2008–09 Macedonian First Football League

Macedonian First League

Season	2008–09
Champions	Makedonija GP 1st domestic title
Relegated	Napredok
Champions League	Makedonija GP
Europa League	Milano Renova Rabotnički
Matches played	165
Goals scored	380 (2.3 per match)
Top goalscorer	Ivica Gligorovski (14)
Biggest home win	Sileks 7–1 Napredok (16 November 2008)
Biggest away win	Sileks 0–3 Metalurg (18 April 2009)
Highest scoring	Sileks 7–1 Napredok (16 November 2008)
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

The 2008–09 Macedonian First League was the 17th season of the Macedonian First Football League, the highest football league of Macedonia. It began on 3 August 2008 and ended on 31 May 2009. FK Rabotnički were the defending champions, having won their third title the previous year. FK Baškimi withdrew from the championship due to financial reasons.^[1]

Promotion and relegation

At the start of the 2008–09 season Promoted from 2007–08 Second League Horizont Turnovo (Winners) Metalurg Skopje (Runners-up) Relegated to 2008–09 Second League Shkëndija (11th) Cementarnica 55 (12th) Bashkimi (10th)^1

At the end of the 2008–09 season Promoted from 2008–09 Second League Teteks (Winners) Sloga Jugomagnat (Runners-up) Relegated to 2009–10 Second League Napredok (11th)

1 Bashkimi was withdraw from the First League due to financial reasons.

Participating teams

Skopje

Milano

Napredok

Pelister

Pobeda

Renova

Sileks

Turnovo

Skopje clubs:

Makedonija
Metalurg
Rabotnički
Vardar

Location of teams in 2008–09 Macedonian First League

Club	City	Stadium	Capacity
FK Makedonija GjP	Skopje	Stadion Gjorče Petrov	3,000
FK Metalurg	Skopje	Stadion Železarnica	4,000
FK Milano	Kumanovo	Milano Arena	3,500
FK Napredok	Kičevo	Gradski stadion Kičevo	5,000
FK Pelister	Bitola	Stadion Tumbe Kafe	8,000
FK Pobeda	Prilep	Stadion Goce Delčev	15,000
FK Rabotnički	Skopje	Gradski stadion Skopje Arena Filip II	18,104
FK Renova	Džepčište	Gradski stadion Tetovo	12,000
FK Sileks	Kratovo	Gradski stadion Kratovo	5,000
FK Horizont Turnovo	Turnovo	Stadion Kukuš	1,500
FK Vardar	Skopje	Gradski stadion Skopje Arena Filip II	18,104

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Makedonija (C)	30	17	10	3	46	15	+31	61	2009–10 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round
2	Milano	30	17	4	9	48	35	+13	55	2009–10 UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round
3	Renova	30	14	12	4	41	26	+15	54	2009–10 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round
4	Rabotnički	30	13	8	9	40	25	+15	47	2009–10 UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round ^1
5	Vardar	30	11	12	7	35	23	+12	45
6	Horizont Turnovo	30	9	10	11	25	39	−14	37
7	Sileks	30	9	9	12	38	41	−3	36
8	Pobeda	30	8	8	14	31	47	−16	32
9	Metalurg (O)	30	6	11	13	25	35	−10	29	Relegation play-offs
10	Pelister (O)	30	7	7	16	25	42	−17	28
11	Napredok (R)	30	4	9	17	26	52	−26	21	Relegation to 2009–10 Macedonian Second League
—	Baškimi (R)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	00^2

Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored; 4th head-to-head points; 5th head-to-head goal difference; 6th head-to-head goals scored; 7th draw.
For deciding champions, qualification to UEFA Cup, relegation play-offs and relegation: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th head-to-head goals scored; 5th play-off
¹Rabotnički have won the 2008–09 Macedonian Football Cup competition and therefore qualified for the second qualifying round of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League.
²Baškimi withdrew their participation prior to the start of the season due to financial problems.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Head-to-Head: used when head-to-head record is used to rank tied teams.

Results

The schedule consists of three rounds. During the first two rounds, each team played each other once home and away for a total of 20 matches. The pairings of the third round were then set according to the standings after the first two rounds, giving every team a third game against each opponent for a total of 30 games per team.

Matches 1–22

Home ╲ Away	MGP	MET	MIL	NAP	PEL	POB	RAB	REN	SIL	TUR	VAR
Makedonija		2–0	0–0	1–0	2–0	5–0	2–0	1–1	4–1	4–0	1–0
Metalurg	0–1		0–1	0–0	1–0	2–1	0–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1
Milano	1–0	2–1		5–0	3–1	5–2	1–0	3–1	1–0	3–0	1–3
Napredok	1–0	1–2	3–1		3–1	2–0	1–1	1–2	1–1	0–0	1–1
Pelister	0–2	2–0	2–0	1–0		0–1	1–1	0–1	3–1	3–1	0–0
Pobeda	1–2	3–1	0–0	1–0	2–0		0–0	0–1	1–2	2–1	0–0
Rabotnički	3–3	1–0	4–0	1–1	3–0	2–2		1–3	3–0	4–1	2–0
Renova	0–3^2	1–1	1–0	1–0	3–1	2–1	1–0		0–0	1–0	1–1
Sileks	1–1	2–2	0–0	7–1	1–0	2–1	0–0	1–1		4–0	0–0
Horizont Turnovo	1–1	1–0	2–0	3–2	0–0	1–0	0–0	0–0	1–0		1–0
Vardar	0–1	1–1	2–4	4–2	3–0	3–0	2–1	3–1	2–0	2–0

Source: RSSSF.com
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
²The match of Round 8 was awarded to Makedonija Gjorče Petrov after it was interrupted in 45th minute due to Renova's fans attacking Makedonija's midfielder Georges Ambourouet.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–33

Home ╲ Away	MGP	MET	MIL	NAP	PEL	POB	RAB	REN	SIL	TUR	VAR
Makedonija					0–0	3–0		1–1	2–0	1–0	0–0
Metalurg	1–1		0–1	1–0			0–1
Milano	2–0				4–1	3–1			3–2	1–2	1–0
Napredok	1–1		1–1			1–1	0–1
Pelister		2–2		3–1				1–0		2–2	0–0
Pobeda		1–1			2–1			2–2		2–0	1–1
Rabotnički	0–1		2–0		2–0	2–0			1–2	3–1
Renova		4–0	4–1	3–0			1–0		2–2
Sileks		0–3		4–2	1–0	2–3
Horizont Turnovo		1–1		2–0				1–1	1–0		1–1
Vardar		1–0		2–0			2–0	0–0	0–2

Source: RSSSF.com
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation playoff

Metalurg v Bregalnica Štip

13 June 2009 16:30 (UTC+2)

Metalurg	5 – 1	Bregalnica Štip
Đurić  10' Ilijoski  15', 75' Mihajlović  79' Velkoski  89'		Novakov  55'

Stadion Goce Delčev, Prilep Referee: Goran Spirkoski (Prilep)

---

Pelister v Shkëndija 79

13 June 2009 16:30 (UTC+2)

Pelister	3 – 0	Shkëndija 79
Glavevski  64', 68' Dimitrovski  85'

Stadion Mladost, Strumica Referee: Vladimir Kiprijanovski (Skopje)

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Ivica Gligorovski	Milano	14
2	Besart Ibraimi	Renova	13
3	Boško Stupić	Sileks	12
4	César de Brito	Makedonija	11
	Blagoj Levkov	Napredok
6	Boban Janchevski	Vardar	10
7	Dragan Dimitrovski	Pelister	9
8	Blagoja Geshoski	Milano	8
	Gligor Gligorov	Sileks
	Hristijan Kirovski	Rabotnički
	Washington	Makedonija

Source: Macedonian Football (English)

See also

• 2008–09 Macedonian Football Cup
• 2008–09 Macedonian Second Football League

References

1. "FK Bashkimi quits from Macedonian football". macedonianfootball.com. 1 August 2008.

External links

• Macedonia - List of final tables (RSSSF)
• Football Federation of Macedonia (Macedonian) (English)
• MacedonianFootball.com