# 2008–09 Qatar Stars League

The 2008–09 Qatar Stars League or Q-League season was the 36th edition of top level football in Qatar and started on the 13 September 2008.
The season was played in 3 stages:
The 2008–09 calendar released by the QFA saw the first phase run through 13 September till 23 November before phase two kicked off on 27 November to end on 7 February 2009. The final phase started on February 12 and concluded on April 17.
Ten teams played for the title of league champions with each outfit playing 27 matches. The last team in the standings was to be relegated until the QFA announced an expansion to the league for the following season.
The competition was played at the seven stadiums of Al-Sadd, Al-Rayyan, Al-Gharafa, Al-Wakrah, Al-Khor, Qatar SC, and Al-Arabi.
Al-Gharafa won the title last season after pipping powerhouse Al-Sadd into second place while Al-Shamal were relegated and their place in the top division would be taken up by Al-Kharaitiyat.

## League expansion

The Qatar Stars League has slowly expanded since the turn of the decade, moving from 9 clubs to 10 clubs and then latest setup of 12 clubs for the 2009–10 Qatar Stars League campaign.
There are 2 divisions in the Qatari football structure and the league has previously seen one club promoted and relegated each year except in 'expansion' years.
It was announced on 15 April 2009 that no clubs would be relegated from the top flight due to expansion reasons. The announcement was made with only one game remaining.

## Teams

| Club | City/Town | Stadium | 2007-2008 season | Notes |
| Al-Gharafa | Doha | Thani bin Jassim Stadium | Q-League Champions | 2009 AFC Champions League Qualifier |
| Al-Sadd | Doha | Jassim bin Hamad Stadium | 2nd in Q-League | |
| Umm Salal | Umm Salal | Thani bin Jassim Stadium | 3rd in Q-League | 2009 AFC Champions League Qualifier |
| Qatar SC | Doha | Suheim bin Hamad Stadium | 4th in Q-League | |
| Al-Rayyan | Al Rayyan | Ahmad bin Ali Stadium | 5th in Q-League | |
| Al-Arabi | Doha | Grand Hamad Stadium | 6th in Q-League | |
| Al-Khor | Khor | Al-Khor SC Stadium | 7th in Q-League | 2008 Gulf Club Champions Cup Qualifier |
| Al-Sailiya | Al Sailiya | Suheim bin Hamad Stadium | 8th in Q-League | |
| Al-Wakrah | Al Wakrah | Al Janoub Stadium | 9th in Q-League | |
| Al-Kharaitiyat | Al Kharaitiyat | Ahmad bin Ali Stadium | Promoted from 2nd level | |

## Foreign players

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | AFC player | Former players |
| Al-Arabi | Leonardo Pisculichi | Salman Isa | Kim | Lomana LuaLua | Souleymane Keïta | Mohammed Al-Balushi | Younis Mahmoud |
| Al-Gharafa | Clemerson | Fernandão | Nashat Akram | Otmane El Assas | Hakan Yakin | Younis Mahmoud | |
| Al-Khor | Sayed Mohamed Adnan | Moumouni Dagano | Alaa Abdul-Zahra | Mahdi Karim | Kamel Zaiem | Salam Shaker | Fabrício Souza Bill Tchato |
| Al-Kharaitiyat | Abdulla Baba Fatadi | Oumar Tchomogo | Fabão | Joseph-Désiré Job | Sabri Lamouchi | Ashraf Bait Taysir | Rodolfo Soares Wílton Figueiredo Ali Hasan Kamal |
| Al-Rayyan | Aloísio Chulapa | Marcelo Tavares | Ricardinho | Amara Diané | Amad Al-Hosni | Hassan Mudhafar Al-Gheilani | |
| Al-Sadd | Felipe | Carlos Tenorio | Agyemang Opoku | Pascal Feindouno | Mohammed Rabia Al-Noobi | Ismail Matar | Khalifa Ayil Al-Noufali |
| Al-Sailiya | Abdoulaye Cissé | Jean-Emmanuel Effa Owona | Ahmed Kano | Lamjed Chehoudi | | Badar Al-Maimani | Mobello Baba Keita |
| Al-Wakrah | Ali Rehema | Adil Ramzi | Anouar Diba | Delano Hill | Elbekay Bouchiba | Karrar Jassim | |
| Qatar SC | Marcinho | Roger | Qusay Munir | Talal El Karkouri | Youssef Safri | Ahmed Al-Dokhi | |
| Umm Salal | Magno Alves | Nivaldo | Aziz Ben Askar | Moussa N'Diaye | | Mohamed Husain | Sabri Lamouchi |

## Final league table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Al-Gharafa | 27 | 17 | 5 | 5 | 56 | 33 | +23 | 56 |
| 2 | Al-Sadd | 27 | 15 | 9 | 3 | 60 | 25 | +35 | 54 |
| 3 | Al-Rayyan | 27 | 15 | 7 | 5 | 62 | 35 | +27 | 52 |
| 4 | Qatar SC | 27 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 42 | 36 | +6 | 43 |
| 5 | Al-Khor | 27 | 9 | 13 | 5 | 38 | 28 | +10 | 40 |
| 6 | Umm Salal | 27 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 46 | 45 | +1 | 35 |
| 7 | Al-Arabi | 27 | 8 | 5 | 14 | 37 | 51 | −14 | 29 |
| 8 | Al-Wakrah | 27 | 8 | 3 | 16 | 32 | 56 | −24 | 27 |
| 9 | Al-Sailiya | 27 | 5 | 5 | 17 | 31 | 58 | −27 | 20 |
| 10 | Al-Kharaitiyat | 27 | 3 | 6 | 18 | 19 | 59 | −40 | 15 |
* Qatar Stars League 2008–09 winners
* Al-Gharafa 6th title

## Top scorers
### 25 goals

* Magno Alves (Umm Salal)

### 21 goals

* Leonardo Pisculichi (Al-Arabi)

### 20 goals

* Clemerson (Al-Gharafa)

### 19 goals

* Amara Diané (Al-Rayyan)
* Sebastián Soria (Qatar SC)

### 15 goals

* Khalfan Ibrahim (Al-Sadd)

### 13 goals

* Agyemang Opoku (Al-Sadd)

### 11 goals

* Sayed Mohamed Adnan (Al-Khor)
* Jean-Emmanuel Effa Owona (Al-Sailiya)
* Pascal Feindouno (Al-Sadd)
* Amad Al-Hosni (Al-Rayyan)

### 10 goals

* Fernandão (Al-Gharafa)
* Moumouni Dagano (Al-Khor)
* Anouar Diba (Al-Wakrah)