2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, Pre-season
On 7 August, just two days before the start of the new season, the club completed its eleventh and twelfth signings of pre-season, in the shape of Swiss-born Serbian U-19 international Aleksandar Prijović, who rejected a new deal with Parma to join the club, for free and Latvian international midfielder Andrejs Perepļotkins on a season long loan from Skonto FC Rīga after impressing on trial at the club. Finally, on 19 August the club signed Dutch attacking midfielder Nacer Barazite on loan until 31 December 2008 from Arsenal.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, Pre-season
These thirteen signings all came in addition to Australian midfielder Ruben Zadkovich, who was signed in March. There were also unsuccessful attempts to sign Swansea midfielder Ferrie Bodde and Wigan's Marlon King on a season-long loan. Trials were also given to former Reading winger John Oster (who rejected the offer of a contract), Nigerian midfielder Richard Eromoigbe (whom the club decided not to sign), Australian defender Daniel Piorkowski (who eventually joined Walsall) and French midfielder Julien Sablé. (who, as with Eromoigbe, the club declined to sign)


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, Pre-season
Four players were initially allowed to leave the club, with the contracts of Michael Johnson, Lee Holmes and Marc Edworthy not being renewed following their completion, and Ben Hinchcliffe's contract being terminated. Andy Todd was told he could leave on a free transfer but is still currently with the club.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, Pre-season
Players moving out for fees were Kenny Miller, who rejoined Rangers for £2m; club record signing Rob Earnshaw for £2.65m to rivals Nottingham Forest less than a year after joining the club; David Jones, who joined Wolves for £1.2m; Craig Fagan, who returned to Hull City for £750k and Darren Moore, who signed for Barnsley on a free. Stephen Pearson was expected to move to Birmingham but the move fell through due to Birmingham's unwillingness to sign the player while injured and Pearson rejecting a loan move. Stephen Bywater was the subject of an accepted £200k bid from Tottenham.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, Pre-season
However, despite taking a medical, Tottenham decided not to sign Bywater. Shortly after the start of the season, these players were joined by Eddie Lewis, whose contract was terminated by mutual consent and Benny Feilhaber who joined Danish side AGF Aarhus on a free. Another, unwanted, departure came with the news of club captain Alan Stubbs' retirement through injury on 20 August.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, August
The first game of the new Championship season saw nine of Jewell's summer signings make their debuts (seven starting and two as substitutes), but lost 1–0 to Doncaster. This stretched the club's winless run to 33 matches and saw Jewell express disappointment with his players failing to cope with the pressure.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, August
Jewell finally got his first win as Derby manager (not counting an FA Cup third round penalties victory against Sheff Wednesday in January 2008) three days later as Derby beat Lincoln 3–1 in the League Cup first round, with Nathan Ellington getting his first goals for the club with a hattrick. A 1–1 draw with Bristol Rovers four days later saw the club break the league record for longest winless streak, stretching it to 34 matches.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, August
On 14 August 2008 the club finally announced the extent of the club's debt after several months of speculation. The club's new chairman, Andrew Appleby, announced that upon arrival at the club in January 2008, Derby were £31m in debt. This had been reduced by £6m to £25m in the first six months of the new boards tenure, with the aim to reduce it by a further £10m by August 2009, leaving Derby with only the £15m mortgage on the Pride Park Stadium to repay.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, August
It was also announced that £10.4m of the 2008–09 season's £11.5m parachute payment has already been spent on players bought the previous summer. These players (such as Kenny Miller and Claude Davis) had still not completely been paid for, with Chairman of Football Adam Pearson stating that "We’ve (Derby County) still got to find £3m this month for Claude Davis, Kenny Miller, David Jones and Benny Feilhaber – so that's another significant investment."


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, August
He added that "At the minute, the wages are circa £2.5m more than where I’d like them to be on an annual basis, so that needs taking care of." This was followed by a mixed series of results, with two more league defeats (1–0 at home to Southampton and 2–0 away to Barnsley, both clubs previously without a win) leaving the club bottom of the table going into the two-week international break, sandwiching a 1–0 win away to in-form Preston North End in the League Cup second round.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, August
On 29 August 2008 Mears caused controversy when he flew to France to go on trial with Olympic Marseille without the express permission of Derby manager Paul Jewell. Jewell responded, saying that Mears will never play for the club again whilst he is in charge. Following the trial, the clubs agreed that Mears would go on loan to Marseille for the duration of the 2008–09 season, for a loan fee of £160,000, with the French club having the option to buy him for £1.5m at the end of the loan.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, September
Following the two-week break for international fixtures, Derby's next match was against Sheffield United. The game generated much media coverage as it was approaching a year since Derby's last league win, a run which saw the club break the English league record for most matches without a win. On 13 September 2008, four days short of the anniversary of the 1–0 win over Newcastle, Rob Hulse scored against his former club as Derby ran out 2–1 winners, earning Paul Jewell his first league win as Derby boss at his 27th attempt.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, September
The win sparked an upturn in the club's fortunes and Derby went the whole of September undefeated, including the club's first away win in 18 months with a 2–0 success away to Q.P.R. and a draw at home to league leaders Birmingham City. The form of defender Martin Albrechtsen saw him nominated for the Championship Player of the Month award, though he lost out to Reading's Kevin Doyle.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, October
Derby's undefeated run was stretched to six games after a 2–1 win away to Norwich City, which saw Nathan Ellington get his first league goal for the club with an 85th-minute winner. The win meant that Derby had earned more points in six matches than in the whole of the previous season and put them within two points of a play-off place going into the international break. Returning from the international break, The Rams continued their run, taking it to seven games, by beating Plymouth Argyle 2–1 at home.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, October
A 3–2 defeat away to Blackpool ended the club's unbeaten streak, but the Rams recovered to earn a point at Coventry City and beat Norwich for the second time in a month, winning 3–1 at home with a performance Paul Jewell described as "Our best yet". Rob Hulse's form during October saw him awarded the Championship Player of the Month award, after he scored four goals in five games, while Paul Jewell earned his first Championship Manager of the Month nomination as Derby boss, though he eventually lost out to Cardiff's Dave Jones.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, November
November started with the return of the East Midlands derby against Nottingham Forest to the fixture list, following a three-year absence. The match ended as a 1–1 draw after referee Stuart Attwell disallowed two Derby goals in the final few minutes. Atwell also booked eight players and issued a straight red card to Forest midfielder Lewis McGugan. Jewell was especially vocal in his dismay at Attwell's performance, accusing the 25-year-old official of 'losing control' of the game and 'robbing' the Rams of a victory.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, November
The press furore around his display saw Attwell called in for a meeting with Referee's Chief Keith Hackett and was consequently axed from the following week's fixture list. Days after the game Derby manager Paul Jewell said that a member of the Football Association had contacted him and told him that the second goal should have stood. The Attwell controversy overshadowed Derby's run of only one defeat in 11 and their retention of the Brian Clough Trophy. It also stretched Derby's unbeaten streak against Forest to five, having lost just once to their rivals in the last 11 meetings.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, November
Following the Forest game however, Derby's form began to stutter – despite two wins over League One clubs Brighton & Hove Albion (4–1) and Leeds United (2–1) in the League Cup, taking Derby to their first quarter-final in the competition since 1989, Derby won just one of their next four league games, a 3–0 win over Sheffield Wednesday that gave them their biggest league win since a 5–1 win over Colchester United in May 2007.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, November
The club's dip in form saw Jewell making vocal his desire to bring fresh legs and impetus into a squad being hit by injuries and a busy fixture list, whilst assistant manager Chris Hutchings called for greater 'consistency'. Despite the club's disappointing form they remained in contention for the play-offs.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, November
The last week of November proved to be a busy one as the club signed former Southampton defender Darren Powell on a free transfer and brought in West Ham United youngster James Tomkins and Charlton Athletic's Luke Varney in on loan, with Andy Todd, Liam Dickinson, Jay McEveley and Mitchell Hanson going out on loan to Northampton, Blackpool, Charlton and Notts County respectively.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, December
Despite these changes the club's poor form carried into December, where defeats by Crystal Palace and Wolves saw the club drop to 18th in the league and claims within the media that Jewell's position as manager was under threat, rumours denied by the club itself. Away from the league, a 1–0 win away to Stoke City in the League Cup saw the club reach the semi-final of a major cup competition for the first time since the 1976 FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United, who, ironically, the club drew to face this time around too.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, December
The league form continued to worsen, with defeats against Preston and Ipswich leaving the club just five points clear of relegation and, with pressure from supporters and the media increasing, Paul Jewell resigned as manager on 28 December, with assistant manager Chris Hutchings taking over as caretaker manager. His first move was to recall Liam Dickinson from his loan spell at Blackpool.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, January
The resignation of Paul Jewell saw a raft of names being linked with Derby County, including former manager Billy Davies, Paul Ince, Nigel Clough, Dean Saunders, Aidy Boothroyd and Alan Curbishley.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, January
On the pitch Hutchings first game in charge saw The Rams go 2–0 down in the first 20 minutes away to non-league Forest Green in the FA Cup Third Round before eventually winning 4–3, earning the club a draw with local rivals Nottingham Forest in the 4th Round. The club made its first foray into the January transfer window on 5 January 2009 with the signing of Middlesbrough defender Seb Hines on a monthlong loan.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, January
The same day Adam Pearson announced that a shortlist of managerial candidates had been written up, with suggestions it contained caretaker manager Chris Hutchings, Burton Albion's Nigel Clough, Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson and former Derby player Dean Saunders, manager of Wrexham, with Clough as the 'top target'. The same day saw Clough officially approached about the position and he was announced as Derby's new manager on 6 January 2008, bringing his backroom staff of Gary Crosby, Andy Garner and Martin Taylor with him from Burton Albion.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, January
Clough was introduced to the Derby support on 7 January, prior to the kick off of the League Cup Semi-Final First Leg against Manchester United. The match presided over by Academy Manager David Lowe as a result of Chris Hutchings leaving the club following Clough's appointment and Kris Commons's 30th minute 25-yard strike was enough to give the Rams a 1–0 lead to take into the second leg. The win was their second against Premier League opposition in the competition and put the club in the strange position of beating more Premier League teams in the 2008/09 season than the previous campaign when they had actually been in the Premier League.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, January
Clough's first game in charge was due to be Cardiff City away in the Championship, but it was called off due to a frozen pitch. Clough also announced his intention to cut the squad as he felt it had 'too many players', with his first move being to cancel Latvian winger Andrejs Pereplotkins' loan, release defender Darren Powell when two-month contract expired and loan out Aleksandar Prijović, Giles Barnes, Lewis Price and Claude Davis out to Yeovil Town, Fulham, Luton Town and Crystal Palace respectively. He also cancelled the contract of Guinean left back Mo Camara.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, January
Clough's first game in charge was a home game against Q.P.R. which ended in a 2–0 defeat and saw Derby drop to 20th in the table and followed it up with a 4–2 defeat away to Manchester United in the second leg of the League Cup Semi Final which saw Derby knocked out of the competition 4–3 on aggregate. Derby's second cup match in three days saw them draw 1–1 with rivals Nottingham Forest at Pride Park in the FA Cup Fourth Round.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, January
His second league match, away to Birmingham City ended in a 1–0 defeat which saw the club drop into the bottom three for the first time since August. Clough's first win came with a 2–1 victory over Coventry City, which saw the club leap to 18th in the table. The match was watched from the stands by Clough's first signing, Chris Porter, who signed for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £400k from Motherwell.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, February
Clough earned his first away win as Derby manager with a 3–2 win away at Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup 4th Round replay on 4 February 2009 to book an FA Cup 5th Round tie at home to Manchester United. The win was Derby's first win at the City Ground since October 1971, when the club was managed by Nigel's father Brian, and saw the club come from being 2–0 down after 15 minutes to get the win, earning the Rams the .


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, February
A 3–0 win away at Plymouth Argyle the weekend after was Derby's biggest away win for seven years and saw the club leap up to 16th in the table. The Rams three match winning streak was ended when Man Utd knocked them out of a cup competition for the second time in a month as they ran out 4–1 winners in the FA Cup Fifth Round. The Rams returned to winning ways with a 4–1 victory over Blackpool and a 3–1 win away at Nottingham Forest, their second win at their rivals ground in a month, before a 2–1 defeat away to Doncaster Rovers.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, March
The first game of March saw Chris Porter grab his first goals for the club since his move from Motherwell in a 2–2 draw at home to Swansea City, a match in which The Rams threw away a 2–0 lead, leaving them just 5 points clear of the relegation zone, though still with games in hand on the majority of their relegation rivals due to the club's various cup successes. Despite only drawing, Clough declared the performance "the best since we have been here. "


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, March
Away from the pitch, the same week saw the club take Blackburn Rovers youngster Josh O'Keefe on trial, with a view to a permanent move in the summer when his contract expired., Jordan Stewart's 25-yard strike in the October 2008 win over Sheffield Wednesday nominated for the Football League Mitre Goal of the Year 2008 award and key players Miles Addison and Paul Green seasons ended by injury.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, March
Despite these setbacks, the Rams returned to winning ways with a 2–1 victory over play off chasing Bristol City, with Chris Porter scoring his third for the club after just 52 seconds and Rob Hulse grabbing his 15th of the campaign to seal the win just 2 minutes after Bristol City had equalised. The result meant the club had taken 16 points from the last 21 available and took the club to 15th in the table, eight points clear of the relegation places.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, March
In an attempt to soften the blow of losing Green and Addison, midfielders John Eustace and Barry Bannan were brought in on loan from Watford and Aston Villa respectively. As Clough stated he felt the club had too many strikers, strikers Liam Dickinson (Leeds United), Aleksandar Prijović (Northampton Town) and Paris Simmons (Lincoln City) and Luke Varney (Sheffield Wednesday) were sent out on loan, though Simmons returned after just 4 days due to an ankle injury. The new signings could not help the Rams record a win in the months remaining fixtures, with draws against Southampton and Barnsley sandwiching a 2–4 defeat away to playoff chasing Sheff Utd.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, April
April proved to be a difficult month for the Rams, with 4 of the first six matches of the month coming against clubs in the Top 6. Three ended in defeat – 4–1 away to Cardiff City, 3–2 at home to Wolves and 2–0 at home to Reading. The club did earn a point at home to Burnley, thanks to Paul Connolly's 93rd-minute equaliser in a 1–1 draw, but a defeat away at midtable Crystal Palace meant that only a 1–0 victory at Sheffield Wednesday gave Derby three points. It meant a run of only one win in 9 games, but the victory at Hillsborough did take the club over the 50 points marker set by Clough as the target for survival.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, April
The last home game of the season against Charlton Athletic saw Hulse presented with the Jack Stamps Trophy for Player of the Season by 1997 winner Chris Powell. He celebrated by hitting his 18th goal of the season as Derby won 1–0 to guarantee their Championship survival.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, April
With safety assured, Clough began to restructure the squad and backroom staff ahead of the 2009–10 season. In terms of backroom staff, Clough announced his intention to restructure the academy, appointing former Derby players Darren Wassall and Michael Forsyth and Wolves Academy director John Perkins to the backroom staff, to replace the departed Phil Cannon, David Lowe and Brian Burrows. In terms of playing staff it was announced that Andy Todd and Paris Simmons would not have their contracts extended, with loanees Przemyslaw Kazmierczak, Nacer Barazite and Barry Bannan returning to their clubs.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Review, May
The season ended with an experimental line-up, featuring Rob Hulse at centre-half and Stephen Pearson at left back, losing 3–1 away to Watford to finish 18th in the Championship, the club's lowest league finish for three years, eight points clear of the relegation zone. The day after the match, Clough announced his intention to cut the playing staff by up to 17 players.


2008–09 Derby County F.C. season, Results, Pre season
A proposed friendly away to Lincoln City, due to take place on 26 July 2008, was cancelled by mutual consent when the two clubs drew each other in the first round of the League Cup.


2008–09 Detroit Pistons season
The 2008–09 Detroit Pistons season was the 68th season of the franchise, the 61st in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the 52nd in the Detroit area. The season was the first under new head coach Michael Curry, who took over for Flip Saunders who was fired at the conclusion of the 2007–08 season.


2008–09 Detroit Pistons season
In the playoffs, the Pistons were swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers in four games in the First Round.


2008–09 Detroit Pistons season
During the season, the Pistons traded Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess, and Cheikh Samb to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Allen Iverson. McDyess was waived by the Nuggets and was re-signed by the Pistons. It was their first losing season since the 2000–01 NBA season, and the first time they didn't reach the Eastern Conference Finals since the 2002-03 NBA season. The 2008–09 season was also the last time the Pistons qualified for the playoffs, until the 2015–16 season. Following the season, Rasheed Wallace signed as a free agent with the Boston Celtics, and Iverson left to sign with the Memphis Grizzlies and Curry was fired.


2008–09 Detroit Pistons season, Draft picks
On the day of the draft, the Pistons traded D. J. White to the Seattle SuperSonics in exchange for the rights to Seattle's number 32 and number 46 picks. The picks were used to select Walter Sharpe from Alabama–Birmingham and Trent Plaisted from Brigham Young, respectively.


2008–09 Detroit Red Wings season
The 2008–09 Detroit Red Wings season was the 83rd season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on September 25, 1926. The Detroit Red Wings attempted to defend their Stanley Cup title, but they were defeated by the Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games in the Stanley Cup Finals, the team they defeated in the finals the previous season. The Red Wings roster featured former Penguin Marian Hossa, who signed a one-year contract with Detroit during the summer of 2008, as well as former Penguins backup Ty Conklin.


2008–09 Detroit Red Wings season
They won 51 games during the regular season, the fourth consecutive season of 50 or more victories.


2008–09 Detroit Red Wings season, Off-season
June 9: Dominik Hasek announced his retirement from the NHL.


2008–09 Detroit Red Wings season, Off-season
June 10: Detroit signed head coach Mike Babcock to three-year contract extension.


2008–09 Detroit Red Wings season, Off-season
June 11: Assistant coach Todd McLellan signed with the San Jose Sharks as their new head coach.


2008–09 Detroit Red Wings season, Off-season
June 30: The Detroit Red Wings re-signed defenseman Andreas Lilja to a two-year contract.


2008–09 Detroit Red Wings season, Off-season
July 1: Brad Stuart re-signed with the Detroit Red Wings. It is a four-year deal worth $3.75 million per season, and a no-trade clause for the first two.


2008–09 Detroit Red Wings season, Off-season
July 2: Marian Hossa signed a one-year, $7.45 million contract.


2008–09 Detroit Red Wings season, Off-season
July 15: Dallas Drake announced his retirement from the NHL.


2008–09 Detroit Red Wings season, Off-season
July 23: Ryan Oulahen re-signed with the Detroit Red Wings with a one-year deal.


2008–09 Detroit Red Wings season, Off-season
July 30: Valtteri Filppula re-signed on a five-year, $15 million contract.


2008–09 Detroit Red Wings season, Regular season
Excluding six shootout-winning goals, the Red Wings scored 289 goals during the regular season, the most of all 30 teams in the NHL. They also scored the most power-play goals, with 90, and had the best power-play percentage, at 25.50% (90 for 353).


2008–09 Detroit Red Wings season, Regular season, Conference standings
bold – qualified for playoffs, y – division winner, p – Presidents' Trophy winnerCE – Central Division, NW – Northwest Division, PA – Pacific Division


2008–09 Detroit Red Wings season, Playoffs
Detroit had not missed the post-season since 1989–90. The 2008–09 season was their 18th consecutive playoff season.


2008–09 Detroit Red Wings season, Playoffs
During the Finals, Head Coach Mike Babcock joined Mike Keenan as the only coaches in NHL history to coach in Game 7 Stanley Cup Finals on two different teams, having been with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in 2003. When the Red Wings lost Game 7, Babcock had the unfortunate distinction of becoming the first coach in NHL history to lose a Game 7 Stanley Cup Finals on two different teams, as his Ducks lost to the New Jersey Devils in 2003.


2008–09 Detroit Red Wings season, Player statistics, Goaltenders
Note: GP = Games Played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime Losses; GA = Goals against; GAA= Goals Against Average; SA= Shots Against; SV= Saves; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO= Shutouts


2008–09 Detroit Red Wings season, Draft picks
Detroit's selections at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa, Ontario.


2008–09 Detroit Red Wings season, Farm teams
The Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League (AHL) remain the minor league affiliate of the Red Wings for the 2008–09 season.


2008–09 Dinamo Riga season
The 2008–09 Dinamo Riga season was the first season of the franchise in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). This was also inaugural season for the league. Dinamo Riga played most of their home games in Arena Riga, however some matches were held in other locations. Dinamo Riga were playing in Kharlamov division along with Avangard Omsk, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, HC Lada Togliatti, HC Sibir Novosibirsk and Amur Khabarovsk.


2008–09 Dinamo Riga season, Pre-season
As it is the first season for the franchise, Dinamo Riga had to gather their roster from nothing. Most of the team players are members of Latvia national team. First players for the team were announced on April 25. First foreign player to join the team was Czech Filip Novák on June 26. The team roster was completed, when the last two legionaries Duvie Westcott and Mark Hartigan joined the team on July 22.


2008–09 Dinamo Riga season, Pre-season
Dinamo Riga started their pre-season training camp on July 15. The camp continued till July 28 and took place in Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia. The first game in franchise history was held on July 25, when Dinamo Riga defeated MHk 32 Liptovský Mikuláš in a shootout after a 1-1 in regular time.


2008–09 Dinamo Riga season, Pre-season
On August 2 Dinamo played their first home game, when they won against Amur Khabarovsk in Riga. Then at the "Inbox.lv hall" in Riga, Dinamo won the Inbox.lv tournament, in which they defeated Dinamo Minsk and Barys Astana. In August the team also participated in the Tampere Cup (Tampere) and the Governor's Cup (Mytishchi).


2008–09 Dinamo Riga season, Regular season
Dinamo Riga will play 56 games in regular season. The season will begin on September 2, 2008, it is coming to close on February 26, 2008.


2008–09 Dinamo Riga season, Player stats, Skaters
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes


2008–09 Dinamo Riga season, Player stats, Goaltenders
Note: GP = Games Played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTW = Overtime/Shootout Wins; OTL = Overtime/Shootout Losses; GA = Goals Against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average


2008–09 Division 1 Féminine
The 2008-09 D1 Féminine was the 35th edition of the league since its re-establishment by the French Football Federation. The league began on 23 August 2008 and is slated to end on 7 June 2009.


2008–09 Division 1 season (Swedish ice hockey)
2008–09 was the 10th season that Division 1 functioned as the third-level of ice hockey in Sweden, below the second-level HockeyAllsvenskan and the top-level Elitserien (now the SHL).


2008–09 Division 1 season (Swedish ice hockey), Format
The 55 participating teams played the first half of the season in six groups divided geographically. The successful teams then moved into three new groups (the Allettan groups), while the remaining teams played in a continuation of their smaller existing groups. The teams with the worst records in these continuation groups were then forced to defend their places in Division 1 against challengers from Division 2 (see "relegation tournament" below) in a round-robin tournament called Kvalserien till Division 1. Meanwhile, the successful teams from the Allettan groups along with the group winners of the continuation groups played a playoff to determine who would have a chance to compete for promotion to the second-tier league HockeyAllsvenskan in Kvalserien till HockeyAllsvenskan.


2008–09 División de Honor B de Balonmano
The 2008–09 season of the División de Honor B de Balonmano is the 15th season of second-tier handball in Spain.


2008–09 División de Honor Juvenil de Fútbol
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2008–09 División de Honor Juvenil de Fútbol
The 2008–09 División de Honor Juvenil de Fútbol season was the 23rd since its establishment.


2008–09 División de Honor de Futsal
The 2008–09 season of the División de Honor de Futsal is the 20th season of top-tier futsal in Spain.


2008–09 División de Honor de Futsal, Championship playoffs, Matches, Quarter-finals
(6) Tien21 P. Millenium Pinto vs. (3) FC Barcelona Mobicat:


2008–09 División de Plata de Futsal
The 2008–09 season of the División de Plata is the 16th season of second-tier futsal in Spain.


2008–09 Djurgårdens IF Hockey season
The 2008–09 Djurgårdens IF Hockey season will be the club's 33rd season in the Swedish elite league Elitserien. The signing of David Schneider during late July 2008 is the first American player in the club's history to play for the club. The regular season started on home ice on September 18, 2008 against Luleå HF and will be concluded on February 28, 2009 away against Frölunda HC.


2008–09 Djurgårdens IF Hockey season, Offseason
March 20: Team captain Jimmie Ölvestad re-signed a one-year contract with Djurgården.


2008–09 Djurgårdens IF Hockey season, Offseason
April 15: Former assistant coaches Mikael Johansson and Tomas Montén signed a two-year contract as the new coaches of the team.


2008–09 Djurgårdens IF Hockey season, Pre-season, Nordic Trophy, Standings
y - clinched semi-final spot for championship, x - clinched semi-final spot for 5th place,  z - play for 9th place


2008–09 Djurgårdens IF Hockey season, Pre-season, Nordic Trophy, Game log
Legend:   Win (3 points)  Overtime win (2 point)  Loss (0 points)  Overtime loss (1 point)


2008–09 Djurgårdens IF Hockey season, Regular season, Standings
x – clinched playoff spot; y – clinched regular season league title; e – eliminated from playoff contention; r – play in relegation series


2008–09 Doncaster Rovers F.C. season
During the 2008–09 English football season, Doncaster Rovers F.C. competed in the Football League Championship.


2008–09 Doncaster Rovers F.C. season, Season summary
Doncaster endured a tough start to life in the second tier of English football and stood bottom of the league after 24 games with only 4 league wins. However, Doncaster went on an eight-match unbeaten run that lifted them to mid-table, and finished the season in a secure 14th place, above more fancied sides like Crystal Palace and Derby County.


2008–09 Doncaster Rovers F.C. season, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Doncaster Rovers F.C. season, Squad, Left club during season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team
The 2008–09 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team represents Drake University in the 2008-09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team, which plays in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC), is led by first-year head coach Mark Phelps. In 2007–08, the Bulldogs finished 28–5 (15–3 in the MVC). Drake will try to improve upon their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1971.


2008–09 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team, Preseason
On April 21, 2008 Mark Phelps was named the head men's basketball coach at Drake University, succeeding Keno Davis.


2008–09 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team, Preseason
Phelps will inherit a team that loses three starters—point guard Adam Emmenecker, shooting guard Leonard Houston, and small forward Klayton Korver. Emmenecker was one of the most compelling individual stories in the 2007–08 college season, going from three-year walk-on to MVC Player of the Year. Houston was a second-team all-MVC selection.


2008–09 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team, Preseason
Returning starters are shooting guard Josh Young and power forward Jonathan "Bucky" Cox. Young, the team's leading scorer in 2007–08, joined Emmenecker on the all-MVC first team. Cox was the team's leading rebounder and joined Houston on the all-MVC second team.


2008–09 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team, Regular season
Drake will host the Drake Iowa Realty Tournament on December 5–7, 2008Drake will host the Drake Invitational on December 12–13, 2008. North Dakota State, Stephen F. Austin, and Texas-Pan American will be the participating schools. The January 28, 2009 game against Evansville was rescheduled as Evansville's plane was unable to take off due to weather. The game was scheduled to start at 7:05 p.m. CST.


2008–09 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team, Roster
Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.


2008–09 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team, Player statistics
Note: GP= Games played; MPG= Minutes per Game; SPG= Steals per Game; RPG = Rebounds per Game; APG. = Assists per Game; BPG = Blocks per Game; PPG = Points per Game


2008–09 Drexel Dragons men's basketball team
The 2008–09 Drexel Dragons men's basketball team represented Drexel University during the 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Dragons, led by 8th year head coach Bruiser Flint, played their home games at the Daskalakis Athletic Center and were members of the Colonial Athletic Association.


2008–09 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team
The 2008–09 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team represented Duke University in the 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team's head coach was Mike Krzyzewski, who served for his 29th year. The team played its home games in Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. The Blue Devils captured the ACC Championship by defeating Florida State in the championship game in Atlanta.


2008–09 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team, Pre-season
The 2007–08 Duke Blue Devils finished the season 28–6 (13–3), placed second in the ACC regular season standings, and lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Earlier in the season, the squad reached as high as #2 in the Coaches' Poll with only one loss. Some late season losses caused them to finish the regular season ranked #9 in the country and #2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Duke then lost in the semifinals in the ACC Tournament to the Clemson Tigers. Duke was given a #2 seed in the NCAA tournament. After narrowly defeating #15 Belmont, Duke lost 73–67 to the #7 West Virginia Mountaineers.


2008–09 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team, Pre-season, Recruiting
On September 26, 2007, forward Olek Czyz committed to Duke University. Czyz is a 6–7 Poland native who has spent the last three years in Reno, Nevada. Both Scout and Rivals.com listed him as the 27th best power forward in the nation. However, Scout.com had him 80th overall, while Rivals.com had him back at 102nd. As a junior at Reno High School, Czyz averaged 18.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, leading Reno to a 24–6 record. In his sophomore year, Olek had a ten-point and six rebound average, while leading his team to a state championship. Other schools to make offers to Czyz were Arizona State, Colorado State, Florida, Kentucky, Louisville, Nevada, Pepperdine, and Washington State.


2008–09 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team, Pre-season, Recruiting
On the first day of November, the Blue Devils received a commitment from Elliot Williams. The 6–4 shooting guard from Memphis, Tennessee was listed as the number 3 shooting guard in the country by Rivals.com, while Scout.com had him as the number 4 shooting guard and the number 14 overall prospect in the country. Williams spent high school at St. George’s where he averaged 25 points, seven rebounds, and six assists per game. In his junior year, Elliot averaged 22 points and six rebounds per contest, while leading his team to a state championship. Williams turned down offers from Clemson, Memphis, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and Virginia.


2008–09 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team, Pre-season, Recruiting
Power forward Miles Plumlee, a 6–10 native of Warsaw, Indiana, who attended high school in Arden, North Carolina, committed to the Blue Devils on May 1, 2008. Miles, who is the older brother of 2009 commitment Mason Plumlee, had signed a letter of intent to Stanford University, but after head coach Trent Johnson took the coaching job at Louisiana State, Plumlee requested and was granted a release. Plumlee is rated as the 17th best power forward of the 2008 recruiting class by Scouts.com, while Rivals has him ranked 29th at forward and 101st overall.


2008–09 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team, Pre-season, Offseason changes
The only senior Duke lost from their 2007–08 squad was DeMarcus Nelson who graduated. Nelson was projected to go somewhere in the late second round in the 2008 NBA Draft, but instead went undrafted. On September 9, 2008, Nelson was signed by the Golden State Warriors.


2008–09 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team, Pre-season, Offseason changes
Joe Alleva, the Duke Athletics Director, interviewed for the athletics director job at Louisiana State on April 1, and was offered for the position on April 3. After 10 years as Duke's athletics director, Alleva took the job and is scheduled to start on July 1. At Duke a twelve-person committee, assembled by Duke President, Richard H. Brodhead, searched for a new athletics director. Joe Alleva said in an interview that he would do anything to help in the search. On May 30, Brodhead announced that the Duke had hired former Notre Dame athletics director Kevin White. Coach Mike Krzyzewski said the White "is one of the most respected people in intercollegiate athletics" and brings " wealth of experience and is someone who people admire".


2008–09 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team, Pre-season, Offseason changes
Duke forward Taylor King decided to transfer to Villanova University in April 2008. As a freshman at Duke, King played in all 34 games, averaging 5.9 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. He had 43 three-pointers that season, putting him eighth all-time against Duke freshmen. When announcing his transfer, King told reporters "Nothing against Duke, but it's time for a change. I needed to explore other places. Villanova is a true family atmosphere where everyone's got each other's back." Per NCAA regulations, King will have to sit out a season.


2008–09 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team, Pre-season, Offseason changes
On April 26, associate head coach Johnny Dawkins announced that he would be leaving the Blue Devils, to take over the head coaching spot at Stanford. Dawkins was a member of the 1986 Duke team that lost in the finals to Louisville. After nine seasons in the NBA, Dawkins was hired as an assistant coach during the 1998–99 season. Two years later he was promoted to associate head coach, a job he's held for nine years.


2008–09 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team, Pre-season, Offseason changes
It was announced on May 5, that Nate James would replace Johnny Dawkins as an assistant coach. James was a captain on the 2000-01 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team that won a national championship. After turning pro, James played in the Philippines, France, Hungary, Japan and the Netherlands. In 2004, James participated in the training camp of the Philadelphia 76ers, but did not make it onto the team. During the winter of 2007–2008, he was hired to oversee operations at the Duke's new practice facility.


2008–09 Duke Blue Devils women's basketball team
The 2008–09 Duke Blue Devils women's basketball team represented Duke University in the 2008–09 NCAA Division I basketball season. The Blue Devils were coached by Joanne P. McCallie, (also known as Coach P) and the Blue Devils played their home games at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. The Blue Devils are a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Blue Devils reached the 25-win mark for the 11th straight season, collected their 12th straight 10-win ACC season.


2008–09 Duke Blue Devils women's basketball team
McCallie guided Duke to a 14-0 record at home in Cameron Indoor Stadium marking only the second time in school history the Blue Devils have gone undefeated at home. Duke was also a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in school history and the third time out of the last four years.


2008–09 Duke Blue Devils women's basketball team, Awards and honors, Team awards
Team awards were voted on by team members and staff


2008–09 Duke Blue Devils women's basketball team, Team players drafted into the WNBA
April 23: Carrem Gay has signed a training camp contract with the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA. Gay, who is from New York, N.Y., averaged 6.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.7 steals for the Blue Devils in 2008-09.


2008–09 Duleep Trophy
The 2008–09 Duleep Trophy was the 48th season of the Duleep Trophy, a first-class cricket tournament contested by five zonal teams of India: Central Zone, East Zone, North Zone, South Zone and West Zone.


2008–09 Duleep Trophy
West Zone won the title, defeating South Zone in the final.


2008–09 Dumbarton F.C. season
Season 2008–09 was the 125th football season in which Dumbarton competed at a Scottish national level, entering the Scottish Football League for the 103rd time, the Scottish Cup for the 114th time, the Scottish League Cup for the 62nd time and the Scottish Challenge Cup for the 18th time.


2008–09 Dumbarton F.C. season, Overview
Jim Chapman's first full season in charge began with a large intake of new playing staff. A slow start however was to be replaced by an unbeaten run of 8 games which saw Dumbarton rise to 2nd place by the beginning of November. Mixed results in December through February meant that Dumbarton fell to 4th place, but still in with a playoff chance. However it was to be a final surge which saw 7 wins taken from the last 8 games which pushed Dumbarton to the Third Division title. Indeed that run brought about Dumbarton's record number of consecutive 'shut-outs' - 7 in all.


2008–09 Dumbarton F.C. season, Overview
In the Scottish Cup, a second round victory over Highland League opponents Fraserburgh was followed by a close encounter with First Division Ross County, which was only decided by the odd goal in three and that after a draw.


2008–09 Dumbarton F.C. season, Overview
In the League Cup, Dumbarton defeated Annan Athletic on penalties, but were to be overwhelmed by Premier Division St Mirren in the second round.


2008–09 Dumbarton F.C. season, Overview
Finally, it was yet another League Challenge Cup first round exit, to Airdrie United.


2008–09 Dundee F.C. season
The 2008–09 season saw Dundee compete in the Scottish First Division after coming 2nd place the season prior. Dundee finished in 4th position with 50 points.


2008–09 Dundee United F.C. season
The 2008–09 season covers the period from 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009 and is the club's one hundredth season, having been founded as Dundee Hibernian in 1909.


2008–09 Dundee United F.C. season, Review and events
The pre-season period began with a number of new signings at the club. Dundee midfielder Scott Robertson was one of three players to agree pre-contract deals in June and he was followed by fellow player Paul Dixon shortly afterwards. Willo Flood returned on a second successive season-long loan and fellow Cardiff City player Warren Feeney followed on a similar deal, with Spanish striker Francisco Sandaza and Irish forward Roy O'Donovan (loan) the final signings.


2008–09 Dundee United F.C. season, Review and events
A number of players who were out of contract left the club following the end of the 2007–08 season, including Christian Kalvenes who moved to Burnley, and Mark Kerr, who followed Lee Mair, Stuart Duff and Lee Miller in recent years by signing for New Firm rivals Aberdeen. Last season's top scorer Noel Hunt left in July to join his brother Stephen at English side Reading.


2008–09 Dundee United F.C. season, Review and events
Chairman Eddie Thompson died of prostate cancer on 15 October.


2008–09 Dundee United F.C. season, Review and events, Chronological list of events
This is a list of the significant events to occur at the club during the 2008–09 season, presented in chronological order. This list does not include transfers, which are listed in the transfers section below, or match results, which are in the results section.


2008–09 Dundee United F.C. season, Match results
Dundee United have played a total of 44 competitive matches during the 2008–09 season, as well as six first team pre-season friendlies. The team finished fifth in the Scottish Premier League.


2008–09 Dundee United F.C. season, Match results
In the cup competitions, United lost to Celtic in the League Cup semi-final, while they were beaten by Hamilton Academical in the Scottish Cup fifth round.


2008–09 Dundee United F.C. season, Match results, Friendlies
The club began pre-season by winning the Keyline Cup in Oban on 12 July before embarking on a short trip to Dublin where they played two friendlies against local sides. Upon returning to Scotland, United beat Raith Rovers 4-0 and fellow Fife side Dunfermline Athletic 3-2 before a match against Barcelona for the second year running. The friendlies culminated in a win at Plymouth Argyle where United faced former Terror Paul Sturrock. United also sent sides to play in victories against Cowdenbeath, Arbroath, Forres Mechanics, Dundee North End and Blairgowrie. A final friendly was planned against Lochee United but was postponed due to heavy rain. In April, the club racked up an 8–0 win at Brora Rangers to mark the opening of the ground's new floodlights, with Andis Shala scoring a hat-trick.


2008–09 Dundee United F.C. season, Match results, Scottish Premier League
United began the season with a televised match away to promoted Hamilton Academical, which – despite taking the lead – they lost 3–1. Subsequent 1–1 draws at home to Celtic – another televised match in which Francisco Sandaza scored his first goal – and away to Motherwell produced the first points of the season but a home defeat to Kilmarnock and narrow defeat away to Hibernian left United bottom of the league after five matches.


2008–09 Dundee United F.C. season, Match results, Scottish Premier League
United's third televised match of the season saw them pick up their first league win at Aberdeen and was the first of four successive league victories, preceding home triumphs against Hearts, Inverness CT and St Mirren. The run of victories saw first league goals for summer signings Scott Robertson and Roy O'Donovan, with three clean sheets for goalkeeper Lukasz Zaluska. The St Mirren match was played three weeks after the Inverness match following the death of chairman Eddie Thompson, which led to the match against Rangers being postponed.


2008–09 Dundee United F.C. season, Match results, Scottish Premier League
As the St Mirren match was the first match following the death of the chairman, prices were reduced to just £5, prompting over 11,000 fans to attend and pay their respects with a minute's silence. United failed to make it five league wins in a row when they drew 0–0 at Falkirk but kept their unbeaten run going with an exciting 3–3 draw against Rangers at Ibrox and got back to winning ways with home wins over Aberdeen and Hibernian.


2008–09 Dundee United F.C. season, Match results, Scottish Premier League
A second successive 2–0 defeat to Kilmarnock – this time away from home – preceded a 1–1 draw at home to Hamilton, before wins at St Mirren and Inverness brought United back-to-back away victories for the first time since April 2007. United were involved in another high scoring match against Rangers in a 2–2 draw at Tannadice and followed it up by holding Hearts to a 0–0 draw at Tynecastle, closing 2008 with a home win against Falkirk.


2008–09 Dundee United F.C. season, Match results, Scottish Cup
United beat East Stirlingshire 4–0 at Ochilview Park in the Scottish Cup fourth round, with goals from Prince Buaben, Darren Dods, Jon Daly and Johnny Russell. Shortly before the match, United were drawn away to Hamilton Academical in the fifth round, where they were narrowly beaten 2–1, despite leading at half-time.


2008–09 Dundee United F.C. season, Match results, League Cup
Last season's runners-up United began their League Cup campaign away to Cowdenbeath, where a hat-trick from Jon Daly helped them to a 5–1 win. In the third round, Airdrie United – who United faced in the second round of last year's competition – were beaten 2–0, before a quarter-final win at home to Dunfermline Athletic. United faced Celtic in the semi-finals in late January where they lost11-10 on penalties, a record for a Scottish cup match.


2008–09 Dundee United F.C. season, Player stats
During the 2008–09 season so far, United have used 26 different players on the pitch. Łukasz Załuska is the only player to have played every minute this season. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player.


2008–09 Dundee United F.C. season, Player stats, Stats
Francisco Sandaza was the top scorer with ten goals, with the team totalling 58 goals. During the 2008–09 season, fifteen United players received at least one caution. In total, the team received 60 yellow cards.


2008–09 Dundee United F.C. season, Transfers, In
United signed eleven players during the season. Midfielder Scott Robertson agreed a pre-contract move from rivals Dundee on 3 June and two players agreed similar moves on 17 June, with Northern Irish goalkeeper Michael McGovern agreeing to move from Celtic and German striker Andis Shala arriving from VfR Mannheim. Less than a week later, United signed a second player from Dundee when Scotland under-21 defender Paul Dixon arrived for around £25,000.


2008–09 Dundee United F.C. season, Transfers, In
Willo Flood returned for a second successive season-long loan when terms were agreed with Cardiff City again on 1 July and Cardiff colleague Warren Feeney followed in a similar deal a week later. Shortly afterwards, Spanish striker Francisco Sandaza arrived on a three-year contract from Valencia Mestalla. In August, Craig Levein's pursuit of Roy O'Donovan ended with a season-long deal for the Sunderland striker, although he was recalled in January, as was Willo Flood, ahead of his transfer to Celtic. On transfer deadline day, Paul Caddis moved from Celtic Park until the end of the season, with Australian midfielder James Wesolowski joining on a similar deal from Leicester City although his spell was cut short by injury. Youngster Jennison Myrie-Williams joined in June following his release from Bristol City.


2008–09 Dundee United F.C. season, Transfers, Out
The club sold only one player during the season, with Noel Hunt joining his brother Stephen at English side Reading for around £600,000. Young striker Kevin Smith moved on loan to Raith Rovers until January, with fellow youngsters Johnny Russell and John Gibson moving to Forfar Athletic on similar temporary deals. Young left back Sean Fleming followed suit shortly afterwards when he joined Peterhead for four months.


2008–09 Dundee United F.C. season, Transfers, Out
Gibson's loan was subsequently extended until the end of the season, with young first team squad member Keith Watson joining him on a short-term loan, shortly afterwards Marco Andreoni undertook a similar deal with Albion Rovers. Sean Fleming moved back out on loan, joining Andreoni at Albion while young midfielder Ryan McCord moved short-term to Stirling Albion and Gordon Pope headed to Montrose. Kevin Smith went back to Raith after returning to Tannadice for a few weeks, with Johnny Russell returning to Forfar in similar fashion.


2008–09 Dundee United F.C. season, Transfers, Out
Towards the end of February, midfielder Greg Cameron moved on loan to Irish outfit Shamrock Rovers, managed by former United player Michael O'Neill and Fraser Milligan departed to Montrose on a similar deal shortly afterwards. Youth goalkeeper Gibson signed a one-year deal with Dundee on his return to Tannadice. Similarly, Fleming, Pope and Milligan all penned two-year deals with Montrose at the end of May.


2008–09 Dundee United F.C. season, Playing kit
The jerseys were sponsored for the first time by JD Sports' Carbrini Sportswear label, with the firm also sponsoring the shorts. Kitmaker Hummel supplied their last strip after the club announced in March 2009 that Nike would begin a four-year deal for the 2009–10 season.


2008–09 Dundee United F.C. season, Playing kit
The club has no third strip, with the last third strip used in the 2002–03 season.


2008–09 Dunfermline Athletic F.C. season
The 2008–09 season will be Dunfermline Athletic's 2nd season in the Scottish First Division after being relegated from the Scottish Premier League in 2007.


2008–09 Dunfermline Athletic F.C. season, Review and Events, Chronological list of events
This is a list of the significant events to occur at the club during the 2008–09 season, presented in chronological order. This list does not include transfers, which are listed in the transfers section below, or match results, which are in the results section.


2008–09 Dunfermline Athletic F.C. season, Stats, Goalscorers
Fourteen players have scored for the Pars first team during the 2008–09 season, with 33 goals being scored in total in all competitions. The top goalscorer so far is Andy Kirk with 9 goals.


2008–09 Dunfermline Athletic F.C. season, Stats, Discipline
So far during the 2008–09 season, two Pars players have been sent off and fourteen have received at least one caution. In total, the team have received two red card and thirty three yellow cards, with Scott Wilson having received the most number of cards (nine cautions).


2008–09 Dunfermline Athletic F.C. season, Transfers, In
The Pars brought in 5 players in the close season. Midfielder Steven Bell agreed a pre-contract move in January 2008 from relegated side Stirling Albion. Bell, along with Graeme Holmes who signed from Airdrie United and Austin McCann from Notts County officially signed for the club on 2008-05-19. Striker Graham Bayne signed from Inverness CT for £30,000 in late June, with former Rangers keeper Calum Reidford joining in July after a successful trial with the club. German striker Joseph Laumann also joined the Pars on trial in July, but was not offered a contract.


2008–09 Dunfermline Athletic F.C. season, Transfers, In
Northern Ireland international Andy Kirk was brought back to Scotland by manager Jim McIntyre from Yeovil Town at the beginning of August for an undisclosed amount and Midfielder Simon Wiles was brought in on a one-year-deal from Blackpool after impressing during a trial. Ross Campbell was brought in on a months loan from Scottish Premier League side Hibernian on 2008-09-19. Rangers Reserve striker Rory Loy signed halfway through December on a months loan until 2009-01-26. In January, the Pars brought Hearts young striker Jamie Mole on loan for the remainder of the season.


2008–09 Dunfermline Athletic F.C. season, Transfers, Out
6 of the Pars first team players from the 2007–08 season left the club in the summer on free transfers. Stephen Simmons, Darren Young, Stevie Crawford and Aaron Labonte all became free agents when their contracts ran out, while Scott Morrison and Mark Burchill signed pre-contracts with Ross County and Rotherham respectively. Young goalkeeper Sean Murdoch opted to join recently promoted side Hamilton Academical (with whom he'd previously been on loan) and at the start of September, Centre-back Sol Bamba joining SPL side Hibernian for an undisclosed sum. September also saw young defender Greg Ross join Second Division side Cowdenbeath on a months loan.


2008–09 Dynamo Dresden season
The 2008–09 season saw Dynamo Dresden return to national football, in the inaugural season of the 3. Liga. A new coach was appointed, veteran Eduard Geyer was replaced by Ruud Kaiser, a Dutchman with a good record in youth football. The squad saw many changes too, with several experienced players leaving or retiring and a number of new players brought on.


2008–09 Dynamo Dresden season
Dynamo had the honour of playing the first match in 3. Liga history – a 1–0 win over Rot-Weiss Erfurt, with debutant Halil Savran scoring the new competition's first goal. Despite this, though, it was a largely disappointing season for the club – they spent much of the season in the bottom half of the table, before relatively decent end to the season saw them finish in tenth place.


2008–09 Dynamo Dresden season
Dynamo's reserve team had a very successful season. Coached by Dynamo's former Bundesliga player Matthias Maucksch, they won the Landesliga Sachsen (and promotion to the NOFV-Oberliga Süd and the Saxony Cup, a competition which the first-team were eliminated from in the first round.


2008–09 Dynamo Dresden season, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 ECHL season
The 2008–09 ECHL season was the 21st of the ECHL.


2008–09 ECHL season, League business, Team changes
The league welcomed one new franchise, the Ontario Reign, which relocated from Beaumont, Texas and played at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California.


2008–09 ECHL season, League business, Team changes
Two teams, the Columbia Inferno and the Myrtle Beach Thunderboltz, voluntarily suspended operations for the season with plans on returning in the 2009–10 season. The Myrtle Beach franchise was originally planning to return to operations, but their arena had not been completed in time for the Board of Governors Meeting during the All-Star Break. The league announced that they were immediately terminating the Pensacola Ice Pilots franchise, because the team's owners did not intend on fielding a team for the 2008–09 season or any season after that. The team was a founding member of the ECHL as the Nashville Knights and moved to Pensacola, Florida, after the 1995–96 season.


2008–09 ECHL season, League business, Realignment
On June 23, the ECHL announced the new divisional alignment of its 23 franchises. The league saw three teams vacate the South Division of the American Conference shrinking the division from nine to six teams and added a franchise to the Pacific Division of the National Conference increasing the division total from four teams to five. There will be thirteen teams in the American Conference, which stretches from New York south to Florida and from Mississippi east to New Jersey, and ten teams in the National Conference which stretches from Alaska south to Arizona.


2008–09 ECHL season, Regular season, Teams suspend operations in mid-season
On December 2, the Augusta Lynx suspended operations and voluntarily relinquished their membership to the league, in effect becoming the first team in the league's 21-year history to suspend midseason. Lynx owners stated that financial troubles and failed attempts to find additional investors were causes for the team to suspend operations. Dan Troutman, one of the team's owners, stated that he had asked the league to take over operations so the team could finish the season, but the move was voted down by the league's Board of Governors. The owners had also stated that attendance issues, in which Augusta has ranked no higher than 20th in the league the past three seasons, as the major reason for their financial problems as the team was successful in sponsorship issues.


2008–09 ECHL season, Regular season, Teams suspend operations in mid-season
On December 22, the Fresno Falcons became the second team in twenty days to cease operations, as the league's Board of Governors voted unanimously to terminate the franchise after Fresno's ownership notified the league that they were unable to continue the membership for financial reasons. Fresno Hockey Club, LLC., the team's ownership group, cited "overwhelming financial issues due to declining attendance and dwindling corporate sponsorships" as reasons the team did not continue to operate for the 2008–09 season.


2008–09 ECHL season, Regular season, Teams suspend operations in mid-season
This move came less than a year after the team signed a 20-year lease with Selland Arena (starting with the 2008–09 season) and an agreement with the city of Fresno in which the city invested $5 million into upgrades for hockey at Selland Arena, as long as the team would not be sold or moved without the direct approval from the city.


2008–09 ECHL season, Regular season, Teams suspend operations in mid-season
A clause in the agreement, stated that the city could take over the team as a government agency if owners were unable to continue operations; however, the option was declined after it was determined that the hockey club would finish the season $500,000 under expenses. City officials had expressed interest in bringing the franchise back as early as the 2009–10 season, although ECHL Commissioner was less enthusiastic stating that "a great deal of damage had been done" and that the league would give a new ownership "nine to ten months of lead time to create a solid foundation." At the time of their folding, the Falcons were in first place of the Pacific Division and had the fifth best record in the ECHL.


2008–09 ECHL season, Regular season, League standings
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L= Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; SOL = Shootout losses; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; PTS = Points; PCT = Winning percentage; Green shade = Clinched playoff spot; Blue shade = Clinched division; Red shade = team is eliminated from playoffs; (z) = Clinched home-ice advantage


2008–09 ECHL season, Regular season, League standings
* Augusta folded on December 3, 2008. Fresno folded on December 22, 2008.


2008–09 ECHL season, Regular season, League standings
† Percentage of points earned is used to determine playoff seedings in the Southern Division due to unbalanced schedules, as Gwinnett played one more game than the other teams.


2008–09 ECHL season, Regular season, League standings
† Percentage of points earned is used to determine playoff seedings in the Pacific Division due to unbalanced schedules, as Ontario and Las Vegas played one more game than Bakersfield and Stockton after the schedule was adjusted.


2008–09 ECHL season, All Star Classic
The ECHL All-Star Game was played in Reading, Pennsylvania, on January 21, 2009, hosted by the Reading Royals. The American Conference defeated the National Conference 11–5, with Matthew Ford of Charlotte and Florida's Kevin Baker both scoring hat tricks to overcome a 3–1 deficit after the first period.


2008–09 ECHL season, All Star Classic
* Fresno's termination was announced on December 22, 2008, after ECHL All-Star voting had ended. As such, these players were voted as representatives of Fresno. Fallon's case is unique because he had moved to the American Conference. MacAulay joined head coach Matt Thomas at Stockton, in the National Conference


2008–09 ECHL season, Playoff format
On June 23, the league announced its new playoff format for the 2008–09 season. The playoffs would feature a total of sixteen teams (eight from each conference) and four rounds of play.


2008–09 ECHL season, Playoff format
As it was originally announced, the top four finishers in each division were seeded based on regular season point totals. The Division Semifinals had the first seed meeting the fourth seed and the second seed meeting the third seed in a best-of-seven series. The winners of the Division Semifinals advanced to the Division Finals, a best-of-seven series. The Division Finals winners advanced to a best-of-seven Conference Finals series. The winner of the American Conference and the winner of the National Conference met in the Kelly Cup Finals, a best-of-seven game series. Home-ice advantage was determined by regular season points. This format is similar to that used by the American Hockey League for the 2009 Calder Cup playoffs.


2008–09 ECHL season, Playoff format
At the Mid-Season Board of Governors Meeting in Reading, Pennsylvania, during All-Star Game, two changes were announced for the playoff format due to Augusta and Fresno folding mid-season. In the National Conference, instead of the top four teams in each division making the playoffs, the top eight teams (of the nine in the conference) made the playoffs; the fourth seed in the Pacific Division playoffs was determined by the team with the better record between fourth place in the Pacific Division and fifth place in the Western Division. All seeding in the National Conference and in the American Conference's Southern Division used percentage of points won because of an unbalanced number of games played caused by rescheduling (Points divided by Games Played, then divided by two).


2008–09 ECHL season, ECHL awards, All-ECHL Teams
Bryan Ewing and Jean Philippe Lamoureux were named to both All-ECHL and ECHL All-Rookie Teams.


2008–09 ECHL season, ECHL awards, All-ECHL Teams, All-Rookie Team
The Wheeling Nailers set a league record with four rookies being named to the ECHL All-Rookie Team, surpassing the previous record of two which had occurred on six separate occasions.


2008–09 EDF Energy Cup
The 2008–09 Anglo-Welsh Cup, known as the EDF Energy Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 38th season of England's national rugby union cup competition, and the fourth to follow the recently adopted Anglo-Welsh format.


2008–09 EDF Energy Cup
As in the previous two years, the competition is contested between the twelve teams of the Guinness Premiership and the four Welsh regions from the Celtic League. The sixteen teams are arranged into four pools, with one Welsh and three English teams in each. Teams are randomly drawn into groups, as opposed to previous years when English sides were grouped according to proximity to one another. Each team plays the other team from their group only once, meaning that two teams in each group face two away games, whereas the other two teams have two home games.


2008–09 EDF Energy Cup, Group stage
The winner of each pool advances to the semi-finals, at which stage a draw takes place to determine the teams that will play each other. The winners of the semi-final advance to the final to determine the competition winner; no "third place final" is played.


2008–09 EHF Champions League
The Champions League 2008–09 is the season of EHF Champions League.


2008–09 EHF Cup
In the 2008–09 EHF Cup season, VfL Gummersbach won the Europe's club handball tournament.


2008–09 EHF Cup, Quarter-finals
The first legs were played on 28–29 March and the second legs were played on 4–5 April.


2008–09 EHF Cup, Semi-finals
The first legs were played on 25 April and the second legs on 1–3 May.


2008–09 EHF Women's Champions League
The EHF Women's Champions League 2008/09 was the 16th edition of the EHF Women's Champions League, a handball competition for top women's clubs of Europe managed by the European Handball Federation. It was won by Danish club Viborg HK who defeated Hungarian Győri Audi ETO KC at the finals with an aggregate score of 50–49. It was the second title for Viborg and the fifth for a Danish team.


2008–09 EHF Women's Champions League
German international Grit Jurack was the tournament's top scorer with 113 goals.


2008–09 EHF Women's Champions League, Group Matches
Top 2 teams from each group advance to the Main Round, while the third placed team from each group will compete in the Cup Winners' Cup.


2008–09 EHF Women's Champions League, Main Round
The draw for the Main Round took place on 20 January 2009.


2008–09 EHF Women's Champions League, Final round
The semi-finals and finals are played in two legs of home and away matches. Viborg and Győri had home court advantage for the second leg of the semifinals as winners of their respective groups. Also, there was no need to perform a draw to decide home and away rights for the finals. According to EHF regulations, Viborg would get home court for the first match because they played a final in the last three years (2005/06).


2008–09 EIHL season
The 2008–09 EIHL season was the sixth season of the Elite Ice Hockey League. It began in September 2008, and ran through to April 2009. The ten clubs in the League competed for 4 different competitions: the Elite League, the Play-Offs, the Challenge Cup, and the Knockout Cup. The winners of the regular season will compete in the 2009–2010 Champions Hockey League. For this season, the Coventry Blaze represented Great Britain in the Continental Cup.


2008–09 EIHL season, Charity Shield
The season began on September 3, 2008, with a "Charity Shield" game between the 2007–08 league champions and Knockout Cup winning Coventry Blaze and the playoff champions Sheffield Steelers at the SkyDome. The Blaze narrowly beat the Steelers 5–4 in sudden death overtime.


2008–09 EIHL season, Challenge Cup
For the preliminary round, teams were divided into two groups of five with teams playing each of their opponents once with two homes games and two away games. The home and away games for each club were determined by a random draw. The top two in each group advanced to the semi finals of the competition.


2008–09 EIHL season, All-star game
On February 19th, 2009, the SkyDome in Coventry staged the 2009 EIHL All-Star Game. This game was played out between the North All-Stars and the South All-Stars. Dave Matsos of the Sheffield Steelers was chosen to coach the North, while Paul Thompson of the Coventry Blaze was chosen to coach the South. The rosters for each team consisted of players representing all 10 Elite League clubs.


2008–09 ES Sétif season
The 2008–09 season was ES Sétif's 39th season in the Algerian top flight. They competed in National 1, the CAF Confederation Cup and the Algerian Cup.


2008–09 ES Sétif season, Squad list
Players and squad numbers last updated on 1 September 2008.Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 ES Sétif season, Squad information, Goalscorers
Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted alphabetically by surname when total goals are equal.


2008–09 East Bengal FC season
The 2008–09 season was East Bengal's 2nd season in the I-League and 89th season in existence.


2008–09 East Bengal FC season, Competitions, Calcutta Football League
East Bengal finished the 2008 Calcutta Premier Division in 3rd place with 25 points from 14 matches behind champions Mohun Bagan and runners-up Mohammedan Sporting.


2008–09 East Bengal FC season, Competitions, Federation Cup
East Bengal started the Federation Cup campaign as defending champions and was allotted into Group C alongside JCT, New Delhi Heroes and Sporting Club de Goa. East Bengal won all the group matches and reached the semi-finals where they lost to their arch-rivals Mohun Bagan in the penalty shoot-out after the game ended 1–1 in regulation time.


2008–09 East Midlands Counties Football League
The 2008–09 East Midlands Counties Football League season was the first in the history of East Midlands Counties Football League, a football competition in England.


2008–09 East Midlands Counties Football League, League
The league was formed by the clubs joined from three local leagues.


2008–09 East of Scotland Football League
The 2008–09 East of Scotland Football League was the 80th season of the East of Scotland Football League. Whitehill Welfare were the defending champions. The league was split into two separate divisions, the Premier Division and the First Division, each featuring twelve teams.


2008–09 East of Scotland Football League
This season saw Edinburgh Athletic amalgamate with Leith Athletic who took the former's place in the league, and the departure of Annan Athletic who left to join the Scottish Football League. Gretna 2008 was elected in their place.


2008–09 Eastern Counties Football League
The 2008–09 Eastern Counties Football League season was the 67th in the history of Eastern Counties Football League a football competition in England.


2008–09 Eastern Counties Football League, Premier Division
The Premier Division featured 18 clubs which competed in the division last season, along with four new clubs:


2008–09 Eastern Counties Football League, Division One
Division One featured 16 clubs which competed in the division last season, along with four new clubs:


2008–09 Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball team
The 2008–09 Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball team represented Eastern Michigan University during the 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Eagles, led by 4th year head coach Charles E. Ramsey, played their home games at the Eastern Michigan University Convocation Center and were members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 8–24, 6–10 in MAC play. They team finished 4th in the MAC West. They were knocked out in the 1st round of the MAC Tournament by Central Michigan.


2008–09 Eccellenza
This is a list of division winners and playoff matches in the regionally organized Eccellenza 2008–2009, which is the 6th level of Italian football. A total of 36 teams are promoted to Serie D for the 2009–10 season.


2008–09 Eccellenza
The first-placed team from each of the 28 divisions is promoted directly. The seven winners of the national playoffs are also promoted. Finally, the 36th spot is reserved for the winner of the Coppa Italia Dilettanti. This year, the winner was Virtus Casarano, which also won direct promotion as divisional winner in the region of Apuglia, thus Castel Rigone of Eccellenza Umbria won promotion as Coppa Italia Dilettanti runners-up.


2008–09 Eccellenza
In addition, L'Aquila were handed special promotion from the Federation as they were unable to play the two remaining matches following a massive earthquake in the city.


2008–09 Eccellenza, Division winners
This is the list of final division winners in the regular season phase:


2008–09 Eccellenza, Regional playoffs
The following regional committees did not organize playoffs and instead directly admitted league runners-up to the national phase:


2008–09 Eccellenza, Regional playoffs, Abruzzo
Differently than with other regions, the Abruzzo phase involved teams from 3rd to 6th place, due to second-placed L'Aquila being promoted by deliberation of the Lega Nazionale Dilettantistica ("Amateur National League"), as the team was declared unable to complete the season due to the massive earthquake that struck the city in April.


2008–09 Eccellenza, Regional playoffs, Abruzzo
Game held on May 23, 2009 in Celano (neutral field)


2008–09 Eccellenza, Regional playoffs, Basilicata
Game held on May 16, 2009 in Picerno (neutral field)


2008–09 Eccellenza, Regional playoffs, Marche
Game held on May 17, 2009 in Ancona (neutral field)


2008–09 Eccellenza, Regional playoffs, Sardinia
Game held on May 17, 2009 in Terralba (neutral field)


2008–09 Eccellenza, Regional playoffs, Sicily A
Games held on April 19, 2009 in Mazara del Vallo and Alcamo (neutral fields)


2008–09 Eccellenza, Regional playoffs, Sicily A
Game held on April 26, 2009 in Campobello di Mazara (neutral field)


2008–09 Eccellenza, Regional playoffs, Sicily B
Games held on April 19, 2009 in Belpasso and Caltanissetta (neutral fields)


2008–09 Eccellenza, Regional playoffs, Sicily B
Game held on April 26, 2009 in Mazara del Vallo (neutral field)


2008–09 Eccellenza, Regional playoffs, Umbria
Umbria admitted teams from 3rd to 6th place into playoffs, due to league runners-up Castel Rigone being promoted directly into Serie D as Coppa Italia Dilettanti finalists.


2008–09 Eccellenza, Regional playoffs, Umbria
Game held on May 17, 2009 in Ponte San Giovanni (neutral field)


2008–09 Eccellenza, National playoffs
National playoffs involve 28 teams and assign 7 promotion spots. They are divided in two different rounds.


2008–09 Eccellenza, National playoffs, Second round
Played on June 7 and 14, 2009; Match #5 played on June 14 and 21, 2009


2008–09 Edmonton Oilers season
The 2008–09 Edmonton Oilers season was the team's 37th season of play, 30th as a member of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nonetheless, the Oilers celebrated their 30th anniversary.


2008–09 Edmonton Oilers season, Regular season, Conference standings
bold – qualified for playoffs, y – division winner, p – Presidents' Trophy winnerCE – Central Division, NW – Northwest Division, PA – Pacific Division


2008–09 Edmonton Oilers season, Schedule and results
Legend:   Win (2 points)  Loss (0 points)  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)


2008–09 Edmonton Oilers season, Playoffs
The Oilers were in the thick of the playoff race all the way until March 20th. However, they struggled down the stretch finishing 3-8-0 and missing the postseason by a total of six points.


2008–09 Edmonton Oilers season, Player statistics, Goaltenders
†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Oilers. Stats reflect time with Oilers only. ‡Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with Oilers only.


2008–09 Edmonton Oilers season, Transactions
The Oilers have been involved in the following transactions during the 2008–09 season.


2008–09 Eerste Divisie
Eerste Divisie 2008–09 began in August 2008 and concluded in May 2009, with the promotion playoffs. Sixteen clubs remained in the Eerste Divisie, whilst Excelsior and VVV-Venlo were relegated from the 2007–08 Eredivisie. VVV-Venlo won the league title and were promoted to the Eredivisie, the highest tier of football in the Netherlands, while eight other teams competed in a playoff with two Eredivisie sides for two Eredivisie places.


2008–09 Eerste Divisie, Standings, Period winners
The competition is divided into six periods (Dutch: periode) of six matches each. The winner of each period (Dutch: periodekampioen) qualifies for the playoffs at the end of the season. If the winner of a period has already won a prior period in the season, the second placed team in the period is awarded the playoff slot. If the second placed team has also won a prior period, no winner is called, and the playoff slot is decided by league standing at the end of the season.


2008–09 Eerste Divisie, Standings, Best Top Ranking Teams
Excelsior, Telstar, FC Zwolle, TOP Oss and Dordrecht were awarded play-off spot as their performance in the six periods, along with RKC Waalwijk and Cambuur, the two best placed team in Eerste Divisie who did not get a play-off spot via period route. As VVV-Venlo, one of the period winners, promoted as Eerste Divisie champions, MVV replaced them as the best placed team who did not qualify for play-off.


2008–09 Eerste Divisie, Playoffs
Please note that the following teams: Roda JC & De Graafschap joined the Eerste Divisie-teams for the playoffs, after finishing 16th and 17th in the Eredivisie.


2008–09 Eerste Divisie, Playoffs, Round 3 (best of 3)
The 2 winners of Round 3 will play in Eredivisie 2009–10.


2008–09 Eerste Klasse
2008–09 Eerste Klasse was a Dutch association football season of the Eerste Klasse.


2008–09 Egyptian Premier League
The 2008–09 Egyptian Premier League was the fifty-second season of the Egyptian Premier League since its establishment in 1948. The league is composed of sixteen teams. Al Ahly SC became the defending champions for the fourth year in a row and the thirty-third time in the league's history. This season began on 8 August 2008 and ended on 24 May 2009.


2008–09 Egyptian Premier League, Special matches
In Egypt, the most anticipated matches are among the "triangle of power": Al Ahly SC, Zamalek SC, and Ismaily SC.


2008–09 Egyptian Premier League, Special matches
Al Ahly versus Zamalek SC is one of the top derbies in the region, referred to as the "Egyptian Derby," the "Cairo Derby," or "Africa's Derby." It is a match between two successful clubs, as they have 13 Champions League titles distributed among them, five for Zamalek SC and eight for Al Ahly SC.


2008–09 Egyptian Premier League, Special matches
The Cairo–Ismailia rivalry is another challenging competition in Egyptian football, as Cairo-based clubs Al Ahly SC and Zamalek SC have mixed relations with the city of Ismailia, home to the Ismaily Sports Club, the third most decorated team in Egypt. The Zamalek SC–Ismaily SC games are usually peaceful as the clubs' boards and fans have had traditionally good relations with each other, while the relationship between Al Ahly SC and Ismaily SC fans have typically not been well.


2008–09 Egyptian Premier League, Special matches
The reason for the conflict between Al Ahly SC and Ismaily SC fans is not clear, but possibly stems back to the 1967 Six-Day War. Israeli troops forced the people of Ismailia and most of the people living on the Suez Canal to evacuate and leave their homes, going westwards towards the inside of Egypt. Ismaily SC asked Al Ahly SC to host them, but the team refused. This spoiled the relationship between the clubs. During Al Ahly SC's reconstruction period in 2004, Al Ahly SC signed a group of former Ismaily SC players including Mohamed Barakat, Islam El-Shater, and Emad El Nahhas, further destroying the relationship between fans.


2008–09 Egyptian Premier League, Stadiums
Cairo International Stadium is home to Cairo teams Al Ahly and Zamalek. Ismailia Stadium is home to Ismaily SC. The Borg El Arab Stadium in Alexandria (capacity: 80,000) is currently mainly used for international competition, as it was constructed as part of Egypt's bid to land the 2010 FIFA World Cup.


2008–09 Egyptian Second Division
Egyptian Second Division 2008–09 is the 2008–09 season of the Egyptian Second Division competition. A total of 48 teams are divided into 3 groups based on geographical distribution. The top team of each group promotes to the highest Egyptian football level; Egyptian Premier League.


2008–09 Eintracht Frankfurt season
Eintracht Frankfurt started the 2008–09 season competing in the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal.


2008–09 Eintracht Frankfurt season, Players, First-team squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Eintracht Frankfurt season, Players, Left club during season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Eintracht Frankfurt season, Players, Eintracht Frankfurt II
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Eintracht Frankfurt season, Results
NOTE: scores are written Eintracht firstNOTE: fixtures marked with a * are not scheduled yet definitely


2008–09 Ekstraklasa
The 2008–09 Ekstraklasa was the seventy-fifth season of top-tier football in Poland. It began on 8 August 2008 and ended on 30 May 2009. The season was originally scheduled to start on 25 July 2008. However, the first two rounds of games were postponed because of legal uncertainties about the number of teams in the competition following an association-wide corruption scandal.


2008–09 Ekstraklasa
Wisła Kraków won the league for the second time in a row and for the 12th time in their history after defeating Śląsk Wrocław 2–0 in the final match of the season. Legia Warsaw finished as runners-up and qualified for the second qualifying round of 2009–10 UEFA Europa League. Lech Poznań finished third and qualified for the third qualifying round of the Europa League after winning the Polish Cup. Polonia Warsaw also managed to earn a spot in Europe by finishing fourth, thereby qualifying for the first qualifying round of the Europa League. Paweł Brożek of Wisła Kraków and Takesure Chinyama of Legia Warsaw finished as joint topscorers with 19 goals in the season.


2008–09 Ekstraklasa
On the bottom end of the table, relegation was once again subject to several non-competitive events. On competitive criteria, Górnik Zabrze and Cracovia would have been relegated to the I Liga, while Arka Gdynia would have had to compete in the relegation play-offs. However, ŁKS Łódź were denied a license for the 2009–10 season and thus were automatically relegated. The club appealed the decision without any success.


2008–09 Ekstraklasa
Since ŁKS city rivals Widzew were also denied of promoting from the First League and appealed against this decision, thus creating uncertainties about the First League play-off participant, the Polish FA decided in June to postpone the relegation play-offs to an unknown date before eventually cancelling the matches completely. (see below).


2008–09 Ekstraklasa, Team changes from last season
Due to the corruption scandal several teams from last season have been punished with relegation. Those teams include Zagłębie Lubin, Korona Kielce and Zagłębie Sosnowiec. Lubin and Kielce were relegated to the First League while Sosnowiec were demoted an additional level to the Second League because they also finished the season in 16th and last place, a regular demotion spot. Widzew Łódź, who ended the season in 15th place, originally were going to be penalized as well. However, the club successfully appealed the decision in front of the Polish Olympic Committee, so they were assigned to the First League as a regularly demoted club.


2008–09 Ekstraklasa, Team changes from last season
Promotion to this year's Ekstraklasa was earned by Polish First League champions Lechia Gdańsk, runners-up Śląsk Wrocław, 3rd placed Piast Gliwice and 4th placed Arka Gdynia.


2008–09 Ekstraklasa, Team changes from last season
Dyskobolia Grodzisk Wielkopolski has been sold to an owner of First League club Polonia Warsaw. The two clubs merged, with Grodzisk's players and Ekstraklasa license transferred to Polonia. The merger concluded a series of negotiations between Grodzisk and other clubs. The initially planned merger with Śląsk Wrocław was eventually denied by the latter after several months of discussions. Grodzisk chairman Zbigniew Drzymała then started conversations with Pogoń Szczecin, which were quickly stopped without an agreement as well, before eventually coming to an agreement with Polonia.


2008–09 Ekstraklasa, Relegation play-offs
The relegation play-offs were cancelled after a series of appeals over the question in which division both ŁKS Łódź and First League 2008–09 champions Widzew Łódź will play in the 2009-10 season. Originally, Arka Gdynia as 14th-placed team (sports court decisions excluded) of the Ekstraklasa and Korona Kielce as 3rd-placed team of the First League were scheduled to play in a two-legged play-off for a spot in Ekstraklasa 2009–10. However, the Polish FA were forced to postpone the series to an unknown later date due to the appeals and, after the issues could not be settled in time, eventually decided not to hold any matches.


2008–09 Elite One
In the 2008–09 Elite One season, 14 teams competed. Tiko United won the championship.


2008–09 Elite Women's Hockey League
The 2008–09 Elite Women's Hockey League season was the fifth season of the Elite Women's Hockey League, a multi-national women's ice hockey league. HC Slavia Praha of the Czech Republic won the league title for the second time in a row before announcing its withdrawal from next year's competition for financial reasons.


2008–09 Elitserien (bandy)
Elitserien is the top-tier of bandy in Sweden since 2007. The second season was played October–March 2008–09.


2008–09 Elitserien (bandy), League table
Each team meet every other team twice during the season, so 26 rounds are played all in all.


2008–09 Elitserien (bandy), League table
The top eight teams went on to the quarter-finals in the play-off for the Swedish championship. Teams eleven and twelve had to play a qualifying round against teams from Allsvenskan to stay in Elitserien, while teams 13 and 14 were relegated without the possibility to re-qualify for Elitserien until next year.


2008–09 Elitserien (bandy), League table, Knock-out stage
A best-of-three playoff were used in the quarter-finals and best-of-five in the semi-finals. The crucial final for the Swedish Championship was played at Studenternas IP in Uppsala on 21 March 2009.


2008–09 Elitserien (men's handball)
The 2008–09 Elitserien was the 75th season of the top division of Swedish handball. 14 teams competed in the league. The eight highest placed teams qualified for the playoffs, whereas teams 11–12 had to play relegation playoffs against teams from the second division, and teams 13–14 were relegated automatically. IK Sävehof won the regular season, but Alingsås HK won the playoffs and claimed their first Swedish title.


2008–09 Elitserien season
The 2008–09 Elitserien season was the 34th season of Elitserien. It began on September 15, 2008, with the regular season ending February 28, 2009. The playoffs of the 85th Swedish Championship ended on April 8, with Färjestads BK taking the championship. The season started earlier than previous seasons due to the 2009 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships in Switzerland had been scheduled earlier than normal.


2008–09 Elitserien season, League business
The match start time for Saturday matches was changed to start at 16:00 local time (UTC+1) instead of 15:00 as in previous seasons.


2008–09 Elitserien season, Regular season
Djurgårdens IF changed their arena for home matches from Stockholm Globe Arena to Hovet. Also, Rögle BK changed to a new arena, Lindab Arena in Ängelholm.


2008–09 Elitserien season, Regular season
The first goal of the season was scored by Lars Eller of Frölunda HC in Jönköping against HV71.


2008–09 Elitserien season, Regular season
In the end of the regular season, Peter Forsberg played three games for Modo Hockey, totalling 3 points.


2008–09 Elitserien season, Regular season
The top team: Färjestads BK, Linköpings HC, Frölunda HC, HV71, Luleå HF, Skellefteå AIK, Brynäs IF, and Timrå IK advanced to the playoffs. Whereas the bottom two teams advanced to the 2008-09 Kvalserien.


2008–09 Elitserien season, Regular season, Final standings
GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTW = Overtime Wins, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points


2008–09 Elitserien season, Regular season, Final standings
x – clinched playoff spot; y – clinched regular season league title; e – eliminated from playoff contention; r – play in relegation series


2008–09 Elitserien season, Regular season, Statistical leaders, Scoring leaders
GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, +/– = Plus/Minus, PIM = Penalty Minutes


2008–09 Elitserien season, Playoffs
After the regular season, the standard of 8 teams qualified for the playoffs.


2008–09 Elitserien season, Playoffs, Playoff bracket
In the first round, the highest remaining seed chose which of the four lowest remaining seeds to be matched against. In the second round, the highest remaining seed was matched against the lowest remaining seed. In each round the higher-seeded team was awarded home ice advantage. Each best-of-seven series followed a 1–1–1–2–1–1 format: the higher-seeded team played at home for games 2 and 4 (plus 5 and 7 if necessary), and the lower-seeded team was at home for game 1, 3 and 6 (if necessary).


2008–09 England Hockey League season
The 2008–09 English Hockey League season took place from September 2008 until March 2009. The league was sponsored by Slazenger and the men's title was won by East Grinstead with the women's title going to Bowdon Hightown. There were no play offs during the season.


2008–09 England Hockey League season
The Men's Cup was won by Reading and the Women's Cup was won by Bowdon Hightown.


2008–09 England Hockey League season, Men's Cup, Final
(Held at the Highfields Hockey Centre, Nottingham on 17 May)


2008–09 Enosis Neon Paralimni F.C. season
The 2008–09 season (started 9 July 2008) is Enosis' 40th consecutive season in the Cypriot First Division. The team finished 6th in the league in the previous season. The first training session for the season took place at the training ground at Paralimni Municipal Stadium on 9 July 2008. Manager Marios Constantinou resigned the club on December 2008 due to the club's consecutive bad results of the team in the Cypriot First Division, and was replaced by Eduard Eranosyan.


2008–09 Enosis Neon Paralimni F.C. season, Current squad
Last Update: 31 December 2008Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Enosis Neon Paralimni F.C. season, Current squad, Transfers 2008/09
InNote: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Enosis Neon Paralimni F.C. season, Current squad, Transfers 2008/09
OutNote: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Enosis Neon Paralimni F.C. season, Current squad, Winter Period
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Enosis Neon Paralimni F.C. season, Current squad, Winter Period
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Enosis Neon Paralimni F.C. season, Current squad, Foreign players
Teams in the Cypriot First Division can register up to eighteen non-EU nationals and players with European ancestry.


2008–09 Enosis Neon Paralimni F.C. season, Pre-season matches and friendlies
Enosis left on 23 July for Pravets, Bulgaria to perform most of their pre-season training. The team returned on4 August. While in Bulgaria Enosis played three friendly matches.


2008–09 Eredivisie
The Eredivisie 2008–09 is the 53rd season of Eredivisie since its establishment in 1955. PSV were the reigning champions. The season began on 29 August 2008 with a game between Vitesse Arnhem and FC Groningen and ended on 10 May 2009. A total of 18 teams take part in the league, consisting of 16 who competed in the previous season and two promoted from the Eerste Divisie. The teams promoted from the Eerste Divisie at the end of the previous season were champions FC Volendam, and play-off winners ADO Den Haag. AZ clinched their second title, their first coming in 1981.


2008–09 Eredivisie, Play-offs, European competition (best of 3)
Contrary to the play-offs of previous years, only teams placed 6th through 9th compete in a play-off tournament for one spot in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League 2009–10.


2008–09 Eredivisie, Play-offs, Relegation
The 16th and 17th placed teams, along with the teams from Eerste Divisie, participate in a play-off for two spots in 2009–10 Eredivisie.


2008–09 Eredivisie, Play-offs, Relegation, Round 3 (best of 3)
RKC Waalwijk and Roda JC will play in Eredivisie 2009–10.


2008–09 Eredivisie, Television rights
The Dutch public broadcaster NOS broadcast the match highlights after beating rival broadcaster RTL for the contract. The new pay-per-view channel Eredivisie Live broadcast the live matches.


2008–09 Eredivisie, Television rights
In Australia the Eredivisie was broadcast live and exclusive by Setanta Sports.


2008–09 Eredivisie (basketball)
The 2008–09 Eredivisie season was the 48th season of the Eredivisie in basketball, the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands. MyGuide Amsterdam won their 7th national title on 31 May 2009, after defeating EiffelTowers Den Bosch in Game 7 of the finals.


2008–09 Eredivisie (ice hockey) season
The 2008–09 Eredivisie was the 49th season of the Eredivisie, the highest level of ice hockey competition in the Netherlands. The season started in November, following the completion of the league cup, won by the Tilburg Trappers.


2008–09 Eredivisie (ice hockey) season
With the addition of the Utrecht Dragons and the Groningen Grizzlies, ten teams participated (a record for the Eredivisie). The season consisted of 24 games. The Utrecht Dragons fared poorly in their first and only season, folding its professional team at the end of the season.


2008–09 Eredivisie (ice hockey) season
The top eight teams qualified for the playoffs. In the best-of-three quarterfinals, Tilburg beat Eindhoven 2-0, The Hague beat Amsterdam 2-0, Geleen beat Groningen 2-0, and Nijmegen beat Heerenveen 2-1. In the best-of-five semifinals, Tilburg beat Nijmegen 3-2 and The Hague beat Geleen 3-0. HYS The Hague won its first national championship since 1969 by beating Tilburg in the best-of-five finals 3 games to 2.


2008–09 Eredivisie (women)
The 2008–09 Eredivisie Vrouwen was the second season of the Netherlands women's professional football league. The league took place from 21 August 2008 to 31 May 2009 with seven teams. AZ successfully defended the title and became champions for a second year running. The 84 matches of the season had a 56,365 total attendance.


2008–09 Eredivisie (women), Teams
On 15 April 2008, Roda JC was confirmed as the league's seventh team.


2008–09 Eredivisie (women), Format
The season was played in a quadruple round-robin format, where all seven participating teams played each other four times (twice away and twice at home), a total of 24 matches each. The champion qualified to the newly created UEFA Women's Champions League. There was no relegation system in place.


2008–09 Ergotelis F.C. season
The 2008–09 season was Ergotelis' 79th season in existence, 4th season in the Super League Greece, and the third consecutive since the club's latest promotion from the Football League. Ergotelis also participated in the Greek cup, entering the competition in the Fourth Round.


2008–09 Ergotelis F.C. season, Players, Out of team
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.