach Soccer Cup
A record low six teams participated in the tournament who were split into two groups of three, playing each other once in the groups. The third placed teams in each group played in a fifth place play off, the second placed teams in each group played in a third place play off and the winners of each group played in a final match to decide the winner of the tournament.


2008 Euro Beach Soccer League
The 2008 Euro Beach Soccer League, was the eleventh edition of the Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL), the premier beach soccer competition contested between European men's national teams, occurring annually since its establishment in 1998. The league was organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) between June 20 and August 24, 2008.


2008 Euro Beach Soccer League
Unprecedented organisational changes had to be made to the EBSL in 2008 leading to a drastically shorter season than usual – just two regular season stages were scheduled due to a clash of dates with the arrangements of the 2008 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, the first edition to take place in Europe. As a result of the shorter season, BSWW also abandoned the concept of Divisions A and B, opting to have the teams compete in one collective division regardless of ability.


2008 Euro Beach Soccer League
Portugal entered the tournament as defending champions and successfully retained their title, beating the Netherlands in the final to claim their third European crown. Portugal became only the second team after Spain to defend the EBSL crown as incumbent champions, after the Spanish did so twice in 2000 and 2001. The Netherlands, as runners-up, claimed their best finish and only top four placing to date.


2008 Euro Beach Soccer League
This was the first time this decade that the league did not double as the European qualification process for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. In 2008, a dedicated World Cup qualifying competition for UEFA nations was established, replacing the EBSL as the qualifying route for European teams from this year onward.


2008 Euro Beach Soccer League, Organisational changes
BSWW were forced to make radical changes to the organisation of the 2008 EBSL season due to circumstances regarding the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.


2008 Euro Beach Soccer League, Organisational changes
Until 2007, the World Cup took place in the Southern Hemisphere nation of Brazil, during the summer months (November to February), leaving the European summer of June to September free for the EBSL to take place uninterrupted. However, in 2008, FIFA organised the first World Cup to take place in France, taking advantage of the Northern Hemisphere summer, in July – right in the middle of the typical EBSL season. This greatly affected the scheduling of the EBSL as BSWW could not organise as many rounds of regular season fixtures as usual due to European teams in preparation for, participation in and recovery from the World Cup over the course of July and beginning of August.


2008 Euro Beach Soccer League, Organisational changes
This meant only two regular season stages were organised, considerably less than usual. To accommodate all teams in just two stages, the classic Divisions A and B were also scrapped for this season – all participating nations of varying beach soccer abilities took part in one single division.


2008 Euro Beach Soccer League, Teams
17 teams took part in the season, all in one collective division. 16 nations participating during the regular season, one set of eight in stage one and the remaining eight in stage two. The 17th nation, Portugal, were awarded a bye into Superfinal as explained in the above key.


2008 Euro Beach Soccer League, Regular season, Format explanation
The formats of the two regular season stages were organised as unconventional double elimination tournaments as explained below.


2008 Euro Beach Soccer League, Regular season, Format explanation
The top three teams from each stage earned qualification to the Superfinal as well as the best fourth placed team from stage 1 or 2 as per the cumulative standings.


2008 Euro Beach Soccer League, Cumulative standings
The top three placing nations from each stage qualified for the Superfinal, along with the statistically best of the two fourth placing teams, as per the below table.


2008 Euro Beach Soccer League, Cumulative standings
The teams are ranked in order of their final placings in the stage they participated in.


2008 Euro Beach Soccer League, Cumulative standings
The two teams that finished in the same corresponding final placing in each of the stages (i.e. Spain finished 6th in stage 1 as did Turkey in stage 2) are then split based on which of the nations earned the most points and then on the best goal difference.


2008 Euro Beach Soccer League, Superfinal
The Superfinal took place in Vila Real de Santo António, Portugal.


2008 Euro Beach Soccer League, Superfinal
This season the Superfinal was played as a straight knockout tournament. All eight teams contesting the title started in the quarter-finals, playing one match per round until the final when the winner of the 2008 Euro Beach Soccer League was crowned. The losers of the quarter-finals played in consolation matches to determine their final placements.


2008 Euro Beach Soccer League, Superfinal
Automatic entrants Portugal were assigned the number 1 seed. The other seeds, numbers 2–8, were allocated based on the order of the qualified nations in the cumulative standings. The top seed were drawn against the eighth seed, second seed against the seventh seed and so on.


2008 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0
The 2008 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season was the eighteenth Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season. The season began at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on May 3 and finished at the Circuit de Catalunya on October 19, after fourteen rounds. Four drivers went into the final meeting with a shot of winning the title, with Valtteri Bottas coming out on top, to claim his second title in the year.


2008 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, Championship standings, Drivers
† — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.


2008 Eurocup Mégane Trophy
The 2008 Eurocup Mégane Trophy season was the fourth season of the Renault–supported touring car category, a one-make racing series that is part of the World Series by Renault. The season began at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on 3 May and finished at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on 19 October, after seven rounds and fourteen races. Michaël Rossi won the title, having battled with Maxime Martin for the entire campaign.


2008 Euroleague Final Four
The 2008 Euroleague Final Four was the final phase Euroleague Final Four tournament of the Euroleague 2007–08 season, featuring four teams that survived a 14-game Regular Season, 6 games in the Top 16 phase, and a best-of-three quarterfinal. It was played on May 2 and May 4 in Madrid at the Community of Madrid Sports Palace.


2008 Euroleague Final Four
As in previous years, the EuroLeague Final Four involved four games. The first day featured the two semifinal matches. The final day started with the third-place game between the semifinal losers, followed by the EuroLeague Final.


2008 Euroleague Final Four
The EuroLeague champions were Russian power CSKA Moscow. They established new records for the EuroLeague era, with their sixth consecutive Final Four appearance, and third consecutive final game appearance. The title, their sixth overall, put them second in all-time European titles to Real Madrid. CSKA's Trajan Langdon was named EuroLeague Final Four MVP.


2008 Euroleague Final Four, Arena
The host venue was the 15,000 capacity Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid. Opened in 2005, it stands on the site of a previous arena that was built in 1960, and destroyed by fire in 2001.


2008 Euroleague Final Four, Final four, Semifinals, Montepaschi Siena - Maccabi Tel Aviv
Notes: # - Player number; Min played - Minutes played; Points - FT: Free Throws, 2FG: 2-point Field Goals, 3FG: 3-point Field Goals, TOT: Total points; Rebounds - Off: Offensive, Def: Defensive, TOT: Total rebounds; Blocks - Fv: In Favor, Ag: Against; Fouls - Cm: Committed, Rv: Received; Players in bold were starters


2008 Euroleague Final Four, Final four, Third Place game
Notes: # - Player number; Min played - Minutes played; Points - FT: Free Throws, 2FG: 2-point Field Goals, 3FG: 3-point Field Goals, TOT: Total points; Rebounds - Off: Offensive, Def: Defensive, TOT: Total rebounds; Blocks - Fv: In Favor, Ag: Against; Fouls - Cm: Committed, Rv: Received; Players in bold were starters


2008 Europe Cup (badminton)
The 2008 Europe Cup in badminton was the 31st edition of the Europe Cup. It was held between June 11 and June 15, 2008, in the Borisoglebsky Sports Centre, in Ramenskoye, Russia.


2008 European 10 m Events Championships
The 2008 European 10 m Events Championships was held in Winterthur, Switzerland, from February 25 to March 2, 2008. Competitions were contested at the Eulachhalle.


2008 European 10,000m Cup
The 2008 European 10,000m Cup, was the 12th edition of the European 10,000m Cup took place on 12 April in Istanbul, Turkey.


2008 European 10,000m Cup, Team
In italic the participants whose result did not go into the team's total time, but awarded with medals.


2008 European Amateur Boxing Championships
The Men's 2008 European Amateur Boxing Championships were held in Liverpool, England in November 2008. They were the 37th edition of this biennial competition organised by the European governing body for amateur boxing, EABA.


2008 European Amateur Team Championship
The 2008 European Amateur Team Championship took place 1 – 5 July at Royal Park Golf & Country Club on its Allianz Course in Fiano, in the Metropolitan City of Turin, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) northwest of Turin, in the region Piedmont, Italy. It was the 26th men's golf European Amateur Team Championship.


2008 European Amateur Team Championship
It was the first time the championship was played in consecutive years, since its inauguration in 1959.


2008 European Amateur Team Championship
The club was founded in 1971 by the Agnelli family. Its first course, the Allianz Course, a parkland and forest course, was designed the same year by Robert Trent Jones Sr.


2008 European Amateur Team Championship
Each team consisted of 6 players, playing two rounds of stroke-play over two days, counting the five best scores each day for each team.


2008 European Amateur Team Championship
Five-time-winners team Scotland won the opening 36-hole competition, with a 22-under-par score of 698. Tied five strokes behind were team Sweden and team Germany. Sweden earned 2nd place on the tie breaking better non-counting scores. Host nation Italy, with 15-year-old future European Tour winner Matteo Manassero in the team, finished 5th.


2008 European Amateur Team Championship
There was no official award for the lowest individual score, but individual leader were Wallace Booth, Scotland, with a 10-under-par score of 134, two strokes ahead of Jorge Campillo, Spain, and Callum Macaulay, Scotland.


2008 European Amateur Team Championship
The eight best teams formed flight A, in knock-out match-play over the next three days. The teams were seeded based on their positions after the stroke play. The first placed team were drawn to play the quarter final against the eight placed team, the second against the seventh, the third against the sixth and the fourth against the fifth. Teams were allowed to use six players during the team matches, selecting four of them in the two morning foursome games and five players in to the afternoon single games. Teams knocked out after the quarter finals played one foursome game and four single games in each of their remaining  matches. Games all square at the 18th hole were declared halved, if the team match was already decided.


2008 European Amateur Team Championship
The eight teams placed 9–16 in the qualification stroke-play formed flight B, to play similar knock-out play, with one foursome game and four single games in each match, to decide their final positions.


2008 European Amateur Team Championship
The four teams placed 17–20 formed flight C, to play each other in a round-robin system, with one foursome game and four single games in each match, to decide their final positions.


2008 European Amateur Team Championship
Defending champions team Ireland, led by team captain Michael Burns, won the gold medal, earning their sixth title, beating team England in the final 4½–2½. The winning Irish team, combined from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, included future professional major winner 21-year-old Shane Lowry.


2008 European Amateur Team Championship
Team Germany, earned the bronze on third place, after beating France 4–3 in the bronze match.


2008 European Amateur Team Championship, Teams
20 nation teams contested the event, the same number of teams as at the previous event one year earlier. Poland took part for the first time. Each team consisted of six players.


2008 European Amateur Team Championship, Results
* Note: In the event of a tie the order was determined by the best total of the two non-counting scores of the two rounds.


2008 European Amateur Team Championship, Results
Note: There was no official award for the lowest individual score.


2008 European Amateur Team Championship, Results
* Note: Game declared halved, since team match already decided.


2008 European Aquatics Championships
The 2008 LEN European Aquatics Championships were held in Eindhoven, Netherlands, from 13–24 March 2008. They were the European championships for swimming (50 m), diving and synchronised swimming for 2008. Two new events were contested: the 800 m freestyle men and the 1500 m freestyle women. This is the first time that the men's and women's swimming programs are identical.


2008 European Athletics Indoor Cup
The 2008 European Athletics Indoor Cup was held on 16 February 2008 at the CSKA Universal Sports Hall in Moscow, Russia. It was the fourth and final edition of the indoor track and field meeting for international teams, which featured the six top performing nations from the 2007 European Cup and the top two from the European Cup First League. Great Britain and Northern Ireland did not send either a men's or women's team and they were replaced by Ukraine and Spain, respectively. The men's team from Greece also opted not to participate and they were replaced by Sweden (the third best finisher in the 2007 European A League). The host nation won both the men's and women's competitions.


2008 European Athletics Indoor Cup
The competition featured nineteen athletics events, nine for men and ten for women. The 400 metres race were held in a dual final format due to size constraints, with athletes' being assigned final positions through their finishing times. The international team points totals were decided by their athletes' finishing positions, with each representative's performance contributing towards their national overall score.


2008 European Athletics Indoor Cup
Russia came first the men's competition, winning five of the nine events and having eighteen points to spare over second-placed Spain. Yevgeniy Borisov was one of the team's best performers as he won the 60 metres hurdles in a Russian record time of 7.44 seconds. The Russian women's team was even more dominant than their male counterparts as the team went on to continue their undefeated streak, winning six of the ten women's events and finishing 24 points clear of the runner-up Germany.


2008 European Athletics Indoor Cup
The French women became the first team to finish the competition without winning a single event, although their points total of 23 was one higher than the record low (Sweden in 2006).


2008 European Badminton Championships
The 2008 European Badminton Championships were the 21st tournament of the European Badminton Championships. They were held in Messecenter, Herning, Denmark, from April 16 to April 20, 2008, and they were organised by the Badminton Europe and the Danmarks Badminton Forbund.


2008 European Badminton Championships
The competition was preceded by the 2008 European Mixed Team Badminton Championships, held between April 12 and April 15.


2008 European Badminton Championships, Results, Mixed doubles
* Carsten Mogensen was given a red card after the game for kicking his racquet into the crowd.


2008 European Canoe Slalom Championships
The 2008 European Canoe Slalom Championships took place at the Kraków-Kolna Canoe Slalom Course in Kraków, Poland between May 8 and 11, 2008 under the auspices of the European Canoe Association (ECA). It was the 9th edition. These championships also served as the Olympic qualification for the 2008 Summer Olympics.


2008 European Championship (darts)
The 2008 PartyPoker.net European Championship was the inaugural edition of the Professional Darts Corporation tournament, which thereafter was promoted as the annual European Championship, matching top European players qualifying to play against the highest ranked players from the PDC Order of Merit.


2008 European Championship (darts)
Played from 30 October–2 November 2008 at the Südbahnhof in Frankfurt, Germany, the inaugural tournament featured a field of 32 players and £200,000 in prize money, with a £50,000 winner's purse going to Phil Taylor.


2008 European Championship (darts), Format
First round — best of nine legs (by two legs)Second round — best of seventeen legs (ditto)Quarter-finals — best of seventeen legs (ditto)Semi-finals — best of twenty-one legs (ditto)Final — best of twenty-one legs (ditto)


2008 European Championship (darts), Format
Each game had to be won by two clear legs, except that a game went to a sudden death leg if a further six legs did not separate the players; for example, a first round match played out to 7-7 is then decided with one sudden death leg.


2008 European Championship (darts), Prize money
A total of £200,000 was on offer to the players, divided based on the following performances:


2008 European Championship (darts), Qualification
The top 16 players from the  after the 2008 Sky Poker World Grand Prix automatically qualified for the event. Then the top 8 non-qualified players from the  after the October German Darts Trophy in Dinslaken, Germany joined them to make a field of 24.


2008 European Championship (darts), Qualification
The main European contingent then came from the following: the leading 4 non-qualified players from the  following the October German Darts Trophy in Dinslaken, the top two non-qualified players from the German Darts Corporation rankings on October 25, and the last two places from a qualifier event held in Dinslaken on October 26 - an event which was open to any player with a full PDPA membership.


2008 European Championship (darts), Draw and results
Scores after player's names are three-dart averages (total points scored divided by darts thrown and multiplied by 3)


2008 European Championship (darts), Draw and results
All games had to be won by 2 clear legs, if after six more legs the players still couldn't be separated, a sudden death leg would take place to decide the winner. i.e. if Round One matches went 7-7, there would have been a decider.


2008 European Championship (darts), Television coverage and Sponsorship
The PDC announced on 12 August 2008 that ITV4 would broadcast the entire event live. This was the second PDC darts tournament that ITV4 has broadcast, after the inaugural Grand Slam of Darts - after its rating success ITV chose to broadcast this event as well as the 2008 Grand Slam of Darts.


2008 European Championship (darts), Television coverage and Sponsorship
The tournament was sponsored by PartyPoker.net, who also sponsor the US Open, the Las Vegas Desert Classic and the German Darts Championship.


2008 European Cross Country Championships
The 15th European Cross Country Championships were held at Brussels in Belgium on 14 December 2008. Serhiy Lebid took his eighth title in the men's competition and Hilda Kibet won the women's race.


2008 European Cup (athletics)
The 29th and final SPAR European Cup took place in June 2008. Track and field events were held on 21 and 22 June 2008 at the Parc des Sports Stadium in Annecy, France. Other event venues included Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa in Portugal and facilities in Istanbul, Turkey (for First League track and field events), Kadriorg Stadium in Estonia and SNP Stadium in Slovakia (for Second League track and field events), and facilities in Eindhoven, Netherlands (for diving and other water sports events). The Parc des Sports Annecy Stadium was also stadium for 1998 World Junior Championships in Athletics. It was the last edition of the European Cup which from 2009 has been replaced by European Team Championships combining the men and women competitions.


2008 European Cup (athletics), First League
Nations of 1st League (16 teams, men and women, in two groups of equal level).


2008 European Cup (athletics), First League, Group A
at Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, Leiria, (Portugal), on 21 & 22 June 2008.


2008 European Cup (athletics), First League, Group A
Belgium was relegated into League 1 from Superleague 2007 and  Austria &  Norway are promoted into the 1st League from 2007 2nd League for 2008 European Cup.


2008 European Cup (athletics), First League, Group A
Spain was relegated into League 1 from Superleague 2007 and  Belgium &  Lithuania are promoted into the 1st League from 2nd League 2007 for 2008 European Cup.


2008 European Cup (athletics), First League, Group B
at Enka Sadi Gülçelik Stadium, Istanbul, (Turkey), on 21 & 22 June 2008.


2008 European Cup (athletics), First League, Group B
Ukraine was relegated into League 1 from Superleague 2007 and  Turkey &  Croatia are promoted into the 1st League from 2nd League 2007 for 2008 European Cup.


2008 European Cup (athletics), First League, Group B
Greece was relegated into League 1 from Superleague 2007 and  Turkey &  Croatia are promoted into the 1st League from 2nd League 2007 for 2008 European Cup.


2008 European Cup (athletics), Second League, Group A
at Kadrioru Stadium, Tallinn, (Estonia), on 21 & 22 June 2008.


2008 European Cup (athletics), Second League, Group A
Bulgaria &  Ireland are relegated into 2nd League from 1st League 2007 for 2008 European Cup.


2008 European Cup (athletics), Second League, Group A
Serbia &  Norway are relegated into 2nd League from 1st League 2007 for 2008 European Cup.


2008 European Cup (athletics), Second League, Group B
at SNP Stadium, Banská Bystrica, (Slovakia), on 21 & 22 June 2008.


2008 European Cup (athletics), Second League, Group B
AASSE  Albania  Andorra  Armenia  Azerbaijan  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Cyprus  Georgia  Israel  Macedonia  Moldova  Montenegro  Serbia  Slovakia


2008 European Cup (athletics), Second League, Group B
Serbia &  Slovakia are relegated into 2nd League from 1st League 2007 for 2008 European Cup.


2008 European Cup (athletics), Second League, Group B
AASSE  Albania  Andorra  Armenia  Azerbaijan  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Cyprus  Georgia  Israel  Macedonia  Moldova  Montenegro  Slovakia  Slovenia


2008 European Cup (athletics), Second League, Group B
Cyprus &  Slovakia are relegated into 2nd League from 1st League 2007 for 2008 European Cup.


2008 European Cup Winter Throwing
The 2008 European Cup Winter Throwing was held on 15 and 16 March 2008 at Stadion Park mladeži in Split, Croatia. It was the eighth edition of the athletics competition for throwing events.


2008 European Cup Winter Throwing
The competition featured men's and women's contests in shot put, discus throw, javelin throw and hammer throw. In addition to the senior competitions, there were also under-23 events for younger athletes.


2008 European Curling Championships
The 2008 Le Gruyère European Curling Championships were held at Swedbank Arena in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden December 6–13, 2008. In a rematch of the men's A-Group final from the 2007 European Curling Championships, David Murdoch led Scotland to a second straight gold medal over Norway's Thomas Ulsrud 7–6 in an extra end. On the women's side, Switzerland's Mirjam Ott defeated home-country favorite Anette Norberg of Sweden 5–4.


2008 European Curling Championships
A total of 51 teams from 29 European countries competed.


2008 European Curling Championships, Men's Teams, Group A
*Mabergs skips and throws third rocks; Edlund throws skip rocks


2008 European Curling Championships, Women's Teams, Group A
*Jensen skips and throws second rocks; D. Dupont throws third rocks and M. Dupont throws skip rocks


2008 European Curling Championships, Broadcasting
There is news that the Swedish national television SVT will broadcast four round robin games involving Sweden and follow Sweden through the play-off rounds. The event will also be broadcast throughout Europe by Eurosport.


2008 European Drift Championship season
The 2008 European Drift Championship season is the second season of the European Drift Championship. The championship was won by Ben Broke-Smith.


2008 European Drift Championship season, 2008 entry list
More entrants will be added throughout the season including British Drift Championship Wildcard Entries. Round 2 wildcard - Mike Gaynor


2008 European Fencing Championships
The 2008 European Fencing Championships were held  in Kyiv, Ukraine. The event took place from July 5 to July 10, 2008.


2008 European Figure Skating Championships
The 2008 European Figure Skating Championships was a senior international figure skating competition in the 2007–08 season. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. The event was held from January 21 through 27, 2008 at Dom Sportova in Zagreb, Croatia.


2008 European Figure Skating Championships, Qualifying
The competition was open to skaters from European ISU member nations who had reached the age of 15 before July 1, 2007. The corresponding competition for non-European skaters was the 2008 Four Continents Championships. Based on the results of the 2007 European Championships, each country was allowed between one and three entries per discipline. National associations selected their entries based on their own criteria.


2008 European Grand Prix
The 2008 European Grand Prix (formally the 2008 Formula 1 Telefónica Grand Prix of Europe) was a Formula One motor race held on 24 August 2008 at the Valencia Street Circuit in Valencia, Spain. It was the 12th race of the 2008 Formula One World Championship. Felipe Massa for the Ferrari team won the 57-lap race from pole position. Lewis Hamilton finished second in a McLaren car, with Robert Kubica third in a BMW Sauber.


2008 European Grand Prix
Massa started on pole position, with Hamilton second, and Kubica third. Massa got cleanly away, while Hamilton fought hard to fend off Kubica, but managing to keep second. The top three remained the same through the first round of pit stops, and after the first stop, Massa took a large lead over Hamilton. In Massa's second pit stop he was released straight into the path of Force India driver Adrian Sutil, and had to back off to avoid a collision. The stewards announced that they would investigate the incident after the race.


2008 European Grand Prix
They later ruled that Ferrari would be fined €10,000 for the pit lane incident, but that Massa would keep his victory, as although the release was unsafe, no sporting advantage had been gained. Massa went on to take the victory, with Hamilton second and Kubica third. Hamilton's closest rival in the Drivers' Championship going into the race, Kimi Räikkönen, failed to finish, after having an engine failure.


2008 European Grand Prix
Massa's victory in the race enabled him to overtake his teammate, Räikkönen, in the Drivers' Championship, moving him into second. He was now Hamilton's closest rival, behind by six points. Räikkönen moved eight points further behind Hamilton, due to his non-finish, with a deficit of 13 points now separating the two. In the Constructors' Championship McLaren caught up two points on Ferrari; Ferrari led, eight points ahead of McLaren, with BMW Sauber a further 17 points behind.


2008 European Grand Prix, Report, Background
The Grand Prix was contested by 20 drivers, in ten teams of two. The teams, also known as "constructors", were Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes, Renault, Honda, Force India, BMW Sauber, Toyota, Red Bull Racing, Williams and Toro Rosso. Tyre supplier Bridgestone brought two different tyre compounds to the race; the softer of the two marked by a single white stripe down one of the grooves.


2008 European Grand Prix, Report, Background
Prior to the race, McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton led the Drivers' Championship with 62 points, and Ferrari driver Kimi Räikkönen was second with 57 points. Behind them in the Drivers' Championship, Felipe Massa was third with 54 points also in a Ferrari, and the two BMW Sauber cars of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld were fourth and fifth, with 49 and 41 points respectively. In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari were leading with 111 points, 11 points ahead of their rivals McLaren. BMW Sauber were third with 90 points. Toyota were fourth with 35 points, and Renault were fifth with 31 points.


2008 European Grand Prix, Report, Background
The Grand Prix was the first to be held at the new Valencia street circuit. After seeing the track for the first time, four days before the race, the drivers were positive about the track. Formula One tyre supplier, Bridgestone, celebrated their 200th Formula One grand prix at the race, having now supplied Formula One tyres since 1997. Celebrations included a special "golden tyre" which was displayed at the track, as well as two hoardings, inscribed with "Bridgestone 200".


2008 European Grand Prix, Report, Background
In technical developments, McLaren and Ferrari modified their front winglets, to make sure that the maximum amount of air flow was diverted. Ferrari also revised their sidepod chimneys and winglets, with the aim of making sure the engine remained cool in hot conditions.


2008 European Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
Three practice sessions were held before the Sunday race—two on Friday, and a third on Saturday. The Friday morning and afternoon sessions each lasted 90 minutes. The third session was held on Saturday morning and lasted an hour. The very first practice session on the newly opened Valencia Street Circuit was held on a dusty and slippery track, but despite the drivers' relative unfamiliarity with the circuit there were no major incidents (though David Coulthard did hit the barriers late in the session).


2008 European Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
Sébastien Bourdais went fastest early on, but it was his Toro Rosso teammate Sebastian Vettel who posted the quickest time of the session. Massa and Hamilton finished second and third, with Bourdais just behind them. Following the session, the drivers and personnel observed a minute's silence for those killed in the plane crash in Madrid two days previously. Kimi Räikkönen topped the timesheets in second practice, having traded fastest times with teammate Massa for the majority of the session. Fernando Alonso had the set the quickest time late, but was surpassed by Räikkönen in his final flying lap.


2008 European Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
A notable incident in the session involved Nico Rosberg spinning under brakes in the final corners, and narrowly missing Mark Webber on the inside, before rejoining the track with no damage done. Surprsingly, usual back-runner Jenson Button, driving for Honda, finished third. After the session, Fernando Alonso, driving for Renault, was reprimanded and fined €10,000, after crossing the pitlane entry line early on in the second session.


2008 European Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
Rain overnight meant that the Valencia track began with almost no rubber on the surface, but Robert Kubica was still able to carry enough speed to become the first man of the weekend to break into the 1:38s, with Rosberg and Bourdais close behind. There were minimal mishaps, with only Hamilton and Timo Glock spinning. Jarno Trulli spent the majority of the session in the pits with gearbox problems, completing only two laps.


2008 European Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
After the third practice, but before the qualifying session, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile safety delegate, Charlie Whiting, announced that he had moved the pole position slot on the grid to the right side, after observing the cars' behaviour during the practice sessions. Saturday afternoon's qualifying session was divided into three parts. In the first 20-minute period, cars finishing 16th or lower were eliminated. The second qualifying period lasted for 15 minutes, at the end of which the fastest ten cars went into the final period, to determine their grid positions for the race. Cars failing to make the final period were allowed to be refuelled before the race but those competing in it were not, and so carried more fuel than they had done in the earlier qualifying sessions.


2008 European Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
Massa clinched pole position with a time of 1:38.989, and was joined on the front row by championship leader, Hamilton. Kubica took third place on the grid, with Massa's teammate Räikkönen taking fourth. Hamilton's teammate, Kovalainen, took fifth; Vettel, Trulli and Nick Heidfeld occupied the next three spots. The two Williams cars of Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima finished ninth and 11th, with Bourdais in between. Alonso qualified 12th, with Timo Glock of Toyota behind him. Mark Webber of Red Bull was 14th, with Nelson Piquet, Jr. of Renault 15th.


2008 European Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
Jenson Button of Honda qualified 16th, and the other Red Bull car, driven by Coulthard, qualified 17th. The two Force India cars driven by Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil finished 18th and 20th, with the other Honda car driven by Rubens Barrichello qualifying 19th. Later, both Barrichello and Sutil were forced to change their gearboxes; as a result, both drivers started from the pit lane.


2008 European Grand Prix, Report, Race
The conditions on the grid were dry before the race. The air temperature was 28 °C (82 °F) and the track temperature was 44 °C (111 °F).


2008 European Grand Prix, Report, Race
The front-runners of the race started the race cleanly, but at turn four Alonso and Nakajima collided; Alonso retired from, what was in effect, his home race, while Nakajima had a new nose, and rejoined.


2008 European Grand Prix, Report, Race
At his final stop, Felipe Massa's Ferrari was released from its pit stop into the path of Adrian Sutil's oncoming Force India car. There was no collision as Massa backed off as soon as he realised what had happened. This incident was deemed "unsafe" and was being investigated by the stewards. Shortly afterwards it was announced the incident would be investigated fully after the race. Ferrari was subsequently reprimanded by the stewards and fined €10,000, but the Brazilian kept his victory.


2008 European Grand Prix, Report, Race
To add to Ferrari's pit stop blunders, Kimi Räikkönen left his pit box with his car's fuel hose still attached. The incident left a Ferrari mechanic with a minor fractures. Räikkönen also lost a place.


2008 European Grand Prix, Report, Race
Nico Rosberg scored a "rare" point for his Williams Team by finishing eighth.


2008 European Judo Championships
The 2008 European Judo Championships were the nineteenth edition of the European Judo Championships, held in the Pavilhão Atlântico, in Lisbon, Portugal, from April 11 to April 13, 2008.


2008 European Junior Championship of American football
The 2008 European Junior Championship was the fourth instance of the European Junior Championship. It was held from July 12–20 in Sevilla, Spain.


2008 European Junior Swimming Championships
The 2008 European Junior Swimming Championships were held from July 30 to August 3, 2008 in Belgrade, Serbia. The age groups for this event are girls born in 1992 or 1993 and boys born in 1990 and 1991. The tournament is held in a 50 m pool. All events which are held in senior championships are included in the junior championships, including non-Olympic events.


2008 European Junior and U23 Canoe Slalom Championships
The 2008 European Junior and U23 Canoe Slalom Championships took place in Solkan, Slovenia from 10 to 13 July 2008 under the auspices of the European Canoe Association (ECA). It was the 10th edition of the competition for Juniors (U18) and the 6th edition for the Under 23 category. A total of 15 medal events took place. No medals were awarded for the U23 men's C2 team event due to low number of participating countries.


2008 European Juveniles Baseball Championship
The 2008 European Juveniles Baseball Championship was an international baseball competition held in Hluboka nad Vltavou, Czech Republic from July 13 to 18, 2008. It featured teams from Austria, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Ukraine.


2008 European Juveniles Baseball Championship
In the end the team from Czech Republic won the tournament.


2008 European Karate Championships
The 2008 European Karate Championships, the 43rd edition, were held at the Saku Suurhall in Tallinn, Estonia from 2 May to 4 2008. A total of 509 karateka, 329 male and 180 female athletes, from 42 countries participated at the event.


2008 European Masters Games
The 2008 European Masters Games was the first edition of the multi-sport event for masters sport, which took place between 29 August – 7 September 2008 in Malmö, Sweden. 3022 participants from 46 countries competed in 18 sports.


2008 European Masters Games, Sports
The sports that were contracted, but that did not hold their competitions, were:


2008 European Masters Games, Sports
During the week of the EMG a number of sporting events were held that were associated with the EMG, but that had their own organisa-tions and application systems. These were an invitation competition for   fencing, an   international football match for   “old    boys” between the  Danish  European  champions  from  1992  and  the  Swedish  team that finished third in the 1994 World Cup at Malmö IP, the Christian-loppet race (an open cycling race between Helsingborg and Malmö) and an open half marathon.


2008 European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 28th European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships held from 8 May to 11 May 2008 in Lausanne.


2008 European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Junior Results, Team Competition
The junior team competition also served as the individual all-around and qualification to the individual event finals.


2008 European Men's Fistball Championship
The 2008 European Men's Fistball Championship was held in Stuttgart (Germany) from July 25 to July 27 with seven men's national teams: Austria, Catalonia, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Serbia and Switzerland. The matches were played in Stammheim district.


2008 European Men's Handball Championship
The 2008 EHF European Men's Handball Championship (8th tournament) was held in Norway from 17–27 January, in the cities of Bergen, Drammen, Lillehammer, Stavanger and Trondheim. Denmark won the tournament with Croatia second and France third.


2008 European Men's Handball Championship, Qualification
Qualification matches took place in 2007. According to the EHF rules, the host (Norway) and the top six nations from the 2006 European Championship (France, Croatia, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Russia) were automatically qualified. The other nine places were determined after the play-off matches, held in June; nine teams were seeded, after qualifying for the 2006 Championship, while their opponents qualified through the preliminary group stages.


2008 European Men's Handball Championship, Qualification, Qualified teams
Note: Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.


2008 European Men's Handball Championship, Draw
The draw was held on 22 June 2007 in the TV2 Studio in Oslo.


2008 European Men's Handball Championship, Ranking and statistics, Final ranking
Kasper Hvidt, Mikkel Holm Aagaard, Lasse Boesen, Lars T. Jørgensen, Jesper Jensen, Lars Rasmussen, Lars Christiansen, Lars Møller Madsen, Peter Henriksen, Bo Spellerberg, Michael V. Knudsen, Jesper Nøddesbo, Lars Krogh Jeppesen, Kasper Søndergaard, Joachim Boldsen, Hans Lindberg and Kasper Nielsen. Head Coach: Ulrik Wilbek.


2008 European Men's Handball Championship qualification
Qualification matches for the 2008 European Men's Handball Championship took place in 2007. According to the EHF rules  host (Norway), and the top six nations from the 2006 European Championship (France, Croatia, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Russia) were automatically qualified. The other nine places will be determined in play-offs in June; nine teams are seeded after qualifying for the 2006 Championship, while their opponents qualified through the preliminary group stages.


2008 European Men's Handball Championship qualification, Summary
Below is a table containing all seven qualifying groups. Teams that have secured a place in the final tournament are highlighted in green. The order of teams is by play off position.


2008 European Men's Handball Championship qualification, Summary, Play-off
The play-off draw was made in Vienna on 26 January 2007. The matches were two-legged affairs, and were played in the second and third weekends of June.


2008 European Men's and Women's Team Badminton Championships
The 2008 European Men's and Women's Team Badminton Championships was held in Almere, the Netherlands, from February 12 to February 17, 2008, and was organised by the Badminton Europe and the Nederlandse Badminton Bond.


2008 European Men's and Women's Team Badminton Championships
The tournament was double as 2008 Thomas Cup and Uber Cup qualification tournament, where the top three teams for each competitions qualified automatically.


2008 European Mixed Curling Championship
The 2008 European Mixed Curling Championship was held from September 22 to 27, 2008 at the Mercedes Benz Sportpark in Kitzbühel, Austria.


2008 European Mixed Curling Championship
Germany, skipped by Rainer Schöpp won its first title, defeating Czech Republic in the final.


2008 European Mixed Curling Championship, Round Robin
In every group: first place directly to playoffs, second place to qualification round


2008 European Mixed Team Badminton Championships
The 2008 European Mixed Team Badminton Championships were held in Herning, Denmark, from April 12 to April 15, and were organised by the Badminton Europe and the Danmarks Badminton Forbund.


2008 European Mixed Team Badminton Championships
The competition was followed by the 2008 European Badminton Championships, the singles competition, held between April 16 and April 19.


2008 European Mountain Running Championships
The 2008 European Mountain Running Championships were held on 12 July in Zell am Harmersbach, Germany. Held by the European Athletic Association, the competition was held on an up- and downhill course in the Black Forest. The championships featured 227 athletes representing 25 nations.


2008 European Mountain Running Championships
The championships comprised four races: the men's race which was 12 km long with an 804 m ascent and 714 m descent, the women's and under-20s men's competitions over 8.75 km and containing a 566 m ascent and 476 m descent, and finally the under-20s women's race which was competed over 4 km with a rise and fall of 238 m.


2008 European Mountain Running Championships
Ahmet Arslan defended his title in the men's senior race while Elisa Desco took the gold medal in the women's race. Bernard Dematteis headed home Italy to the senior men's team gold medal and Great Britain won the women's team gold, with bronze medallist Sarah Tunstall the nation's best finisher. The junior men's competition was largely a Turkish affair, with Hasan Pak winning gold and leading a 1-2-3 for his country. The women's junior race was won by Mariya Bykova who, along with Tatyana Prorokova, took the team gold.


2008 European Open Water Swimming Championships
The 2008 European Open Water Swimming Championships was the 11th edition of the European Open Water Swimming Championships (but the 4th stand alone after 1989, 1991 and 1993 editions) and took part from 8-14 September 2008 in Dubrovnik, Croatia.


2008 European Pairs Speedway Championship
The 2008 European Pairs Speedway Championship was the fifth edition of the European Pairs Speedway Championship. The final was held in Natschbach-Loipersbach, Austria on 20 September.


2008 European Pairs Speedway Championship
Czech Republic were the defending European champions but Poland won their third title.


2008 European Pairs Speedway Championship, Semifinal 2
m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fellns - non-starter • nc - non-classify


2008 European Pairs Speedway Championship, Final
m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fellns - non-starter • nc - non-classify


2008 European Rally Championship
The 2008 European Rally Championship season was the 56th season of the FIA European Rally Championship. Italian driver Luca Rossetti won 4 of the 9 rallies to claim his first European rally championship title.


2008 European Rally Championship, Calendar and winners
The calendar of the 2008 season consisted of only 9 events, after the ELPA Rally not taking place in that year. The remaining events were unchanged from the previous year.


2008 European Rally Championship, Championship standings
For the final classification in a rally, the winner was awarded 10 points, the runner-up 8 and the third placed driver 6. Drivers ranked 4 to 8 got 5–4–3–2–1 point(s). Additionally, the top three of every leg got 3–2–1 point(s). Only drivers who participated in least 6 events qualified for the championship ranking.


2008 European Road Championships
The 2008 European Road Championships were held in Stresa, Pettenasco, Arona and Verbania, in the province of Novare and Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Italy, between July 3 and July 6, 2008. Regulated by the European Cycling Union. The event consisted of a road race and a time trial for men and women under 23 and juniors.


2008 European Road Championships – Women's under-23 road race
The Women's U23 road race at the 2008 European Road Championships took place on July 5. The Championships were hosted in Italy. The course was 129.6 km long, started in Pallanza at 09:00 and finished in Verbania.


2008 European Road Championships – Women's under-23 time trial
The women's U23 individual time trial at the 2008 European Road Championships took place on 3 July. The championships were hosted by the Italian city of Pettenasco. The course was 28.1 km long, started in Pettenasco and finished in Stresa.


2008 European Road Championships – Women's under-23 time trial
Dutchwoman Ellen van Dijk won the time trial. Van Dijk completed the 25-kilometre course in a time of 32:33, beating Svitlana Halyuk and Lesya Kalytovska, both from Ukraine.


2008 European Rowing Championships
The 2008 European Rowing Championships were held at the Schinias Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Centre, Marathon, Greece, between 16 and 20 September 2008. They were the 2nd annual event after the decision made in May 2006 by the FISA to re-establish the European Rowing Championships.


2008 European Rowing Championships
Owing to a big storm announced on the Centre, all finales (A and B) took place on Saturday, 20 September and not Sunday, 21 September, as initially scheduled.


2008 European Seniors Tour
The 2008 European Seniors Tour was the 17th season of the European Seniors Tour, the professional golf tour for men aged fifty and above operated by the PGA European Tour. Welshman Ian Woosnam won two events and his first Order of Merit title.


2008 European Seniors Tour, Tournament results
The numbers in brackets after the winners' names show the number of career wins they had on the European Seniors Tour up to and including that event. This is only shown for players who are members of the tour.


2008 European Seniors Tour, Tournament results
For the tour schedule on the European Seniors Tour's website, including links to full results, click .


2008 European Seniors Tour, Leading money winners
There is a complete list on the official site .


2008 European Sevens Championship
The 2008 European Sevens Championship was a rugby sevens competition, with the final held in Hanover, Germany. It was the seventh edition of the European Sevens championship and also functioned as a qualifying tournament for the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens. The event was organised by rugby's European governing body, the FIRA – Association of European Rugby (FIRA-AER).


2008 European Sevens Championship, Outcome
The finals tournament held in Hanover, Germany on 12 and 13 July 2008, as well as being the European Sevens Championship, functioned as a qualifying tournament for the world cup. England, France and Scotland had already qualified through their past performance. The five best nations out of the twelve participating ones qualified for the Dubai tournament. Teams finished in the following order:


2008 European Sevens Championship, Bid
On 16 June 2007, the FIRA congress in Monaco decided to award the finals tournament to Hanover, beating bids from Russia, Greece and Bosnia-Herzegovina in the process.


2008 European Sevens Championship, Tournament history
From 2002, FIRA, the governing body of European rugby, has been organising an annual European Sevens Championship tournament. A number of qualifying tournaments lead up to a finals tournament, which functions as the European championship and, in 2008, also as the qualifying stage for the Sevens World Cup.


2008 European Sevens Championship, Tournament history
The first European Championship was held in 2002 in Heidelberg, Germany, and was won by Portugal, the team that won every championship since except 2007, when Russia won.


2008 European Sevens Championship, Tournament history
The next year, the tournament was again held in Heidelberg and in 2004, Palma de Mallorca, Spain was the host.


2008 European Sevens Championship, Tournament history
From 2005 to 2007, Moscow was the host of the tournament.


2008 European Sevens Championship, Tournament history
Hanover held the tournament for the first time in 2008 and will do so again in 2009.


2008 European Sevens Championship, Tournament, Stadium
The finals tournament was held at the AWD-Arena in Hanover, home ground of the football club Hannover 96. The stadium holds 50.000 spectators, 43,000 of them on seats, the rest standing.


2008 European Sevens Championship, Tournament, Stadium
The tournament was seen by over 30,000 spectators, a good turn out in a country like Germany, where rugby is not a mainstream sport. After selling more than 35,000 tickets in advance, mostly within Germany, the organisers were forced to open up the upper tier of the stadium to meet demand.


2008 European Sevens Championship, Tournament, Qualifying
Twelve teams qualified through the seven qualifying tournaments, held at the following locations:


2008 European Sevens Championship, Tournament, Group stage
The tournament was divided into a group and a finals stage. In the group stage, two groups of six teams were drawn. Within each group, each team played each other once. The top two teams went to the Cup stage of the tournament while the third and fourth placed team qualified for the Plate stage. Five and six went to the Bowl finals.


2008 European Sevens Championship, Tournament, Finals
Three separate rounds of finals were held, Bowl, the lowest, Plate and Cup. The semi final winners of each group went on to the final while the losers played each other. All teams from the Cup stage were qualified for the next sevens world cup and also the Plate winner.


2008 European Sevens Championship, Tournament, Finals, Cup
Winner: Portugal (all four teams qualified for the 2009 Sevens world cup)


2008 European Sevens Championship, Top point scorers
Key: Con = conversions; Pen = penalties; Drop = drop goals


2008 European Shield
In early 2008 it was announced that Italy had replaced Serbia in the European Shield. Serbia were elevated to a higher level with Russia and Lebanon after easily winning the 2007 shield and doing well in the World Cup qualifying matches. Italy were one of the newest European nations to adopt rugby league with the Veneto 9s the only RL tournament in the country at the time.


2008 European Short Course Swimming Championships
The European Short Course Swimming Championships 2008 took place in Rijeka, Croatia from Thursday 11 to Sunday 14 December 2008.


2008 European Short Track Speed Skating Championships
The 2008 European Short Track Speed Skating Championships took place between 18 and 20 January 2008 in Ventspils, Latvia.


2008 European Speed Skating Championships
The 2008 European Speed Skating Championships were held at the Kolomna Speed Skating Center in Kolomna, Russia, from 12 to 13 January 2008.


2008 European Speed Skating Championships, Men's championships, Allround results
NQ = Not qualified for the 10000 m (only the best 12 are qualified)DNS = Did not startDQ = Disqualified


2008 European Speed Skating Championships, Women's championships, Allround results
NQ = Not qualified for the 5000 m (only the best 12 are qualified)DQ = DisqualifiedDNS = Did not start


2008 European Speed Skating Championships, Rules
All participating skaters are allowed to skate the first three distances; 12 skaters may take part on the fourth distance. These 12 skaters are determined by taking the standings on the longest of the first three distances, as well as the samalog standings after three distances, and comparing these lists as follows:


2008 European Speedway Club Champions' Cup, Allocation
Semi-FinalThe winner and 2nd place of Semi Final will qualify to the Final.


2008 European Speedway Club Champions' Cup, Semi-Final
M - exclusion for exceeding two-minute time allowance • T - exclusion for touching the tapes • X - other exclusion • E - retired or mechanical failure • F - fell


2008 European Speedway Club Champions' Cup, Final
M - exclusion for exceeding two-minute time allowance • T - exclusion for touching the tapes • X - other exclusion • E - retired or mechanical failure • F - fell


2008 European Table Tennis Championships
The 2008 European Table Tennis Championships was held in St. Petersburg, Russia from 4–12 October 2008. The venue for the competition was Saint-Petersburg Sports and Concert Complex.


2008 European Taekwondo Championships
The 2008 European Taekwondo Championships were held in Rome, Italy. The event took place from April 10 to April 13, 2008.


2008 European Tour
The 2008 European Tour was the 37th golf season since the European Tour officially began in 1972.


2008 European Tour
The Order of Merit was won by Robert Karlsson, the first Swedish golfer to do so. The Golfer of the Year award was given to Pádraig Harrington, who won two major championships during the season and finished second in the Order of Merit. The Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year was Pablo Larrazábal from Spain.


2008 European Tour, Major tournaments
For a summary of the major tournaments and events of 2008, including the major championships and the World Golf Championships, see 2008 in golf.


2008 European Tour, Schedule
The 2008 season began in November 2007 and consisted of 50 official money events, a drop of two from the previous year. This included seven major championships and World Golf Championships, which are also sanctioned by the PGA Tour. 27 events took place in Europe, 11 in Asia, six in the United States, four in South Africa, one in Australia and one in New Zealand.


2008 European Tour, Schedule
There were four new tournaments, the Indian Masters, the Ballantine's Championship in South Korea, and in Spain the Madrid Masters and the Castelló Masters Costa Azahar. Lost from the tour schedule were the Singapore Masters, the TCL Classic, the Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe, the Madrid Open and the Mallorca Classic. the World Match Play Championship was originally scheduled, but was not held; it returned in 2009 with a new sponsor and venue.


2008 European Tour, Order of Merit
In 2008, the European Tour's money list was known as the "Order of Merit". It was calculated in euro, although around half of the events had prize funds which were fixed in other currencies, mostly either British pounds or U.S. dollars. In these instances the amounts were converted into euro at the exchange rate for the week that the tournament was played. The top 10 golfers in 2008 were:


2008 European Tour, Order of Merit
Tiger Woods earned more money in European Tour events in 2008 (€2,759,558 in five events) than any other golfer, but was not a member of the European Tour so was not eligible for the Order of Merit.


2008 European Tour, Awards, Golfer of the Month
The winners of the European Tour Golfer of the Month Award were as follows:


2008 European Tour Qualifying School graduates
This is a list of the 32 players who earned their 2009 European Tour card through Q School in 2008.


2008 European Tour Qualifying School graduates, 2009 Results
* European Tour rookie in 2009T = Tied      The player retained his European Tour card for 2010 (finished inside the top 120). The player did not retain his European Tour Tour card for 2010, but retained conditional status (finished between 121-153). The player did not retain his European Tour card for 2010 (finished outside the top 153).


2008 European Touring Car Cup
The 2008 FIA European Touring Car Cup was the fourth running of the FIA European Touring Car Cup. It was held on 19 October 2008 at the Salzburgring near Salzburg in Austria.


2008 European Truck Racing Championship
The 2008 FIA European Truck Racing Championship was a multi-event motor racing championship for production based trucks held across Europe. The championship features a mix of professional motor racing teams and privately funded amateur drivers competing in highly modified versions of two-axle tractor units which conform to the technical regulations for the championship. It was the 24th European Truck Racing Championship season and began at Catalunya on May 11, with the finale at Jarama on October 5 after nine events. The championship was won by David Vršecký, taking his first title and the second in a row for the Buggyra team.


2008 European Truck Racing Championship, Teams and drivers
Race drivers without fixed number, whose number is defined race by race:


2008 European Truck Racing Championship, Championship standings, Drivers' Championship
Each round or racing event consisted of four races, with two qualifying races and two cup races. For the two qualifying races, the points awarded according to the ranking was on a 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 basis to the top 10 finishers – for the two cup races with the grid decided from the finishing order of the previous qualifying race, the points awarded were 20, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1  (rank 1 - 10) respectively.


2008 European Under-21 Baseball Championship
The 2008 European Under-21 Baseball Championship was an international baseball competition held in Pamplona, Spain from September 3 to 7, 2008. It featured teams from Belgium, Czech Republic France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain and Slovakia.


2008 European Union Amateur Boxing Championships
The Men's 2008 European Union Amateur Boxing Championships were held in Cetniewo, Poland from June 15 to June 22. The 6th edition of the annual competition was organised by the European governing body for amateur boxing, EABA. A total number of 119 fighters from across Europe competed at these championships.


2008 European Union stimulus plan
On 26 November 2008, the European Commission proposed a  European stimulus plan (also referred to as the European Economic Recovery Plan) amounting to 200 billion euros to cope with the effects of the global financial crisis on the economies of the members countries. It aims at limiting the economic slowdown of the economies through national economic policies, with measures extended over a period of two years.


2008 European Union stimulus plan, Presentation of the plan
The European Commission presented on 26 November a plan to cope with the current economic crisis in the 27 member countries of the Union.


2008 European Union stimulus plan, Presentation of the plan
The plan combines short-term measures to stimulate demand and maintain jobs and longer-term measures to invest in strategical sectors, including research and innovation. The aim is to promote growth and ensure sustainable prosperity.


2008 European Union stimulus plan, Presentation of the plan
The plan includes targeted and temporary measures amounting to 200 billion euros, or 1.5% of EU GDP, using both the national budgets of the national governments, the budget of the EU and that of the European Investment Bank. The plan is scheduled on a period of two years.


2008 European Union stimulus plan, Measures
The plan includes a broad range of actions at the national level and at EU level to help households and industrial firms (particularly automobile and construction).


2008 European Union stimulus plan, National plans
National plans are often close to 1.2 percentage points of GDP, as recommended by the European Commission, and are focused on 2008 and 2009. However, Germany and Spain have announced fiscal stimulus of respectively 3.3% (two plans altogether) and 8.1% of their GDP.


2008 European Union stimulus plan, National plans
The plan announced by the European Commission at the end of November recommended measures to revive the economy but did not specify much the nature of the plans. Some plans are focused on the stimulation of demand (United Kingdom, to a lesser extent Spain, Italy or the second German plan), other plans insist more in incentives to supply (French plan, first German plan ).


2008 European Union stimulus plan, National plans
Measures took on expenditure to improve demand generally include measures to support medium-term growththrough increased public spending on infrastructures (road networks and railway) and aids to the housing sector (notably construction and renovation). Several countries have also announced short-term measures to relieve the effects of the crisis on the poorest people (increase in benefits and allowances to households with low incomes and unemployed). However, these aids have often limited effects on the economy, because their amounts are insignificant.


2008 European Union stimulus plan, National plans
Other measures affected national taxation systems. The UK was the only country that opted for a temporary decline in the standard VAT rate, by 2.5 percentage points. In Germany, employer contributions were lowered. Most plans include incentive measures to SMEs and development of green energy.


2008 European Weightlifting Championships
The 2008 European Weightlifting Championships were held in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy from 11 to 20 April 2008. It was the 87th edition of the event, which was first staged in 1896.


2008 European Weightlifting Championships, Medal overview, Medal table
Ranking by all medals: Big (Total result) and Small (Snatch and Clean & Jerk)


2008 European Women Sevens Championship
The 2008 European Women Sevens Championship was the sixth edition of the European Women's Sevens Championship.


2008 European Women Sevens Championship, World Cup Qualifier 2008 (Europe), Pool Stages
Note - Andorra shown by FIRA as 1st but due to head to head they finished below Moldova


2008 European Women Sevens Championship, World Cup Qualifier 2008 (Europe), Classification Stages
Note: Subsequently Czech Republic added as best fourth place over Bulgaria, in place of Scotland


2008 European Women Sevens Championship, FIRA-AER Tournament 2008 - Top 16
Venue/Date: Limoges, France on 14 and 15 June 2008. This was the qualifying tournament for the World Cup in 2009 (Source Fira-Aer)


2008 European Women Sevens Championship, T-EN Tournament 2008
Date/Venue: 19 September 2008 at Rauris, Austria. Croatia withdrew to be replaced by Czech Republic and an Austrian club team.


2008 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 27th European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held from 3 April to 6 April 2008 in Clermont-Ferrand.


2008 European Women's Handball Championship
The 2008 EHF European Women's Handball Championship was held in the Republic of Macedonia from 2–14 December, it was won by Norway after beating Spain 34–21 in the final match.


2008 European Women's Handball Championship, Venues
Two Macedonian cities have been selected as hosts for the 2008 Championship:


2008 European Women's Handball Championship, Qualification
In total, 16 national teams qualified for the final tournament:


2008 European Women's Handball Championship, Squads
Each nation had to submit an initial squad of 28 players, 12 of them became reserves when the final squad of 16 players was announced on 1 December 2008.


2008 European Women's Handball Championship, Seeding
The draw for the preliminary round groups took place on 20 July 2008, in Ohrid.


2008 European Women's Handball Championship, Ranking and Statistics, Final ranking
Ragnhild Aamodt, Isabel Blanco, Karoline Dyhre Breivang, Marit Malm Frafjord, Kari Aalvik Grimsbø, Katrine Lunde Haraldsen, Camilla Herrem, Kari Mette Johansen, Tine Kristiansen, Tonje Larsen, Heidi Løke, Kristine Lunde, Tonje Nøstvold, Terese Pedersen, Linn-Kristin Riegelhuth and Linn Jørum Sulland. Head Coach: Marit Breivik.


2008 European Women's Handball Championship squads
The following is a list of squads for each nation competing at the 2008 European Women's Handball Championship in the Republic of Macedonia. The tournament started on 2 December and the final took place in Skopje on 14 December.


2008 European Women's Handball Championship squads
Each nation had to submit an initial squad of 28 players, 12 of them became reserves when the final squad of 16 players was announced on 1 December.


2008 European Wrestling Championships
The 2008 FILA European Wrestling Championships were held in Tampere, Finland. The event took place from 1 April to 6 April 2008.


2008 European Youth Baseball Championship
The 2008 European Youth Baseball Championship was an international baseball competition held in Rome, Italy from July 15 to 19, 2008. It featured teams from Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Russia and Slovakia.


2008 European Youth Baseball Championship
In the end the team from the Netherlands won the tournament.


2008 European and Mediterranean indoor archery championships
The XI European and Mediterranean Indoor Archery Championships were held in Turin, Italy from March 3 to 8, 2008.


2008 Euroseries 3000
The 2008 Euroseries 3000 season was the tenth Euro Formula 3000 season. The main series was won by Frenchman Nicolas Prost.


2008 Euroseries 3000, Race calendar
Rounds denoted with a blue background are a part of the Italian Formula 3000 Championship.


2008 Evening Standard Theatre Awards
The Evening Standard Theatre Awards were announced on November 24, 2008. The longlist was revealed on November 4, 2008  and the shortlist on November 7, 2008.


2008 Exeter City Council election
The 2008 Exeter City Council election took place on 1 May 2008, to elect members of Exeter City Council in Devon, England. The election was held concurrently with other local elections in England. One third of the council was up for election and the council remained under no overall control.


2008 Exeter attempted bombing
The Exeter bombing was a failed bombing attempt taking place on 22 May 2008, at the Giraffe cafe and restaurant in Princesshay, Exeter, United Kingdom. Nicky Reilly (5 February 1986 – 19 October 2016), 22, from Plymouth, pleaded guilty on 15 October 2008 to launching a failed suicide attack. The attacker was the only person injured.


2008 Exeter attempted bombing, Attack
The attack took place at 12:50 while the bomber was inside a locked cubicle in the restaurant toilets. Witnesses in and around the restaurant report hearing a loud bang. Most dismissed it, thinking the sound had come from a nearby building site. Another witness reported that it "sounded more like gunshots than a bomb, like a lightbulb exploding". Police were immediately called to the scene and the restaurant was evacuated.


2008 Exeter attempted bombing, Attack, Evacuation
After the restaurant was evacuated, police evacuated and cordoned off the immediate area in fear of another device. This cordon was originally confined to the Princesshay area, but was later extended to cover the whole of the city centre, from the bottom of High Street to Sidwell Street. Another device was found in the vicinity of the cafe, but was disabled by a bomb disposal team.


2008 Exeter attempted bombing, Aftermath
The large cordon set up around the bomb site caused considerable disruption. Not only were shops along the High Street shut, but the city's main bus operator Stagecoach Devon had to re-route their buses causing traffic delays. The city's bus station was also evacuated. It was many hours after the attack that the cordon, which had stretched to include Exeter's bus station, was reduced, and many roads surrounding the shopping centre re-opened On Friday, all shops – except the restaurant involved, were re-opened as usual. The incident was estimated to have cost the local economy approximately £2.5 million.


2008 Exeter attempted bombing, Aftermath, Investigations
A team of about twenty specialists (including forensic officers, intelligence experts and detectives) from Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism branch SO15, was brought in to help the Devon and Cornwall Police constabulary with their investigations. Soon after the arrest police began searching at the Muslim Community Centre in St Jude's, Plymouth.


2008 Exeter attempted bombing, Arrests
Since the explosion in Exeter a total of four arrests were made in connection with the incident. Under the Terrorism Act 2006 a person arrested for terrorism offences can be detained in Police custody for 28 days without being charged.


2008 Exeter attempted bombing, Arrests, Nicky Reilly
Nicky Raymond Reilly (later known as Mohamed Abdulaziz Rashid Saeed-Alim), aged 22, was born in Plymouth, where he lived with his mother, Kim. He had previously been detained in a mental health hospital. It was subsequently reported that he had learning difficulties and Asperger's syndrome. After his conversion to Islam, he changed his name and came under the influence of Pakistani religious extremists, who radicalised him into detonating the nail bomb in Exeter.


2008 Exeter attempted bombing, Arrests, Nicky Reilly
On 3 June 2008, he was charged with three offences, one under the Terrorism Act 2006 and a further two under the Explosive Substances Act 1883. He appeared before magistrates in a secure court in Westminster, London on 4 June 2008, and was remanded in custody.


2008 Exeter attempted bombing, Arrests, Nicky Reilly
On 15 October 2008 Reilly pleaded guilty to charges of attempted murder and preparing terrorist attack. Information released after his guilty plea revealed that Reilly was obsessed with martyrdom and wanted to cause as much death and injury as possible. On 30 January 2009 Reilly was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of at least 18 years.


2008 Exeter attempted bombing, Arrests, Nicky Reilly
On 20 October 2016 it was reported that 30-year-old Reilly had died at HMP Manchester. On 7 November an inquest into his death was opened and adjourned. The inquest concluded in December 2018. It found that Reilly was found hanged from a light fitting in his cell, and that it was likely that he acted impulsively and did not intend to kill himself.


2008 Exeter attempted bombing, Arrests, Other arrests
On 23 May 2008, there was an evacuation of Plymouth city centre in which armed police arrested another person. A second individual was detained and helped police with their enquiries, but was later released. At 17:30 on 28 May 2008 a fourth man was detained for questioning.


2008 F1 Powerboat World Championship
The 2008 UIM F1 World Championship was the 25th season of Formula 1 Powerboat racing. The calendar consisted of eight events, beginning in Doha, Qatar on 29 March 2008, and ending in Sharjah, UAE on 12 December 2008. Jay Price, driving for the Qatar Team, secured the drivers' title, becoming only the second American to win the championship in its history.


2008 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Results and standings
Points were awarded to the top 10 classified finishers. A maximum of two boats per team were eligible for points in the teams' championship.


2008 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Results and standings, Teams standings
Only boats with results eligible for points counting towards the teams' championship are shown here.


2008 FA Community Shield
The 2008 FA Community Shield (also known as The FA Community Shield sponsored by McDonald's for sponsorship reasons) was the 86th staging of the FA Community Shield, an annual football match played between the reigning Premier League champions and FA Cup winners. The match was played on 10 August 2008 between 2007–08 Premier League champions Manchester United and 2007–08 FA Cup winners Portsmouth as the "curtain-raiser" to the 2008–09 English football season. The match marked the 100th year since the first Charity Shield, also won by Manchester United after a replay in August 1908.


2008 FA Community Shield
Manchester United won the game 3–1 on penalties, after the match finished 0–0 after 90 minutes; the Community Shield no longer plays extra time if the teams are level at the end of normal time.


2008 FA Community Shield
The match was the second meeting between the two teams in the space of two weeks, after they had played each other in a friendly in Nigeria on 27 July 2008. It was also the first Community Shield since 1996 to feature a team from outside the big four of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. With this Community Shield title, United extended their record number of wins in the competition to 13 (17 including shared titles). As of the 2020 edition, Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp is the most recent English to manage a team in the Community Shield.


2008 FA Cup Final
The 2008 FA Cup Final was an association football match between Cardiff City and Portsmouth held at Wembley Stadium, London, on 17 May 2008. The final was the showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the 2007–08 Football Association Challenge Cup (FA Cup), organised by The Football Association. It was the 127th FA Cup Final and the second to be held at the new Wembley Stadium following its redevelopment. Portsmouth won the match by a single goal, scored by Nwankwo Kanu in the 37th minute.


2008 FA Cup Final
Both sides had entered the competition in the third round and progressed to the final by winning five matches. Portsmouth conceded only one goal en route to the final, during a 2–1 victory over Plymouth Argyle in the fourth round. All of their remaining fixtures were won by the same 1–0 scoreline. Cardiff began their campaign by defeating the lowest-ranked side ever to reach the third round, Chasetown, 3–1. After a 2–1 victory over Hereford United in the following round, Cardiff did not concede another goal during their progression to the final.


2008 FA Cup Final
The final was the first time the two sides had ever met in the competition. Both teams were aiming to win the FA Cup for the second time, Cardiff having won it in 1927 and Portsmouth in 1939. Cardiff were also aiming to become the first side from outside the top tier of English football to win the competition since 1980.


2008 FA Cup Final
The match was played in front of 89,874 spectators, which remains the highest attendance for a football match at the new Wembley Stadium. Cardiff started brightly and had several early opportunities that were denied by Portsmouth goalkeeper David James. For Portsmouth, lone striker Nwankwo Kanu nearly opened the scoring by hitting the post before converting a later chance, after the ball had been spilled by Cardiff goalkeeper Peter Enckelman, to lead at half time. Cardiff were denied an equalising goal late in the half when Glenn Loovens' effort was disallowed for handball. In the second half, Portsmouth focused on defending their lead and, although Cardiff pressured for long periods, they were unable create many clear chances. Portsmouth maintained their 1–0 advantage until the final whistle to claim victory.


2008 FA Cup Final
For winning the competition, Portsmouth received £1 million in prize money, as well as qualification to the 2008–09 UEFA Cup – their first foray into European football. Portsmouth reached the final again two years later, suffering a defeat to Chelsea.


2008 FA Cup Final, Route to the final
The FA Cup is English football's primary cup competition and the 2007–08 season was the 127th edition. Clubs in the first and second tiers, the Premier League and Football League Championship, entered the competition in the third round and were drawn randomly with the remaining clubs. If a match is drawn, a replay comes into force, ordinarily at the ground of the team who were away for the first game. As with league fixtures, FA Cup matches are subject to change in the event of games being selected for television coverage and this often can be influenced by clashes with other competitions.


2008 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Cardiff City
Cardiff City entered the competition in the third round, receiving a bye as a Football League Championship club. They were drawn against Southern League Division One Midlands side Chasetown, who had become the lowest-ranked side ever to reach the third round of the competition after defeating Port Vale in the second round. The difference in league positions between the two sides was also the largest in the tournament's history. Cardiff were given an early scare as an own goal by defender Kevin McNaughton, from a cross by Ben Steane, gave Chasetown the lead in the 17th minute.


2008 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Cardiff City
Midfielder Peter Whittingham scored a first half injury time equaliser for Cardiff. Teenager Aaron Ramsey, making his first appearance in an FA Cup match, put Cardiff ahead with a close-range header and winger Paul Parry hit the ball through Chasetown goalkeeper Lee Evans' legs to ensure progression to the fourth round. Cardiff were drawn away to League Two side Hereford United at Edgar Street. McNaughton opened the scoring with his first goal for Cardiff striking a volley from the edge of the Hereford penalty area during first-half injury time.


2008 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Cardiff City
They extended their lead when striker Steven Thompson converted a penalty after McNaughton was felled by Clint Easton. Hereford scored in the 77th minute through striker Theo Robinson, but they were unable to score an equaliser and Cardiff won the match 2–1 to go through to the fifth round. This was the first time since 1994 that Cardiff had progressed to the fifth round of the FA Cup.


2008 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Cardiff City
Cardiff's fifth round match was at their home ground, Ninian Park, against fellow Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers. Whittingham opened the scoring for Cardiff after 90 seconds as he collected a flick-on from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink before shooting past opposition goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey. Hasselbaink extended Cardiff's advantage nine minutes later by striking the ball into the top-left hand corner of the opposition goal.


2008 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Cardiff City
Wolves were unable to respond in the remainder of the match, their best opportunity fell to centre forward Kevin Kyle who took advantage of a mistake by centre-back Glenn Loovens early in the second half, only for Loovens to clear the ball off the goalline. The victory was the furthest Cardiff had advanced in the FA Cup since their victory in the 1927 final.


2008 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Cardiff City
In the sixth round, Cardiff were drawn away to Premier League side Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium. An early goal by Whittingham and a second by defender Roger Johnson from a Whittingham free-kick in the 23rd minute was enough to take Cardiff into the semi-finals. In the semi-final, Cardiff were drawn against Championship side Barnsley, with both semi-finals being held at Wembley Stadium. This was the first time since 1908 that three of the four semi-finalists came from outside the top tier of English football, while winning the match was worth £900,000 in prize money. With Cardiff applying early pressure, nine minutes into the game, the ball was cleared from the Barnsley penalty area towardmidfielder Joe Ledley, who scored the winning goal with a left-footed volley from outside the area to help Cardiff reach their first FA Cup final since 1927.


2008 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Portsmouth
Like Cardiff, but as a Premier League club, Portsmouth also received a bye into the third round. Their opening match was a 1–0 away win against Championship side Ipswich Town at Portman Road on 4 January 2008. Striker David Nugent, who started the match as a substitute, scored the winning goal in the 51st minute, allowing Portsmouth to progress into the next round. There, they were drawn against another Championship club, Plymouth Argyle.


2008 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Portsmouth
The match was held at Portsmouth's home ground, Fratton Park, and the visitors took the lead early in the first half when midfielder Chris Clark scored his first goal for Plymouth, which came from a deflection off Hermann Hreiðarsson. Portsmouth responded with their recently signed midfielder Lassana Diarra converting a corner kick from Pedro Mendes in the 34th minute. A goal by Niko Kranjčar from an eight-yard pass from right back Glen Johnson gave Portsmouth a 2–1 victory and progression to the next round of the FA Cup.


2008 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Portsmouth
The club faced Preston North End away at Deepdale in the fifth round. The only goal of the game came in the final seconds of the match, as Preston midfielder Darren Carter attempted to clear a corner kick from Kranjčar but struck the ball into his own net. In the sixth round, Portsmouth were drawn away to fellow Premier League club Manchester United at Old Trafford.


2008 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Portsmouth
Portsmouth took a 1–0 victory after midfielder Sulley Muntari converted a penalty following a foul by United goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak on Milan Baroš which prompted Kuszczak's dismissal, with the referee showing him a red card. Championship side West Bromwich Albion were the opposition in the semi-final, which was also held at the neutral Wembley Stadium, on 5 April 2008. Striker Nwankwo Kanu side-footed the winning goal of the match, which meant Portsmouth had secured a place in the final for the first time since 1939.


2008 FA Cup Final, Background
The 2008 final was the first time since 1995 that the competition would be won by a team other than the "big four" of English football, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea. It was also the first final not to feature one of the four sides since 1991. Cardiff were appearing in their third FA Cup final, having lost to Sheffield United in the 1925 final before becoming the only team from outside England to win the competition in 1927 by defeating Arsenal.


2008 FA Cup Final, Background
Portsmouth were appearing in their fourth final; they had suffered defeat in both the 1929 and 1934 finals before becoming the last team to win the competition before World War II in 1939. This was the first time that the two sides had met in the competition, while they had not met in any fixture since a 2–0 win for Portsmouth in the fourth round of the League Cup in 2004. If Cardiff won the match, they would become the first club from outside the top division of English football to have won the competition since West Ham United in 1980. The final was the second to be held at the newly redeveloped Wembley Stadium.


2008 FA Cup Final, Background
The winner of the match would receive £1 million in prize money and qualify for the 2008–09 UEFA Cup. It was suggested before the game that Cardiff would not have been allowed to compete in the UEFA Cup had they won. Although playing in the English Football League, Cardiff are members of the Football Association of Wales and Football Association (FA) regulations previously meant Welsh clubs were ineligible for European competitions even if they won the FA Cup or League Cup. This prompted UEFA to offer the possibility of Cardiff filling a wild-card slot in the UEFA Cup.


2008 FA Cup Final, Background
The FA later issued a statement saying they would give their permission for Cardiff to participate in the UEFA Cup as one of England's representatives in the competition should the need arise. As in preceding years, the players voted Player of the Round in every round, from the first qualifying round to the semi-finals, were present and given VIP hospitality for themselves and a guest.


2008 FA Cup Final, Background, Pre-match
Cardiff had two major injury concerns ahead of the match. Veteran striker Robbie Fowler was given 10 days to prove his fitness by manager Dave Jones, having not played in four months since undergoing hip surgery. The final decision over Fowler was not revealed until Jones announced his side around 90 minutes before the match, in which the forward was omitted from the matchday squad. The other injury concern, Parry, was named in the starting line-up. He had played 70 minutes in the club's final league match against Barnsley having not played for seven weeks beforehand.


2008 FA Cup Final, Background, Pre-match
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink started in attack, supported by Parry. Ramsey was named on the bench to start the match. At 17 years and 143 days, he would become the second-youngest player to appear in an FA Cup Final if he played, only 24 days older than Curtis Weston was for Millwall in 2004, and the youngest ever winner if Cardiff triumphed.


2008 FA Cup Final, Background, Pre-match
Singer and Cardiff fan James Fox recorded a song for the occasion, which was released as the club's official FA Cup single. The song, entitled "Bluebirds Flying High", was released on 5 May, reaching number 15 in the UK Singles Chart in its first week of release. Cardiff player Thompson also recorded a song for the final, entitled "Do the Ayatollah", that was written by himself and his teammates.


2008 FA Cup Final, Background, Pre-match
Jermain Defoe was cup-tied for Portsmouth, having played in the third and fourth rounds for Tottenham Hotspur earlier in the competition. Consequently, Kanu was chosen ahead of Baros and Nugent as a lone striker in a 4–1–4–1 formation, with support from a five-man midfield of Kranjčar, John Utaka, Mendes, Diarra and Muntari. Sol Campbell, Glen Johnson and David James were the only three English players in the starting line-up. James had recovered from injury in time to be named in the squad, along with forward David Nugent, having missed the club's previous three games.