The 2008–09 Scottish Premier League season was the eleventh season of the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

and the second season under the sponsorship of the

Clydesdale Bank Clydesdale Bank () is a trading name used by Clydesdale Bank plc for its retail banking operations in Scotland. In June 2018, it was announced that Clydesdale Bank plc's holding company, CYBG, would acquire Virgin Money for £1.7 billi ...

. It began on 9 August 2008 with a game between

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

and Rangers. After the 33rd round of matches, the league split in half and each team played a further five matches against the teams in their half of the league. For the second season in succession, the championship was determined on the final day of the season. Leaders Rangers travelled to Tannadice to play

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

knowing that a win would secure the title. Meanwhile,

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

needed to win their final match of the season against Hearts at

Celtic Park Celtic Park is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic F.C., Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest List of football stadiums in Sco ...

and hope that Rangers failed to win to retain the title. In the end, Rangers won 3–0 with goals by Kyle Lafferty, Pedro Mendes and the league's top goalscorer, Kris Boyd, clinching their first title in four years. Meanwhile, Celtic and Hearts drew 0-0. Rangers qualified directly for the Champions League, while second-placed Celtic qualified for the qualifying rounds. Four teams qualified for the new Europa League: Hearts and

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

via league position,

via the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

by the Fair Play initiative.

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

were

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

after their fifth season in the SPL and were replaced by St Johnstone for the following season's competition.

Clubs

Promotion and relegation from 2007–08

Promoted from First Division to

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

* Hamilton Academical Relegated from

* Gretna

Stadia and locations

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

Events

* 8 August – Former SPL members and

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Gretna are formally liquidated by the club's administrators * 3 January – St Mirren drew 0–0 with

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

in their last game at

Love Street "Love Street" is a song performed by the American rock band the Doors. Sequenced as the second album track on ''Waiting for the Sun'' (1968), its lyrics were written by lead singer Jim Morrison and as with other songs, it was dedicated to his gir ...

before they moved to New St Mirren Park * 31 January – St Mirren drew 1–1 with

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

in their first match at their new stadium * 2 May – St Johnstone won promotion to the

as First Division champions following a 3–1 win over Greenock Morton *23 May – Inverness Caledonian Thistle were relegated after losing 1–0 to

at the Caledonian Stadium

League table

Results

Matches 1–22

During their first 22 matches, each team played every other team home and away.

Matches 23–33

During matches 23–33 each team played every other team once (either at home or away).

Matches 34–38

During matches 34–38 each team play every other team in their half of the table once.

Top six

Bottom six

Goals

Top scorers

Last updated: 24 May 2009
Source
BBC Sport

Hat-tricks

Attendances

Awards

Monthly awards

Clydesdale Bank Premier League Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2008-09 Scottish Premier League Scottish Premier League seasons 1

Scot Scottish people or Scots (; ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded the Kingdom of Scotland (or ...