# 2008–09 Maltese Second Division

The 2008–09 Maltese Second Division season, also known as the 2008–09 BOV 2nd Division due to sponsorship reason) started on 27 September 2008 and ended on 10 May 2009. Mellieha and Marsa were relegated from the First Division. The promoted teams were Gozo FC and Zebbug Rangers. Zebbug had to start the season with a five point deduction due to incidents which occurred the previous season. The 2008–09 Maltese Second Division was won by Balzan.The runners-up were Melita, who finished 2 points off Lija Athletic. Mgarr United and Marsa were relegated to the Third Division. This was the third straight relegation for Marsa, who 3 years previously were competing in the Premier League and now have to compete in the Third Division. Naxxar Lions were also relegated as they lost in the promotion-relegation play-offs to Santa Lucia. The play-offs were won by Zurrieq.

## Participating teams

* Balzan
* Birżebbuġa
* Gozo
* Lija
* Marsa
* Mellieħa
* Melita
* Mġarr
* Naxxar
* St. Andrews
* Santa Venera
* Żebbuġ

## Changes from previous season

* San Gwann and Rabat Ajax were promoted to 2008–09 Maltese First Division. They were replaced with Mellieha and Marsa, both relegated from 2007–08 Maltese First Division
* Zurrieq and Sirens were relegated to 2008–09 Maltese Third Division. They were replaced with Gozo FC and Zebbug Rangers, both promoted from 2007–08 Maltese Third Division.

## Final league table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Balzan (C) | 22 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 48 | 9 | +39 | 58 | Champions and promotion to 2009–10 Maltese First Division |
| 2 | Melita | 22 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 49 | 11 | +38 | 50 | Runners-up and promotion to 2009–10 Maltese First Division |
| 3 | Lija Athletic | 22 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 35 | 17 | +18 | 48 | |
| 4 | Santa Venera Lightning | 22 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 24 | 24 | 0 | 34 | |
| 5 | Birzebbuga St. Peters | 22 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 27 | 28 | −1 | 31 | |
| 6 | Mellieha | 22 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 29 | 24 | +5 | 30 | |
| 7 | Gozo FC | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 27 | 37 | −10 | 27 | |
| 8 | St. Andrews | 22 | 4 | 13 | 5 | 24 | 23 | +1 | 25 | |
| 9 | Zebbug Rangers | 22 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 25 | 29 | −4 | 19 | |
| 10 | Naxxar Lions (R) | 22 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 25 | 49 | −24 | 17 | Relegation playoffs |
| 11 | Mgarr United (R) | 22 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 18 | 41 | −23 | 15 | Relegation to 2009–10 Maltese Third Division |
| 12 | Marsa (R) | 22 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 10 | 49 | −39 | 6 | Relegation to 2009–10 Maltese Third Division |
* ↑ 1 bonus point awarded?
* ↑ Zebbug started the season with a 5 point deduction due to incidents that occurred in the Champions play-off of the 3rd Division

## Relegation-promotion play-off
### Participating

| Club | Position |
| Gudja United | 3rd in 3rd Division Section A |
| Mdina Knights | 2nd in 3rd Division Section A |
| Naxxar Lions | 10th in Maltese Second Division 2007-08 |
| Santa Lucia | 3rd in 3rd Division Section B |
| Zurrieq | 2nd in 3rd Division Section B |

### Quarter final

| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Gudja United | 0–2 | Santa Lucia |
* Gudja United remain in Maltese Third Division

### Semi finals

| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Mdina Knights | 0–1 | Zurrieq |
| Naxxar Lions | 0–1 | Santa Lucia |
* Mdina Knights remain in Maltese Third Division
* Naxxar Lions relegated to Maltese Third Division

### Final

| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Zurrieq | 2–2 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p) | Santa Lucia |
* Zurrieq promoted to Maltese Second Division
* Santa Lucia remain in Maltese Third Division

## Results

| Home \ Away | BAL | BIR | GOZ | LIJ | MAR | MLT | MLL | MGA | NAX | STA | STV | ZEB |
| Balzan | | 1–0 | 7–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 5–3 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 |
| Birzebbuga | 0–1 | | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 6–3 |
| Gozo | 0–1 | 1–1 | | 2–3 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Lija | 2–0 | 1–0 | 5–2 | | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 |
| Marsa | 0–3 | 0–1 | 3–4 | 0–4 | | 0–4 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 2–5 | 0–3 |
| Melita | 0–0 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | | 4–1 | 0–0 | 6–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 |
| Mellieha | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 2–1 | | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Mgarr | 0–5 | 2–3 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 2–0 |
| Naxxar | 1–4 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–6 | 0–2 | 0–0 | | 3–3 | 0–2 | 0–1 |
| St. Andrews | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| St. Venera | 0–3 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | | 1–1 |
| Zebbug | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 3–3 | 0–2 | |

## Top scorers

| Goals | Player | Team |
| 18 | Matthew Borg I | Melita |
| 13 | Aaron Agius | Balzan |
| 12 | Ronnie Celeste | Birzebbuga |
| 11 | Wayne Borg St. John | Mellieha |