# 2008–09 Motherwell F.C. season

The 2008–09 season was Motherwell's 11th season in the Scottish Premier League, and their 24th consecutive season in the top division of Scottish football. As well as the SPL, the club competed in the Scottish Cup, Scottish League Cup, and the UEFA Cup for the first time in 13 years.

## Season review

On 10 July, Bob Malcolm signed a new one-year contract with the club.
On 8 August, Motherwell announced the signing of Jim O'Brien to a two-year contract from Celtic, and the six-month loan signing of Gunnar Nielsen from Blackburn Rovers.
On 19 August, Motherwell signed John Sutton to a three-year contract from Wycombe Wanderers.
On 1 September, Motherwell signed Maroš Klimpl on loan from Midtjylland for five-months.
On 2 January, Artur Krysiak joined Motherwell on loan from Birmingham City until the end of the season, whilst Maroš Klimpl extended his loan stay from Midtjylland until the summer.
On 24 January, Ross Forbes joined Dumbarton for the remainder of the season.
On 2 February, Cillian Sheridan joined Motherwell on loan from Celtic for the remainder of the season, whilst Semih Aydilek joined from Birmingham City on a similar deal. The following day, 3 February, Chris Porter left the club, signing for Derby County for an undisclosed fee of around £400,000
On 12 June 2009, Mark McGhee left the club to become manager of Aberdeen with Assistant Scott Leitch and goalkeeping coach Colin Meldrum also leaving for the Pittodrie outfit.

## Squad

Updated 5 December 2010
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | SCO | Graeme Smith |
| 2 | DF | SCO | Paul Quinn |
| 3 | DF | SCO | Steven Hammell |
| 4 | DF | SCO | Mark Reynolds |
| 5 | DF | NIR | Stephen Craigan (captain) |
| 6 | DF | NIR | Brian McLean |
| 7 | MF | SCO | Stephen Hughes |
| 8 | MF | SCO | Bob Malcolm |
| 9 | FW | IRL | Cillian Sheridan (on loan from Celtic) |
| 10 | FW | SCO | David Clarkson |
| 11 | FW | ENG | John Sutton |
| 12 | MF | SCO | Darren Smith |
| 13 | DF | SVK | Maroš Klimpl (on loan from Midtjylland) |
| 14 | MF | SCO | Keith Lasley |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 15 | FW | SCO | Jamie Murphy |
| 16 | MF | SCO | Marc Fitzpatrick |
| 17 | MF | SCO | Jim O'Brien |
| 18 | MF | SCO | Steven McGarry |
| 19 | GK | POL | Artur Krysiak (on loan from Birmingham City) |
| 22 | MF | GER | Semih Aydilek (on loan from Birmingham City) |
| 23 | FW | SCO | Mark Archdeacon |
| 26 | MF | SCO | Kenny Connolly |
| 29 | MF | SCO | Ross Forbes |
| 35 | FW | SCO | Bob McHugh |
| 37 | DF | ENG | Shaun Hutchinson |
| 43 | DF | SCO | Steven Saunders |
| 45 | FW | SCO | Paul Slane |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | From | Fee | Ref |
| 8 August 2008 | MF | | Jim O'Brien | Celtic | Undisclosed | |
| 19 August 2008 | FW | | John Sutton | Wycombe Wanderers | Undisclosed | |

### Loans in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Date to |
| 8 August 2008 | GK | Gunnar Nielsen | Blackburn Rovers | 30 December 2008 |
| 1 September 2008 | DF | Maroš Klimpl | Midtjylland | End of season |
| 2 January 2009 | GK | Artur Krysiak | Birmingham City | End of season |
| 2 February 2009 | FW | Semih Aydilek | Birmingham City | End of season |
| 2 February 2009 | FW | Cillian Sheridan | Celtic | End of season |

### Out

| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | To | Fee | Ref. |
| 3 February 2009 | FW | | Chris Porter | Derby County | Undisclosed | |

### Loans out

| Date from | Position | Nationality | Name | To | Date to | Ref. |
| 24 January 2009 | MF | | Ross Forbes | Dumbarton | End of season | |

### Released

| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | Joined | Date | Ref. |
| 31 December 2008 | MF | | Kenny Connolly | Ayr United | 17 January 2009 | |

### Trial

| Date from | Position | Nationality | Name | Last club | Date to | Ref. |
| January 2009 | DF | | Byron Webster | Baník Most | | |
| January 2009 | MF | | Simon Elliott | Fulham | | |

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Premier League | 9 August 2008 | 23 May 2009 | Matchday 1 | 7th | 38 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 46 | 51 | −5 | 034.21 |
| Scottish Cup | 2 February 2009 | 19 February 2009 | Fourth round | Fifth Round | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 033.33 |
| League Cup | 24 September 2008 | 24 September 2008 | Third round | Third round | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 000.00 |
| UEFA Cup | 18 September 2008 | 2 October 2008 | First round | First round | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | −3 | 000.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 44 | 14 | 10 | 20 | 51 | 58 | −7 | 031.82 |
Last updated: 23 May 2009 Source: Soccerway

### Premier League
#### Table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 5 | Dundee United | 38 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 47 | 50 | −3 | 53 | |
| 6 | Hibernian | 38 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 42 | 46 | −4 | 47 | |
| 7 | Motherwell | 38 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 46 | 51 | −5 | 48 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 8 | Kilmarnock | 38 | 12 | 8 | 18 | 38 | 48 | −10 | 44 | |
| 9 | Hamilton Academical | 38 | 12 | 5 | 21 | 30 | 53 | −23 | 41 | |
* ↑ Teams played each other three times (33 matches), before the league split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last five matches.
* ↑ Scotland were awarded an additional Europa League place as the association finished in third place of the UEFA Fair Play ranking. Motherwell earned this place as winners of the Scottish Fair Play ranking.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: BBC Sport

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H |
| Result | L | L | D | W | L | L | W | W | L | W | W | L | D | L | L | L | L | L | W | D | W | W | D | D | W | D | W | L | D | D | L | L | L | L | W | D | W | L |
| Position | 9 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |

#### Results

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Motherwell Scorer(s) | Report |
| 9 August 2008 | Hearts | Tynecastle Stadium, Edinburgh (A) | 2–3 | 14,219 | Clarkson (2) | |
| 16 August 2008 | Aberdeen | Fir Park, Motherwell (H) | 0–1 | 5,872 | | BBC Sport |
| 23 August 2008 | Dundee United | Fir Park, Motherwell (H) | 1–1 | 5,149 | Sutton | |
| 30 August 2008 | Hibernian | Easter Road, Edinburgh (A) | 1–0 | 11,285 | Sutton | |
| 13 September 2008 | Celtic | Fir Park, Motherwell (H) | 2–4 | 5,872 | Clarkson, Sutton | BBC Sport |
| 21 September 2008 | Rangers | Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow (A) | 1–2 | 49,448 | | BBC Sport |
| 27 September 2008 | St Mirren | Fir Park, Motherwell (H) | 2–1 | 4,786 | Malcolm, Sutton | |
| 5 October 2008 | Falkirk | Fir Park, Motherwell(H) | 3–2 | 4,509 | Porter, Murphy, Sutton | |
| 18 October 2008 | Kilmarnock | Rugby Park, Kilmarnock (A) | 0–1 | 5,113 | | |
| 25 October 2008 | Inverness CT | Caledonian Stadium, Inverness (A) | 2–1 | 3,110 | Malcolm (2) | |
| 1 November 2008 | Hamilton | Fir Park, Motherwell(H) | 2–0 | 6,205 | Porter (2) Sutton | |
| 8 November 2008 | Celtic | Celtic Park, Glasgow (A) | 0–2 | 56,504 | | BBC Sport |
| 12 November 2008 | Rangers | Fir Park, Motherwell (H) | 0–0 | 9,600 | | BBC Sport |
| 15 November 2008 | Falkirk | Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk (A) | 0–1 | 5,279 | | |
| 22 November 2008 | Hibernian | Fir Park, Motherwell (H) | 1–4 | 4,957 | Malcolm | |
| 29 November 2008 | Aberdeen | Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen (A) | 0–2 | 10,302 | | BBC Sport |
| 15 December 2008 | Kilmarnock | Fir Park, Motherwell (H) | 0–2 | 3,339 | | |
| 20 December 2008 | Hamilton | New Douglas Park, Hamilton (A) | 0–2 | 3,527 | | |
| 27 December 2008 | Inverness | Fir Park, Motherwell (H) | 3–2 | 4,521 | Porter (3) | |
| 3 January 2009 | St Mirren | Love Street, Paisley (A) | 0–0 | 10,189 | | |
| 7 January 2009 | Hearts | Fir Park, Motherwell (H) | 1–0 | 4,928 | Porter | |
| 17 January 2009 | Dundee United | Tannadice, Dundee (A) | 4–0 | 7,090 | Klimpl, Porter, Clarkson, Fitzpatrick | |
| 24 January 2009 | Falkirk | Fir Park, Motherwell (H) | 1–1 | 5,018 | Clarkson | |
| 31 January 2009 | Hibernian | Easter Road, Edinburgh (A) | 1–1 | 10,903 | Clarkson | |
| 14 February 2009 | Hamilton | Fir Park, Motherwell (H) | 1–0 | 5,197 | Clarkson | |
| 22 February 2009 | Celtic | Fir Park, Motherwell (H) | 1–1 | 8,593 | Quinn | BBC Sport |
| 28 February 2009 | Inverness CT | Caledonian Stadium, Inverness (A) | 2–1 | 3,611 | Sutton, Sheridan | |
| 4 March 2009 | Hearts | Tynecastle, Edinburgh (A) | 1–2 | 13,306 | Hughes | BBC Sport |
| 14 March 2009 | Dundee United | Fir Park, Motherwell (H) | 2–1 | 4,798 | Clarkson, Sutton | BBC Sport |
| 21 March 2009 | Kilmarnock | Rugby Park, Kilmarnock (A) | 0–0 | 5,434 | | BBC Sport |
| 4 April 2009 | Aberdeen | Fir Park, Motherwell (H) | 1–1 | 4,686 | O'Brien | BBC Sport |
| 11 April 2009 | Rangers | Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow (A) | 1–3 | 50,080 | Sutton | BBC Sport |
| 18 April 2009 | St Mirren | Fir Park, Motherwell (H) | 0–2 | 6,626 | | BBC Sport |
| 2 May 2009 | Falkirk | Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk (A) | 1–2 | 4,937 | Clarkson (pen.) | BBC Sport |
| 9 May 2009 | St Mirren | St Mirren Park, Paisley (A) | 3–1 | 4,002 | Murphy, Clarkson (2) | BBC Sport |
| 13 May 2009 | Inverness CT | Fir Park, Motherwell (H) | 2–2 | 2,818 | McLean, Sutton | BBC Sport |
| 16 May 2009 | Hamilton | New Douglas Park, Hamilton (A) | 3–0 | 3,383 | Clarkson, Sheridan, Sutton | BBC Sport |
| 23 May 2009 | Kilmarnock | Fir Park, Motherwell (H) | 1–2 | 4,186 | McLean | BBC Sport |

### League Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | H/A | Score | Motherwell Scorer(s) | Attendance | Report |
| 24 September 2008 | 3rd Round | Hamilton | H | 1–2 | Jamie Murphy | 5,590 | BBC Sport |

### UEFA Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | H/A | Score | Motherwell Scorer(s) | Attendance | Report |
| 18 September 2008 | 1st Round | AS Nancy | A | 0–1 | | 16,094 | BBC Sport |
| 2 October 2008 | 1st Round | AS Nancy | H | 0–2 | | 11,318 | BBC Sport |

### Scottish Cup

| Date | Round | Opponent | H/A | Score | Motherwell Scorer(s) | Attendance | Report |
| 2 February 2009 | 4th Round | Inverurie | A | 3–0 | John Sutton (2, 69), David Clarkson (57) | 2,500 | BBC Sport |
| 7 February 2009 | 5th Round | St Mirren | H | 1–1 | Stephen Hughes (65) | 5,695 | BBC Sport |
| 19 February 2009 | 5th Round Replay | St Mirren | A | 0–1 | | 4,555 | BBC Sport |

## Squad statistics
### Appearances

    As of match played 23 May 2009'
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Premier League | Premier League | UEFA Cup | UEFA Cup | Scottish Cup | Scottish Cup | League Cup | League Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | SCO | Graeme Smith | 43 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | SCO | Paul Quinn | 40 | 0 | 33+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | SCO | Steven Hammell | 43 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | SCO | Mark Reynolds | 42 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | NIR | Stephen Craigan | 28 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | NIR | Brian McLean | 12 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | SCO | Stephen Hughes | 40 | 2 | 35 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | SCO | Bob Malcolm | 16 | 2 | 11+2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | IRL | Cillian Sheridan | 15 | 2 | 9+4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | SCO | David Clarkson | 39 | 14 | 30+3 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | ENG | John Sutton | 33 | 12 | 26+2 | 10 | 1+1 | 0 | 1+1 | 2 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 12 | MF | SCO | Darren Smith | 22 | 0 | 1+15 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 13 | DF | SVK | Maroš Klimpl | 24 | 1 | 20+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | SCO | Keith Lasley | 33 | 0 | 24+4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 15 | FW | SCO | Jamie Murphy | 34 | 3 | 11+19 | 2 | 0+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 16 | MF | SCO | Marc Fitzpatrick | 28 | 1 | 14+9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | SCO | Jim O'Brien | 33 | 1 | 19+10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | SCO | Steven McGarry | 25 | 0 | 16+7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | GK | POL | Artur Krysiak | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | FW | SCO | Bob McHugh | 2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | DF | ENG | Shaun Hutchinson | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | DF | SCO | Steven Saunders | 3 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | MF | SCO | Paul Slane | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players away from the club on loan: ||||||||||||||
| Players who left Motherwell during the season: ||||||||||||||
| 9 | FW | ENG | Chris Porter | 25 | 9 | 21+1 | 9 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |

### Goal scorers

    As of match played 23 May 2009
| Ranking | Nation | Position | Number | Name | Premier League | Scottish Cup | League Cup | UEFA Cup | Total |
| 1 | FW | | 10 | David Clarkson | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 2 | FW | | 11 | John Sutton | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 3 | FW | | 9 | Chris Porter | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 4 | MF | | 8 | Bob Malcolm | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | FW | | 15 | Jamie Murphy | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | DF | | 28 | Brian McLean | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | FW | | 9 | Cillian Sheridan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | MF | | 7 | Stephen Hughes | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | DF | | 16 | Marc Fitzpatrick | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | DF | | 13 | Maroš Klimpl | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | MF | | 17 | Jim O'Brien | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | DF | | 12 | Paul Quinn | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 46 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 51 |

### Clean sheets

    As of match played 23 May 2009
| Ranking | Nation | Position | Number | Name | Premier League | Scottish Cup | League Cup | UEFA Cup | Total |
| 1 | GK | | 1 | Graeme Smith | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

### Disciplinary record

    As of match played 23 May 2009
| Nation | Position | Number | Name | Premier League | Premier League | Scottish Cup | Scottish Cup | League Cup | League Cup | UEFA Cup | UEFA Cup | Total | Total |
| | GK | 1 | Graeme Smith | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | DF | 2 | Paul Quinn | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| | DF | 3 | Steven Hammell | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| | DF | 4 | Mark Reynolds | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| | DF | 5 | Stephen Craigan | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | 6 | Brian McLean | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | 7 | Stephen Hughes | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | MF | 8 | Bob Malcolm | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| | FW | 10 | David Clarkson | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| | DF | 13 | Maroš Klimpl | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| | MF | 14 | Keith Lasley | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| | MF | 16 | Marc Fitzpatrick | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | 19 | Steven McGarry | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Players who left Motherwell during the season: ||||||||||||||
| | FW | 9 | Chris Porter | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| | | | TOTALS | 52 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 58 | 4 |