2008–09 Falkirk F.C. season

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Falkirk
2008–09 season
ChairmanCampbell Christie
ManagerJohn Hughes
Scottish Premier LeagueTenth Place
League CupSemi-final
Scottish CupRunners-up
Top goalscorerLeague: Steve Lovell (8)
All: Scott Arfield & Steve Lovell (10)
Highest home attendance6,853 vs. Rangers,
5 April 2009
Lowest home attendance4,385 vs. Dundee United,
3 March 2009
Average home league attendance5,640

The 2008–09 season was Falkirk's fourth consecutive season in the Scottish Premier League. Falkirk also competed in the League Cup and the Scottish Cup.

Summary[]

In their fourth season in the SPL, Falkirk finished in tenth place. The club reached the semi-final of the League Cup, and ended as runners in the Scottish Cup, losing to Rangers in both matches.

Results[]

  Win   Draw   Loss

Pre-season[]

Date Opponent Venue Result Goalscorers Match Report
22 July 2008 Ross County Falkirk Stadium 2–2 Higdon, Finnigan Falkirk Official Site
23 July 2008 Berwick Rangers Shielfield Park 1–2 Stewart Falkirk Official Site
26 July 2008 Queens Park Rangers Falkirk Stadium 2–0 Own goal, Stewart Falkirk Official Site
28 July 2008 Alloa Athletic Falkirk Stadium 0–0 Falkirk Official Site
30 July 2008 SC Cambuur Cambuur Stadion 0–1 Falkirk Official Site
1 August 2008 BV Veendam De Langeleegte 2–0 Finnigan, Stewart Falkirk Official Site
2 August 2008 SC Heerenveen Abe Lenstra Stadion 0–4 Falkirk Official Site

Scottish Premier League[]

Main article: 2008–09 Scottish Premier League
Date Venue Opponents Score[1] Competition Falkirk scorer(s) Match Report
9 August 2008 Falkirk Stadium Rangers 0–1 SPL Falkirk Official Site
16 August 2008 Easter Road Hibs 2–3 SPL Higdon (2) Falkirk Official Site
23 August 2008 Celtic Park Celtic 0–3 SPL Falkirk Official Site
30 August 2008 Falkirk Stadium Inverness CT 1–2 SPL M Stewart Falkirk Official Site
13 September 2008 Falkirk Stadium Heart of Midlothian 2–1 SPL McCann, Arfield Falkirk Official Site
20 September 2008 Love Street St Mirren 1–1 SPL Barrett Falkirk Official Site
27 September 2008 Falkirk Stadium Hamilton 4–1 SPL Lovell, O'Brien, Arfield (2) Falkirk Official Site
5 October 2008 Fir Park Motherwell 2–3 SPL Lovell, Barrett Falkirk Official Site
18 October 2008 Falkirk Stadium Aberdeen 0–1 SPL Falkirk Official Site
25 October 2008 Rugby Park Kilmarnock 2–1 SPL Lovell, Arfield Falkirk Official Site
1 November 2008 Falkirk Stadium Dundee United 0–0 SPL Falkirk Official Site
8 November 2008 New Douglas Park Hamilton 1–1 SPL Higdon Falkirk Official Site
12 November 2008 Caledonian Stadium Inverness CT 1–1 SPL Higdon Falkirk Official Site
15 November 2008 Falkirk Stadium Motherwell 1–0 SPL Higdon Falkirk Official Site
22 November 2008 Tynecastle Stadium Heart of Midlothian 1–2 SPL Lovell Falkirk Official Site
29 November 2008 Falkirk Stadium Hibs 1–1 SPL Barr Falkirk Official Site
6 December 2008 Falkirk Stadium St Mirren 1–2 SPL Lovell Falkirk Official Site
13 December 2008 Pittodrie Stadium Aberdeen 1–2 SPL Lovell Falkirk Official Site
21 December 2008 Falkirk Stadium Celtic 0–3 SPL Falkirk Official Site
27 December 2008 Tannadice Park Dundee United 0–1 SPL Falkirk Official Site
3 January 2009 Falkirk Stadium Kilmarnock 1–1 SPL Lovell Falkirk Official Site
17 January 2009 Ibrox Stadium Rangers 1–3 SPL Lovell Falkirk Official Site
24 January 2009 Fir Park Motherwell 1–1 SPL Holden Falkirk Official Site
31 January 2009 Falkirk Stadium Aberdeen 1–0 SPL Higdon Falkirk Official Site
14 February 2009 New St Mirren Park St Mirren 2–2 SPL Finnigan, Arfield Falkirk Official Site
21 February 2009 Falkirk Stadium Hamilton 1–2 SPL Own goal Falkirk Official Site
28 February 2009 Easter Road Hibs 0–0 SPL Falkirk Official Site
3 March 2009 Falkirk Stadium Dundee United 0–1 SPL Falkirk Official Site
21 March 2009 Falkirk Stadium Inverness CT 4–0 SPL Finnigan (2), Stewart, Arfield (pen.) Falkirk Official Site
5 April 2009 Falkirk Stadium Rangers 0–1 SPL Falkirk Official Site
8 April 2009 Celtic Park Celtic 0–4 SPL Falkirk Official Site
11 April 2009 Rugby Park Kilmarnock 0–3 SPL Falkirk Official Site
18 April 2009 Falkirk Stadium Heart of Midlothian 0–0 SPL Falkirk Official Site
2 May 2009 Falkirk Stadium Motherwell 2–1 SPL Finnigan, Scobbie Falkirk Official Site
9 May 2009 Rugby Park Kilmarnock 1–1 SPL Barr Falkirk Official Site
13 May 2009 New Douglas Park Hamilton Academical 1–0 SPL Arfield Falkirk Official Site
16 May 2009 Falkirk Stadium St Mirren 0–2 SPL Falkirk Official Site
23 May 2009 Caledonian Stadium Inverness CT 1–0 SPL Higdon Falkirk Official Site

Scottish League Cup[]

Main article: 2008–09 Scottish League Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers Match Report
Second round 26 August 2008 Raith Rovers Stark's Park 3–1 Higdon, J Stewart, M Stewart Falkirk Official Site
Third round 23 September 2008 Queen of the South Falkirk Stadium 2–1 McCann, Lovell Falkirk Official Site
Quarter-final 28 October 2008 Inverness CT Falkirk Stadium 1–0 McCann Falkirk Official Site
Semi-final 27 January 2009 Rangers Hampden Park 0–3 Falkirk Official Site

Scottish Cup[]

Main article: 2008–09 Scottish Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers Match Report
Fourth Round 10 January 2009 Queen of the South Falkirk Stadium 4–2 Arfield (2) (1st pen.), Barrett (2) Falkirk Official Site
Fifth Round 7 February 2009 Heart of Midlothian Tynecastle Stadium 1–0 Lovell Falkirk Official Site
Quarter-final 7 March 2009 Inverness CT Caledonian Stadium 1–0 Finnigan (pen.) Falkirk Official Site
Semi-final 26 April 2009 Dunfermline Athletic Hampden Park 2–0 Scobbie, Arfield (pen.) Falkirk Official Site
Final 30 May 2009 Rangers Hampden Park 0–1 Falkirk Official Site

Squad statistics[]

Player statistics[]

As of 30 May 2009(UTC)[2]
No. Pos Nat Player Total Premier League League Cup Scottish Cup
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1 GK Spain ESP Dani Mallo 20 0 15+0 0 1+0 0 4+0 0
2 DF Scotland SCO Lee Bullen 37 0 29+3 0 2+0 0 3+0 0
3 DF Northern Ireland NIR Dean Holden 22 1 16+3 1 1+0 0 1+1 0
4 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Patrick Cregg 31 0 16+7 0 2+2 0 2+2 0
5 DF Scotland SCO Jackie McNamara 37 0 29+0 0 4+0 0 4+0 0
6 MF Scotland SCO Kevin McBride 35 0 25+3 0 4+0 0 2+1 0
7 MF Scotland SCO Neil McCann 31 3 22+2 1 3+0 2 4+0 0
8 MF Spain ESP Arnau Riera 20 0 14+3 0 0+0 0 3+0 0
10 DF Scotland SCO Steven Pressley 19 0 15+1 0 1+0 0 2+0 0
11 FW England ENG Michael Higdon 42 8 27+7 7 3+1 1 3+1 0
12 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Stephen Bradley 4 0 4+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
14 DF Netherlands NED Gerard Aafjes 23 0 10+7 0 3+0 0 2+1 0
15 FW England ENG Steve Lovell 33 10 25+3 8 2+0 1 3+0 1
16 MF Canada CAN Scott Arfield 45 10 35+2 7 4+0 0 4+0 3
17 GK Austria AUT Bobby Olejnik 18 0 15+0 0 2+0 0 1+0 0
18 DF Scotland SCO Brian Allison 0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
19 MF Scotland SCO Sean Lynch 0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
20 DF Scotland SCO Darren Barr 44 2 35+0 2 4+0 0 5+0 0
21 FW England ENG Carl Finnigan 19 5 10+4 4 0+0 0 2+3 1
22 DF Scotland SCO Chris Mitchell 10 0 3+6 0 0+1 0 0+0 0
23 FW Scotland SCO Kevin Moffat 4 0 0+4 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
24 FW Scotland SCO Mark Stewart 27 3 5+15 2 1+2 1 1+3 0
29 MF Scotland SCO Sean Lynch 2 0 0+2 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
30 GK Scotland SCO Jamie Barclay 0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
31 DF Northern Ireland NIR Dermot McCaffrey 2 0 1+1 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
33 DF Scotland SCO Tam Scobbie 27 2 18+2 1 2+1 0 4+0 1
34 FW Scotland SCO Dayne Robertson 4 0 0+4 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
35 DF Scotland SCO Mark Staunton 0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
47 MF Scotland SCO Burton O'Brien 39 1 30+2 1 1+1 0 4+1 0
56 DF Sweden SWE Erik Schultz-Eklund 0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
Players who left the club during the 2008–09 season
9 FW Republic of Ireland IRL Graham Barrett 19 4 9+6 2 2+1 0 1+0 2
10 MF Trinidad and Tobago TRI Russell Latapy 4 0 2+1 0 0+1 0 0+0 0
13 GK England ENG Scott Flinders 9 0 8+0 0 1+0 0 0+0 0
25 FW Scotland SCO John Stewart 5 1 4+0 0 1+0 1 0+0 0

Team statistics[]

League table[]

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[a]
8 Kilmarnock 38 12 8 18 38 48 −10 44
9 Hamilton Academical 38 12 5 21 30 53 −23 41
10 Falkirk 38 9 11 18 37 52 −15 38 Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round[b]
11 St Mirren 38 9 10 19 33 52 −19 37
12 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 38 10 7 21 37 58 −21 37 Relegation to the First Division
Source: Scottish Professional Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
Notes:
  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ Since Rangers, the winners of the Scottish Cup, already qualified for the Champions League via their league position, Falkirk, the losing finalist, earned a spot in the Europa League.

Transfers[]

In[]

Player From Fee Contract length
Scotland Lee Bullen England Sheffield Wednesday Free Two years
Northern Ireland Dermot McCaffrey Scotland Hibernian Free Three years
Scotland Jackie McNamara Scotland Aberdeen Free Two years
Sweden Erik Schultz-Eklund Scotland Gretna Free Two years
Scotland Neil McCann Scotland Hearts Free Two years
South Africa Burton O'Brien England Sheffield Wednesday Free Two years
Scotland John Stewart Scotland Queen of the South Loan Return Two years
Spain Arnau England Sunderland Loan Season Long
England Steve Lovell Unattached Free Two years
Scotland Steven Pressley Unattached Free End of Season
Spain Dani Mallo Unattached Free End of Season

Out[]

Player To Fee

References[]

  1. ^ Falkirk's score is shown first.
  2. ^ "Falkirk 2008/2009 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
Retrieved from ""