| Season | 2008–09 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 24 August 2008 – 23 May 2009 |
| Champions | Tirana 24th Albanian title |
| Relegated | Bylis (via play-off) Partizani (via play-off) Lushnja Elbasani |
| Champions League | Tirana |
| Europa League | Vllaznia Dinamo Flamurtari |
| Matches | 198 |
| Goals | 427 (2.16 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Migen Memelli (23 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Tirana 6–2Bylis Dinamo 5–1Bylis Teuta 4–0Vllaznia Flamurtari 4–0Besa |
| Biggest away win | Lushnja 1–4Vllaznia Elbasani 1–4Vllaznia |
| Highest scoring | Tirana 6–2Bylis |
2009–10 → | |
The2008–09Kategoria Superiore was the 73rd season of top-tier football inAlbania and the eleventh season under the nameKategoria Superiore. The season began on 24 August 2008 and ended on 23 May 2009. The defending champions wereDinamo Tirana.
KF Tirana won their 24th national league title and qualified for theUEFA Champions League;Vllaznia,Dinamo Tirana and2008–09 Albanian Cup winnersFlamurtari gained access to theUEFA Europa League. On the bottom end of the table,Lushnja andElbasani were directly relegated.Bylis andPartizani had to face teams from theKategoria e Parë in relegation matches. Both teams lost and thus were demoted as well.
Besëlidhja andSkënderbeu were directly relegated to the Kategoria e Parë after finishing 11th and 12th inthe previous year's standings. They were replaced by Kategoria e Parë championsBylis and runners-upApolonia.
9th placedTeuta and 10th placedKastrioti had to compete in single-match relegation play-offs. Kastrioti were relegated in the process by losing on penalties against the 3rd placed team from Kategoria e Parë,Lushnja. On the other hand, Teuta saved their place in Albania's top league by beatingBurreli, who had finished in 4th place in the Kategoria e Parë, with 2–1 after extra time.
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity | Last season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apolonia | Fier | Loni Papuçiu Stadium | 6,000 | Kategoria e Parë |
| Besa | Kavajë | Besa Stadium | 12,000 | 3rd |
| Bylis | Ballsh | Adush Muça Stadium | 6,000 | Kategoria e Parë |
| Dinamo | Tirana | Selman Stërmasi Stadium[note 1] | 12,000 | Champions |
| Elbasani | Elbasan | Ruzhdi Bizhuta Stadium | 13,000 | 4th |
| Flamurtari | Vlorë | Flamurtari Stadium | 8,500 | 8th |
| Lushnja | Lushnjë | Abdurrahman Roza Haxhiu Stadium | 6,000 | Kategoria e Parë |
| Partizani | Tirana | Selman Stërmasi Stadium | 12,000 | 2nd |
| Shkumbini | Peqin | Shkumbini Stadium | 6,000 | 5th |
| Teuta | Durrës | Niko Dovana Stadium | 12,000 | 4th |
| Tirana | Tirana | Selman Stërmasi Stadium | 12,000 | 6th |
| Vllaznia | Shkodër | Loro Boriçi Stadium | 15,000 | 7th |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tirana(C) | 33 | 19 | 11 | 3 | 58 | 27 | +31 | 68 | Qualification for theChampions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Vllaznia | 33 | 19 | 7 | 7 | 49 | 29 | +20 | 64 | Qualification for theEuropa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Dinamo Tirana | 33 | 14 | 10 | 9 | 48 | 34 | +14 | 52 | |
| 4 | Teuta | 33 | 12 | 8 | 13 | 32 | 34 | −2 | 44 | |
| 5 | Shkumbini | 33 | 12 | 8 | 13 | 32 | 38 | −6 | 44 | |
| 6 | Flamurtari | 33 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 42 | Qualification for theEuropa League second qualifying round[a] |
| 7 | Besa | 33 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 31 | 41 | −10 | 40 | |
| 8 | Apolonia | 33 | 11 | 5 | 17 | 36 | 43 | −7 | 38 | |
| 9 | Bylis(R) | 33 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 28 | 38 | −10 | 37 | Qualification for therelegation play-offs |
| 10 | Partizani(R) | 33 | 9 | 9 | 15 | 27 | 36 | −9 | 36 | |
| 11 | Lushnja(R) | 33 | 8 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 35 | −10 | 36 | Relegation to the2009–10 Kategoria e Parë |
| 12 | Elbasani(R) | 33 | 7 | 14 | 12 | 28 | 39 | −11 | 35 |
The schedule consisted of three rounds. During the first two rounds, each team played each other once home and away for a total of 22 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 33 games per team.
First and second round[edit]
Source:Albanian Football Association Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. | Third round[edit]
Source:Albanian Football Association Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
|
Bylis as 9th-placed team (against the 4th-placed team of theKategoria e Parë,Gramozi) and 10th-placedPartizani (against 3rd-placed Kategoria e Parë teamKastrioti) both competed in relegation play-off games after the end of the season. Superiore sides Partizani and Bylis lost their matches and were thus relegated to the Kategoria e Parë.
| Bylis | 2–5 (a.e.t.) | Gramozi |
|---|---|---|
| Bakiu Muça | Report | Bejollari Peçi Juriander Lena dos Santos |
Source:soccerway.com