2008–09 Lebanese Premier League

{{Infobox football league season

| competition = Lebanese Premier League

| season = 2008–09

| winners = Al Nejmeh

| runners-up = Al-Ahed

| relegated = Salam Zgharta
Tripoli SC

| league topscorer = {{flagicon|Iraq}} Salih Sadir (27)

| biggest home win = Nejmeh 2–0 Shabab Al-Ghazieh

| biggest away win = Tadamon Sour 1–4 Al-Mabarrah

| highest scoring = Tadamon Sour 1–4 Al-Mabarrah

| total goals = 288

| average goals =

| longest wins =

| longest unbeaten =

| longest losses =

| highest attendance =

| lowest attendance =

| average attendance =

| prevseason = 2007–08

| nextseason = 2009–10

}}

The 2008–09 Lebanese Premier League is the 48th season of Lebanon's football league. The league kicked off on October 11, 2008, Safa SC defeated Salam Zgharta at the opener. In that game, Mohammad Kassas scored the first goal of the season for Safa.

Al Ahed is the defending champion. Salam Zgharta and Shahab Al-Ghazieh promoted from the second division.

Prior to the start, Tripoli SC announced its withdrawal due to several problems. Lebanese Football Federation confirmed the withdrawal on October 9, the league is going to resume with 11 teams.

Due to the restructuring of Asian competitions, Lebanese teams were entered into the AFC Cup. The Arab Champions League on the other hand would not be played.

Teams

Al-Irshad and Al-Ahli Sidon were relegated to the second level of Lebanese football after ending the 2007–08 season in the bottom two places. Promoted from the second level were Salam Zgharta and Shabab Al-Ghazieh.

=Stadia and Locations=

{{Location map+ |Lebanon |width=250 |float=right |caption=Locations of teams in the 2008–09 Lebanese Premier League |places=

{{Location map~ |Lebanon |lat=33.886944 |long=35.513056 |label=Beirut }}

{{Location map~ |Lebanon |lat=33.268889 |long=35.216389 |label=Tyre }}

{{Location map~ |Lebanon |lat=34.433333 |long=35.85 |label=Tripoli |position=left }}

{{Location map~ |Lebanon |lat=33.560556 |long=35.398056 |label=Sidon |position=left}}

}}

class="wikitable"
Club ! City ! Stadium
Al Ahed \| Beirut \| Municipal Stadium
Al Ansar \| Beirut \| Sports City
Nejmeh \| Beirut \| Sports City
Al Mabarrah \| Beirut \| Municipal Stadium
Safa Sporting Club \| Beirut \| Safa Stadium
Shabab Al-Sahel \| Beirut \| Municipal Stadium
Tripoli SC \| Tripoli \| Olympic Stadium
Tadamon Sour \| Tyre \| Sour Stadium
Racing Beirut \| Beirut \| Fouad Shehab Stadium
Hekmeh FC \| Beirut \| Fouad Shehab Stadium
Salam Zgharta \| Zgharta \| Zgharta Stadium
Shabab Al-Ghazieh \| Sidon \| Saida Municipal Stadium

class="wikitable"

Club

! City

! Stadium

| Beirut

| Beirut

| Beirut

| Beirut

| Beirut

| Beirut

| Tripoli

| Tyre

| Beirut

| Fouad Shehab Stadium

Hekmeh FC

| Beirut

| Fouad Shehab Stadium

Salam Zgharta

| Zgharta

| Zgharta Stadium

Shabab Al-Ghazieh

| Sidon

| Saida Municipal Stadium

Managerial changes

class="wikitable"
Team ! Outgoing manager ! Manner of departure ! Replaced by
Al Ansar \|{{flagicon\|Wales}} Roy Thomas \| Sacked{{Cite web\|url=http://www.the-afc.com/eng/articles/viewArticle.jsp_168331002.html\|title = The AFC}} \|{{flagicon\|LIB}} Jamal Taha

class="wikitable"

Team

! Outgoing manager

! Manner of departure

! Replaced by

Al Ansar

|{{flagicon|Wales}} Roy Thomas

| Sacked{{Cite web|url=http://www.the-afc.com/eng/articles/viewArticle.jsp_168331002.html|title = The AFC}}

|{{flagicon|LIB}} Jamal Taha

Final standings

{{#invoke:sports table|main|style=WDL

|res_col_header=QR

|team1=NEJ|name_NEJ=Nejmeh

|team2=AHD|name_AHD=Al Ahed

|team3=SAF|name_SAF=Safa SC

|team4=ANS|name_ANS=Al-Ansar

|team5=SAS|name_SAS=Shabab Al-Sahel

|team6=AMB|name_AMB=Al-Mabarrah

|team7=RCB|name_RCB=Racing Beirut

|team8=TAD|name_TAD=Tadamon Sour

|team9=HEK|name_HEK=Hekmeh FC

|team10=SAG|name_SAG=Shabab Al-Ghazieh

|team11=SZG|name_SZG=Salam Zgharta

|team12=TRI|name_TRI=Tripoli SC

|hth_TRI=Tripoli SC withdraw from the league. On October 14, 2008, the Lebanese Federation decided that Tripoli is going to relegate in the second league. Furthermore, the club was fined £L15 million for its withdrawal.

|col_AC=gold|text_AC=2010 AFC Cup qualification

|result1=AC

|col_ACW=#ddeeff|text_ACW=2010 AFC Cup qualification as cup winners

|result2=ACW

|col_R=#ffcccc|text_R=Relegation to the Lebanese Second Division

|result11=R|result12=R

|class_rules=1st points; 2nd head-to-head; 3rd goal difference; 4th goals scored

|update=complete|source=

}}

Top scorers

bgcolor="#f7f8ff" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: gray solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;"

bgcolor="#CCCCCC"

! width="100px" |Rank

! width="150px" |Name

! width="100px" |Club

! width="100px" |Goals

bgcolor="#EFEFEF" align="center"

| align="center"|1

| align="left"| {{flagicon|Iraq}} Salih Sadir

| align="left"| Al-Ahed

| align="left"| 27

align="center"|2

| align="left"| {{flagicon|Lebanon}} Mohammad Kassas

| align="left"| Safa

| align="left"| 16

align="center"

align="center"|3

| align="left"| {{flagicon|Egypt}} Ahmad Jaradi

| align="left"| Shabab Al-Sahel

| align="left"| 8

align="center"

align="center"|4

| align="left"| {{flagicon|Lebanon}} Ali Nasseredine

| align="left"| Nejmeh

| align="left"| 7

align="center"

align="center"|5

| align="left"| {{flagicon|Lebanon}} Akram Moghrabi

| align="left"| Nejmeh

| align="left"| 6

align="center"

align="center"|

| align="left"| {{flagicon|Brazil}} Tomi Jyakomilli

| align="left"| Nejmeh

| align="left"| 6

align="center"

align="center"|6

| align="left"| {{flagicon|Lebanon}} Zakaria Charara

| align="left"| Nejmeh

| align="left"| 5

align="center"

References

Category:Lebanese Premier League seasons

Leb

Category:2008–09 Lebanese Premier League