2008–09 Eredivisie

The 2008–09 Eredivisie was the 53rd season of Eredivisie since its establishment in 1955. PSV were the reigning champions. The season began on 29 August 2008 with a game between Vitesse Arnhem and FC Groningen and ended on 10 May 2009. A total of 18 teams take part in the league, consisting of 16 who competed in the previous season and two promoted from the Eerste Divisie. The teams promoted from the Eerste Divisie at the end of the previous season were champions FC Volendam, and play-off winners ADO Den Haag. AZ clinched their second title, their first coming in 1981.

This article is about the men's competition. For the women's competition, see 2008–09 Eredivisie (women).
Eredivisie
Season2008–09
Dates29 August 2008 – 10 May 2009
ChampionsAZ (2nd title)
RelegatedFC Volendam
De Graafschap
Champions LeagueAZ (group stage)
FC Twente (third qualifying round)
Europa LeagueSC Heerenveen (play-off round; via KNVB Cup)
Ajax (play-off round)
PSV (third qualifying round)
NAC Breda (second qualifying round; via playoff)
Goals scored870
Average goals/game2.84
Top goalscorerMounir El Hamdaoui (23)
Biggest home winAjax 7-0 Willem II (12 April 2009)
Biggest away winDe Graafschap 0-6 Ajax (21 December 2008)
Highest scoringPSV 6-2 Ajax (19 April 2009)
Volendam 3-5 PSV (8 February 2009)
Twente 6-2 Sparta (6 December 2008)
Location of teams in the Eredivisie 2008–09

Overview
Club Location Manager Previous managers during 2008–09 season Kit maker Shirt sponsor
ADO Den Haag The Hague Netherlands Raymond Atteveld Netherlands André Wetzel Hummel Fit For Free
Ajax Amsterdam Netherlands John van 't Schip Netherlands Marco van Basten Adidas Aegon
AZ Alkmaar Netherlands Louis van Gaal Canterbury of New Zealand DSB Bank
Feyenoord Rotterdam Netherlands Leon Vlemmings Netherlands Gertjan Verbeek Kappa Fortis
De Graafschap Doetinchem Bosnia and Herzegovina Darije Kalezić Netherlands Henk van Stee kwd Centric
FC Groningen Groningen Netherlands Ron Jans Klupp Noord Lease
SC Heerenveen Heerenveen Norway Trond Sollied Jako Univé
Heracles Almelo Almelo Netherlands Gert Heerkes Jako Koninklijke Ten Cate
NAC Breda Breda Netherlands Robert Maaskant Klupp Sunweb
N.E.C. Nijmegen Netherlands Mario Been Nike Curaçao
PSV Eindhoven Netherlands Dwight Lodeweges Netherlands Huub Stevens Nike Philips
Roda JC Kerkrade Netherlands / Belgium Harm van Veldhoven Netherlands Martin Koopman, Netherlands Raymond Atteveld Diadora Aevitae
Sparta Rotterdam Rotterdam Netherlands Foeke Booy Patrick Graydon
FC Twente Enschede England Steve McClaren Diadora Arke
FC Utrecht Utrecht Netherlands Ton du Chatinier Netherlands Willem van Hanegem Puma Phanos
Vitesse Arnhem Arnhem Netherlands Theo Bos Netherlands Hans Westerhof Legea AFAB
FC Volendam Volendam Netherlands Frans Adelaar Jako Café Bar
Willem II Tilburg Netherlands Alfons Groenendijk Netherlands Andries Jonker Masita Destil

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 AZ (C) 34 25 5 4 66 22 +44 80 Qualification to Champions League group stage
2 Twente 34 20 9 5 62 31 +31 69 Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round
3 Ajax 34 21 5 8 74 41 +33 68 Qualification to Europa League play-off round
4 PSV 34 19 8 7 71 33 +38 65 Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round
5 Heerenveen 34 17 9 8 66 57 +9 60 Qualification to Europa League play-off round[lower-alpha 1]
6 Groningen 34 17 5 12 53 36 +17 56 Qualification to European competition play-offs
7 Feyenoord 34 12 9 13 54 46 +8 45
8 NAC Breda (O) 34 13 6 15 44 54 −10 45
9 Utrecht 34 11 11 12 41 44 −3 44
10 Vitesse Arnhem 34 11 10 13 41 48 −7 43
11 NEC 34 9 15 10 41 40 +1 42
12 Willem II 34 10 7 17 35 58 −23 37
13 Sparta Rotterdam 34 9 8 17 46 66 −20 35
14 ADO Den Haag 34 8 8 18 41 58 −17 32
15 Heracles 34 7 11 16 35 53 −18 32
16 Roda JC 34 7 9 18 38 58 −20 30 Qualification to relegation play-offs
17 De Graafschap (R) 34 7 9 18 24 58 −34 30
18 Volendam (R) 34 7 8 19 38 67 −29 29 Relegation to the Eerste Divisie
Source: ESPN Eredivisie Table
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Heerenveen qualified for the play-off round of the UEFA Europa League 2009–10 by winning the 2008–09 KNVB Cup.

Results
Home \ Away ADO AJX AZ FEY GRA GRO HEE HER NAC NEC PSV RJC SPA TWE UTR VIT VOL WIL
ADO Den Haag 1–1 3–0 2–3 1–0 0–1 0–1 2–2 1–1 3–0 0–2 1–1 1–2 1–2 0–0 3–1 2–0 0–1
Ajax 3–0 1–1 2–0 3–0 1–0 0–1 2–2 3–0 2–0 4–1 1–0 5–2 1–0 1–1 3–0 2–1 7–0
AZ 4–1 2–0 0–0 2–0 3–0 3–1 2–0 1–2 1–0 1–0 1–0 6–0 3–0 2–0 1–2 3–0 3–1
Feyenoord 3–1 2–2 0–1 1–3 0–0 2–2 5–1 3–1 0–2 1–0 2–3 1–0 1–0 5–2 2–2 5–0 1–1
De Graafschap 2–0 0–6 0–2 0–2 0–1 2–0 1–0 0–2 2–2 0–3 1–1 3–3 2–2 0–2 1–0 2–2 1–0
Groningen 3–0 1–0 0–2 3–1 3–0 2–3 2–0 1–0 2–0 0–1 2–0 3–0 1–4 2–0 2–3 5–0 0–0
Heerenveen 2–2 5–2 3–3 3–1 2–0 2–1 2–2 3–1 2–1 2–2 2–0 5–1 1–1 3–2 0–2 1–0 3–1
Heracles 3–1 1–3 0–2 3–1 0–0 1–1 1–1 4–0 1–1 0–2 2–0 2–1 1–2 1–1 0–0 1–1 1–0
NAC Breda 0–4 0–3 0–1 1–2 0–1 1–0 4–2 3–0 1–1 2–1 1–0 3–1 0–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–3
NEC 0–0 2–4 0–1 1–0 2–0 2–2 1–1 1–1 2–3 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–2 3–1 6–1 0–0
PSV Eindhoven 6–0 6–2 2–2 1–0 3–0 4–2 2–3 4–0 2–2 1–1 2–3 1–0 0–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 2–0
Roda JC 2–0 1–2 0–2 0–4 3–1 2–5 2–2 3–1 0–3 3–0 1–1 0–1 1–1 0–0 3–0 1–1 0–1
Sparta Rotterdam 2–5 4–0 0–2 2–1 0–0 1–1 4–1 1–0 4–0 0–2 0–2 2–2 1–2 1–0 0–0 4–0 0–1
Twente 1–0 0–2 3–0 1–1 3–0 2–1 6–0 2–0 4–1 1–1 1–1 4–2 6–2 0–0 2–1 2–1 2–0
Utrecht 3–1 0–2 0–1 2–2 3–0 0–1 2–1 2–0 0–0 0–2 1–5 3–1 3–3 3–0 4–0 0–0 1–0
Vitesse Arnhem 3–1 4–1 1–1 1–1 0–0 0–4 1–0 1–0 0–3 0–0 1–1 3–0 1–1 0–2 6–1 3–1 2–2
Volendam 0–1 1–2 0–2 2–1 3–1 0–1 2–3 3–1 2–4 1–1 3–5 3–1 3–0 1–2 0–0 1–0 2–2
Willem II 3–3 2–1 2–5 1–0 1–1 3–0 1–3 0–3 2–0 1–2 0–3 2–1 3–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 1–2
Source: Eredivisie.nl (in Dutch)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers
Pos. Player Club Goals
1 Morocco Mounir El Hamdaoui AZ 23
2 Uruguay Luis Suárez Ajax 22
3 Sweden Marcus Berg Groningen 17
4 Netherlands Roy Makaay Feyenoord 16
Croatia Danijel Pranjić Heerenveen
Switzerland Blaise N'Kufo Twente
7 Netherlands Frank Demouge Willem II 14
8 Netherlands Ibrahim Afellay PSV 13
9 Ghana Matthew Amoah NAC Breda 12
Austria Marko Arnautović Twente
Total: 870
Games: 306
Average: 2.84

Last updated: 11 May 2009
Source: ESPN Top Scorers

Play-offs

European competition (best of 3)

Contrary to the play-offs of previous years, only teams placed 6th through 9th compete in a play-off tournament for one spot in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League 2009–10.

Semi-finals
Team 1 Pts Team 2   1st leg     2nd leg     3rd leg  
Utrecht 3–7 Groningen 3–3 0–4 not played
NAC Breda 7–2 Feyenoord 3–2 4–0 not played

Final
Team 1 Pts Team 2   1st leg     2nd leg     3rd leg  
NAC Breda 3–1 Groningen 1–1 2–0 not played

Relegation

The 16th and 17th placed teams, along with the teams from Eerste Divisie, participate in a play-off for two spots in 2009–10 Eredivisie.

Round 1
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Telstar 0–1 MVV 0–0 0–1
TOP Oss 0–3 Dordrecht 0–2 0–1

Round 2 (best of 3)
Team 1 Pts Team 2   1st leg     2nd leg     3rd leg  
MVV 1–4 De Graafschap 2–3 2–2 not played
Excelsior 1–4 RKC Waalwijk 1–2 1–1 not played
FC Zwolle 3–6 Cambuur 2–1 1–3 0–2
Dordrecht 1–4 Roda JC 1–1 0–1 not played

Round 3 (best of 3)
Team 1 Pts Team 2   1st leg     2nd leg     3rd leg  
RKC Waalwijk 6–3 De Graafschap 2–0 1–2 1–0
Cambuur 3–3 (p. 1–3) Roda JC 0–0 1–1 2–2 (aet)

RKC Waalwijk and Roda JC will play in Eredivisie 2009–10.

Facts and statistics
  • Ajax lost the opening match 2–1 away at Willem II. This was Ajax' first opening round defeat since the 1988–89 season.
  • Ajax and Feyenoord both lost their opening matches. The last times this happened was in the 1965–66 season.
  • ADO Den Haag topped the league table after two matches. The last time ADO was in first place was on 16 January 1971.
  • NAC Breda led the Eredivisie after round six. This was the first time in club history that NAC were in first place of the Eredivisie.
  • A record 6,067,288 spectators passed through the turnstiles, an average of 19,827 per match.

Television rights

The Dutch public broadcaster NOS broadcast the match highlights after beating rival broadcaster RTL for the contract. The new pay-per-view channel Eredivisie Live broadcast the live matches.[1]

In Australia the Eredivisie was broadcast live and exclusive by Setanta Sports.

See also

References
  1. "Eredivisie Live launches 29 August". Broadband TV News. 2008-07-10. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
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