The 2008–09 Saudi Professional League was the 33rd season of Saudi Pro League since its establishment in 1976. 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.
| 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] |
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 Professional 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
Personnel
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 Roubize | 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 | Daouda N'Diaye Bilel Sabri |
| Najran | Vinícius | Wilsinho | Abdulfatah Safi | Talal Khalfan |
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Al-Ittihad (C) | 22 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 57 | 21 | +36 | 55 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage[a] |
| 2 | Al-Hilal | 22 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 41 | 9 | +32 | 50 | |
| 3 | Al-Ahli | 22 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 33 | 20 | +13 | 40 | |
| 4 | Al-Shabab | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 37 | 29 | +8 | 35 | |
| 5 | Al-Nassr | 22 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 24 | 22 | +2 | 34 | Qualification for the Gulf Club Champions Cup |
| 6 | Al-Ettifaq | 22 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 23 | 20 | +3 | 29 | |
| 7 | Al-Wehda | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 33 | 39 | −6 | 26 | |
| 8 | Al-Hazem | 22 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 25 | 31 | −6 | 25 | |
| 9 | Najran | 22 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 22 | 42 | −20 | 21 | |
| 10 | Al-Raed (O) | 22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 28 | 43 | −15 | 19 | Qualification to relegation play-offs |
| 11 | Abha (R) | 22 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 19 | 40 | −21 | 19 | |
| 12 | Al-Watani (R) | 22 | 2 | 6 | 14 | 22 | 48 | −26 | 12 | Relegation to the First Division |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Play-offs (only if needed to decide champion, teams for relegation or teams for international competitions); 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:
Fixtures and results
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. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abha | 3–4 | Al-Raed | 1–1 | 2–3 |
First leg
Second leg
| Al-Raed | 3–2 | Abha |
|---|---|---|
Campos  37'Al-Sherif 65'Kabi 88' | Report | Al-Faraj 2' Morjan 49' |
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
Clean sheets
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets[23] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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[24]
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[24]
- Naif Al-Qadi (Al-Shabab)
- Redha Tukar (Al-Ittihad)
- Sultan Al-Balawi (Al-Watani)
Club
- Most yellow cards: 52[25]
- Abha
- Al-Watani
- Most red cards: 7[26]
- 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.[27]
| 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 |