2008–09 Cypriot First Division

The 2008–09 Cypriot First Division was the seventy season of top-tier football on Cyprus. It started on 30 August 2008 and ended on 10 May 2009. The defending champions were Anorthosis.

Marfin Laiki League
Season2008–09
ChampionsAPOEL
20th title
RelegatedAlki
AEK
Atromitos
Champions LeagueAPOEL
Europa LeagueOmonia
Anorthosis
APOP Kinyras
Matches played218
Goals scored612 (2.81 per match)
Top goalscorerSerjão (24 goals)
Biggest home winOmonia 7–1 Enosis
Apollon 7–1 Alki
Biggest away winAtromitos 1–6 Anorthosis
Atromitos 0–5 Omonia
Highest scoringAtromitos 3–6 Apollon

APOEL won the championship three matchweeks before the end of the season.

This year, for the second time, the championship also featured a group stage play-off system. Teams were divided into 3 groups: 1st–4th, 5th–8th and 9th–12th. Points from the main part of the season still counted.

Format

Fourteen teams participated in the 2008–09 Cypriot First Division. Each team played against every other team twice, once at home and once away, for a total of 26 matches. After these matches, the two teams with the worst records were relegated to the 2009–10 Cypriot Second Division. The remaining twelve teams were divided into three groups: 1st-4th, 5th-8th and 9th-12th.

The teams ranked first through fourth played out the champion and the participants for the European competitions. Teams ranked ninth through 12th determined the third relegated club, while the remaining four teams played a placement round. Every team played twice against its group opponents. Regular season records are carried over without any modifications.

The champions ensured their participation in the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League and the runners-up and the third team in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League.

Point system

Teams received three points for a win, one point for a draw and zero points for a loss.

Stadia and locations
2008–09 Cypriot First Division
Team Stadium
AEK Larnaca GSZ Stadium
AEL Limassol Tsirion Stadium
AEP Paphos Pafiako Stadium
Alki Larnaca Ammochostos Stadium
Anorthosis Famagusta Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium
APEP Tsirion Stadium
APOEL GSP Stadium
Apollon Limassol Tsirion Stadium
APOP Kinyras Peyia Municipal Stadium
Atromitos Yeroskipou Pafiako Stadium
Doxa Katokopias Makario Stadium
Ethnikos Achna Dasaki Stadium
ENP Paralimni Stadium
Omonia GSP Stadium

Promotion and relegation

Teams promoted from 2007-08 Cypriot Second Division:

  • Champions: AE Paphos
  • Runners-up: APEP
  • 3rd placed team: Atromitos

Teams relegated to 2008–09 Cypriot Second Division :

Overview
Team Head Coach Team Captain Venue Capacity Kitmaker Shirt sponsor Club Chairman
AEK Larnaca Savvas Constantinou Constantinos Mina Neo GSZ Stadium 13,032 Mass CytaVision Marios Ellinas
AEL Limassol Mihai Stoichiţă Simos Krassas Tsirion Stadium 13,331 Mass Sinergatiko Tamieftirio Lemesou Andreas Sofokleous
AEP Paphos Nir Klinger Giorgos Georgiou Pafiako Stadium 10,000 Mass Eurolink Investment Group Fillippos Georgiou
Alki Larnaca Panikos Xiourouppas Andrés Rouga Ammochostos Stadium 5,500 Legea TEAM A Security Demetris Phantousis
Anorthosis Famagusta Michalis Pamboris Nikos Nicolaou Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium 10,003 Puma Quality Group Developments Chris Georgiades
APEP Pitsilia Willy Scheepers Bruno Piano Tsirion Stadium 13,331 Mass KKCG Panayiotis Neokleous
APOEL Ivan Jovanović Marinos Satsias GSP Stadium 22,859 Lotto MTN Group Foivos Erotokritou
Apollon Limassol Thomas von Heesen Christos Theophilou Tsirion Stadium 13,331 Lotto Columbia Ship Management Theodoros Antoniou
APOP Kinyras Peyias Giorgos Polyviou Giannis Sfakianakis Peyia Municipal Stadium 3,828 Puma PrimeTel Michalis Mitas
Atromitos Yeroskipou Sofoklis Sofokleous Argyris Petrou Pafiako Stadium 10,000 Umbro SPE Yeroskipou Vangelis Genis
Doxa Katokopia Pambos Christodoulou Kyriacos Polykarpou Makario Stadium 16,000 Puma Yiannakas Real Estate Ltd Charalambos Argyrou
Enosis Neon Paralimni Adamos Adamou & Antonis Kleftis Demos Goumenos Paralimni Stadium 5,800 Lotto Elian Developers Adamos Loizou
Ethnikos Achna Stéphane Demol Christos Poyiatzis Dasaki Stadium 7,000 Nike Famagusta Developers Kikis Philippou
Omonia Takis Lemonis Kostas Kaiafas GSP Stadium 22,859 Lotto Ocean Tankers Miltiadis Neophytou

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment
Omonia Giorgos Savvidis[1] Resigned 4 March 2008 Nedim Tutić[1] 4 March 2008
Apollon Yossi Mizrahi Mutual consent 11 May 2008 Svetozar Šapurić[2] 23 May 2008
Ethnikos Svetozar Šapurić Mutual consent 23 May 2008 Stéphane Demol[3] 24 May 2008
Apollon Svetozar Šapurić[4] Sacked 9 September 2008 Thomas von Heesen[5] 15 September 2008
AEK Nir Klinger[6] Sacked 27 October 2008 Makis Katsavakis[7] 28 October 2008
AEP Savvas Constantinou[8] Resigned 3 November 2008 Nir Klinger 5 November 2008
APOP Eduard Eranosyan[9] Sacked 27 November 2008 Giorgos Polyviou 27 November 2008
AEK Makis Katsavakis[10] Resigned 2 December 2008 Loizos Stefani 2 December 2008
Enosis Marios Constantinou Resigned 7 December 2008 Panayiotis Xiourouppas 8 December 2008
Alki Christos Kassianos Resigned 17 December 2008 Panayiotis Xiourouppas 7 January 2009
AEK Loizos Stefani Mutual consent 18 December 2008 Christos Kassianos 18 December 2008
Enosis Panayiotis Xiourouppas Mutual consent 29 December 2008 Eduard Eranosyan 30 December 2008
AEK Christos Kassianos Resigned 15 January 2009 Savvas Constantinou 15 January 2009
AEL Andreas Michaelides Mutual consent 26 January 2009 Mihai Stoichiţă 27 January 2009
Enosis Eduard Eranosyan Resigned 28 January 2009 Adamos Adamou & Antonis Kleftis 29 January 2009
Omonia Nedim Tutić Sacked 16 March 2009 Takis Lemonis 17 March 2009
APEP Tasos Kyriacou Sacked 5 April 2009 Willy Scheepers 5 April 2009
Anorthosis Temuri Ketsbaia Resigned 13 April 2009 Michalis Pamboris 13 April 2009

First round

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 APOEL 26 22 3 1 53 14 +39 69 Qualification for second round, Group A
2 Omonia Nicosia 26 21 1 4 61 18 +43 64
3 Anorthosis Famagusta 26 20 2 4 49 19 +30 62
4 AEL Limassol 26 13 4 9 34 30 +4 43[lower-alpha 1]
5 Apollon Limassol 26 13 4 9 53 34 +19 43[lower-alpha 1] Qualification for second round, Group B
6 APOP Kinyras 26 12 4 10 35 35 0 40[lower-alpha 2]
7 Ethnikos Achna 26 11 7 8 34 32 +2 40[lower-alpha 2]
8 Doxa Katokopias 26 8 7 11 37 39 −2 31
9 AEP Paphos 26 5 12 9 30 38 −8 27 Qualification for second round, Group C
10 Enosis Neon Paralimni 26 6 7 13 23 43 −20 25
11 APEP 26 5 8 13 28 44 −16 23
12 Alki Larnaca 26 4 7 15 27 50 −23 19
13 AEK Larnaca (R) 26 3 6 17 27 45 −18 15 Relegation to Cypriot Second Division
14 Atromitos (R) 26 1 4 21 19 69 −50 7
Source: cfa.com.cy (in Greek)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head goals scored; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored.
Teams qualified for Group A played out one spot in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League and two spots in the UEFA Europa League, one in the second and one in the first qualifying round.
A spot in the third qualifying round of UEFA Europa League was awarded to the winners of the 2008–09 Cypriot Cup.
Teams qualified for Group C played out one additional relegation spot.
Points gained in the First round were taken over into the Second round groups.
(R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. AEL 1–0 APOL; APOL 1–3 AEL
  2. ETH 1–4 APOP; APOP 1–2 ETH

Results
Home \ Away AEK AEL AEP ALK ANO APEP APOE APOL APOP ATR DOX ENP ETH OMO
AEK Larnaca 2–0[lower-alpha 1] 1–1 1–1 1–3 0–2 0–1 1–5 1–2 4–0 2–2 2–2 1–1 2–5
AEL Limassol 1–0 2–1 2–2 0–2 0–0 0–1 1–0 1–1 2–1 2–1 1–1 2–0 0–2
AEP Paphos 0–3 0–1 5–2 2–2 1–1 2–2 1–2 2–2 1–0 2–1 0–2 0–0 2–3
Alki Larnaca 1–0 1–2 2–2 0–2 3–1 1–0 0–3 1–3 2–2 1–2 2–1 0–1 0–1
Anorthosis Famagusta 1–0 2–1 0–0 2–1 3–0 1–2 2–1 2–0 3–0 2–0 1–0 2–1 1–2
APEP 1–0 0–1 0–1 2–1 1–2 1–1 1–2 0–1 2–1 3–3 0–0 2–2 1–3
APOEL 2–0 4–0 4–1 3–1 1–0 4–0 4–1 1–0 4–0 3–2 1–0 3–0 3–2
Apollon Limassol 1–0 1–3 4–1 7–1 1–2 1–1 0–1 3–1 2–1 0–2[lower-alpha 2] 4–0 2–1 0–2[lower-alpha 3]
APOP Kinyras 2–0[lower-alpha 4] 1–3 0–0 1–0 0–3 1–0 1–2 1–1 3–1 2–1 1–3 1–2 2–0
Atromitos 1–0 0–3 2–2 1–1 1–6 1–5 0–1 3–6 0–2 1–5 1–1 0–1 0–5
Doxa Katokopias 2–2 3–2 1–0 1–1 0–1 3–2 0–2 2–2 2–0 2–1 0–1 0–0 1–2
Enosis Neon Paralimni 2–1 0–3 0–0 1–1 0–3 4–0 0–1 0–3 1–2 1–0 1–1 0–4 0–2
Ethnikos Achna 2–1 3–1 1–3 2–1 0–1 2–2 1–1 1–1 1–4 2–1 2–0 2–1 2–1
Omonia Nicosia 4–1 1–0 0–0 2–0 4–0 3–0 0–1 1–0 4–1 2–0 2–0 7–1 1–0
Source: cfa.com.cy (in Greek)
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. The match of Round 8 was awarded to AEK with a score of 2–0 after being abandoned due to crowd violence.[11]
  2. The match of Round 12 was awarded to Doxa with a score of 2–0 after being abandoned due to crowd violence.[12]
  3. The match of Round 3 was awarded to Omonia with a score of 2–0 after being abandoned due to crowd violence.[13]
  4. The match of Round 1 was awarded to APOP with a score of 2–0 after being abandoned due to crowd violence.[14]

Second round

Group A

Table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 APOEL (C) 32 26 4 2 62 17 +45 82 Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round
2 Omonia Nicosia 32 25 1 6 70 22 +48 76 Qualification for Europa League second qualifying round
3 Anorthosis Famagusta 32 21 4 7 52 26 +26 67 Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round
4 AEL Limassol 32 13 5 14 38 41 −3 44
Source: cfa.com.cy (in Greek)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head goals scored; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion.

Results
Home \ Away AEL ANO APOE OMO
AEL Limassol 1–1 0–1 2–3
Anorthosis Famagusta 1–0 1–1 0–2
APOEL 3–1 2–0 SUSP[lower-alpha 1]
Omonia Nicosia 2–0 1–0 1–2
Source: cfa.com.cy (in Greek)
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. The match of last round between APOEL and Omonia was suspended after the first half due to violent behaviour of both teams' fans and their mutual conflict.[15] Disciplinary Committee later decided that the final result of the match is forfeit of both teams.[16]

Group B

Table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
5 Apollon Limassol 32 17 6 9 68 42 +26 57
6 Ethnikos Achna 32 13 8 11 47 45 +2 47
7 APOP Kinyras[lower-alpha 1] 32 13 6 13 45 49 −4 39 Qualification for Europa League third qualifying round[lower-alpha 2]
8 Doxa Katokopias 32 10 8 14 46 51 −5 38
Source: cfa.com.cy (in Greek)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head goals scored; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored.
Notes:
  1. APOP were docked 6 points due to unpaid debts.
  2. APOP won the 2008–09 Cypriot Cup and qualified for the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.

Results
Home \ Away APOL APOP DOX ETH
Apollon Limassol 3–2 3–1 2–0
APOP Kinyras 2–2 1–0 1–4
Doxa Katokopias 1–1 3–2 2–5
Ethnikos Achna 2–4 2–2 0–2
Source: cfa.com.cy (in Greek)
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Group C

Table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
9 AEP Paphos 32 7 15 10 39 44 −5 36
10 Enosis Neon Paralimni 32 8 8 16 27 51 −24 32
11 APEP 32 7 10 15 33 51 −18 31
12 Alki Larnaca (R) 32 6 9 17 39 59 −20 27 Relegation to Cypriot Second Division
Source: cfa.com.cy (in Greek)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head goals scored; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored.
(R) Relegated.

Results
Home \ Away AEP ALK APEP ENP
AEP Paphos 3–4 1–1 3–0
Alki Larnaca 1–1 1–1 1–2
APEP 0–1 0–4 2–0
Enosis Neon Paralimni 0–0 2–1 0–1
Source: cfa.com.cy (in Greek)
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers

Source: soccerway.com (First round, Second round)

Rank Player Club Goals
1 Serjão Doxa 24
2 Gastón Sangoy Apollon 22
3 Ferydoon Zandi Alki 12
4 Yiasoumis Yiasoumi Ethnikos 11
Marcin Żewłakow APOEL
6 Demetris Christofi Omonia 10
Gelson APEP
Łukasz Sosin Anorthosis
Bernardo Vasconcelos APOP
10 Haruna Babangida Apollon 9
Fangio Buyse APOP
Kyriacos Chailis AEP
Ioannis Okkas Omonia

Season statistics

Scoring

Discipline

See also

Sources
  • "2008/09 Cypriot First Division". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 2016-01-14. Retrieved 2016-01-14.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

References
  1. ΜΕ ΤΟΥΤΙΤΣ ΚΑΙ ΧΩΡΙΣ ΜΟΥΣΑ ΠΛΕΤΣ ΜΑΡΣΕΛΙΝΙΟ (in Greek). kerkida.net. 2008-03-04. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
  2. Τόζα και επίσημα (in Greek). 24sports.com.cy. 2008-05-23. Archived from the original on 2008-05-28. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
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  5. Τόμας Φον Χέσσεν μέχρι το 2010! (in Greek). 24sports.com.cy. 2008-09-15. Archived from the original on 16 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
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  11. Πληρώνει τα σπασμένα (in Greek). sigmalive.com. 2008-11-21. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
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