2008–09 Umaglesi Liga

The 2008–09 Umaglesi Liga was the twentieth season of top-tier football in Georgia. It was scheduled to begin in August 2008, but the start of the league was delayed due to the 2008 South Ossetia war. The first round of games finally took place on 13 and 14 September 2008. The season ended with the 33rd round played on 23 May 2009. Dinamo Tbilisi were the defending champions.

Umaglesi Liga
Season2008–09
Dates13 September 2008 – 23 May 2009
ChampionsWIT Georgia
2nd Georgian title
RelegatedMeskheti
Borjomi
Champions LeagueWIT Georgia
Europa LeagueDinamo Tbilisi
Olimpi Rustavi
Zestafoni
Matches played165
Goals scored411 (2.49 per match)
Top goalscorerNikoloz Gelashvili (20)
Biggest home winDinamo Tbilisi 12–0 Borjomi
Biggest away winBorjomi 0–4 Dinamo Tbilisi
Gagra 0–4 WIT Georgia
Zestafoni 0–4 Dinamo Tbilisi
Highest scoringDinamo Tbilisi 12–0 Borjomi

The league was reduced from 14 to 12 teams prior to this season. However, Ameri Tbilisi voluntarily withdrew from the competition in mid-July because of financial reasons. As no replacement team was announced, the league featured only 11 teams.

Promotion and relegation

Merani Tbilisi, Dinamo Batumi and Dila Gori were relegated at the end of the previous season due to finishing 12th through 14th, respectively. Spartaki Tskhinvali, who finished the previous season in 11th place, retained their spot in Umaglesi Liga after defeating Pirveli Liga runners-up Gagra by 1–0.

Due to the reduction of league size, only Pirveli Liga champions Chiatura were promoted. However, they did not want to compete in 2008–09 Umaglesi Liga because of unknown reasons, so Gagra took their spot.

Stadia and locations
Location of teams in 2008–09 Umaglesi Liga
Team Location Venue Capacity
FC Borjomi Borjomi Jemal Zeinklishvili Stadium 5,000
Dinamo Tbilisi Boris Paichadze Stadium 54,549
Gagra Tbilisi Ameri Stadium 1,000
Locomotive Tbilisi Mikheil Meskhi Stadium 27,223
Meskheti Akhaltsikhe Central Stadium 3,000
Mglebi Zugdidi Gulia Tutberidze Stadium 3,000
Olimpi Rustavi Poladi Stadium 10,720
Sioni Bolnisi Tamaz Stephania Stadium 3,000
Spartaki-Tskhinvali Tbilisi Kartli Stadium 1,500
WIT Georgia Tbilisi Shevardeni Stadium 4,000
FC Zestafoni Zestaponi David Abashidze Stadium 10,000

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 WIT Georgia (C) 30 20 9 1 57 19 +38 69 Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
2 Dinamo Tbilisi 30 19 6 5 70 21 +49 63 Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
3 Olimpi Rustavi 30 16 9 5 40 20 +20 57 Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
4 Zestafoni 30 16 4 10 43 27 +16 52
5 Sioni Bolnisi 30 11 11 8 35 29 +6 44
6 Locomotive Tbilisi 30 10 8 12 35 33 +2 38
7 Mglebi Zugdidi[lower-alpha 2] (R) 30 10 6 14 36 41 −5 36 Withdrew from the league
8 Meskheti Akhaltsikhe[lower-alpha 3] (R) 30 7 8 15 23 42 −19 29 Relegation to Pirveli Liga
9 Gagra 30 7 7 16 23 48 −25 28
10 Spartaki Tskhinvali 30 6 7 17 28 46 −18 25
11 Borjomi (R) 30 2 7 21 21 85 −64 13 Withdrew from the league
— Ameri Tbilisi[lower-alpha 4] (R) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Source: soccerway.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Dinamo Tbilisi won the 2008–09 Georgian Cup and thereby qualified for the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League. Since they also finished second in the league, fourth-placed Zestafoni qualified for the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.
  2. Mglebi withdrew from the league. The club was merged with FC Baia Zugdidi.[1]
  3. Meskheti withdrew from the league after the season concluded due to financial reasons. Therefore, Gagra and Spartaki Tskhinvali, who originally were to be demoted, were spared from relegation and play in the 2009–10 season of Umaglesi Liga.[1]
  4. Ameri Tbilisi voluntarily withdrew their participation before the start of the season due to financial reasons.

Results

See also

References
  1. "First division clubs in Europe 2009/10" (PDF) (PDF). UEFA. p. 57. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
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