2008 unrest in Kosovo, Boycott of Kosovo government
Kosovo Serbs said they intended to form parallel institutions and assert control over infrastructure and institutions in their area in response to Kosovo's declaration of independence; after the local elections in May, Kosovo Serb leaders announced the intention to establish a Kosovo Serb Assembly. The Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo said they would not be in contact with Kosovo's Albanian government, EULEX, or any country which recognizes Kosovo's independence, threatening to sanction any clergy who do so.


2008 unrest in Kosovo, Boycott of Kosovo government
A Serb minister said Serbia planned to have its "own police" in Serb areas as part of an action plan to maintain Serbia's presence in Kosovo. In North Kosovo some Serb members of Kosovo security forces stopped taking orders from the government in Pristina and claimed command from the UNMIK. In the eastern Gjilan region around 100 Serb officers were suspended from the Kosovo Police Service. Stanko Jakovljević, Serb mayor of Štrpce, a Serb enclave in the south, said Serb police "will do today what Serbs ... did in northern Kosovo. They will only recognise orders from international police." In central Kosovo 126 Serb police officers withdrew from the Kosovo Police Service refusing to take commands from the central government. Members of the Kosovo Police Service said Serb officers were being intimidated to leave the police force.


2008 unrest in Kosovo, Boycott of Kosovo government
On March 3, 2008, Serb railway workers declared they no longer worked for Kosovo after blocking the passage of freight trains from central to northern Kosovo. The head of Serbia's state railroad company Serbian Railways said Serbia was "taking over its responsibilities after nine years" and that the northern part of the railway would be integrated into Serbia's railway system. On March 5, 2008 UNMIK forces said they reclaimed the railway after blocking the entry of Serbian trains into Northern Kosovo warning that any movement of trains south would "not be tolerated".


2008 unrest in Kosovo, Boycott of Kosovo government
The next day UNMIK officials met with officials from Serbian Railways in Belgrade to discuss the company's demands to run railways in northern Kosovo. The Managing Director of Serbian Railways Milanko Šarančić said there was no chance of UNMIK running traffic in the north of Kosovo as employees of Serbian Railways terminated their contracts with UNMIK railways. He also said that the company had begun checking lines in the north, as “UNMIK has not maintained the lines properly for nine years.“


2008 unrest in Kosovo, Boycott of Kosovo government
Serb protestors blocked Albanians from working at the courts in North Kosovska Mitrovica, and Serb judges and court employees demanded that they be allowed to work at the courts instead.


2008 unrest in Kosovo, Attacks on Kosovo border posts
On Tuesday February 19, 2008 2,000 Serb protestors, some driving bulldozers, set two border posts on fire along the Kosovo–Serbia border. The destruction of the border posts was sparked by reports that Kosovo Albanian customs officials were planning to man the borders. UN peacekeepers stationed at the checkpoints were forced to abandon the posts until they were reopened the following day. Attacks at the Mutivoda crossing point on Monday February 25, 2008 by 100 Serbs injured 19 members of the Kosovo Police Service and forced the post to be closed until the next day.


2008 unrest in Kosovo, Attacks on the international presence and Kosovo institutions
The day after Kosovo's declaration of independence two bombs in the flashpoint town of Kosovska Mitrovica damaged several UN vehicles, though there were no injuries. After several attacks in northern Kosovska Mitrovica an advance team of the EU administrative force withdrew over security concerns. On March 3, 2008, a UN office in northern Kosovska Mitrovica was hit by two sniper bullets, with no injuries.


2008 unrest in Kosovo, Attacks on the international presence and Kosovo institutions
On March 28, 2008, a police checkpoint in northern Kosovo manned by Serb officers came under fire apparently from a semi-automatic weapon fired from the ethnic Albanian village of Košutovo, north of Kosovska Mitrovica, and the officers returned fire. No injuries were reported.


2008 unrest in Kosovo, Attacks on the international presence and Kosovo institutions
On June 26, 2008, in the village of Borivojce near the eastern town of Kosovska Kamenica members of the local Serb and Roma community barricaded a road to protest the construction of a mosque authorized by the local government. According to a police statement Serb inhabitants put rocks on the road. Around 100 Albanians on the other side of the barricade started to remove the rocks and then threw stones at them. The police statement say the police then intervened to separate the groups, and that a Kosovo Serb and a police officer were injured.


2008 unrest in Kosovo, Attacks on the international presence and Kosovo institutions, Seizure of UN courthouse in Kosovska Mitrovica
On March 14, 2008, after staging rallies for several weeks that prevented ethnic Albanian court employees from entering a UN courthouse in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, hundreds of Kosovo Serbs broke into the building in the Serb-dominated part of the city, forcing UN police to retreat. UN officials' negotiations with the Serbs to end the occupation were unsuccessful, and on March 17 UN police with the assistance of NATO-led KFOR forces entered the courthouse in a pre-dawn raid. When they arrived they were pelted with stones by around 100 Serbs.


2008 unrest in Kosovo, Attacks on the international presence and Kosovo institutions, Seizure of UN courthouse in Kosovska Mitrovica
When they came out after arresting 53 of the protesters inside the courthouse they were attacked with gunfire, grenades and rocks by several hundred protesters who had massed outside. About half of the protesters who had been arrested were freed by fellow protesters during the clashes with the rest being released by the UN after questioning. The clashes lasted until around noon. One Ukrainian police officer was killed, 70 Serbs and 61 UN and NATO peacekeepers were wounded, and one UN vehicle and one NATO truck were set ablaze. Among the wounded international troops were 27 Polish and 14 Ukrainian police officers and 20 French soldiers. UN police withdrew from northern Kosovska Mitrovica, leaving the area under the control of the NATO forces.


2008 unrest in Kosovo, Attacks on the international presence and Kosovo institutions, Seizure of UN courthouse in Kosovska Mitrovica
Gen. John Craddock, NATO's top commander, said that after speaking with NATO commanders in Kosovo that NATO did not feel it necessary to send reinforcements to Kosovo. On 19 March, UN police began to patrol parts of north Kosovska Mitrovica again together with local Kosovo police, while the NATO peacekeepers still remained in overall control of security at the courthouse and generally in the north of Kosovo. A gradual transition to civilian control was planned over the next days.


2008 visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the United States
Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United States took place from April 15, 2008 to April 20, 2008. It was his only visit to the United States. It was officially titled the "Apostolic Visit to the United States of America and to the Seat of the United Nations". It was the sixth official papal visit to the United States since the U.S. established full diplomatic relations with the Holy See in 1984. In addition to his 1979 visit, Pope John Paul II visited the United States in 1987, 1993, 1995, and 1999. Pope Francis visited the United States in 2015.


2008 visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the United States
The Pope's visit included meetings with President George W. Bush, an address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, a visit to Ground Zero, and Masses at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. and Yankee Stadium in New York City, among other activities.


2008 visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the United States, Preparation
The visit was announced on November 12, 2007 by Archbishop Pietro Sambi to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.


2008 visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the United States, Visit, April 15 (Washington)
The Pope arrived at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington on April 15, 2008, greeted by President Bush and cheering crowds. This was the first time any president had gone to the base to greet a foreign dignitary, as presidents customarily wait for visitors at the White House.


2008 visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the United States, Visit, April 16 (Washington)
The Pope was formally received at the White House on April 16. Over 9,000 people gathered on the South Lawn of the White House, including thousands of members of the public who got free tickets in a lottery-type drawing, and another 4,000 without tickets to the ceremony lined the streets around the White House to see his motorcade. The crowd sang "Happy Birthday" to the Pope, who turned 81 years old that day. The Pope addressed the crowd in English, saying he had "great respect for this vast pluralistic society" and ended by saying "God bless America".


2008 visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the United States, Visit, April 16 (Washington)
In his speech, Bush said the visit was a reminder to Americans to "distinguish between simple right and wrong", saying, "We need your message to reject this dictatorship of relativism and embrace a culture of justice and truth." He told the Pope that in America, "you'll find a nation that welcomes the role of religion in the public square... [I]n a world where some evoke the name of God to justify acts of terror and murder and hate, we need your message that God is love. And embracing this love is the surest way to save man from falling prey to the teaching of fanaticism and terrorism." After the ceremony, Bush and the Pope met in the Oval Office, where Bush presented him with a birthday cake.


2008 visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the United States, Visit, April 16 (Washington)
During their private meeting in the Oval Office, the Pope expressed his concerns to Bush about the Iraq War and illegal immigration in the country.


2008 visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the United States, Visit, April 16 (Washington)
Afterwards, the Pope went to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, where he addressed American bishops. Bush hosted a state dinner at the White House later that evening for visiting cardinals, bishops and various dignitaries.


2008 visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the United States, Visit, April 17 (Washington)
The Pope celebrated Mass at the newly built Nationals Park in Washington, home to the Washington Nationals Major League Baseball team. 46,000 people attended the Mass at the stadium, which has an official seating capacity of about 41,000. 200,000 requests for tickets, which were free, had been submitted prior to the mass. Those in attendance included 14 cardinals, 250 bishops, and 1,300 priests. The altar was set up in the outfield and live video of the Mass was shown on the scoreboard. In his homily, the Pope urged American Catholics to "foster healing and reconciliation" in the wake of the child sex abuse scandal.


2008 visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the United States, Visit, April 17 (Washington)
After the Mass, he went to the Catholic University of America to address representatives from American Catholic universities, diocesan schools, and others about the role of the Church in education. After that, he went to the university's Pope John Paul II Cultural Center to meet privately with about 200 representatives of Judaism, Islam, Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism to promote interfaith dialogue.


2008 visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the United States, Visit, April 18 (New York)
The Pope addressed the United Nations General Assembly at the UN Headquarters in New York. He praised the UN as a defender of human rights, but cautioned that it must be acknowledged that human rights come from God.


2008 visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the United States, Visit, April 18 (New York)
He made a historic visit to a Jewish synagogue in New York, the first visit by any Pope to a Jewish place of worship in America. The visit fell on the eve of Passover. He said he found it "moving to recall that Jesus as a young boy heard the words of Scripture and prayed in a place such as this."


2008 visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the United States, Visit, April 19 (New York)
The Pope visited St. Patrick's Cathedral, where he celebrated Mass. In his homily, he spoke of the child sex abuse scandal and called for healing.


2008 visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the United States, Visit, April 19 (New York)
He met with disabled children and their families then led a youth rally of over 20,000 teenagers and young adults at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, New York.


2008 visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the United States, Visit, April 20 (New York)
The Pope visited Ground Zero, the site of the World Trade Center towers which were destroyed in the September 11, 2001 attacks. He prayed for the victims of the 9/11 attacks and met with a small group of relatives of the victims as well as a handful of first responders and survivors. He blessed the site, lit a candle, and gave a prayer for the dead. He prayed for "eternal light and peace" for those killed and for healing for their families.


2008 visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the United States, Visit, April 20 (New York)
The Pope said Mass to a crowd of nearly 60,000 at Yankee Stadium, home of the New York Yankees. Over 200,000 had requested tickets, which were free, for the event. The New York Times said the crowd "roared with all the sustained excitement of spectators at a pennant-clinching game." The altar was set up on second base. In his homily, he said the unwavering truth of the Catholic Church's message guarantees respect for the dignity of all human life, "including the most defenseless of all human beings, the unborn child in the mother's womb."


2008 visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the United States, Visit, April 20 (New York)
The Mass marked the third time a Pope had visited the stadium, a record for any venue in the United States. (Pope Paul VI celebrated Mass at the stadium in 1965, and Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass there in 1979.) MLB changed the Yankees schedule to accommodate the Mass, resulting in the Yankees playing 18 of their 20 games in April on the road, the most in one month in MLB history.


2008 visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the United States, Visit, April 20 (New York)
Vice President Dick Cheney hosted a farewell ceremony for the Pope at John F. Kennedy International Airport attended by 3,000 people. After a final speech, he boarded a specially chartered Alitalia plane with the callsign "Shepherd One" and touched down at Rome's Ciampino International Airport at 10:40 AM local time.


2008 Úrvalsdeild
The 2008 season of Úrvalsdeild was the 97th season of top-tier football in Iceland. The league, also known as Landsbankadeild for sponsoring reasons, has been expanded from 10 teams to 12 teams in 2008.


2008 Úrvalsdeild, Promotion and relegation
Víkingur Reykjavík were relegated from Úrvalsdeild after finishing in 10th place the previous season. Their place was taken by 1. deild champions UMF Grindavík. Due to expansion from 10 to 12 teams, 2nd placed Þróttur Reykjavík and 3rd placed Fjölnir Reykjavík were also promoted.


2008 Úrvalsdeild, Results
Each team played every opponent once home and away for a total of 22 matches.


2008 Ýokary Liga
The 2008 Turkmenistan Higher League (Ýokary Liga) season was the 16th season of the Turkmenistan League, Turkmenistan's premier football league. It began on 12 April 2008.


2008 İstanbul Cup
The 2008 Istanbul Cup was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 4th edition of the Istanbul Cup, and was part of the Tier III Series of the 2008 WTA Tour. It took place  in Istanbul, Turkey, from 19 May through 24 May 2008. Second-seeded Agnieszka Radwańska won the singles title and earned $30,500 first-prize money.


2008 İstanbul Cup, Finals, Doubles
Jill Craybas /  Olga Govortsova defeated  Marina Erakovic /  Polona Hercog, 6–1, 6–2


2008 İstanbul Cup – Doubles
Agnieszka Radwańska and Urszula Radwańska were the defending champions, but chose not to participate that year.


2008 İstanbul Cup – Doubles
Jill Craybas and Olga Govortsova won in the final 6–1, 6–2, against Marina Erakovic and Polona Hercog.


2008 İstanbul Cup – Singles
Elena Dementieva was the defending champion, but Agnieszka Radwańska defeated her 6–3, 6–2, in the final.


2008 İstanbul Cup – Singles, Seeds
The top two seeds receive a bye into the second round.


2008–09 1. FC Kaiserslautern season
During the 2008–09 German football season, 1. FC Kaiserslautern competed in the 2. Bundesliga.


2008–09 1. FC Kaiserslautern season, Season summary
Although Kaiserslautern's form improved, 7th place was still too far away from promotion for the board's liking, and manager Milan Šašić departed in early May, days after a 1–5 defeat to Hansa Rostock. 1. FC Kaiserslautern II manager Alois Schwartz acted as caretaker for the remainder of the season. Marco Kurz was hired as his permanent replacement.


2008–09 1. FC Kaiserslautern season, Kit
The kit was manufactured by Italian company Kapppa and sponsored by Frankfurt-based financial advisors Deutsche Vermögensberatung.


2008–09 1. FC Kaiserslautern 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 1. FC Kaiserslautern 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 1. FSV Mainz 05 season
The 2008–09 season was the 104th season in the existence of 1. FSV Mainz 05 and the club's second consecutive season in the top flight of German football. In addition to the domestic league, 1. FSV Mainz 05 participated in this season's edition of the DFB-Pokal. The season covered the period from 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009.


2008–09 2. Bundesliga
The 2008–09 2. Bundesliga was the 35th season of the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of Germany's football league. The season began on 15 August 2008 and ended on 24 May 2009.


2008–09 2. Bundesliga
SC Freiburg were the first team to win promotion to Bundesliga 2009–10 after securing the 2. Bundesliga championship on 10 May 2009. 1. FSV Mainz 05 were also directly promoted as runners-up after a 4–0 home victory over Rot-Weiß Oberhausen. 1. FC Nürnberg defeated Bundesliga sides Energie Cottbus in a two-legged playoff for one spot in 2009–10 Bundesliga and thus earned promotion as well.


2008–09 2. Bundesliga, Changes from 2007–08
Starting with the 2008–09 season, only two teams are promoted automatically. Two-leg relegation playoffs between the third last team of the Bundesliga and the third team of the 2. Bundesliga at the end of the regular season will be reintroduced.


2008–09 2. Bundesliga, Changes from 2007–08
Likewise, instead of formerly four teams only the two bottom teams are relegated to the new 3. Liga automatically. The third last team plays a two-leg playoff against the third team of the third tier over the remaining place in the 2. Bundesliga.


2008–09 2. Bundesliga, Teams, Movement between Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga
Borussia Mönchengladbach, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and 1. FC Köln were promoted to Bundesliga after finishing 1st through third in 2. Bundesliga in 2007–08. They were replaced by 1. FC Nürnberg, Hansa Rostock and MSV Duisburg, which were relegated at the end of the 2007–08 Bundesliga season.


2008–09 2. Bundesliga, Teams, Movement between 2. Bundesliga and third-level divisions
Kickers Offenbach, Erzgebirge Aue, FC Carl Zeiss Jena and SC Paderborn 07 were relegated to the newly formed 3. Liga following the 2007–08 season due to finishing 15th through 18th. They were replaced by the champions and runners-up of both divisions of the 2007–08 Regionalliga. Rot Weiss Ahlen and Rot-Weiss Oberhausen earned promotion in the Regionalliga Nord while FSV Frankfurt and FC Ingolstadt 04 were promoted from the Regionalliga Süd.


2008–09 2. Bundesliga, Relegation play-offs
VfL Osnabrück as 16th-placed team had to face third-placed 3. Liga team SC Paderborn 07 for a two-legged playoff. Paderborn won both matches on an aggregated score of 2–0 and thus secured promotion to 2. Bundesliga 2009–10, while Osnabrück were relegated to 3. Liga 2009–10.


2008–09 2. Frauen-Bundesliga
The 2nd Fußball-Bundesliga (women) 2008–09 is the 5th season of the 2. Fußball-Bundesliga (women), Germany's second football league. It began on 7 September 2008 and will end on 24 May 2009. After the last season the women's section of TuS Köln rrh. passed their license for the league to Bayer 04 Leverkusen.


2008–09 3. Liga
The 2008–09 3. Liga was the inaugural season for the newly formed tier III of the German football league system. The inaugural game was played on 25 July 2008 between FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt and Dynamo Dresden, ending with a 1–0 win for Dresden. The last games were played on 23 May 2009. 1. FC Union Berlin were the inaugural champions, securing first place on 10 May 2009. Runners-up Fortuna Düsseldorf were also promoted. Third-placed team SC Paderborn 07 played a relegation/promotion play-off against the 16th-placed team from 2. Bundesliga, VfL Osnabrück, winning both games and earning promotion. Kickers Emden, VfR Aalen, and Stuttgarter Kickers were relegated to the Regionalliga.


2008–09 3. Liga, Qualified teams
The following teams were relegated to 3. Liga from 2007–08 2. Bundesliga:


2008–09 A Group
The 2008–09 A Group was the 85th season of the Bulgarian national top football division, and the 61st of A Group as the top tier football league in the country. It began on 9 August 2008 and ended on 13 June 2009. CSKA Sofia were the defending champions, but they were unable to retain it and Levski Sofia won the title, which was their 26th overall.


2008–09 A Group, Promotion and relegation
Three teams were promoted from the 2007-08 B Group. These include the champions of the East and West B Groups, as well as the promotion playoff winner, decided through a one match between the runners-up of the two B Groups. The promoted teams were Lokomotiv Mezdra, Sliven, and Minyor Pernik. Lokomotiv Mezdra made their debut in the top tier of Bulgarian football, Sliven return after a fifteen-year absence, while Minyor Pernik return to the top tier after a seven-year absence.


2008–09 A Group, Top scorers
1. Saidhodzha scored 7 goals for Botev Plovdiv and 7 for CSKA Sofia (he was transferred during the winter break)2. Fernández scored 4 goals for Cherno More Varna and 5 for Chernomorets Burgas (he was transferred during the winter break)


2008–09 A Group, Annual awards, Team of the season
The team have been voted by selected media representatives (Note: First team members are denoted in bold).


2008–09 A-League
The 2008–09 A-League was the 32nd season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the fourth season of the A-League competition since its establishment in 2004. Two new clubs, North Queensland Thunder and Gold Coast Galaxy had received tentative licences from the FFA but these were revoked for the 2008–09 season on 12 March 2008. Expansion plans are on hold until the 2009–10 season. Based on their 2007–08 performances, the Central Coast Mariners and the Newcastle Jets competed in the 2009 AFC Champions League for the first time.


2008–09 A-League, Clubs, Foreign players
The following do not fill a Visa position:1Those players who were born and started their professional career abroad but have since gained Australian Residency (and New Zealand Residency, in the case of Wellington Phoenix);2Australian residents (and New Zealand residents, in the case of Wellington Phoenix) who have chosen to represent another national team;3Injury Replacement Players, or National Team Replacement Players;4Guest Players (eligible to play a maximum of ten games)


2008–09 A-League, Pre-season Challenge Cup
All A-League clubs played the pre-season cup competition held in July and August, and were drawn into two groups. Group A consisted of Adelaide United, Melbourne Victory, Newcastle Jets and Perth Glory. Group B was Central Coast Mariners, Queensland Roar, Sydney FC and Wellington Phoenix.


2008–09 A-League, Pre-season Challenge Cup
The winner of each group, Melbourne Victory and Wellington Phoenix, met in Wellington on 6 August 2008 for the Pre-Season Cup Final. With the score at 0–0 after 90 minutes, the game went to penalties, Melbourne Victory eventually prevailing 8–7, thus becoming the first team in A-League history to claim all three available trophies, after winning the Premiership and Championship in the 2006–07 season.


2008–09 A-League, Regular season
The 2008–09 A-League season was played over 21 rounds, followed by a finals series.


2008–09 A-League, Statistics, Attendance
These are the attendance records of each of the teams at the end of the home and away season. The table does not include finals series attendances.


2008–09 A-League, Statistics, Attendance
* Adelaide United played a one off match at the Adelaide Oval against Sydney FC in their Round 18 match. This is why Adelaide United's highest single attendance exceeds the capacity of Hindmarsh Stadium.


2008–09 A.C. Milan season
During the 2008–09 season, Milan played its 75th Serie A season in the club's existence.


2008–09 A.C. Milan season, Squad, First team
As of December 21, 2008. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 A.C. Milan season, Squad, List of 2008–09 transfers, In
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 A.C. Milan season, Squad, List of 2008–09 transfers, Out
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 A.C. Milan season, Squad, List of 2008–09 transfers, Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 A.C. Milan season, Player seasonal records
Competitive matches only. Numbers in brackets indicate appearances made. Updated to games played May 31, 2009.


2008–09 A.S. Roma season
The 2008–09 season was Associazione Sportiva Roma's 76th season in Serie A. The club competed in four competitions; domestically, Roma finished a disappointing 6th, after three consecutive second-place finishes. They began the season by losing the Supercoppa Italiana to Inter, who also eliminated Roma in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia.


2008–09 A.S. Roma season
Having finished 2nd the previous season, Roma qualified automatically to the group stage of the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League. Roma managed to finish top of their group, but were eliminated in the round of 16 by English club Arsenal in a penalty shoot-out.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China
The 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China was an A1 Grand Prix race, held at Chengdu Goldenport Circuit, Chengdu, People's Republic of China.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China
All proceeds from this race were donated to the Sichuan Earthquake Relief Fund, following the earthquake which devastated the region in May 2008.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Drivers
After missing the first race due to a lack of cars, A1 Teams Great Britain, India and Mexico took part in this race. Both A1 Team Pakistan and A1 Team Germany will not make their season debut until the fourth round at Taupo. Team Pakistan require more changes to their chassis to render it suitable for their lead driver Adam Khan, while Team Germany is undergoing management restructuring.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Drivers
The status of A1 Team Canada was not announced, but they were removed from the race's drivers list on the A1GP website front page, and did not make an appearance. Their status for future events is still unknown.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Drivers
↑ Karthikeyan and Andretti were granted special dispensation to participate in the rookie session as neither team had completed as many testing miles as the other teams with the new car. Karthikeyan (F1) and Andretti (IRL ICS) are veteran drivers in one of the four series (F1, GP2, FN, IRL-ICS) which their drivers may not compete as A1GP rookies.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Qualifying
Due to a delay in recovering the  Italian car after spinning into a gravel trap during the first qualifying session, the second qualifying session was cancelled, meaning all times from Q1 set the field for Q1, with  Ireland taking their first ever pole position, ahead of  The Netherlands and  Switzerland.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Qualifying
Q4 was stopped briefly after a spin for  France. The session was resumed with teams able to make a run in time. Danny Watts for  Great Britain took pole ahead of  Ireland and  Portugal.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Sprint Race
For safety reasons, a pit stop was not required for the Sprint Race. In lap 2,  Brazil is slowing and the Safety car is on while Felipe Guimarães reach the pits. In the same lap 2,  China spun and lost some positions but finally catch up and pass  Korea on lap 7. when the Safety car is out, the order was  Ireland,  Netherlands,  Great Britain,  Switzerland,  South Africa,  Portugal,  New Zealand and  France. Those positions remain until the end of the race with the fastest lap for  Adam Carroll.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, China, Feature Race
The second pit-stop window for the Feature Race was set for Laps 24–32.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Great Britain
The 2008-09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Great Britain was an A1 Grand Prix race  at Brands Hatch, England. It was set to be the penultimate round of the 2008-09 A1 Grand Prix season, but became the season finale, due to the cancellation of the Mexican round due to the 2009 swine flu pandemic. Ultimately, it would be the last race for A1GP as bankruptcy followed later in the year.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Great Britain
A1 Team Ireland became the fourth A1 Grand Prix champions, with a double pole position, and double victory, to take Ireland's first international motor racing championship.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Great Britain, Title Battle
With the British round now becoming the season finale, this left the championship in a three-way battle for the title.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Great Britain, Title Battle
Switzerland lead going into the event with 88 points, with four points to drop; followed by Ireland with 86, and Portugal with 82. The Netherlands are currently too far behind to win the title with 66 points, as even though 27 points are on offer for maximum score, the team has to drop 6 points from their worst event.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Great Britain, Title Battle
Also, even if all the teams finish equal of points, the tie-breaker rules would come into play. Currently Switzerland would win the title with four wins, to Ireland's three, and Portugal's one.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Malaysia
The 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Malaysia was an A1 Grand Prix race held at Sepang International Circuit, Sepang, Malaysia.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Malaysia, Pre-race
Because Great Britain, India and Mexico had only joined the season at the Chinese round, they were permitted to take part in a special practice session on November 20. In the wet conditions, Narain Karthikeyan was the fastest driver just in front of Danny Watts. Davíd Garza Pérez was the slowest with 3 seconds.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Malaysia, Qualifying
The qualifying sessions were the first to utilise the new "joker" Qualifying lap rule – where the driver has PowerBoost available for use over an entire qualifying lap, to be used in any session at the team's discretion.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Malaysia, Sprint Race
Following a major crash at the first start, involving  USA,  Brazil and  India, and the pack slowed down after it seemed to have accelerated off, the race was delayed 30 minutes for track cleanup, and reduced to 11 laps.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Malaysia, Sprint Race
This Sprint Race was the first this season to utilise the new Sprint Race pit-stop rule, the windows always set for Laps 4–8.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Malaysia, Feature Race
The second pit stop window was set for Laps 20–28. Switzerland were sent to the back of the grid for having a brake cooler in too long before the start, and a pit crew violation during the Sprint Race pit-stop.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Netherlands
The 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Netherlands was an A1 Grand Prix race, held at Circuit Park Zandvoort, Zandvoort, Netherlands. It was originally set to be the second race of the 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season, but a delay in the build schedule of the new chassis forced the race at Mugello to be moved from the season opener. The same build delay meant that only seventeen of the twenty-three A1 teams participated in the race.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Netherlands
This was the first race for  A1 Team Korea (Hwang Jin-Woo),  A1 Team Monaco (Clivio Piccione), and the new "Powered by Ferrari" A1GP car.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Netherlands, Drivers and teams
On 26 September, an article on the official A1GP website, detailed that a full grid of cars would not be on track at Zandvoort for the race weekend, due to the build schedule delay. It was subsequently confirmed that a maximum of eighteen teams will be racing –  Canada,  Germany (Michael Ammermüller),  Great Britain (Danny Watts),  India (Narain Karthikeyan) and  Mexico (Davíd Garza Pérez) will thus make their season debut at the second round in China. Germany (Michael Ammermüller) did not, in fact, debut until round 5 in South Africa, while  Canada did not appear all season.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Netherlands, Drivers and teams
Subsequently,  Team Pakistan revealed that technical issues with their car were compromising the safety of their driver, Adam Khan – and thus, they too delayed the start of their season, leaving 17 teams to race. Like  Canada,  Pakistan did not appear all season.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Netherlands, Drivers and teams
As several teams were still arriving as of Saturday morning, and were unable to shake down their cars before the start of the planned sessions, rookie sessions were not held.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Netherlands, Qualifying
As some teams had only arrived on Saturday morning, the qualifying format was changed for Zandvoort. In place of the usual four fifteen-minute, single-lap sessions, teams were given a one-hour session in which they could complete as many laps as they wished. Those times would set the grid for the Sprint race, while the results from the Sprint race would determine the grid for the Feature race.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Netherlands, Qualifying
The pole position time, set by  the Netherlands (Jeroen Bleekemolen) was four seconds quicker than the fastest lap set the previous year in the Lola/Zytek cars. Bleekemolen lined up on pole, 0.316s ahead of  Earl Bamber and 0.338s ahead of  Adam Carroll in third. Both  Felipe Guimarães and  Ho-Pin Tung failed to set a time.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Netherlands, Sprint Race
Owing to the treacherous conditions, the 12-lap Sprint Race was started behind the Safety Car. The newly introduced mandatory Sprint race pit-stop was removed for this race, to help the teams to conserve equipment.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Netherlands, Sprint Race
On Lap 2, the Safety Car pulled in, and the cars were released. On Lap 3,  Adam Carroll spun at the final corner and was hit by  Clivio Piccione, forcing both of their retirements. On Lap 3,  Satrio Hermanto also retired after a spin. On Lap 5,  Hwang Jin-Woo retired, after colliding with  John Martin heading into the first corner. Martin managed to continue. On Lap 7,  Earl Bamber passed  Jeroen Bleekemolen for the lead, after a failed passing attempt led to Bleekemolen running wide and allowing Bamber to pass. On Lap 9,  Fairuz Fauzy passed  Bamber for the lead, and then began to build up a lead over the New Zealander. On Lap 11,  Ho-Pin Tung spun out of fifth place. On Lap 11,  Felipe Guimarães also spun out.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Netherlands, Sprint Race
The race was red-flagged on Lap 12, because of the treacherous conditions. Fauzy won ahead of  Bamber, and  Loïc Duval. Duval also set fastest lap.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Netherlands, Sprint Race
Race stopped after 12 laps because of the terrible conditions


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Netherlands, Feature Race
Korea (Hwang Jin-Woo) were sent to the back of the grid for attempting to overtake under a yellow flag, and causing an avoidable collision in the Sprint race.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Netherlands, Feature Race
The second pit-stop window was set to be between Laps 24 and 32. As conditions hadn't improved since earlier, the race was started behind the Safety Car.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Netherlands, Feature Race
The Safety Car pulled in at the end of Lap 2, to get the race underway. On Lap 5,  Neel Jani pulled into the pits and retires, while  Adam Carroll spun out at Turn 6. On Lap 6,  Fabio Onidi spun and collected  Adrian Zaugg, putting both out of the race. After the first set of pit-stops,  France (Loïc Duval) led from  New Zealand (Earl Bamber) and  Portugal (Filipe Albuquerque).


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Netherlands, Feature Race
A lot of action took place on Laps 16–17:  Jeroen Bleekemolen pulled into the pits with a steering wheel problem;  Indonesia (Satrio Hermanto) crashed out;  Korea (Hwang Jin-Woo) spun and rejoined; and  Portugal (Filipe Albuquerque) spun and crashed in the final turn. The Safety Car was deployed while the wrecks were cleared. At this point, all remaining cars in the race were guaranteed points-finishes, which means  Monaco (Clivio Piccione) and  Korea (Hwang Jin-Woo) would score on their debut, and  Lebanon (Daniel Morad) would score their first ever points.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Netherlands, Feature Race
On Lap 24,  Daniel Morad did a 360-spin and continues, losing a place to  John Martin. Meanwhile,  Netherlands (Jeroen Bleekemolen) were having gearshifting problems and lost a place to  USA (Charlie Kimball). On Lap 31,  Charlie Kimball retired after running off the track, but not before setting the fastest lap of the race. France (Loïc Duval) still led after the second round of pit-stops.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Netherlands, Feature Race
On Lap 33, the Safety Car was deployed after  Morad lost control and spun into the back of  Ho-Pin Tung, sending both cars into the tyre wall at Tarzan corner. At this stage, the race had nearly reached the 69-minute time limit. Two laps later the time expired, and  France (Loïc Duval) took the chequered flag behind the safety car, ahead of  Malaysia (Fairuz Fauzy), and  New Zealand (Earl Bamber).


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Netherlands, Feature Race
Brazil (Felipe Guimarães) joined the race late on, after being unable to make the start, as they were unable to repair the damage from their accident in the Sprint race in time.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Netherlands, Feature Race
Scheduled for 45 laps but stopped earlier because of time limit


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Netherlands, After race
At the first practice session,  Korea (Hwang Jin-Woo) was warned due to their political insistence which the team put on the car: Dokdo is a territory of Korea. However, they kept running the car with same insistence written in not English but Korean (Hangul) during the race weekend. As a result, the team received a penalty of fine after the race.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, New Zealand
The 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, New Zealand was an A1 Grand Prix race held at Taupo Motorsport Park, New Zealand.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, New Zealand, Pre-race
The A1 Team Portugal’s sports director, Pedro Chaves has tested the A1GP car at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve (Portugal) for promotional purposes.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, New Zealand, Qualifying
The PowerBoost joker-style qualifying lap was not used for qualifying, with further review being made to determine its use in the following race.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, New Zealand, Qualifying
It is the first time in A1GP history that the front row for both the Sprint and the Feature race has been the same since the introduction of the double qualifying sessions.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, New Zealand, Sprint Race
For safety concerns, regarding the "S" bend near the end of the lap, the Sprint Race featured a standing start, rather than the traditional rolling start.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, New Zealand, Sprint Race
* 25 second penalty added to time, for causing an avoidable collision


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, New Zealand, Feature Race
* 25 second penalty added to time – USA for passing the white line at the end of the pit lane, Brazil for causing an avoidable collision


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Portugal
The 2008–09 Vodafone A1GP Algarve, Portugal was an A1 Grand Prix race held at Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, Portugal.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Portugal, Sprint Race
† Switzerland assessed penalty for pitting outside of pit-stop window.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Portugal, Feature Race
† – Ireland were given a 25-second penalty post-race for passing Australia under the safety car.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, South Africa
The 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, South Africa was an A1 Grand Prix race which was held at Kyalami, South Africa.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, South Africa, Pre-race
A1 Team Korea failed to participate the race as the organiser of the series could not supply electrical units and fuel tank due to mistake of the transportation from New Zealand. The team had planned the debut of 2008 Macau Grand Prix winner Keisuke Kunimoto (Lee Gyeong-Woo), a Japanese driver of Korean descent, as rookie driver on the weekend.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, South Africa, Post-race
Following the race, the team principals of both Ireland and Malaysia issued statements regarding the on-track incident on the first lap of the Feature Race, which resulted in Ireland spinning out into retirement, and subsequently losing the championship lead to Switzerland.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, South Africa, Post-race
Frankly, I'm disgusted. We're pushing to win a championship and it's not the only time that this driver has caused incidents, doing the same thing to New Zealand later in the race. That's cost us the championship points lead that we fought so hard to create. We were on course to consolidate our points lead today but for a piece of poor driving. A1 Team Malaysia is one of the very best in A1GP, but today their driver has cost us dearly.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, South Africa, Post-race
It's understandable that A1 Team Ireland was feeling emotional and frustrated after this incident, considering also that they lost the lead in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport. However, to blame Fairuz for the incident is unfair and we think the Irish team should stick to trying to win races rather than blaming others for their misfortune. A1 Team Ireland is a highly respected team, but on this occasion their comments are ill-judged.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season
The 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season was the fourth and final season of the A1 Grand Prix formula.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season
Ferrari supplied the engines for all entrants and advised on aspects of the chassis, based on its championship-winning F2004.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season
A1 Team Ireland became the fourth A1GP champions, after a title battle which went down to the final round in Great Britain. Ireland won with 112 points, with team driver Adam Carroll taking five victories at Chengdu, Sepang, Taupo and the series finale at Brands Hatch during the shortened 14 race season. Three rounds were cancelled for various reasons. The following season was cancelled.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season
A1 Team Switzerland finished the season in second place with 95 points and four wins by its driver Neel Jani. Third by just three points was A1 Team Portugal, whose driver Filipe Albuquerque took one race win.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season
Dutch pairing Jeroen Bleekemolen and Robert Doornbos each took a win to take A1 Team Netherlands to fourth position in the team standings with Fairuz Fauzy and Loïc Duval taking the remaining wins for A1 Team Malaysia and A1 Team France respectively.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season, Teams
During the 2007–08 Shanghai race weekend, it was announced at an official ceremony that Korea would be participating in the 2008–09 season. Jung-Yong Kim of Omnibus Investment is the seat holder, with Good EMG supporting the project. Carlin Motorsport ran the racing team.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season, Teams
On 29 August 2008, it was announced that A1 Team Monaco would competing in season four. The joint seat holders were Hubertus Bahlsen, and former F3 and GP2 driver Clivio Piccione, who took on the driving duties.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season, Teams
Two teams appeared in A1GP documentation throughout the season but did not race. Wade Cherwayko's A1 Team Canada appeared on paper but the team did not show for any races and Adam Khan tested the A1 Team Pakistan car on a number of occasions but did not travel to any races.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season, Teams
The 21 teams that started a race in the 2008–09 championship were:


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season, New "Powered by Ferrari" car
On 11 October 2007, A1GP and Ferrari announced a six-year collaboration on the new generation of A1GP cars. The new "Powered by Ferrari" car is a modification of the Formula One Ferrari F2004 chassis with a V8 Ferrari engine producing 600 bhp. The car was officially revealed in Southern England, and driven for the first time by John Watson in an inaugural event in May 2008. Michelin supplied the tyres for the new car.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season, New "Powered by Ferrari" car
The car was developed and tested over more than 5600 kilometres at Mugello Circuit, Fiorano Circuit, Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Circuito Guadix, Silverstone Circuit, Donington Park, Circuit Paul Ricard and Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. Andrea Bertolini was the main test driver, but testing was carried out by Marc Gené, Patrick Friesacher, Jonny Kane and Danny Watts during the sessions at Silverstone Circuit.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season, Off-season tests and car presentations
On August 2–3, 2008, the first press and public presentation of the A1GP Powered by Ferrari car was held on the TT Circuit Assen with former A1 Team Netherlands driver, Renger van der Zande. Two weeks after, the car was presented in Rotterdam during the Bavaria City Racing Festival. The A1 Team Netherlands car was driven by Carlo van Dam.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season, Off-season tests and car presentations
Pre -season tests of the new 'powered by Ferrari' car took place on consecutive weekends in September at Donington Park, Mugello and Snetterton.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season, Rule changes
A number of rules were changed for the 2008–09 season.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season, Rule changes
An update to the sporting regulations means that technical details of the fastest lap in any session (practice or qualifying) will be made available to all teams after the session ends. This is to allow slower or weaker teams to learn how they can improve their own lap times, making the "field spread" that much smaller.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season, Rule changes
Several detailed changes to the Friday "rookie sessions" were released on 1 September 2008:


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season, Season calendar
The season started at the Circuit Park Zandvoort, Netherlands on 5 October 2008.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season, Season calendar
On 21 August 2008, the Italy race at Mugello was moved back following a delay in the build schedule of the new chassis, and Zandvoort was named as the first race of the season. A replacement date was not announced.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season, Season calendar
Further timetable changes were announced on 26 August 2008. The Chinese round was confirmed to be held at Chengdu Goldenport Circuit, and swapped places in the calendar with the Indonesian round at Jakarta. Subsequent to that, the Indonesian race was moved back further, to 8 February due to track construction.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season, Season calendar
On 9 September 2008, Brands Hatch was confirmed as hosting the race in Great Britain at the end of the season. It was also announced that as a replacement date for the Mugello race could not be found, the race was removed from the season's schedule.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season, Season calendar
According to a revised international FIA calendar issued on 19 December, the A1GP season finale is to be held at Interlagos on the weekend of 15–17 May 2009.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season, Season calendar
Round 5 at Lippo Village, Indonesia was cancelled on January 16 due to the circuit missing a construction deadline, mainly caused by a heavy rain season. The Mexican round was also moved back by one week, so as to avoid clashing with a Radiohead music concert, which was to take place in the baseball stadium inside the circuit at the original date.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season, Season calendar
On February 17, 2009, the A1GP Gauteng official preview reported that the Mexico City round was no longer to take place on the weekend of March 20–22 and a replacement date was being sought. eTicket.com.mx advertised the event as it should take place on the weekend of the 22–24 May, and was confirmed on March 31, 2009, subject to the FIA-stipulated changes to the Peraltada corner.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season, Season calendar
On the 5th of March, the proposed Interlagos race was removed from the circuit's official calendar, presumably signalling an end to A1GP's plans to run a race meeting there.


2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season, Season calendar
On April 29, 2009, it was confirmed that the Mexican round was cancelled due to an outbreak of swine flu.


2008–09 AAHA season
The 2008-09 All-American Hockey Association season was the first season of the All-American Hockey Association. Five teams participated in the regular season, and the Chi-Town Shooters were the league champions. The Detroit Dragons folded mid-season.


2008–09 ABA NLB League
The ABA NLB League 2008–09 season was the 8th season of the Liga ABA. This season saw a return to the competition system in use in 2003–04, when the Final Four Tournament was played at the end of the regular season.


2008–09 ABA NLB League
A total of 14 teams from Slovenia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia participated in the NLB League season: Union Olimpija, Helios, Krka, Cibona, Zagreb, Zadar, Split, Bosna, Crvena zvezda, Partizan, FMP Železnik, Hemofarm, Vojvodina, Budućnost.


2008–09 ABA NLB League
There were 26 round played in the regular part of the season. The best four teams later qualified for the Final Four Tournament, which was played in Belgrade between April 16 and April 18 (Partizan, Cibona, Hemofarm, Crvena zvezda).


2008–09 ABA NLB League, Regular season, League table
Pld - Played; W - Won; L - Lost; PF - Points for; PA - Points against; Diff - Difference; Pts - Points.


2008–09 ABA NLB League, Regular season, Incident
On Tuesday, 20 January 2009 around 10:40pm at the Split Airport, Red Star Belgrade players were attacked by a group of 20 Croatian hooligans, members of Torcida Split hooligan firm, and supporters of KK Split. The attack occurred inside the airport building as the players and club staff were checking-in for the charter flight back to Belgrade after beating KK Split 62-67 earlier that night in Gripe Hall. The hooligans entered the airport building, stormed the main hall, and attacked the Red Star group with sticks, glass bottles, and rocks, before escaping out of the building using another entrance. The attack did not appear to be organized.


2008–09 ABA NLB League, Regular season, Incident
No serious injuries were reported except for Red Star's American shooting guard Andre Owens who got a laceration on his knee as he jumped over the check-in counter to avoid the charging hooligans.


2008–09 ABA NLB League, Regular season, Incident
In a press release prompted by the incident, KK Split's management distanced themselves form the behaviour of their fans, expressing regret over the incident. Club president Dino Rađa also publicly apologized.


2008–09 ABA season
The 2008-2009 ABA season was the eighth season of the American Basketball Association that lasted from November 2008 and ended with the championship game in March 2009 between the Kentucky Bisons and the Maywood Buzz. The Kentucky Bisons won their first title after defeating the Buzz, 127–120.


2008–09 ABA season
The 2008–2009 season was scheduled to host over 50 teams, but travelling costs doomed most teams and resulted in many franchises folding.


2008–09 ABA season, Regular season standings
The following are the final regular season standings of the 2008–2009 season. Some teams folded during the regular season and did not complete all of their scheduled games.


2008–09 ACB season
The 2008–09 ACB season is the 26th season of the Liga ACB. The 272-game regular season (16 home games for each of the 17 teams) began on Saturday, October 4, 2008, and ended on Sunday, May 10, 2009. The top four teams earned berths in the Euroleague competition for 2009–10, the international basketball competition for European professional teams.


2008–09 ACF Fiorentina season
The 2008–09 season was ACF Fiorentina's 83rd season in Italian football and their 71st season in the first-tier of Italian football, Serie A. Having finished fourth the previous season, La Viola earned qualification to the UEFA Champions League for the first time in eight years.


2008–09 ACF Fiorentina season, Players, Squad information
As of 26 July 2008Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 AEK Athens F.C. season
AEK Athens F.C. competed for the 50th consecutive season in the Greek topflight. They started their European campaign in the UEFA Cup Second qualifying round after finishing second in last season's play–offs.


2008–09 AEK Athens F.C. season, Overview
After the end of an indifferent season, the team initially finished in first place in the league, but after the court case between Apollon Kalamaria and Olympiacos for the illegal use of a player in the 1-0 Apollon Kalamaria win earlier in the season, Olympiacos were awarded the 3 points in a court hearing, thus finishing 2 points ahead of AEK. AEK then finished 2nd in the national playoffs which saw them qualify for the UEFA Cup.


2008–09 AEK Athens F.C. season, Overview
The club sold 18,200 season tickets. The new season started nervously, since the team was constantly under-performing during friendly games. The apparent nervousness reached a new high, when the team was defeated at home by underdogs Omonia at the first leg of the UEFA Cup Second qualifying round, followed by the chairman Demis Nikolaidis' resignation announcement for the end of the season, and Rivaldo's sudden intention to leave the club in order to join FC Bunyodkor from Uzbekistan. AEK was eventually eliminated from the UEFA Cup.


2008–09 AEK Athens F.C. season, Overview
Despite the disappointment, the team responded surprisingly well and put an assertive performance against fierce rivals Panathinaikos by beating them 2-1 at home during matchday 1, but poor performances and results from then on left AEK in a difficult situation. Head coach Giorgos Donis was eager to leave the club, but president Demis Nikolaidis did not allow him to leave. Nevertheless, Nikolaidis left due to these disappointing results and after a controversy with the club's supporters Original 21, leaving the presidency to member of the D.C., Nikos Koulis and Takis Kanellopoulos.


2008–09 AEK Athens F.C. season, Overview
However, the series of disappointing results continued, bringing anger and insecure situations for everyone in the team. The first to be hit by this wave of disappointment and with the council of the team upset, was the coach Giorgos Donis, who was asked to leave the team. On November 21, 2008, AEK hired Dušan Bajević as head coach for the third time.


2008–09 AEK Athens F.C. season, Overview
On 2 May 2009, AEK participated in the Greek Cup final at Athens Olympic Stadium inan effort to obtain the Greek Cup title for 14th time. However the result did not go in their favour after losing 14-15 on penalties vs their arch rival Olympiacos.


2008–09 AEK Athens F.C. season, Players, Squad statistics
NOTE: The players are the ones that have been announced by the AEK Athens' press release. No edits should be made unless a player arrival or exit is announced. Updated 30 June 2009.


2008–09 AEK Athens F.C. season, Manager stats
Only competitive matches are counted. Wins, losses and draws are results at the final whistle; the results of penalty shootouts are not counted.


2008–09 AFC Ajax season
During the 2008–09 season AFC Ajax participated in the Eredivisie, the KNVB Cup and the UEFA Cup. The first training took place on Monday July 14, 2008. The traditional AFC Ajax Open Day was on Tuesday August 5, 2008, followed by a testimonial match for the retired former Ajax defender Jaap Stam.


2008–09 AFC Ajax season, Pre-season
The first training for the 2008–09 season was held on July 14, 2008. In preparation for the new season Ajax organized a training camp in De Lutte, Netherlands at the De Thij Sportpark. During the pre-season, the squad from manager Marco van Basten played friendly matches against VV Noordwijk, CVV Germanicus and Excelsior '31 before traveling to the United Kingdom to play against Cardiff City and Sunderland, then traveling to Spain to play Real Murcia. They then returned to Amsterdam to play Arsenal and Internazionale in the annual Amsterdam Tournament.


2008–09 AFC Ajax season, Transfers for 2008-09, Summer transfer window
For a list of all Dutch football transfers in the summer window (1 July 2008 to 1 September 2008) please see List of Dutch football transfers summer 2008.


2008–09 AFC Ajax season, Transfers for 2008-09, Winter transfer window
For a list of all Dutch football transfers in the winter window (1 January 2009 to 1 February 2009) please see List of Dutch football transfers winter 2008–09.


2008–09 AHL season
The 2008–09 AHL season was the 73rd season of the American Hockey League. 29 teams each played 80 games in the regular season, which ran from October 8 until April 12.


2008–09 AHL season, Team and NHL affiliation changes
The Iowa Stars are renamed and are now called the Iowa Chops, and the Anaheim Ducks have replaced the Dallas Stars as the team's NHL affiliate.


2008–09 AHL season, Team and NHL affiliation changes
The Dallas Stars have no AHL affiliate this year, with the Texas Stars (based in Austin) to become their affiliate for the 2009–10 season.


2008–09 AHL season, Team and NHL affiliation changes
On April 28, 2009, it was announced that two teams would be relocated for the 2009–10 season: the Quad City Flames would move to Abbotsford, BC, and the Philadelphia Phantoms would relocate to Glens Falls, NY.


2008–09 AHL season, Standings
Blue indicates team has clinched division. Green indicates team has clinched a playoff spot.


2008–09 AHL season, Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes


2008–09 AHL season, Calder Cup playoffs
In each division, the fourth-place team will play the first-place team in the division semifinals, while the second-place team plays the third-place team.


2008–09 AHL season, All Star Classic
The 22nd AHL All-Star Classic was played in Worcester, Massachusetts, on January 26, 2009, with the PlanetUSA All-Stars defeating the Canadian All-Stars 14–11 after scoring nine goals in the third period to come back from an 8–5 deficit. Corey Locke scored four goals for the Canadian All-Stars, while Jeff Taffe had a hat-trick for the PlanetUSA All-Stars. The host club was the Worcester Sharks. The 2009 event in Worcester marked the fourth time since 1995 that the AHL All-Star Classic took place in New England. The AHL All-Star Game was last held in Massachusetts in 1959 at the Eastern States Coliseum in West Springfield.


2008–09 AHL season, All Star Classic
#15 F Martins Karsums (Providence Bruins) #16 F Ryan Vesce (Worcester Sharks) #17 F Chris Bourque (Hershey Bears) #5 D Jakub Kindl (Grand Rapids Griffins) #7 D Yannick Weber (Hamilton Bulldogs) #35 G Cory Schneider (Manitoba Moose)


2008–09 AHL season, All Star Classic
#9 F Mike Santorelli (Milwaukee Admirals) #12 F Alexandre Giroux (Hershey Bears) #14 F Chris Minard (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins) #3 D Johnny Boychuk (Providence Bruins) #77 D Derek Joslin (Worcester Sharks) #29 G Mike Brodeur (Rochester Americans)


2008–09 AHL season, All Star Classic
#4 D Rory Fitzpatrick (Rochester Americans, captain) #6 D Ben Lovejoy (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins) #8 F Jared Ross (Philadelphia Phantoms†) #11 F Keith Aucoin (Hershey Bears) #12 F Ryan Potulny (Springfield Falcons) #14 F Michael Ryan (Albany River Rats) #18 F Brian Salcido (Iowa Chops†) #20 F Petri Kontiola (Rockford Icehogs) #21 F Joe Motzko (Chicago Wolves) #22 F Jeff Taffe (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins) #26 D Jaime Sifers (Toronto Marlies) #31 G Jeff Frazee (Lowell Devils) #40 D Mattias Karlsson (Binghamton Senators) #42 F Artem Anisimov (Hartford Wolf Pack†) #44 D Jonas Junland (Peoria Rivermen) #86 G Daniel Larsson (Grand Rapids Griffins) #10 F Tim Kennedy (Portland Pirates**) #18 F Drew Miller (Iowa Chops*) #19 F Nathan Gerbe (Portland Pirates**) #21 D Bobby Sanguinetti (Hartford Wolf Pack**) #90 F Nikita Filatov (Syracuse Crunch*)


2008–09 AHL season, All Star Classic
#2 D Andrew MacDonald (Bridgeport Sound Tigers) #6 D Cody Franson (Milwaukee Admirals) #7 D Brett Palin (Quad City Flames) #16 F Cal O'Reilly (Milwaukee Admirals) #20 D Bryan Helmer (Hershey Bears, captain) #24 F Derek MacKenzie (Syracuse Crunch†) #25 F Mark Mancari (Portland Pirates) #26 F Brandon Segal (Norfolk Admirals†) #30 G Tyler Weiman (Lake Erie Monsters†) #33 G Barry Brust (Houston Aeros) #37 F Mike Iggulden (Bridgeport Sound Tigers) #48 D Kyle Cumiskey (Lake Erie Monsters) #62 F Teddy Purcell (Manchester Monarchs) #75 D Danny Syvret (Philadelphia Phantoms†) #84 F Corey Locke (Houston Aeros) #97 F Brett MacLean (San Antonio Rampage) #1 G Brian Elliott (Binghamton Senators*) #10 F Jason Krog (Manitoba Moose**) #19 F Claude Giroux (Philadelphia Phantoms*) #24 F Steve Downie (Norfolk Admirals*) #39 F Martin St. Pierre (Providence Bruins*)


2008–09 AHL season, All Star Classic
* indicates player was called up to his NHL team. * * indicates player was named to All-Star team, but missed game due to injury. † indicates player was named as a replacement due to callups or injury.


2008–09 AL-Bank Ligaen season
The 2008–09 AL-Bank Ligaen season was the 52nd season of ice hockey in Denmark. Ten teams participated in the league, and SønderjyskE Ishockey won the championship.


2008–09 APOEL F.C. season
The 2008–09 season was APOEL's 69th season in the Cypriot First Division and 81st year in existence as a football club.


2008–09 APOEL F.C. season
The first training session for the season took take place at the training ground at GSP Stadium on 11 June 2008. APOEL left on 20 June 2008 for Obertraun in Austria to perform the main stage of their pre-season training and returned to Cyprus on 7 July 2008.


2008–09 APOEL F.C. season
The team finished 2nd in the league in the previous season so the club participated in the UEFA Cup.


2008–09 APOEL F.C. season
On 30 October 2008, Kyriakos Zivanaris (the chairman of APOEL since 2006) resigned and he was replaced by Phivos Erotokritou.


2008–09 APOEL F.C. season
The team won their 20th championship two rounds before the end after an away draw against Anorthosis on 25 April 2009. The draw also put an end to a 16-game winning streak that started on 21 December 2008 on the away game against Doxa Katokopias.


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


2008–09 APOEL F.C. season, Current squad
For recent transfers, see List of Cypriot football transfers summer 2008. Also, see List of Cypriot football transfers winter 2008–09.


2008–09 APOEL F.C. season, Preseason friendlies
APOEL left on 20 June 2008 for Obertraun in Austria, to perform the main stage of their pre-season training. The team returned to Cyprus on7 July 2008. During the pre-season training stage in Austria, APOEL played four friendly matches.


2008–09 APOEL F.C. season, Competitions, Marfin Laiki League, Playoffs table
The first 12 teams are divided into 3 groups. Points are carried over from the first round.


2008–09 APOEL F.C. season, Competitions, UEFA Cup, Second qualifying round
APOEL 5–5 Red Star Belgrade on aggregate. APOEL won on away goals.


2008–09 AS Monaco FC season
The 2008–09 season was AS Monaco FC's 52nd season in Ligue 1. They finished eleventh in Ligue 1, and were knocked out of the Coupe de la Ligue by Grenoble Foot, in the Quarterfinal, and the Coupe de France by Paris Saint-Germain at the Third Round stage.


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


2008–09 AS Monaco FC season, Squad, Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 AS Monaco FC season, Transfers, Summer
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 AS Monaco FC season, Transfers, Summer
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 AS Monaco FC season, Transfers, Winter
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 AS Monaco FC season, Transfers, Winter
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 AWIHL season
The 2008–09 AWIHL season was the second season of the Australian Women's Ice Hockey League. It ran from 11 October 2008 until 1 February 2009.


2008–09 AWIHL season, Regular season
The regular season begins on 11 October 2008 and will run through to 1 February 2009


2008–09 AWIHL season, Standings
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against; GDF = Goal Differential; PTS = Points


2008–09 AWIHL season, Standings
Win = 2 ptsTie = 1 ptLoss = 0 pts


2008–09 AWIHL season, Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty Minutes


2008–09 AWIHL season, Leading goaltenders
Note: GP = Games Played; Mins = Minutes Played; W = Wins; L = Losses: T = Ties; GA = Goals Allowed; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals Against Average


2008–09 AWIHL season, Playoffs
The finals series was hosted in Newcastle, New South Wales at Hunter Ice Skating Stadium over the weekend of 14–15 February 2015.


2008–09 AZ Alkmaar season
During the 2008–09 Dutch football season, AZ Alkmaar competed in the Eredivisie, playing their 42nd season of competitive football (Alkmaar '54 and FC Zaanstreek had merged to form AZ in May 1967).


2008–09 AZ Alkmaar season, Season summary
The club won its first Eredivisie title since 1981 and remains the second top flight title in its history to this day. The club secured 80 points in the 34 games under Louis van Gaal and finished 11 points ahead of second placed FC Twente. AZ were knocked out of the KNVB Cup in the quarterfinals suffering a 2-1 home loss to NAC Breda, although they did secure a notable 1-0 (aet) win over PSV Eindhoven in the third round.


2008–09 AZ Alkmaar season, Season summary
van Gaal left the club at the end of the season to join FC Bayern Munich and was succeeded by Ronald Koeman.


2008–09 AZ Alkmaar season, 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 AZ Alkmaar season, First-team 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 AZAL PFC season
The Olimpik Baku 2008–09 season was Olimpik Baku's fourth Azerbaijan Premier League season and their third season with Asgar Abdullayev as manager. They participated in the 2008–09 Azerbaijan Premier League as well as the 2008–09 Azerbaijan Cup, finishing the league in 6th place, being knocked out of the Cup at the Quarterfinal stage by Gabala and going out of the UEFA Cup at the 1st Qualifying Round stage after defeat to Vojvodina.


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


2008–09 AZAL PFC season, Transfers, Summer
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 AZAL PFC season, Transfers, Summer
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 AZAL PFC season, Transfers, Winter
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 AZAL PFC season, Transfers, Winter
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 AaB Fodbold season
During the 2008–09 Danish football season, AaB Fodbold competed in the Danish Superliga.


2008–09 AaB Fodbold season, Season summary
Bruce Rioch managed to guide AaB to the Champions League group stage, but was sacked after only two wins from the first 10 league games and a single point won from their first three Champions League games, with the team 11th in the Superliga. Interim manager Allan Kuhn went undefeated in his seven league games and three Champions League games, seeing the club rise to 6th and qualify for the UEFA Cup knockout stages.


2008–09 AaB Fodbold season, Season summary
However, sporting director Lynge Jakobsen was wary of promoting Kuhn from assistant coach to head coach and instead opted to appoint Magnus Pehrsson as permanent head coach. Although Pehrsson only won 3 of his 16 league matches in charge, resulting in a final 7th-place finish (their lowest in 11 years), he achieved famous victories against Deportivo and Manchester City to take AaB to the round of 16 before elimination at the hands of the Mancunian team on penalties. He also took the team to the Danish Cup final; although they were defeated by F.C. Copenhagen, Copenhagen's title victory saw AaB qualify for the second qualifying round of the inaugural season of the UEFA Europe League.


2008–09 AaB Fodbold season, 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 AaB Fodbold season, First-team 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 AaB Fodbold season, Results, UEFA Cup, Round of 16
Manchester City 2–2 Aalborg BK on aggregate. Manchester City won 4–3 on penalties.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season
Aberdeen competed in the Scottish Premier League, Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup during the 2008–09 season.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season
Richie Byrne, Barry Nicholson, Steve Lovell, Derek Soutar, Dave Bus, Jonathan Smith, Greg Kelly, Alan Maybury, Jackie McNamara and Dan Smith all left the club, mostly on Bosman transfers, and Josh Walker returned down South to Middlesbrough. On 5 July 2008, Karim Touzani returned to his native homeland of Netherlands to sign for Dutch side Sparta Rotterdam.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season
The club brought in several players; Bertrand Bossu, Sammy Stewart, Gary McDonald, Mark Kerr, Charlie Mulgrew were all given two-year contracts by the club. Tommy Wright signed from Darlington, he cost £100,000 and was given a three-year contract. The club signed Jared Hodgkiss on loan from West Bromwich Albion for the first half of the season, and in January signed Manchester City youngster Javan Vidal until the end of the season. On transfer deadline day, the club signed Sone Aluko from Birmingham City for an undisclosed fee.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, Pre-season
Aberdeen kicked off their pre-season campaign with a 2–0 loss at home to English and European champions, Manchester United. The game marked the 25th anniversary of Aberdeen's 2–1 victory over Real Madrid in the 1982–82 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final in Gothenburg. Goals from Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney ensured that Sir Alex Ferguson won on his return to Pittodrie. Three days later the Dons faced 'local rivals' Dundee, The game finished 0–0. The worst result of the pre-season came next, a 4–0 defeat by Peterhead, however Aberdeen recorded their first win of pre-season against Brechin City three days later, Derek Young getting the only goal; and the first of pre-season.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, Pre-season
Aberdeen opened their tour of the Netherlands with a 5–0 win over Jimmy Calderwood's son Scott's DZC 68. Chris Maguire scored a hat-trick, Lee Miller and Jamie Smith were also on the scoresheet against the minnows. New signing Gary McDonald scored his first goal for the Dons against FC Zwolle, however two late goals meant that Aberdeen would suffer their first and only defeat of the Dutch tour. The next game saw Aberdeen play top-tier team Vitesse Arnhem, which they won 1–0 thanks to an Andrew Considine goal twenty minutes from time.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, Pre-season
Aberdeen had been due to play Go Ahead Eagles but the game was scrapped due to police fears of crowd trouble. Instead a game was arranged against minnows SV Rietvogels, in which the Dons scored 10 goals. Captain Scott Severin scored an early goal, the lead was soon doubled by youngster Peter Pawlett, Other goalscorers included Chris Maguire, Jeffrey de Visscher and Michael Paton; trialist Dyon Camero scored four.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, Pre-season
Aberdeen followed up their pre-season tour of the Netherlands with a win against Highland league team Inverurie Loco Works at Harlaw Park. Manager Jimmy Calderwood fielded a young team and for the first time Zander Diamond led the team out as captain. Within 17 minutes Aberdeen were 1–0 ahead; U-19 player Michael Paton scored his second goal in as many games, Summer signing, Sammy Stewart scored his first goal for the club; 11 minutes from time, to make it 2–0 and that was the final score.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, SPL, August
Aberdeen began their SPL campaign with a 2–0 loss at home to North 'rivals' Inverness Caledonian Thistle through goals from Andrew Barrowman and Roy McBain. It was the first time that Aberdeen had been beaten by Inverness, having played them 17 times previously. The Dons travelled to Motherwell for their second game, The match was goalless until four minutes from time, when summer signing Charlie Mulgrew scored from a free-kick, to give Aberdeen their first win. Aberdeen then hosted Glasgow rivals Rangers.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, SPL, August
Veteran Scotland defender David Weir opened the scoring for the visitors, Derek Young followed up after Lee Miller's shot was blocked by rangers keeper Allan McGregor; to score Aberdeen's first goal of the new season at Pittodrie. The match ended 1–1, but aberdeen were fortunate as DaMarcus Beasley seemed to have won it for Rangers in stoppage time; his goal was disallowed for offside he was however clearly onside. Aberdeen then travelled to Paisley to play St Mirren. A mistake by the St Mirren defence allowed Darren Mackie to score a goal just before half-time, which proved to be the winner.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, SPL, September
September, and Aberdeen's first match was a home tie against SPL newcomers Hamilton Academical. The game saw the second debut of Sone Aluko, following his return. Aberdeen took the lead in the 7th minute, summer signing Gary McDonald scored the goal, with Hamilton goalkeeper Tomas Cerny only able to push the ball onto the post and into the net. Hamilton equalised after 34 minutes, David Graham the scorer. A defensive mistake by the Aberdeen defence allowed Hamilton's James McCarthy to score what turned out to be the winner.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, SPL, September
Aluko hit the bar with a late free-kick, the defeat meant that Aberdeen were still to win at home. Another home defeat followed the week after, Tommy Wright was given his first league start by manager Jimmy Calderwood and it was his handball which allowed Francesco Sandaza to score the only goal from the penalty spot. Aberdeen ended the month with a trip to reigning Champions Celtic. A defensive mistake allowed Dutchman Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink to score the opening goal.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, SPL, September
Aberdeen equalised early in the second half; Charlie Mulgrew claimed his second goal of the SPL campaign, He scored his third as well minutes later, when he curled a free-kick from the edge of the box, to make the score 2–1 to Aberdeen. Celtic equalised eleven minutes from time when Scott McDonald headed the ball into the net, Vennegoor of Hesselink scored an injury time winner making the score 3–2. This left Aberdeen eleventh in the league table, they had not gained a single point throughout the month of September.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, SPL, October
Hibernian came to Pittodrie for Aberdeen's first match in October. A defensive slip by Lee Mair allowed Hibernian striker Derek Riordan to open the scoring after 33 minutes, Lee Miller equalised 8 minutes later from the penalty spot after being fouled by Sol Bamba. Hibernian regained the lead from the penalty spot after Mulgrew, who was red-carded, handled the ball on the line. The ball was directed towards goal by Hibernian striker Steven Fletcher, he was clearly offside but it was not given, so Riordan converted to score his second of the match.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, SPL, October
Aberdeen then traveled to Falkirk after an International break. Lee Miller headed the only goal to give Aberdeen their first victory in six games, and lift the Dons' off the bottom of the table. Lee Bullen was sent off for Falkirk late on, after a challenge on Scott Severin. Aberdeen then travelled to Edinburgh for the first time in the season to play Heart of Midlothian. It started well for the Dons', Darren Mackie profited from a defensive error and scored the first goal of the game. Hearts however, shortly after, equalised through wing-back Lee Wallace. In the dying minutes, Hearts looked to have been awarded a penalty by referee Steve Conroy, Jamie Langfield appeared to have tripped Michael Stewart in the penalty area, But after consulting with his assistant, the referee reversed his decision and the match finished 1–1.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, SPL, November
Aberdeen started November with a home-tie against high-flyers Kilmarnock. A goal by Sone Aluko handed Aberdeen their first home win of the season, and more importantly, all three points. The following week Aberdeen travelled to Dundee to face Dundee United for the second New Firm Derby of the season. It got off to another bad start for the Dons, Francisco Sandaza scored the opening goal in the opening 8 minutes, Northern-Irish striker Warren Feeney doubled the 'tangerine's' advantage on 14 minutes.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, SPL, November
Aberdeen pulled a goal back through Darren Mackie, but it proved to only be a consolation goal, as the Dons' lost the derby 2–1, although they had a goal disallowed for offside. The Dons' then hosted St Mirren in a midweek match at Pittodrie. Both the goals in the 2–0 win were scored in the last 10 minutes, First defender Andrew Considine finished well after good work by Mark Kerr then Englishman Sone Aluko was put clean-through on goal to score the second. The win propelled Aberdeen up to fourth in the league for the first time.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, SPL, November
Aberdeen then played Hibernian in their second trip to the capital. The Dons opened the scoring just before half-time when Darren Mackie pounced on Rob Jones' error to head the visitors in front, four minutes before half-time. Aberdeen doubled their lead eight minutes after the break when Sone Aluko flighted in a corner and Zander Diamond headed in his first goal of the season and put the Dons' 2–0 up.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, SPL, November
Three points turned into one point as Rob Jones made amends for his first half error and pulled one back for Hibs with a header in the 62nd minute, and with virtually the last kick of the game Steven Fletcher scrambled in a goal. Aberdeen then travelled to Glasgow to play Rangers at Ibrox. Aberdeen dominated the first half and it took a good save from Rangers' keeper Allan McGregor to prevent Derek Young from scoring the opening goal.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, SPL, November
The Dons' continued to hold the upper hand until Jean-Claude Darcheville bundled the ball over the line to put Rangers 1–0 up. Zander Diamond was unlucky not to level when his header was cleared off the line by Pedro Mendes. Seconds later Rangers had the ball in the net again, this time through Kris Boyd. The game finished 2–0 to Rangers. Aberdeen then hosted Motherwell at Pittodrie. Motherwell keeper Graeme Smith pulled off a fantastic save to prevent Darren Mackie from opening the scoring.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, SPL, November
However, on the hour mark, just seconds after coming on as a second-half substitute Gary McDonald headed the Dons' in front after fine work from Sone Aluko. It was 2–0 eight six minutes later, when Jeffrey de Visscher whipped in a cross, only for Darren Mackie to be hauled down by Motherwell defender Paul Quinn. Referee Chris Boyle showed a red card to Quinn for his last man challenge, and awarded a penalty to the Dons', which Lee Miller happily dispatched. The game finished 2–0 and moved the Dons' up to fifth in the table.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, SPL, December
Aberdeen's opening game in December was against Kilmarnock, however the game was postponed due to a frozen pitch at Rugby Park. Next the Dons welcomed Falkirk to Pittodrie. Lee Miller got his fifth and sixth goals of the season in the opening half, of home side dominance. The second half was less great, ex-Aberdeen player Steve Lovell got a late consolation goal, but it was too little too late, as the Dons ran out 2–1 winners.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, SPL, December
A trip up North to the Caledonian Stadium to play North 'rivals', Inverness C.T. Aberdeen got off to the best of starts when Charlie Mulgrew fired a free-kick passed ex-Don Ryan Esson in only the sixth minute. Gary McDonald doubled the lead when he capitalized on Dougie Imrie's mistake to double the Dons' lead. Five minutes later, Darren Mackie made it three, as he scored his fifth goal of the campaign, with a clinical chip, over the advancing Esson. Aberdeen ran out 3–0 winners leaving them 5th placed in the table. Hearts were visitors to Pittodrie the following week.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, SPL, December
On form striker Lee Miller scored the only goal of the game in front of a packed Pittodrie. Miller, met Severin's free-kick and scored with a brilliant volley, towards the end of the first half. In a pulsating game, Aberdeen ran out 1–0 winners, and Hearts had Marius Žaliūkas and Lee Wallace sent off. As Aberdeen finished 2008 on a high.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, SPL, January
Aberdeen's opening game of 2009 resulted in a disappointing 2–0 defeat away to Hamilton Academical. Simon Mensing converted a penalty to put Hamilton 1–0 up, and Richard Offiong completed the scoring. However, Offiong was later sent off following two bookable offences. On Tuesday 13th, Aberdeen traveled to Ayr, to play December's postponement against Kilmarnock. Killie took the lead when the ball fell nicely to Allan Russell who finished well. Aberdeen equalised on the half-hour, when Lee Miller met Mulgrew's corner fantastically, scoring with a back-heel volley.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, SPL, January
And it was Miller who grabbed the winner, when he met Mackie's cross with a diving header. Aberdeen won the game 2–1 and that moved Aberdeen up to fourth. Aberdeen were to host both sides of the Old Firm in the space of two weeks, up first were Celtic, a team who Aberdeen have never beaten at Pittodrie since 2002. The game turned out to be a classic. Stuart Duff crossed the ball for Gary McDonald to open the scoring with a looping header.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, SPL, January
Celtic were back on level terms within a minute, as a cut-back by Aiden McGeady found Scott Brown unmarked to score the equaliser. Duff then got on the score-sheet himself, with a well taken volley. After immense pressure from Celtic in the second half, Scott McDonald pulled Celtic back on level terms again when he headed in Barry Robson's cross. However, Aberdeen were not to be denied the win, as Zander Diamond headed in two Charlie Mulgrew free-kicks in the space of two minutes to give the Dons' a 4–2 win against the reigning champions.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, SPL, January
The crowd were left chanting for five. The following week, a packed Pittodrie watched Aberdeen take on the second half of the Old Firm, Rangers. A dull game saw very little chances until in the 80th minute Nacho Novo found space at the back post, but his shot rebounded off of the post. Darren Mackie and Charlie Mulgrew went close for Aberdeen, but both defences stayed firm as the sides settled for a 0–0 draw. Aberdeen then travelled to Falkirk. Once again a dull away performance saw Michael Higdon score the only goal as the Bairns' won 1–0.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, Scottish Cup
Aberdeen started their Scottish Cup with a 2–1 win against Second Division side Alloa Athletic. A cool Sone Aluko provided the Dons' with the class they needed to scrape past a spirited Alloa side. On form striker Lee Miller opened the scoring after he deflected Chris Maguire's shot. Alloa midfielder Andy Scott scored from the penalty spot to equalise for the hosts. Aluko raced clear and chipped the ball over the advancing keeper Raymond Jellema in the 56th minute. Alloa pushed forward for much of the last half-hour, but Aberdeen survived to progress.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, Scottish Cup
In the fifth-round, Aberdeen were then drawn at home against another Second Division team, East Fife. The game ended in a comfortable 5–0 victory, with the East Fife goalkeeper sent off in the first three minutes. Goals from Tommy Wright, Javan Vidal, Sone Aluko and a late chris Maguire double sealed the win for Aberdeen, earning them an away tie at Dunfermline Athletic. Sone Aluko looked to have put Aberdeen through to a semi-final when he finished neatly midway through the second half. However Nick Phinn scored with just five minutes remaining, to force a reply at Pittodrie. The replay proved to be a night to forget. A highly disappointing display saw 120 minutes of no goals, and very little activity. Dunfermline eventually won the game on penalties, Scott Severin and Richard Foster were the only players to have missed which sent the Dons' out.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Review, Scottish League Cup
Aberdeen travelled to Ayr to play Second Division Ayr United in the second round of the League Cup, Chris Maguire scored the only goal of the game after 40 minutes to secure Aberdeen's place in the third round. In the third round of the league cup, Aberdeen were drawn away against fellow SPL club Kilmarnock. The hosts took the lead in the first minute, Conor Sammon opened the scoring only for Gary McDonald to equalise for the visitors. Kilmarnock were back in front five minutes later through David Fernandez, Mehdi Taouil extended the home side's advantage with a penalty. Lee Miller pulled a goal back from the penalty spot, after Darren Mackie was fouled. However, Conor Sammon scored his second of the evening. The match finished 4–2 to Kilmarnock, Aberdeen were out of the League Cup at the third round stage.


2008–09 Aberdeen F.C. season, Squad, 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 Adelaide United FC season
The 2008–09 Adelaide United FC season was the club's fourth A-League season since the inception in the Australian football league since it first started in 2005. The club competed in the 2008–09 A-League, 2008 AFC Champions League and 2008 FIFA Club World Cup.


2008–09 Adelaide United FC season
For the 2008–09 season, Adelaide United made some significant signings to strengthen the squad, most notably striker Cristiano from Willem II for two years on a free transfer. Another key signing to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Richie Alagich was Alemão formerly of CA Juventus. Saša Ognenovski joined the club from Queensland Roar to help shore up the defence, midfielder Paul Reid joined from Brighton & Hove Albion F.C., while promising youngsters Scott Jamieson, Daniel Mullen, Mark Birighitti and Robert Younis also signed.


2008–09 Adelaide United FC season
Bobby Petta, Shaun Ontong, Milan Susak, Dez Giraldi and Robert Bajic were all released, Bruce Djite was sold for an A-League record of A$850,000 to Genclerbirligi, whilst Nathan Burns also transferred to pursue his European dreams, joining Greek first division outfit AEK Athens for A$500,000. Kristian Sarkies, Lucas Pantelis and Fabian Barbiero all had their contracts renewed.


2008–09 Adelaide United FC season
This season, Adelaide United passed the one millionth spectator milestone of total crowds since the inception of the A-League. They reached this achievement when their 7,052nd fan passed through the gate, for the Round 3 match against Wellington. Adelaide United are only the third A-League club to do so thus far, the other two being Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC.


2008–09 Adelaide United FC season
The round 18 A-League match against Sydney FC at the Adelaide Oval saw $23,002 donated to the Starlight Foundation as $1 from every ticket sold for the match went to the charity.


2008–09 Adelaide United FC season
By the end of round 27, Adelaide had drawn level for first, equalling Melbourne's 38 points on the ladder, having needed to win 2–0 against the Central Coast Mariners away to win the premiership and only securing a 1–0 win. Adelaide was pushed down to second because of goal difference. The Reds, along with Melbourne, the Queensland Roar and Central Coast, proceeded to the finals where they lost 1–0 against Melbourne Victory in the grand final at Etihad Stadium, Melbourne.


2008–09 Adelaide United FC season
An early highlight for the season was Adelaide's run to the final of the AFC Champions League against Gamba Osaka. Because of this performance, Adelaide participated in the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup. They played in the play-off round against Waitakere United on 11 December, defeating them 2–1. The Reds' next game was played against AFC Champions League rivals, Gamba Osaka, in the quarterfinal round on 14 December in Toyota, Japan. This match, despite Adelaide's grown skill since their first meeting with ACL champions, was won by Gamba Osaka 0–1. Adelaide's last appearance in the Club World Cup was against Al Ahly, from Egypt, to determine the fifth-placed club. The match was played on 18 December, and Adelaide defeated Al-Ahly 0–1.


2008–09 Adelaide United FC season
This season also saw the introduction of the Adelaide United W-League team and the A-League National Youth League team. Former Adelaide player Richie Alagich, along with Michael Barnett and former Socceroos Tony Vidmar and Joe Mullen joined the coaching staff of these teams.


2008–09 Adelaide United FC season, Players, Squad information, First Team roster
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Adelaide United FC season, Players, Squad information, Youth Team roster
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Adelaide United FC season, Statistics, Squad statistics
1 – does not include own goal(s)* – player(s) who competed in the ACL but not in the 2008–09 A-League season or the CWC** – player(s) who competed in the CWC but not in the 2008–09 A-League season or the ACL


2008–09 Adelaide United W-League season
The 2008–09 season was Adelaide United Women's first season in the W-League and first overall season in the top flight Australian soccer.


2008–09 Adelaide United W-League season, Players
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Africa Cup
The 2008-2009 Africa Cup is the ninth edition of highest level rugby union tournament in Africa. The competition involves twelve teams that are divided into two zones (North and South). Each zone is then divided into two pools of three. Each pool winner then qualifies for a semi-final; the semi-final winners then play each other in the final.


2008–09 Africa Cup, Format
The tournament will be used as the first stage of qualification for Rugby World Cup 2011. The top two teams will progress in the World Cup and qualify for the 2009 Africa Cup, which will be the main tournament for the African qualifiers. Swaziland, Nigeria and Botswana have been added to the qualification process as they possess an IRB ranking. A two-legged playoff between the two lowest ranked teams from the south (Botswana and Swaziland) and the two lowest ranked teams from the north (Cameroon and Nigeria) will begin the tournament to take the competition numbers from 14 to 12 to make the group stage four groups of three teams.


2008–09 Africa Cup, Pool Stage
Pool winners qualify for the semi-finals. Top teams also progress to second stage of world cup qualification, in the 2009 Africa Cup. Pools determined through world rankings.


2008–09 Africa Cup, Pool Stage
Bonus point system: 4 points for a win, 2 for a draw, 0 for a loss, 1 point for scoring four tries in a game, 1 point for losing by seven or less.


2008–09 Africa Cup, Semifinals
Semi finals and final of this edition of the Africa Cup are to take place in 2009 doubling as the final leg of African Rugby World Cup qualification.


2008–09 Airdrie United F.C. season
In association football, season 2008–09 was Airdrie United's seventh competitive season. They competed in the First Division, Challenge Cup, League Cup, and the Scottish Cup.


2008–09 Airdrie United F.C. season, Summary
Airdrie United finished ninth in the First Division, entering the play-offs losing 3–2 to Ayr United on aggregate. Despite losing in the play off, they regained their first division status due to Livingston's forced relegation due to going into administration. They reached the fifth round of the Scottish Cup, the third round of the League Cup, and clinched the Challenge Cup beating Ross County in the final.


2008–09 Al Wasl FC season
This is a list of Al Wasl SC football transfers for the 2008-09 season.


2008–09 Al-Hilal FC season
The 2008–09 Al-Hilal FC season was Al-Hilal Saudi Football Club's 52nd in existence and 33rd consecutive season in the top flight of Saudi Arabian football. Along with Pro League, the club participated in the AFC Champions League, Crown Prince Cup, and the King Cup.


2008–09 Al-Hilal FC season, Players, Squad information
Players and squad numbers. Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Al-Nassr FC season
In this article, the results of Al Nassr Club of Saudi Arabia in 2008-2009 season is summarized


2008–09 Al-Nassr FC season, Current 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 Al-Nassr FC season, Gulf Club Champions Cup, Semi Final
Al-Nasr Game against Al-Ahli was supposed to be the semi final. However, FIFA suspended the Kuwait Football Association and Kuwaiti National Teams and clubs were suspended from all international matches and activities because of the government interference in the affairs of the football federation. Therefore, the other semi final between Al Qadisiya and Al Salmiya (both from Kuwait) has been canceled and Al-Nasr and Al-Ahli match was considered as the final.


2008–09 Al-Zawraa SC season
This is a list of Al-Zawraa's results at the Iraqi Premier League 2008-09 and AFC Cup 2009. The club is competing in the Iraqi Premier League and AFC Cup.


2008–09 Al-Zawraa SC season, Al-Zawraa’s massive problems, Financial problems
Before the start of the 2008-09 season, The Iraq Football Association announced that they are no longer able to afford financing the Iraqi clubs and hence each club had to get an official sponsor. Since the Iraqi clubs are based on institutions, military bases and ministries, Al-Zawraa's official sponsor is Ministry of Transport.