The Eredivisie 2008–09 is the 53rd season of

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is ...

since its establishment in 1955. PSV were the reigning champions. The season began on 29 August 2008 with a game between

Vitesse Arnhem Vitesse may refer to: * Vitesse Models, a diecast model car company * Vitesse (band), Dutch rock band * Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, a car * Rover 216 Vitesse, a car * Rover 3500 Vitesse, a car * Rover 800 Vitesse, a car * Triumph Vi ...

and

FC Groningen Football Club Groningen () is a Dutch professional association football club based in Groningen, province of Groningen. Founded on 16 June 1971 as the successor of GVAV, the team compete in the Eredivisie, the highest tier of Dutch football. G ...

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 Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as t ...

. The teams promoted from the

at the end of the previous season were champions

FC Volendam Football Club Volendam () is a professional football club based in Volendam, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football from the 2022–23 season following promotion. Nicknamed "de Palingboeren", the club was founded ...

, and play-off winners

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegatio ...

. AZ clinched their second title, their first coming in 1981.

Overview

League table

Results

Top goalscorers

Last updated: 11 May 2009
Source
ESPN Top Scorers
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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

Final

Relegation

The 16th and 17th placed teams, along with the teams from

, participate in a play-off for two spots in

2009–10 Eredivisie The 2009–10 Eredivisie was the 54th season of Eredivisie since its establishment in 1955. AZ were the reigning champions. A total of 18 teams is taking part in the league, consisting of 16 who competed in the previous season and two promoted ...

Round 1

Round 2 (best of 3)

Round 3 (best of 3)

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

Facts and statistics

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

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 Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after i ...

both lost their opening matches. The last times this happened was in the 1965–66 season. *

topped the league table after two matches. The last time ADO was in first place was on 16 January 1971. *

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eerste Div ...

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 Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program g ...

channel Eredivisie Live broadcast the live matches. In Australia the Eredivisie was broadcast live and exclusive by

Setanta Sports Setanta Sports is a sports television company based in Dublin, Ireland broadcasting throughout select Eurasian. The company was formed in 1990 to facilitate the broadcasting of Irish sporting events to international audiences. The company previ ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2008-09 Eredivisie Eredivisie seasons

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...