# 2008–09 Cypriot First Division

The 2008–09 Cypriot First Division was the seventy season of top-tier football on Cyprus. It started on 30 August 2008 and ended on 10 May 2009. The defending champions were Anorthosis.
APOEL won the championship three matchweeks before the end of the season.
This year, for the second time, the championship also featured a group stage play-off system. Teams were divided into 3 groups: 1st–4th, 5th–8th and 9th–12th. Points from the main part of the season still counted.

## Format

Fourteen teams participated in the 2008–09 Cypriot First Division. Each team played against every other team twice, once at home and once away, for a total of 26 matches. After these matches, the two teams with the worst records were relegated to the 2009–10 Cypriot Second Division. The remaining twelve teams were divided into three groups: 1st-4th, 5th-8th and 9th-12th.
The teams ranked first through fourth played out the champion and the participants for the European competitions. Teams ranked ninth through 12th determined the third relegated club, while the remaining four teams played a placement round. Every team played twice against its group opponents. Regular season records are carried over without any modifications.
The champions ensured their participation in the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League and the runners-up and the third team in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League.

### Point system

Teams received three points for a win, one point for a draw and zero points for a loss.

## Stadia and locations

| Team | Stadium |
| AEK Larnaca | GSZ Stadium |
| AEL Limassol | Tsirion Stadium |
| AEP Paphos | Pafiako Stadium |
| Alki Larnaca | Ammochostos Stadium |
| Anorthosis Famagusta | Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium |
| APEP | Tsirion Stadium |
| APOEL | GSP Stadium |
| Apollon Limassol | Tsirion Stadium |
| APOP Kinyras | Peyia Municipal Stadium |
| Atromitos Yeroskipou | Pafiako Stadium |
| Doxa Katokopias | Makario Stadium |
| Ethnikos Achna | Dasaki Stadium |
| ENP | Paralimni Stadium |
| Omonia | GSP Stadium |

## Promotion and relegation

Teams promoted from 2007-08 Cypriot Second Division:
* Champions: AE Paphos
* Runners-up: APEP
* 3rd placed team: Atromitos
Teams relegated to 2008–09 Cypriot Second Division :
* Aris Limassol
* Nea Salamina
* Olympiakos Nicosia

## Overview

| Team | Head Coach | Team Captain | Venue | Capacity | Kitmaker | Shirt sponsor | Club Chairman |
| AEK Larnaca | Savvas Constantinou | Constantinos Mina | Neo GSZ Stadium | 13,032 | Mass | CytaVision | Marios Ellinas |
| AEL Limassol | Mihai Stoichiţă | Simos Krassas | Tsirion Stadium | 13,331 | Mass | Sinergatiko Tamieftirio Lemesou | Andreas Sofokleous |
| AEP Paphos | Nir Klinger | Giorgos Georgiou | Pafiako Stadium | 10,000 | Mass | Eurolink Investment Group | Fillippos Georgiou |
| Alki Larnaca | Panikos Xiourouppas | Andrés Rouga | Ammochostos Stadium | 5,500 | Legea | TEAM A Security | Demetris Phantousis |
| Anorthosis Famagusta | Michalis Pamboris | Nikos Nicolaou | Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium | 10,003 | Puma | Quality Group Developments | Chris Georgiades |
| APEP Pitsilia | Willy Scheepers | Bruno Piano | Tsirion Stadium | 13,331 | Mass | KKCG | Panayiotis Neokleous |
| APOEL | Ivan Jovanović | Marinos Satsias | GSP Stadium | 22,859 | Lotto | MTN Group | Foivos Erotokritou |
| Apollon Limassol | Thomas von Heesen | Christos Theophilou | Tsirion Stadium | 13,331 | Lotto | Columbia Ship Management | Theodoros Antoniou |
| APOP Kinyras Peyias | Giorgos Polyviou | Giannis Sfakianakis | Peyia Municipal Stadium | 3,828 | Puma | PrimeTel | Michalis Mitas |
| Atromitos Yeroskipou | Sofoklis Sofokleous | Argyris Petrou | Pafiako Stadium | 10,000 | Umbro | SPE Yeroskipou | Vangelis Genis |
| Doxa Katokopia | Pambos Christodoulou | Kyriacos Polykarpou | Makario Stadium | 16,000 | Puma | Yiannakas Real Estate Ltd | Charalambos Argyrou |
| Enosis Neon Paralimni | Adamos Adamou & Antonis Kleftis | Demos Goumenos | Paralimni Stadium | 5,800 | Lotto | Elian Developers | Adamos Loizou |
| Ethnikos Achna | Stéphane Demol | Christos Poyiatzis | Dasaki Stadium | 7,000 | Nike | Famagusta Developers | Kikis Philippou |
| Omonia | Takis Lemonis | Kostas Kaiafas | GSP Stadium | 22,859 | Lotto | Ocean Tankers | Miltiadis Neophytou |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| Omonia | Giorgos Savvidis | Resigned | 4 March 2008 | Nedim Tutić | 4 March 2008 |
| Apollon | Yossi Mizrahi | Mutual consent | 11 May 2008 | Svetozar Šapurić | 23 May 2008 |
| Ethnikos | Svetozar Šapurić | Mutual consent | 23 May 2008 | Stéphane Demol | 24 May 2008 |
| Apollon | Svetozar Šapurić | Sacked | 9 September 2008 | Thomas von Heesen | 15 September 2008 |
| AEK | Nir Klinger | Sacked | 27 October 2008 | Makis Katsavakis | 28 October 2008 |
| AEP | Savvas Constantinou | Resigned | 3 November 2008 | Nir Klinger | 5 November 2008 |
| APOP | Eduard Eranosyan | Sacked | 27 November 2008 | Giorgos Polyviou | 27 November 2008 |
| AEK | Makis Katsavakis | Resigned | 2 December 2008 | Loizos Stefani | 2 December 2008 |
| Enosis | Marios Constantinou | Resigned | 7 December 2008 | Panayiotis Xiourouppas | 8 December 2008 |
| Alki | Christos Kassianos | Resigned | 17 December 2008 | Panayiotis Xiourouppas | 7 January 2009 |
| AEK | Loizos Stefani | Mutual consent | 18 December 2008 | Christos Kassianos | 18 December 2008 |
| Enosis | Panayiotis Xiourouppas | Mutual consent | 29 December 2008 | Eduard Eranosyan | 30 December 2008 |
| AEK | Christos Kassianos | Resigned | 15 January 2009 | Savvas Constantinou | 15 January 2009 |
| AEL | Andreas Michaelides | Mutual consent | 26 January 2009 | Mihai Stoichiţă | 27 January 2009 |
| Enosis | Eduard Eranosyan | Resigned | 28 January 2009 | Adamos Adamou & Antonis Kleftis | 29 January 2009 |
| Omonia | Nedim Tutić | Sacked | 16 March 2009 | Takis Lemonis | 17 March 2009 |
| APEP | Tasos Kyriacou | Sacked | 5 April 2009 | Willy Scheepers | 5 April 2009 |
| Anorthosis | Temuri Ketsbaia | Resigned | 13 April 2009 | Michalis Pamboris | 13 April 2009 |

## First round
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | APOEL | 26 | 22 | 3 | 1 | 53 | 14 | +39 | 69 | Qualification for second round, Group A |
| 2 | Omonia Nicosia | 26 | 21 | 1 | 4 | 61 | 18 | +43 | 64 | Qualification for second round, Group A |
| 3 | Anorthosis Famagusta | 26 | 20 | 2 | 4 | 49 | 19 | +30 | 62 | Qualification for second round, Group A |
| 4 | AEL Limassol | 26 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 34 | 30 | +4 | 43 | Qualification for second round, Group A |
| 5 | Apollon Limassol | 26 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 53 | 34 | +19 | 43 | Qualification for second round, Group B |
| 6 | APOP Kinyras | 26 | 12 | 4 | 10 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 40 | Qualification for second round, Group B |
| 7 | Ethnikos Achna | 26 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 34 | 32 | +2 | 40 | Qualification for second round, Group B |
| 8 | Doxa Katokopias | 26 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 37 | 39 | −2 | 31 | Qualification for second round, Group B |
| 9 | AEP Paphos | 26 | 5 | 12 | 9 | 30 | 38 | −8 | 27 | Qualification for second round, Group C |
| 10 | Enosis Neon Paralimni | 26 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 23 | 43 | −20 | 25 | Qualification for second round, Group C |
| 11 | APEP | 26 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 28 | 44 | −16 | 23 | Qualification for second round, Group C |
| 12 | Alki Larnaca | 26 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 27 | 50 | −23 | 19 | Qualification for second round, Group C |
| 13 | AEK Larnaca (R) | 26 | 3 | 6 | 17 | 27 | 45 | −18 | 15 | Relegation to Cypriot Second Division |
| 14 | Atromitos (R) | 26 | 1 | 4 | 21 | 19 | 69 | −50 | 7 | Relegation to Cypriot Second Division |
* 1 2 AEL 1–0 APOL; APOL 1–3 AEL
* 1 2 ETH 1–4 APOP; APOP 1–2 ETH

### Results

| Home \ Away | AEK | AEL | AEP | ALK | ANO | APEP | APOE | APOL | APOP | ATR | DOX | ENP | ETH | OMO |
| AEK Larnaca | | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–5 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–5 |
| AEL Limassol | 1–0 | | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| AEP Paphos | 0–3 | 0–1 | | 5–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–3 |
| Alki Larnaca | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| Anorthosis Famagusta | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | | 3–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 |
| APEP | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–3 |
| APOEL | 2–0 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | | 4–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–2 |
| Apollon Limassol | 1–0 | 1–3 | 4–1 | 7–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 |
| APOP Kinyras | 2–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 2–0 |
| Atromitos | 1–0 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–6 | 1–5 | 0–1 | 3–6 | 0–2 | | 1–5 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–5 |
| Doxa Katokopias | 2–2 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Enosis Neon Paralimni | 2–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 0–4 | 0–2 |
| Ethnikos Achna | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | | 2–1 |
| Omonia Nicosia | 4–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 7–1 | 1–0 | |
* ↑ The match of Round 8 was awarded to AEK with a score of 2–0 after being abandoned due to crowd violence.
* ↑ The match of Round 12 was awarded to Doxa with a score of 2–0 after being abandoned due to crowd violence.
* ↑ The match of Round 3 was awarded to Omonia with a score of 2–0 after being abandoned due to crowd violence.
* ↑ The match of Round 1 was awarded to APOP with a score of 2–0 after being abandoned due to crowd violence.

## Second round
### Group A
#### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | APOEL (C) | 32 | 26 | 4 | 2 | 62 | 17 | +45 | 82 | Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Omonia Nicosia | 32 | 25 | 1 | 6 | 70 | 22 | +48 | 76 | Qualification for Europa League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Anorthosis Famagusta | 32 | 21 | 4 | 7 | 52 | 26 | +26 | 67 | Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | AEL Limassol | 32 | 13 | 5 | 14 | 38 | 41 | −3 | 44 | |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | AEL | ANO | APOE | OMO |
| AEL Limassol | | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–3 |
| Anorthosis Famagusta | 1–0 | | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| APOEL | 3–1 | 2–0 | | SUSP |
| Omonia Nicosia | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | |
* ↑ The match of last round between APOEL and Omonia was suspended after the first half due to violent behaviour of both teams' fans and their mutual conflict. Disciplinary Committee later decided that the final result of the match is forfeit of both teams.

### Group B
#### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 5 | Apollon Limassol | 32 | 17 | 6 | 9 | 68 | 42 | +26 | 57 | |
| 6 | Ethnikos Achna | 32 | 13 | 8 | 11 | 47 | 45 | +2 | 47 | |
| 7 | APOP Kinyras | 32 | 13 | 6 | 13 | 45 | 49 | −4 | 39 | Qualification for Europa League third qualifying round |
| 8 | Doxa Katokopias | 32 | 10 | 8 | 14 | 46 | 51 | −5 | 38 | |
* ↑ APOP were docked 6 points due to unpaid debts.
* ↑ APOP won the 2008–09 Cypriot Cup and qualified for the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.

#### Results

| Home \ Away | APOL | APOP | DOX | ETH |
| Apollon Limassol | | 3–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 |
| APOP Kinyras | 2–2 | | 1–0 | 1–4 |
| Doxa Katokopias | 1–1 | 3–2 | | 2–5 |
| Ethnikos Achna | 2–4 | 2–2 | 0–2 | |

### Group C
#### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 9 | AEP Paphos | 32 | 7 | 15 | 10 | 39 | 44 | −5 | 36 | |
| 10 | Enosis Neon Paralimni | 32 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 27 | 51 | −24 | 32 | |
| 11 | APEP | 32 | 7 | 10 | 15 | 33 | 51 | −18 | 31 | |
| 12 | Alki Larnaca (R) | 32 | 6 | 9 | 17 | 39 | 59 | −20 | 27 | Relegation to Cypriot Second Division |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | AEP | ALK | APEP | ENP |
| AEP Paphos | | 3–4 | 1–1 | 3–0 |
| Alki Larnaca | 1–1 | | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| APEP | 0–1 | 0–4 | | 2–0 |
| Enosis Neon Paralimni | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | |

## Top goalscorers

Source: soccerway.com (First round, Second round)
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Serjão | Doxa | 24 |
| 2 | Gastón Sangoy | Apollon | 22 |
| 3 | Ferydoon Zandi | Alki | 12 |
| 4 | Yiasoumis Yiasoumi | Ethnikos | 11 |
| 4 | Marcin Żewłakow | APOEL | 11 |
| 6 | Demetris Christofi | Omonia | 10 |
| 6 | Gelson | APEP | 10 |
| 6 | Łukasz Sosin | Anorthosis | 10 |
| 6 | Bernardo Vasconcelos | APOP | 10 |
| 10 | Haruna Babangida | Apollon | 9 |
| 10 | Fangio Buyse | APOP | 9 |
| 10 | Kyriacos Chailis | AEP | 9 |
| 10 | Ioannis Okkas | Omonia | 9 |

## Season statistics
### Scoring

* First goal of the season: Peter Ofori-Quaye for AEL against Apollon, 2nd minute (30 August 2008)
* Fastest goal in a match: 47 seconds – Demetris Christofi for Omonia against Alki (29 December 2008)
* Goal scored at the latest point in a match: 90+3 minutes
** Klodian Duro for Omonia against APOP (14 December 2008)
** Chrysis Michael for APOEL against AEL (22 March 2009)
* Goal scored at the latest point in a match: 90+2 minutes
** Francisco Aguirre for Omonia against Atromitos (27 September 2008)
** Nikolaos Frousos for Anorthosis against APOP (31 October 2008)
** Tinga for AEP against Alki (21 December 2008)
* Widest winning margin:
** 6 goals – Omonia 7–1 Enosis (22 December 2008)
** 6 goals – Apollon 7–1 Alki (25 January 2009)
* Most goals in a match: 9 goals – Atromitos 3–6 Apollon (8 February 2009)
* Most goals in one half: 5 goals – APOEL 3–2 Doxa (31 August 2008)
* First own goal of the season: Mahamadou Sidibè (Ethnikos) for AEL, 50 minutes (2 November 2008)
* First hat-trick of the season: Ioannis Okkas (Omonia) against AEK (6 December 2008)
* Fastest hat trick of the season: 14 minutes – Klodian Duro (Omonia) against APOP (14 December 2008)

### Discipline

* First yellow card of the season: Levan Maghradze for Apollon against AEL, 11th minute (30 August 2008)
* First red card of the season: Levan Maghradze for Apollon against AEL, 78th minute (30 August 2008)
* Most yellow cards in a single match: 9 – Apollon 1–3 AEL – 4 for Apollon (Levan Maghradze (2), Christos Marangos & Gastón Sangoy) and 5 for AEL (Panos Constantinou, Dušan Kerkez, Peter Ofori-Quaye, Laurent Fassotte & Silvio Augusto González) (30 August 2008)
* Most red cards in a single match: 3 – AEP 2–3 Omonia – 2 for AEP (Almir Tanjič & Jefisley André Caldeira) and 1 for Omonia (Aleksandar Pantić)
* Card given at latest point in a game: Aleksandar Pantić (red) at 90+2' for Omonia against AEP (30 November 2008)