# 2008–09 Macedonian First Football League

The 2008–09 Macedonian First League was the 17th season of the Macedonian First Football League, the highest football league of Macedonia. It began on 3 August 2008 and ended on 31 May 2009. Rabotnichki were the defending champions, having won their third title the previous year. Bashkimi withdrew from the championship due to financial reasons.

## Promotion and relegation

| At the start of the 2008–09 season Promoted from 2007–08 Second League Horizont Turnovo (winners) Metalurg Skopje (runners-up) Relegated to 2008–09 Second League Shkëndija (11th) Cementarnica 55 (12th) Bashkimi (10th)$^1$ | At the end of the 2008–09 season Promoted from 2008–09 Second League Teteks (winners) Sloga Jugomagnat (runners-up) Relegated to 2009–10 Second League Napredok (11th) |
1 Bashkimi was withdraw from the First League due to financial reasons.

## Participating teams

| Club | Manager | City | Stadium | Capacity |
| Makedonija G.P. | Ilcho Gjorgioski | Skopje | Stadion Gjorche Petrov | 3,000 |
| Metalurg | Gjore Jovanovski | Skopje | Stadion Zhelezarnica | 4,000 |
| Milano | Bylbyl Sokoli | Kumanovo | Milano Arena | 3,500 |
| Napredok | Dragan Bocheski | Kichevo | Gradski stadion Kichevo | 5,000 |
| Pelister | Alekso Mackov | Bitola | Stadion Tumbe Kafe | 8,000 |
| Pobeda | Nebojša Petrović | Prilep | Stadion Goce Delchev | 15,000 |
| Rabotnichki | Boban Babunski | Skopje | Philip II Arena | 18,104 |
| Renova | Nexhat Shabani | Djepchishte | Gradski stadion Tetovo | 15,000 |
| Sileks | Marjan Sekulovski | Kratovo | Stadion Sileks | 5,000 |
| Horizont Turnovo | Dragan Hristovski | Turnovo | Stadion Kukush | 1,500 |
| Vardar | Zhikica Tasevski | Skopje | Philip II Arena | 18,104 |
* 1 2 The stadium was called Gradski stadion Skopje until January 2009.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Makedonija G.P. (C) | 30 | 17 | 10 | 3 | 46 | 15 | +31 | 61 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Milano | 30 | 17 | 4 | 9 | 48 | 35 | +13 | 55 | Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Renova | 30 | 14 | 12 | 4 | 41 | 26 | +15 | 54 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Rabotnichki | 30 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 40 | 25 | +15 | 47 | Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round |
| 5 | Vardar | 30 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 35 | 23 | +12 | 45 | |
| 6 | Horizont Turnovo | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 25 | 39 | −14 | 37 | |
| 7 | Sileks | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 38 | 41 | −3 | 36 | |
| 8 | Pobeda | 30 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 31 | 47 | −16 | 32 | |
| 9 | Metalurg (O) | 30 | 6 | 11 | 13 | 25 | 35 | −10 | 29 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs |
| 10 | Pelister (O) | 30 | 7 | 7 | 16 | 25 | 42 | −17 | 28 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs |
| 11 | Napredok (R) | 30 | 4 | 9 | 17 | 26 | 52 | −26 | 21 | Relegation to the Macedonian Second League |
| – | Bashkimi (D, R) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Banned from the Macedonian Second League |
* ↑ Rabotnichki qualified for the Europa League second qualifying round by winning the 2008–09 Macedonian Football Cup.
* ↑ Bashkimi withdrew their participation prior to the start of the season due to financial problems.

## Results

The schedule consists of three rounds. During the first two rounds, each team played each other once home and away for a total of 20 matches. The pairings of the third round were then set according to the standings after the first two rounds, giving every team a third game against each opponent for a total of 30 games per team.
| Home \ Away | MGP | MET | MIL | NAP | PEL | POB | RAB | REN | SIL | TUR | VAR | MGP | MET | MIL | NAP | PEL | POB | RAB | REN | SIL | TUR | VAR |
| Makedonija | — | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | — | — | — | — | 0–0 | 3–0 | — | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Metalurg | 0–1 | — | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 0–1 | 1–0 | — | — | 0–1 | — | — | — | — |
| Milano | 1–0 | 2–1 | — | 5–0 | 3–0 | 5–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 2–0 | — | — | — | 4–1 | 3–1 | — | — | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 |
| Napredok | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | — | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | — | — | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | — | — | — |
| Pelister | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | — | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | — | 2–2 | — | 3–1 | — | — | — | 1–0 | — | 2–2 | 0–0 |
| Pobeda | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | — | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | — | — | 2–1 | — | — | 2–2 | — | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Rabotnichki | 3–3 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | — | 1–3 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | — | 2–0 | — | 2–0 | 2–0 | — | — | 1–2 | 3–1 | — |
| Renova | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | — | 4–0 | 4–1 | 3–0 | — | — | 1–0 | — | 2–2 | — | — |
| Sileks | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 7–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | — | 4–0 | 0–0 | — | 0–3 | — | 4–2 | 1–0 | 2–3 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Horizont Turnovo | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | | — | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | — | 1–1 |
| Vardar | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | — | — | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | — | — | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | — | — |
* ↑ The match of Round 8 was awarded to Makedonija Gjorče Petrov after it was interrupted in 45th minute due to Renova's fans attacking Makedonija's midfielder Georges Ambourouet.

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Ivica Gligorovski | Milano | 14 |
| 2 | Besart Ibraimi | Renova | 13 |
| 3 | Boško Stupić | Sileks | 12 |
| 4 | César de Brito | Makedonija G.P. | 11 |
| 4 | Blagoj Levkov | Napredok | 11 |
| 6 | Boban Janchevski | Vardar | 10 |
| 7 | Dragan Dimitrovski | Pelister | 9 |
| 8 | Blagoja Geshoski | Milano | 8 |
| 8 | Gligor Gligorov | Sileks | 8 |
| 8 | Hristijan Kirovski | Rabotnichki | 8 |
| 8 | Washington | Makedonija G.P. | 8 |
Source: Macedonian Football (in English)