2008–09 Danish Superliga

The 2008–09 Danish Superliga was the 19th season of Danish Superliga league championship, which determines the winners of the Danish football championship, governed by the Danish Football Association. The season started on 19 July 2008 and ended on 31 May 2009. The defending champions were Aalborg BK.

Danish Superliga

Season	2008–09
Champions	F.C. Copenhagen 7th Superliga title 7th top-flight Danish title
Relegated	Vejle Boldklub AC Horsens
Champions League	F.C. Copenhagen
Europa League	Odense BK Brøndby IF AaB (via domestic cup) Randers (via Fair Play)
Goals scored	544
Average goals/game	2.75
Top goalscorer	Morten Nordstrand Marc Nygaard (16 goals both)
Biggest home win	Nordsjælland 6–1 Randers (10 April 2009) Odense 6–1 AGF (4 May 2009)
Biggest away win	SønderjyskE 0–6 Brøndby (22 November 2008)
Highest scoring	Brøndby 4–3 AC Horsens (3 November 2008) F.C. Copenhagen 5–2 AC Horsens (7 December 2008) Nordsjælland 6–1 Randers (10 April 2009) Odense 6–1 AGF (4 May 2009) (7 goals)
Longest winning run	5 – Odense BK (6 April to 23 April 2009) and Randers FC (13 April to 3 May 2009)
Longest unbeaten run	12 – Odense BK (6 April to 31 May 2009), Brøndby IF (31 August to 6 December 2008) and AaB (10 September 2008 to 5 April 2009)
Longest losing run	6 – SønderjyskE (22 March to 22 April 2009)
Highest attendance	32,856 – F.C. Copenhagen v Randers (31 May 2009)
Lowest attendance	1,609 – SønderjyskE v Midtjylland (7 December 2008)
Average attendance	8,814
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

The Danish champions qualified for the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League qualifying round. Runners-up and 3rd placed team qualified for 2009–10 UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds. 11th and 12th placed teams were relegated to the 1st Division. The 1st Division champions and runners-up were promoted to the Superliga.

Promotion and relegation

The following teams were promoted to Superliga after the end of the 2007–08 season:

• Vejle BK (winners)
• SønderjyskE (runners-up)

The following teams were relegated from Superliga after the end of the 2007–08 season:

• Viborg FF (11th placed)
• Lyngby BK (12th placed)

Participating clubs

AaB

AC Horsens

AGF

Brøndby

Esbjerg fB

F.C. Copenhagen

Midtjylland

Nordsjælland

OB

Randers

SønderjyskE

Vejle BK

Location of teams in Danish Superliga 2008–09

Club	Finishing position the previous season	First season in top division	First season of current spell in top division
AaB	1st	1928–29	1987
AC Horsens	5th	1929–30	2005–06
AGF	10th	1918–19	2007–08
Brøndby IF	8th	1982	1982
Esbjerg fB	7th	1928–29	2001–02
F.C. Copenhagen	3rd	1992–93	1992–93
FC Midtjylland	2nd	2000–01	2000–01
FC Nordsjælland	9th	2002–03	2002–03
OB	4th	1927–28	1999–2000
Randers FC	6th	1941–42	2006–07
SønderjyskE	2nd in 1st Division	2000–01	2008–09
Vejle BK	1st in 1st Division	1940–41	2008–09

Stadia and locations

Team	City	Stadium	Capacity
AaB	Aalborg	Energi Nord Arena	13,800
AC Horsens	Horsens	Casa Arena Horsens	8,000
AGF	Aarhus	NRGi Park	21,000
Brøndby IF	Brøndby	Brøndby Stadium	29,000
Esbjerg fB	Esbjerg	Blue Water Arena	18,000
F.C. Copenhagen	Copenhagen	Parken Stadium	34,098
FC Midtjylland	Herning	SAS Arena	11,809
FC Nordsjælland	Farum	Farum Park	10,000
OB	Odense	Fionia Park	15,761
Randers FC	Randers	Essex Park Randers	12,000
SønderjyskE	Haderslev	Haderslev Fodboldstadion	10,000
Vejle BK	Vejle	Vejle Stadion	10,500

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
AaB	Erik Hamrén	End of contract	30 June 2008 [1]	Bruce Rioch	1 July 2008 [2]	Pre-season
FC Midtjylland	Erik Rasmussen	Resigned	30 June 2008 [3]	Thomas Thomasberg	1 July 2008 [3]	Pre-season
AaB	Bruce Rioch	Sacked	23 October 2008 [4]	Magnus Pehrsson	1 January 2009 [5]	11th
Esbjerg fB	Troels Bech	Sacked	16 November 2008 [6]	Ove Pedersen	1 January 2009 [7]	12th
Brøndby IF	Tom Køhlert	Mutual consent	31 December 2008 [8]	Kent Nielsen	1 January 2009 [8]	1st
AC Horsens	Kent Nielsen	Resigned	31 December 2008 [9]	Henrik Jensen	1 January 2009 [10]	12th
AGF	Ove Pedersen	Sacked	31 December 2008 [11]	Erik Rasmussen	1 January 2009 [11]	5th
Randers FC	Colin Todd	Mutual consent	5 January 2009 [12][13]	John Jensen	5 January 2009 [12][13]	7th
Vejle BK	Ove Christensen	Sacked	17 March 2009 [14]	Mats Gren	1 July 2009 [15]	12th

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Copenhagen (C)	33	23	5	5	67	26	+41	74	Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round
2	Odense	33	21	6	6	65	31	+34	69	Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round[a]
3	Brøndby	33	21	5	7	55	31	+24	68	Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round[a]
4	Midtjylland	33	16	7	10	55	46	+9	55
5	Randers	33	11	13	9	52	50	+2	46	Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round[b]
6	Aarhus	33	13	6	14	39	44	−5	45
7	Aalborg	33	9	12	12	40	49	−9	39	Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round[a]
8	Nordsjælland	33	9	8	16	44	53	−9	35
9	Esbjerg	33	7	11	15	32	41	−9	32
10	SønderjyskE	33	5	13	15	30	56	−26	28
11	Vejle (R)	33	4	13	16	30	59	−29	25	Relegation to Danish 1st Division
12	Horsens (R)	33	5	9	19	35	58	−23	24

Source: Danish Superliga
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Because F.C. Copenhagen, winners of 2008–09 Danish Cup, also won the league, Odense BK as league runners-up earned a spot in the third while cup runners-up AaB qualified for the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.
2. Denmark was ranked second in the UEFA Fair Play Ranking^[16] and thereby earned an additional Europa League spot, with the winners of national Fair Play competition entering in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League. That spot was granted to Randers FC because they were the best team in the national Fair Play competition which has not already qualified for Europe.^[17]

Results

Matchday 1–11 Home \ Away AaB ACH AGF BIF EfB FCK FCM FCN OB RFC SJE VB AaB 1–1 0–2 1–1 1–2 1–2 0–3 Horsens 0–1 0–1 1–2 1–1 2–0 0–0 AGF 3–1 2–1 0–3 2–1 2–1 Brøndby 2–1 2–1 1–0 3–0 0–3 Esbjerg fB 0–1 1–0 1–1 0–0 0–1 Copenhagen 3–0 1–0 1–0 3–1 2–1 0–0 Midtjylland 2–1 2–1 3–1 1–0 4–0 1–1 Nordsjælland 3–1 0–2 1–1 0–2 2–1 OB 3–1 0–1 4–2 3–1 2–1 2–0 Randers FC 2–2 3–1 1–1 1–1 0–0 1–1 SønderjyskE 1–2 2–2 1–1 1–1 1–0 Vejle BK 2–3 0–0 0–3 1–3 2–1 Source: dbu.dk (in Danish) Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matchday 12–33 Home \ Away AaB ACH AGF BIF EfB FCK FCM FCN OB RFC SJE VB AaB 2–2 1–1 0–0 2–1 3–1 3–2 1–1 0–1 1–2 1–1 0–0 Horsens 0–1 1–1 3–0 1–1 0–2 2–3 2–3 2–1 2–2 0–3 0–0 AGF 1–2 1–0 1–0 3–1 0–1 2–1 1–0 2–1 1–2 0–0 1–1 Brøndby 2–0 4–3 2–0 1–0 0–1 2–4 2–1 0–0 3–0 5–1 2–0 Esbjerg fB 3–1 1–0 1–0 1–2 0–1 1–0 1–2 1–2 2–2 0–0 3–2 Copenhagen 3–0 5–2 2–1 4–0 0–2 2–1 3–1 2–1 3–3 4–0 4–1 Midtjylland 2–1 3–1 3–2 1–1 1–1 0–3 3–0 1–1 0–2 2–4 2–0 Nordsjælland 2–2 1–2 0–0 1–2 1–1 0–3 0–2 1–4 6–1 0–0 4–1 OB 1–1 2–1 6–1 0–1 2–1 3–2 2–1 3–0 3–1 2–0 2–0 Randers FC 1–2 5–1 1–1 0–2 1–0 0–3 1–2 3–2 0–0 3–1 3–2 SønderjyskE 1–1 2–0 0–3 0–6 1–1 1–2 0–0 1–3 1–1 1–4 0–0 Vejle BK 0–3 1–1 2–1 1–3 1–1 1–1 2–3 1–1 0–5 1–1 3–2 Source: dbu.dk (in Danish) Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Goals

Source: dbu.dk (in Danish)

Top goalscorers

Pos	Player	Club	Goals
1	Morten Nordstrand	F.C. Copenhagen	16
	Marc Nygaard	Randers FC
3	Frank Kristensen	FC Midtjylland	15
4	Gilberto Macena	AC Horsens	12
	Peter Utaka	OB
6	Aílton José Almeida	F.C. Copenhagen	11
	Martin Bernburg	FC Nordsjælland
	Baye Djiby Fall	OB
	César Santín	F.C. Copenhagen
10	Søren Berg	Randers FC	10
	Jonas Borring	FC Midtjylland
	Bajram Fetai	FC Nordsjælland

9 goals AGF: Peter Graulund Brøndby IF: Ousman Jallow, Morten "Duncan" Rasmussen OB: Hans Henrik Andreasen SønderjyskE: Ken Ilsø 8 goals AaB: Cacá Brøndby IF: Alexander Farnerud FC Nordsjælland: José Júnior Randers FC: Bédi Buval 7 goals Brøndby IF: Jan Kristiansen OB: Njogu Demba-Nyrén, Björn Runström 6 goals AaB: Andreas Johansson AGF: Jakob Poulsen FC Midtjylland: Danny Olsen FC Nordsjælland: Nicklas Pedersen 5 goals AaB: Thomas Augustinussen AGF: Nando Rafael, Dioh Williams Brøndby IF: Michael Krohn-Dehli, Samuel Holmén Esbjerg fB: Jesper Lange, Søren Rieks F.C. Copenhagen: Atiba Hutchinson FC Midtjylland: Mikkel Thygesen OB: Johan Absalonsen SønderjyskE: Jesper Kjærulff Vejle BK: Babajide Collins Babatunde, Brian Nielsen 4 goals AaB: Kasper Risgård AC Horsens: Besart Berisha, Rawez Lawan, Niels Lodberg Esbjerg fB: Jesper Bech, Samel Šabanović F.C. Copenhagen: William Kvist, Libor Sionko, Martin Vingaard FC Midtjylland: Jude Nworuh FC Nordsjælland: Jonathan Richter OB: Espen Ruud Randers FC: Tidiane Sane

3 goals AaB: Jeppe Curth, Marek Saganowski AGF: Jeremiah White Brøndby IF: Max von Schlebrügge Esbjerg fB: Jesper Jørgensen OB: Henrik Hansen, Chris Sørensen Randers FC: Rasmus Hansen, Ricki Olsen SønderjyskE: Kenneth Fabricius, John Jairo Mosquera, Sölvi Ottesen Vejle BK: Eduardo Delani, Steffen Kielstrup 2 goals AaB: Anders Due, Thomas Enevoldsen AC Horsens: Søren Friis, Casper Johansen AGF: Ole Budtz, Ulrik Lindkvist Brøndby IF: Kasper Lorentzen Esbjerg fB: Jeppe Mehl, Emmanuel Ukpai F.C. Copenhagen: Jesper Grønkjær, Dame N'Doye, Zdeněk Pospěch, Oscar Wendt FC Midtjylland: Kim Christensen, Winston Reid FC Nordsjælland: Søren Christensen Randers FC: Issah Ahmed, Mikkel Beckmann, Carsten Fredgaard, Kenneth Møller Pedersen SønderjyskE: Morten Bertolt Vejle BK: Valentino Lai, Ibrahim Salou 1 goal AaB: Michael Beauchamp, Luton Shelton, Marcus Tracy AC Horsens: Adam Eckersley, Thomas Kortegaard, Jimmy Mayasi, Simon Nagel, Kenneth Emil Petersen, Allan Søgaard AGF: Davit Devdariani, Frederik Krabbe, Michael Lumb, Dan Thomassen Brøndby IF: Stefán Gíslason, Peter Madsen, Thomas Rasmussen, Joseph Elanga Esbjerg fB: Kári Árnason, Gunnar Heiðar Þorvaldsson, Mikkel Vendelbo F.C. Copenhagen: Hjalte Nørregaard FC Midtjylland: Ken Fagerberg, Gheorghe Florescu, Christian Sivebæk FC Nordsjælland: Benjamin Kibebe, Henrik Kildentoft, Issey Nakajima-Farran, Stephan Petersen, Simon Richter OB: Eric Djemba-Djemba Randers FC: Tiago Targino SønderjyskE: Anders Egholm Vejle BK: Martin Borre, Adda Djeziri, Allan Gaarde, Adeshina Lawal, Sladan Peric, Pablo Piñones-Arce, Chidi Dauda Omeje, Thomas Røll, Rasmus Würtz, Bora Zivkovic

Own goals

• Frank Hansen (Esbjerg) for Vejle (27 July 2008)
• Sladan Peric (Vejle) for AaB (2 August 2008)
• Morten Rasmussen (Horsens) for Midtjylland (3 August 2008)
• Michael Beauchamp (AaB) for Copenhagen (21 September 2008)
• Alexander Östlund (Esbjerg) for OB (19 October 2008)
• Michael Stryger (SønderjyskE) for Randers (2 November 2008)
• Michael Jakobsen (AaB) for Esbjerg (16 November 2008)
• Jacob Stolberg (SønderjyskE) for Brøndby (22 November 2008)
• Søren Berg (Randers) for Brøndby (21 March 2009)
• Kristijan Ipša (Midtjylland) for AGF (13 April 2009)
• Adam Eckersley (Horsens) for Copenhagen (25 April 2009)
• Sölvi Ottesen (SønderjyskE) for Midtjylland (27 April 2009)

Hat-tricks

Scorer	Game	Date
Babajide Collins Babatunde	Midtjylland v OB	10 August 2008
Jan Kristiansen	SønderjyskE v Brøndby	22 November 2008
Martin Bernburg	Nordsjælland v Randers	10 April 2009
Bajram Fetai	Nordsjælland v Vejle	18 May 2009

Season statistics

Scoring

• First goal of the season: Bédi Buval for Randers against AGF (19 July 2008)
• Fastest goal in a match: Frank Kristensen (17 seconds) for Midtjylland against Brøndby (31 May 2009)
• Widest Winning Margin: SønderjyskE 0–6 Brøndby (22 November 2008)
• Most Goals in a Match: Brøndby 4–3 Horsens (3 November 2008) / Copenhagen 5–2 Horsens (7 December 2008) / Nordsjælland 6–1 Randers (10 April 2009) / OB 6–1 AGF (4 May 2009)
• First hat-trick of the season: Babajide Collins Babatunde for Midtjylland against OB (10 August 2008)

Cards

• First yellow card: Lee Nguyen for Randers against AGF (19 July 2008)
• First red card: Martin Pedersen for AaB against Midtjylland (20 July 2008)
• Fastest red card in a match: Michael Beauchamp (17 minutes) for AaB against OB (17 August 2008)

Attendances

Source: hvemvandt.dk^{[permanent dead link]} (in Danish)

Team	Average	Highest	Lowest
Copenhagen	20,038	32,856	11,286
Brøndby	16,908	26,014	9,689
AGF	11,516	18,239	8,246
OB	10,218	15,486	6,662
Midtjylland	7,777	10,613	5,670
Esbjerg	7,229	12,081	4,049
AaB	7,168	9,470	5,415
Vejle	6,524	10,092	3,429
Randers	6,059	8,550	3,322
Horsens	4,685	8,217	2,604
Nordsjælland	4,020	8,443	2,019
SønderjyskE	3,420	6,988	1,609

Player of the Month

Month	Winner	Runners-ups
July/August	Baye Djiby Fall (OB)[18]	Christopher Poulsen (Midtjylland) Tidiane Sane (Randers)
September	Baye Djiby Fall (OB)[19]	César Santin (Copenhagen) Stephan Andersen (Brøndby)
October	Michael Krohn-Dehli (Brøndby)[20]	Baye Djiby Fall (OB) César Santin (Copenhagen)
November	Michael Krohn-Dehli (Brøndby)[21]	Morten Nordstrand (Copenhagen) Hans Henrik Andreasen (OB)
March	Andreas Johansson (AaB)[22]	Fredrik Björck (Esbjerg) Jimmy Nielsen (Vejle)
April	Peter Utaka (OB)[23]	Jesper Grønkjær (Copenhagen) Marc Nygaard (Randers)
May	Aílton José Almeida (Copenhagen)[24]	Søren Berg (Randers) Jakob Poulsen (AGF)

Kits

Team	Kit maker	Shirt sponsor	Notes
AaB	hummel	Spar Nord	Same as 2007–08
AC Horsens	hummel	TeliaSonera	Same as 2007–08
AGF	hummel	Ceres / Faxe Kondi	New home and away kits
Brøndby IF	adidas	KasiGroup/UNICEF	KasiGroup replaced Codan as head sponsors, and gave the sponsorship place to UNICEF. New home kits.
Esbjerg fB	Umbro	Frøs Herreds Sparekasse	New away kit without black stripe along the sides
F.C. Copenhagen	Kappa	Carlsberg	New kits and printings
FC Midtjylland	Puma	SPAR	Same as 2007–08
FC Nordsjælland	H2O	Jyske Bank	Same as 2007–08
OB	Puma	Carlsberg	Puma replaced Nike as kit makers
Randers FC	Umbro	none	Forenede Rengøring stopped being head sponsors. New kits.
SønderjyskE	hummel	Sydbank	New home kit
Vejle BK	hummel	Champions Club	Same as 2007–08

See also

• 2008–09 Danish Cup
• 2008–09 Danish 1st Division
• 2008–09 in Danish football