2008–09 Saudi Pro League

The 2008–09 Saudi Professional League was the 33rd season of Saudi Pro League since its establishment in 1976 and first after rebranding to the Saudi Pro League. Al-Hilal were the defending champions, having won their 11th title in the previous season. The campaign began on 13 September 2008 and ended on 12 April 2009. A total of 12 teams contested the league, 10 of which already contested in the 2007–08 season, and two of which were promoted from the First Division.

Saudi Pro League

Season	2008–09
Dates	13 September 2008 – 12 April 2009
Champions	Al-Ittihad (8th title)
Relegated	Abha Al-Watani
AFC Champions League	Al-Ittihad Al-Hilal Al-Ahli Al-Shabab
Gulf Club Champions Cup	Al-Nassr Al-Ettifaq
Matches played	134
Goals scored	371 (2.77 per match)
Top goalscorer	Nasser Al-Shamrani Hicham Aboucherouane (12 goals each)
Biggest home win	Al-Hilal 7–0 Najran (20 December 2008)
Biggest away win	Al-Raed 0–4 Al-Shabab (30 November 2008) Al-Shabab 0–4 Al-Ittihad (28 January 2009)
Highest scoring	Al-Ittihad 7–2 Al-Watani (15 December 2008) Al-Raed 6–3 Al-Wehda (8 April 2009)
Longest winning run	Al-Ittihad (5 games)[1]
Longest unbeaten run	Al-Hilal (18 games)[1]
Longest winless run	Abha (12 games)[1]
Longest losing run	Al-Raed (5 games)[1]
← Premier League 2007–08 2009–10 →

On 12 April 2009, in the final round of the season, Al-Ittihad won the title after a 2–1 victory over Al-Hilal.^[2] It was their eighth league title overall. Al-Ittihad, Al-Hilal, Al-Ahli and Al-Shabab all secured a berth for the 2010 AFC Champions League, while Al-Nassr and Al-Ettifaq qualified for the Gulf Club Champions Cup. Al-Watani and Abha were relegated to the Saudi First Division League.^[3]

Changes

Professional League rebrand

On 26 May 2008, the SAFF announced that the league would be rebranded as Saudi Pro League. The changes were based on the criteria introduced by AFC President Mohammed bin Hammam to improve the football standards in Asia.^[4] The changes also included a website dedicated to recording statistics of the league for the first time. It was also announced that the website would be run by the Saudi Professional League rather than the Saudi FF.^[5]

Qualification and Prize money

The League champions, runners-up and third place as well as the winner of the King Cup of Champions qualified for the 2010 AFC Champions League.

The top eight teams qualified for King Cup of Champions.

Prize money:

• First place: 2.5 million Saudi Riyals
• Second place: 1.5 million Saudi Riyals
• Third place: 1 million Saudi Riyals

Teams

Twelve teams competed in the league – the top ten teams from the previous season and the two teams promoted from the Saudi First Division League. The promoted teams were Al-Raed (returning to the top flight after an absence of five years) and Abha (returning to the top flight after an absence of two years). They replaced Al-Tai (after seven consecutive years in the top-flight) and Al-Qadsiah (after six consecutive years in the top-flight).

Stadiums and locations

Abha

Al-Ahli
Al-Ittihad

Al-Ettifaq

Al-Hazem

Al-Hilal
Al-Nassr
Al-Shabab

Al-Raed

Al-Watani

Al-Wehda

Najran

Locations of teams in the 2008–09 Saudi Professional League

Club	Location	Stadium
Abha	Abha	Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium
Al-Ahli	Jeddah	Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium
Al-Ettifaq	Dammam	Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium
Al-Hazem	Ar Rass	Al-Hazem Club Stadium
Al-Hilal	Riyadh	King Fahd Stadium
Al-Ittihad	Jeddah	Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium
Al-Nassr	Riyadh	King Fahd Stadium
Al-Raed	Buraydah	King Abdullah Sport City Stadium
Al-Shabab	Riyadh	King Fahd Stadium
Al-Watani	Tabuk	King Khalid Sport City Stadium
Al-Wehda	Mecca	King Abdul Aziz Stadium
Najran	Najran	Al Akhdoud Club Stadium

Personnel

Club	Coach	Nationality	City	Stadium	Capacity	2007–08 season	Notes
Abha	Idris Obeis		Abha	Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium	20,000	First Division runners-up
Al-Ahli	Stoycho Mladenov		Jeddah	Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium	24,000	8th	Qualified to the 2008 Gulf Club Champions Cup
Al-Ettifaq	Ioan Andone		Dammam	Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium	30,000	4th	Qualified to the 2009 AFC Champions League
Al-Hazem	Ammar Souayah		Ar Rass	Al Hazm Club Stadium	11,000	7th	Qualified to the 2008–09 Arab Champions League
Al-Hilal	Georges Leekens		Riyadh	King Fahd Stadium	69,000	1st	Qualified to the 2009 AFC Champions League
Al-Ittihad	Gabriel Calderón		Jeddah	Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium	24,000	2nd	Qualified to the 2009 AFC Champions League
Al-Nassr	Edgardo Bauza		Riyadh	King Fahd Stadium	69,000	5th	Qualified to the 2008 Gulf Club Champions Cup
Al-Raed	Luis Antônio Zaluar		Buraydah	King Abdullah Sport City Stadium	35,000	First Division champions
Al-Shabab	Enzo Trossero		Riyadh	King Fahd Stadium	69,000	3rd	Qualified to the 2009 AFC Champions League
Al-Watani	Hélio Vieira		Tabuk	King Khalid Sport City Stadium	20,000	9th
Al-Wehda	Theo Bücker		Mecca	King Abdul Aziz Stadium	28,550	6th	Qualified to the 2008–09 Arab Champions League
Najran	Mokhtar Tlili		Najran	Al Akhdoud Club Stadium	10,000	10th

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Replaced by	Date
Abha	Abdelkader Youmir	Sacked[6]	Saad Al-Beshri (caretaker)	October 2008
Al-Watani	Moussa Saïb	Sacked[7]	Habib Ben Romdhane (caretaker)	October 2008
Al-Watani	Habib Ben Romdhane	Caretaker period ended[8]	Hélio Vieira	November 2008
Abha	Saad Al-Beshri	Caretaker period ended	Idris Obeis	November 2008
Al-Shabab	Nery Pumpido	Sacked[9]	Enzo Trossero	December 2008
Al-Nassr	Rodion Gačanin	Sacked[10]	Edgar (caretaker)	December 2008
Al-Raed	Mohammed Aldo	Sacked[11]	Luis Antônio Zaluar	December 2008
Al-Ettifaq	Toni	Sacked[12]	Ioan Andone	December 2008
Najran	Costică Ștefănescu	Sacked[13]	Mokhtar Tlili	January 2009
Al-Nassr	Edgar	Caretaker period ended[14]	Edgardo Bauza	January 2009
Al-Hilal	Cosmin Olăroiu	Sacked[15]	Cătălin Necula (caretaker)	March 2009
Al-Hilal	Cătălin Necula	Caretaker period ended[16]	Georges Leekens	April 2009

Foreign players

The number of foreign players was limited to 3 per team, and should not be a goalkeeper. For the January transfer window, the SAFF added an additional slot for a player from one of the AFC countries.

• Players name in bold indicates the player was registered during mid-season transfer window.
• Players name in italic indicates the player was de-registered or left their respective clubs during mid-season transfer window.

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	AFC Player	Former players
Abha	Aziz Ayat Aabi				Khalid Zouine
Al-Ahli	Youcef Saïbi	Walid Soliman	Ibrahima Gueye	Baha' Abdel-Rahman	Adel Maïza Harison Ndubuisi Eze
Al-Ettifaq	Paulo Sérgio	Prince Tagoe	Salaheddine Aqqal	Mohannad Ibrahim
Al-Hazem	Karim Eddafi	Hamad Ji	Mohamed Rebeiz	Bashar Bani Yaseen	Kodjo Afanou
Al-Hilal	Tarik El Taib	Mirel Rădoi	Christian Wilhelmsson	Seol Ki-hyeon	Ronald Raldes
Al-Ittihad	Renato Cajá	Emad Moteab	Hicham Aboucherouane	Ahmed Hadid Al-Mukhaini
Al-Nassr	Éder Gaúcho	Élton Arábia	Hossam Ghaly	Hassan Rabia	Razak Omotoyossi
Al-Raed	Felipe Campos	Leandro Sena	Boris Kabi	Saleh Abdulhameed	Tarik Miri Zakaria Aboub
Al-Shabab	Marcelo Camacho	Ricardo Bóvio		Talal Al-Bloushi	Nei
Al-Watani	Josimar	Makhete Diop		Basem Fathi	Mamadou Ba Camara Mousa Conde Assane Sy
Al-Wehda	Harison	Amir Akrout	Mejdi Traoui	Raja Rafe	Omar Daoud Daouda N'Diaye Bilel Sabri
Najran	Vinícius	Wilsinho	Abdulfatah Safi	Talal Khalfan

League table

Fixtures and results

Home \ Away	ABH	AHL	ETT	HAZ	HIL	ITT	NSR	RAE	SHB	WAT	WHD	NAJ
Abha		0–0	1–0	0–0	0–3	1–2	2–2	0–1	2–1	2–2	2–2	1–0
Al-Ahli	2–1		1–1	1–0	0–1	1–2	2–1	3–2	2–1	2–0	0–0	2–0
Al-Ettifaq	3–1	0–0		0–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–1	3–0	4–0	1–1
Al-Hazem	2–1	1–1	1–1		1–2	3–3	1–0	1–0	1–1	3–0	3–1	2–1
Al-Hilal	4–1	0–0	2–0	3–0		1–2	2–1	2–0	2–0	0–0	0–0	7–0
Al-Ittihad	3–0	1–2	3–0	3–0	0–0		1–0	5–1	2–1	7–2	2–1	3–2
Al-Nassr	0–1	2–1	1–0	3–1	0–2	2–2		1–0	0–0	1–0	3–1	1–0
Al-Raed	3–1	2–3	1–2	1–0	0–2	0–2	0–1		0–4	3–2	6–3	0–1
Al-Shabab	5–0	3–2	1–0	2–0	1–1	0–4	2–1	1–4		2–2	4–2	2–1
Al-Watani	0–0	2–2	0–1	3–3	1–3	1–2	1–2	3–1	0–2		0–2	3–1
Al-Wehda	4–1	0–2	1–0	2–1	0–1	1–3	1–2	3–1	1–1	4–0		2–1
Najran	1–1	1–4	0–2	2–1	2–1	1–4	1–0	2–1	0–2	2–0	2–2

Updated to match(es) played on 12 April 2009. Source: Goalzz.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation play-offs

Al-Raed, who finished 10th, faced Abha, who finished 11th for a two-legged play-off. The winner on aggregate score after both matches earned entry into the 2009–10 Professional League while the loser was relegated to the First Division. Al-Raed won 4–3 on aggregate and retained their place in the next edition.^[17]

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Abha	3–4	Al-Raed	1–1	2–3

First leg

Abha	1–1	Al-Raed
Yaseen 20'	Report	Al-Amri 57'

24 April 2009

20:40 (UTC+3)

Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium, Abha

Referee: Claudio Circhetta (Switzerland)

Second leg

Al-Raed	3–2	Abha
Campos 37' Al-Sherif 65' Kabi 88'	Report	Al-Faraj 2' Morjan 49'

30 April 2009

20:40 (UTC+3)

King Abdullah Sport City Stadium, Buraidah

Referee: Jérôme Laperrière (Switzerland)

Al-Raed won 4–3 on aggregate.

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[18]
1	Hicham Aboucherouane	Al-Ittihad	12
	Nasser Al-Shamrani	Al-Shabab
3	Emad Moteab	Al-Ittihad	10
	Yasser Al-Qahtani	Al-Hilal
5	Boris Kabi	Al-Raed	9
	Hassan Al-Raheb	Al-Ahli
	Naif Hazazi	Al-Ittihad
	Amir Akrout	Al-Wehda
9	Mohammad Al-Anbar	Al-Hilal	8
10	Essa Al-Mehyani	Al-Wehda	7
	Sultan Al-Nemri	Al-Ittihad

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref
Nei4	Al-Shabab	Al-Wehda	4–2 (H)	4 October 2008	[19]
Nasser Al-Shamrani	Al-Shabab	Abha	5–0 (H)	4 December 2008	[20]
Hicham Aboucherouane	Al-Ittihad	Al-Watani	7–2 (H)	15 December 2008	[21]
Yasser Al-Qahtani4	Al-Hilal	Najran	7–0 (H)	20 December 2008	[22]

Notes

⁴ Player scored 4 goals
(H) – Home team
(A) – Away team

Most assists

Rank	Player	Club	Assists[23]
1	Mohammed Noor	Al-Ittihad	11
2	Abdoh Otaif	Al-Shabab	7
3	Ahmed Al-Fraidi	Al-Hilal	6
	Christian Wilhelmsson	Al-Hilal
5	Hamad Ji	Al-Hazem	5
	Saleh Al-Saqri	Al-Ittihad
	Tarik El Taib	Al-Hilal
	Hicham Aboucherouane	Al-Ittihad
9	Al Hasan Al-Yami	Najran	4
	Hassan Al-Raheb	Al-Ahli
	Essa Al-Mehyani	Al-Wehda

Clean sheets

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets[24]
1	Mohamed Al-Deayea	Al-Hilal	14
2	Yasser Al-Mosailem	Al-Ahli	7
3	Mabrouk Zaid	Al-Ittihad	6
	Waleed Abdullah	Al-Shabab
5	Saeed Al-Harbi	Al-Hazem	5
	Salem Asiri	Abha
7	Adnan Al-Salman	Al-Ettifaq	3
	Assaf Al-Qarni	Al-Wehda
	Jaber Al-Ameri	Najran

Discipline

Player

• Most yellow cards: 6^[25]
  • Harison (Al-Ahli/Al-Wehda)
  • Abdullah Al-Dossari (Al-Wehda)
  • Abdullah Huwais (Al-Watani)
  • Ahmed Al-Fraidi (Al-Hilal)
  • Ahmed Menawer (Al-Hazem)
  • Basem Al-Sherif (Al-Raed)
  • Ibrahim Al-Kaabi (Al-Watani)
  • Ibrahim Hazzazi (Al-Ahli)
  • Taisir Al-Jassim (Al-Ahli)

• Most red cards: 2^[25]
  • Naif Al-Qadi (Al-Shabab)
  • Redha Tukar (Al-Ittihad)
  • Sultan Al-Balawi (Al-Watani)

Club

• Most yellow cards: 52^[26]
  • Abha
  • Al-Watani

• Most red cards: 7^[27]
  • Al-Wehda

Awards

The following awards were given following the conclusion of the season. The awards were known as the Arriyadiyah and Mobily Awards for Sports Excellence and were sponsored by Saudi newspaper Arriyadiyah and Saudi telecommunication company Mobily. The awards were presented on 30 May 2009.^[28]

Award	Winner	Club
Player of the Season	Ahmed Otaif Tarik El Taib Osama Hawsawi	Al-Shabab Al-Hilal Al-Hilal
Young Player of the Season	Hamad Al-Hamad Salman Al-Faraj Mansoor Al-Harbi	Al-Ettifaq Al-Hilal Al-Ahli
Goldent Boot	Hicham Aboucherouane Nasser Al-Shamrani	Al-Ittihad Al-Shabab

See also

• 2009 King Cup of Champions
• 2008–09 Saudi Crown Prince Cup