# 2008–09 Nemzeti Bajnokság I

The 2008–09 Nemzeti Bajnokság I, also known as NB I, was the 107th season of top-tier football in Hungary. The league was officially named Soproni Liga for sponsoring reasons. The season started on 25 July 2008 with Kaposvári Rákóczi FC beating the defending champions MTK Budapest by 3–1. The last games were played on 30 May 2009.

## Promotion and relegation

FC Sopron withdrew their participation in the winter break of last year's season after they declared bankruptcy. The team was put into last place and got all points deducted. The remaining relegation spot was earned by FC Tatabánya, who finished the season with a mere 10 points.
Promotion to the league was granted to the champions of the two NB II divisions. Kecskeméti TE won the Eastern Division while the winners of the Western Division were Szombathelyi Haladás.

## Overview

| Club | City | Stadium | Capacity |
| Budapest Honvéd FC | Budapest | Bozsik József Stadion | 10,000 |
| Debreceni VSC | Debrecen | Stadion Sóstói | 9,640 |
| Diósgyőri VTK | Miskolc | DVTK Stadion | 11,200 |
| FC Fehérvár | Székesfehérvár | Stadion Sóstói | 15,000 |
| Győri ETO FC | Győr | ETO Park | 20,000 |
| Kaposvári Rákóczi FC | Kaposvár | Stadion Rákoczi | 7,000 |
| Kecskeméti TE | Kecskemét | Széktói Stadion | 6,300 |
| MTK Budapest FC | Budapest | Hidegkuti Nándor Stadium | 12,700 |
| Nyíregyháza Spartacus | Nyíregyháza | Városi Stadion | 13,501 |
| Paksi SE | Paks | Stadion PSE | 4,950 |
| Rákospalotai EAC | Budapest | Stadion Budai II. Laszló | 7,500 |
| BFC Siófok | Siófok | Révesz Géza Stadion | 12,000 |
| Szombathelyi Haladás | Szombathely | Rohonci úti Stadion | 12,500 |
| Újpest FC | Budapest | Szusza Ferenc Stadium | 13,501 |
| Vasas SC | Budapest | Stadion Rudolf Illovszky | 18,000 |
| Zalaegerszegi TE | Zalaegerszeg | ZTE Arena | 14,400 |
Debreceni VSC won their fourth leaguetitle, and their first under András Herczeg. Újpest and Debrecen were constantly battling for the #1 spot on the table throughout the campaign; Újpest lost only one game in their first 24 matches, and were leading the table four points over Debrecen in October. Újpest held on to their lead through the spring, even handing Debrecen their only defeat in the second half of the season, after a 2-0 defeat at Szusza Ferenc Stadium thanks to goals from Rajczi and Kabát. However, after Matchday 25, Újpest and Debrecen were joint on points due to Újpest's 3-2 defeat at MTK. Újpest went on to lose 4 of their remaining 6 fixtures, while Debrecen ended up winning all but one of their last six matches.
DVSC officially became champions on the 22nd of May, after beating Diósgyőr 3-2 in Miskolc Matchday 29. Újpest on the other hand blew a 3-1 lead at ETO-Park, and conceded an 89' minute goal to have their title hopes blown up, as they lost the game 4-3. One week later, the purple and whites lost their first home game in over a year, after suffering a 1-2 defeat against Fehérvár.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Debrecen (C) | 30 | 21 | 5 | 4 | 70 | 29 | +41 | 68 | Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Újpest | 30 | 17 | 8 | 5 | 61 | 38 | +23 | 59 | Qualification for Europa League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Haladás | 30 | 16 | 5 | 9 | 44 | 29 | +15 | 53 | Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Zalaegerszeg | 30 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 52 | 44 | +8 | 52 | |
| 5 | Kecskemét | 30 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 55 | 44 | +11 | 48 | |
| 6 | Fehérvár | 30 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 42 | 34 | +8 | 48 | |
| 7 | MTK Budapest | 30 | 13 | 6 | 11 | 43 | 41 | +2 | 45 | |
| 8 | Győr | 30 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 57 | 41 | +16 | 43 | |
| 9 | Kaposvár | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 51 | 46 | +5 | 40 | |
| 10 | Vasas | 30 | 11 | 5 | 14 | 42 | 52 | −10 | 38 | |
| 11 | Paks | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 38 | 51 | −13 | 35 | |
| 12 | Diósgyőr | 30 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 29 | 45 | −16 | 33 | |
| 13 | Budapest Honvéd | 30 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 31 | 46 | −15 | 32 | Qualification for Europa League third qualifying round |
| 14 | Nyíregyháza | 30 | 7 | 11 | 12 | 32 | 41 | −9 | 32 | |
| 15 | Siófok (R) | 30 | 8 | 2 | 20 | 30 | 56 | −26 | 26 | Relegation to Nemzeti Bajnokság II |
| 16 | Rákospalota (R) | 30 | 3 | 6 | 21 | 33 | 73 | −40 | 15 | Relegation to Nemzeti Bajnokság II |
* ↑ Budapest Honvéd won the 2008–09 Hungarian Cup and thereby qualified for the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.

## Results

| Home \ Away | HON | DEB | DIÓ | FEH | GYŐ | HAL | KAP | KEC | MTK | NYÍ | PAK | RÁK | SIÓ | UTE | VAS | ZTE |
| Budapest Honvéd | | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 |
| Debrecen | 4–1 | | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 6–2 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 |
| Diósgyőr | 0–0 | 2–3 | | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Fehérvár | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| Győr | 4–1 | 0–3 | 6–0 | 1–2 | | 3–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 4–2 | 0–0 | 4–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Haladás | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| Kaposvár | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–3 | | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–5 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 4–0 | 1–2 |
| Kecskemét | 3–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 3–4 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 5–3 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| MTK Budapest | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–4 | | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 0–2 |
| Nyíregyháza | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 3–3 | 0–0 | | 2–2 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| Paks | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | | 1–3 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 |
| Rákospalota | 2–5 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 1–2 | | 3–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 2–3 |
| Siófok | 0–1 | 0–4 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–5 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–4 |
| Újpest | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 4–3 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | | 3–1 | 2–1 |
| Vasas | 3–1 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 4–2 | | 3–1 |
| Zalaegerszeg | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–7 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 5–3 | 2–2 | 3–1 | |

## Top goalscorers

Source: adatbank.mlsz.hu (in Hungarian) – Note: Click on "Góllövő lista" to retrieve the scorers
| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Péter Bajzát | Győri ETO | 20 |
| 2 | Péter Kabát | Újpest FC | 16 |
| 2 | Nemanja Nikolić | Kaposvári Rákóczi | 16 |
| 2 | Gergely Rudolf | Debreceni VSC | 16 |
| 2 | Attila Tököli | Paksi SE | 16 |
| 6 | Róbert Waltner | Zalaegerszegi TE | 15 |
| 7 | Csaba Csordás | Kecskeméti TE | 14 |
| 7 | Zoltán Hercegfalvi | Budapest Honvéd | 14 |
| 7 | Krisztián Kenesei | Szombathelyi Haladás | 14 |
| 10 | Lóránt Oláh | Debreceni VSC | 12 |