2008–09 Iraqi Premier League

Iraqi Premier League

Season	2008–09
Champions	Erbil (3rd title)
Top goalscorer	Ahmed Salah (15 goals)
Biggest home win	Al-Najaf 6–1 Maysan (22 May 2009)
Biggest away win	Al-Kahrabaa 0–6 Erbil (5 June 2009)
Highest scoring	Al-Najaf 6–1 Maysan (22 May 2009)
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

The 2008–09 Iraqi Premier League was the 35th edition of the competition. It started on 1 November 2008 and ended on 16 July 2009. 27 teams from all over the country competed for the title. Erbil won the title by defeating Al-Najaf in the final via penalty shootout after a goalless draw. It was Erbil's third league title in a row. The two teams would have qualified for the 2010 AFC Cup, but were disqualified due to FIFA's suspension of the Iraq Football Association.

The 2008–09 season is the only season in history where none of the four Baghdad Derby clubs (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, Al-Shorta, Al-Talaba and Al-Zawraa) finished in the top four.

Name changes

• Al-Bareed renamed to Al-Etisalat wal-Bareed at the end of 2008.

Group stage

Group 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Erbil	26	20	4	2	55	17	+38	64	Qualified to the Final
2	Duhok	26	18	7	1	47	11	+36	61	Qualified to Third place match
3	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	26	12	6	8	36	25	+11	42
4	Al-Naft	26	11	6	9	23	26	−3	39
5	Peris	26	9	10	7	27	26	+1	37
6	Al-Ramadi	26	10	7	9	29	30	−1	37
7	Samarra	26	9	7	10	27	23	+4	34
8	Al-Shorta	26	8	10	8	29	29	0	34
9	Salahaddin	26	8	9	9	24	27	−3	33
10	Al-Kahrabaa	26	7	9	10	22	34	−12	30
11	Kirkuk	26	6	9	11	18	25	−7	27
12	Sulaymaniya	26	6	9	11	26	34	−8	27
13	Al-Hudood	26	4	7	15	15	33	−18	19
14	Diyala	26	1	6	19	9	47	−38	9

Source: Goalzz
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results

Home \ Away	HUD	KAH	NFT	QWJ	RAM	SHR	ERB	DYL	DUH	KRK	PER	SAL	SMR	SUL
Al-Hudood		0–1	0–3	2–3	0–0	1–1	0–2	3–0	0–4	3–0	1–1	1–0	0–0	0–0
Al-Kahrabaa	1–0		0–1	0–0	1–3	0–0	0–6	1–1	1–1	1–0	0–0	1–1	1–1	2–1
Al-Naft	1–0	1–0		1–3	1–0	2–2	0–0	1–0	0–1	0–0	1–0	2–0	1–1	1–0
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	2–0	2–1	2–2		1–1	4–1	0–2	4–0	0–0	0–1	3–1	0–0	2–1	1–1
Al-Ramadi	2–0	1–2	1–1	1–0		2–0	2–2	2–1	1–2	2–1	0–0	0–0	0–1	1–1
Al-Shorta	0–0	2–0	1–0	1–2	2–0		1–2	3–0	1–0	0–0	1–1	2–3	1–0	2–1
Erbil	3–0	3–1	3–0	1–0	3–1	1–0		2–0	1–2	3–1	2–0	3–1	1–0	4–2
Diyala	0–1	0–1	0–1	1–2	1–3	0–3	0–2		0–2	1–1	0–3	0–0	1–0	1–1
Duhok	2–1	3–2	3–0	2–1	4–0	4–0	3–0	4–0		1–0	0–0	1–0	2–0	1–1
Kirkuk	1–0	0–0	1–0	0–1	1–2	2–2	2–2	1–0	0–1		2–0	2–3	0–1	1–0
Peris	1–1	2–1	1–0	1–0	2–0	1–1	0–3	4–1	2–2	0–0		2–1	2–0	2–1
Salahaddin	1–0	2–2	2–1	1–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	1–1	0–2	1–0	3–0		0–0	1–3
Samarra	2–0	1–2	4–0	2–1	1–2	3–2	1–2	1–0	0–0	0–0	1–1	1–2		2–0
Sulaymaniya	2–1	3–1	1–2	1–2	2–1	0–0	0–2	0–0	0–0	1–1	1–0	2–1	1–4

Source: Goalzz
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:

Group 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Al-Najaf	24	15	7	2	39	12	+27	52	Qualified to the Final
2	Al-Amana	24	13	11	0	37	15	+22	50	Qualified to Third place match
3	Al-Talaba	24	14	5	5	32	15	+17	47
4	Al-Zawraa	24	9	9	6	30	24	+6	36
5	Naft Al-Junoob	24	9	9	6	27	23	+4	36
6	Al-Minaa	24	10	6	8	20	24	−4	36
7	Al-Kufa	24	7	11	6	24	24	0	32
8	Al-Sinaa	24	4	15	5	17	18	−1	27
9	Al-Nasiriya	24	6	7	11	23	28	−5	25
10	Al-Samawa	24	5	9	10	15	25	−10	24
11	Karbala	24	5	5	14	18	30	−12	20
12	Al-Etisalat wal-Bareed	24	3	6	15	11	30	−19	15
13	Maysan	24	2	8	14	20	45	−25	14

Source: Goalzz
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Note: Al-Mosul withdrew from the league.

Results

Home \ Away	AMN	BRD	KUF	MIN	NJF	NAS	SMA	SIN	TLB	ZWR	KRB	MAY	NFJ
Al-Amana		1–1	4–1	3–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–0	1–1	3–0	3–2	2–2
Al-Etisalat wal-Bareed	0–1		0–1	2–0	0–0	1–0	2–2	0–1	0–1	1–4	0–2	1–1	1–0
Al-Kufa	2–2	1–0		1–1	0–1	3–1	1–0	0–0	0–1	0–0	1–1	3–1	1–1
Al-Minaa	1–1	1–0	2–2		0–1	1–0	2–0	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	0–0
Al-Najaf	1–1	3–0	1–0	1–0		1–1	3–0	3–1	1–0	1–2	2–0	6–1	2–1
Al-Nasiriya	0–1	3–0	0–0	0–1	1–2		1–2	1–1	1–2	1–2	1–0	2–1	2–0
Al-Samawa	0–1	1–0	0–2	3–0	0–0	1–1		0–0	0–0	1–1	2–1	2–0	0–0
Al-Sinaa	0–1	1–0	1–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0		0–0	0–0	1–0	1–1	0–0
Al-Talaba	0–1	1–0	3–0	2–1	2–0	3–0	1–1	1–1		0–2	2–0	4–1	3–2
Al-Zawraa	0–2	3–1	2–2	4–1	0–2	2–1	1–0	1–1	0–1		0–0	1–1	1–3
Karbala	1–2	1–1	0–0	0–1	0–3	1–1	4–0	2–1	1–2	0–1		2–1	1–0
Maysan	0–2	0–0	0–1	1–1	0–3	1–2	1–0	2–4	0–2	1–1	1–0		0–0
Naft Al-Junoob	0–0	1–0	2–1	1–0	1–1	1–2	1–0	2–1	2–1	2–1	3–1	2–2

Source: Goalzz
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:

Championship play-off

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Third place match
Al-Amana	0–1	Duhok
Final
Al-Najaf	0–0 (a.e.t.) (2–3 p.)	Erbil

Third place match

15 July 2009

15:30 GMT

Al-Amana	0–1	Duhok
Abdul-Nabi 15'		Mushir 48'

Al-Shaab Stadium, Baghdad

Referee: Kadhim Awda

Final

16 July 2009

15:30 GMT

Al-Najaf	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Erbil
Penalties
Mohsen Sahib Naeem Faleh Sadir Sultan	2–3	Mubarak Abdul-Wahed Mohammed Mansoor Al-Deen Raad

Al-Shaab Stadium, Baghdad

Referee: Alaa Abdul-Qadir

Al-Najaf

Erbil

GK	20	Alaa Gatea
DF	7	Chasib Sultan (c)
DF	3	Uday Omran		56'
DF	5	Nabeel Abbas
DF	24	Faisal Jassim
MF	22	Saeed Mohsen
MF	18	Dhia Faleh
MF	15	Dhia Abbas		61'
MF	9	Sahel Naeem
FW	10	Hussein Karim		97'
FW	12	Alaa Aasi	98'
Substitutions:
DF	6	Ayad Sadir	119'	56'
MF		Faris Saadoun	62'	61'
MF	25	Hatim Sahib		97'
Manager:
Hatif Shamran

GK	1	Ahmad Ali
DF	2	Samal Saeed	109'
DF	3	Yassir Raad
DF	16	Saad Attiya
DF	14	Khaldoun Ibrahim	77'	96'
MF	19	Deyar Rahman
MF	12	Herdi Noor Al-Deen		67'
MF	25	Ahmed Abid Ali
FW	17	Ahmed Salah (c)		61'
FW	11	Luay Salah	32'	83'
FW	10	Muslim Mubarak
Substitutions:
FW	9	Ali Mansoor	99'	61'
MF	23	Shirzad Mohammed		67'
MF	20	Hussein Abdul-Wahed		83'
DF	4	Rafid Badr Al-Deen		96'
Manager:
Thair Ahmed

Match officials

• Assistant referees:
  • Ali Zaidan
  • Luay Subhi

Match rules

• 90 minutes.
• 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
• Penalty shootout if scores still level.

Season statistics

Top four positions

Pos	Team	Pld	Pts	Eff	Qualification
1	Erbil	27	65	80.2%	2010 AFC Cup (disqualified)
2	Al-Najaf	25	53	70.7%	2010 AFC Cup (disqualified)
3	Duhok	27	64	79.0%
4	Al-Amana	25	50	66.7%

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Ahmed Salah	Erbil	15
2	Luay Salah	Erbil	11
3	Nasser Tallaa	Naft Al-Junoob	9
	Sahib Abbas	Karbala
	Hussein Karim	Al-Najaf

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of Iraq Stars League hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Ahmed Jadiea	Al-Amana	Karbala	3–0	14 November 2008
Sahib Abbas	Karbala	Al-Samawa	4–0	12 December 2008
Ahmed Hanoon	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Al-Naft	3–1	20 March 2009
Zaid Abdul-Hamza	Al-Kufa	Al-Nasiriya	3–1	9 May 2009
Ahmed Salah	Erbil	Al-Kahrabaa	6–0	5 June 2009

External links

• Iraq Football Association