2007–08 Libyan Premier League

Libyan Premier League
Season 200708
Champions Al Ittihad
14th Libyan Premier League title
Relegated Al Tahaddy
Al Urouba
Nojom Ajdabiya
CAF Champions League 2009 Al Ittihad
Al Ahly Tripoli
CAF Confederation Cup 2009 Khaleej Sirte (via Libyan Cup)
Al Ahly Benghazi
Top goalscorer Libya Abdelhameed Zidane (21)
Biggest home win Al Ahly Tripoli 10-2 Al Suqoor
(2007-12-07)
Biggest away win Al Wahda 1–5 Al Ittihad (2007-10-11)
Al Suqoor 0-4 Al Ittihad (2008-07-19)
Highest scoring Al Ahly Tripoli 10-2 Al Suqoor
(2007-12-07)
← 200607
200809 →

Libyan Premier League 2007/2008 was the 40th edition of the Libyan Premier League, the highest division of Libyan football, organised by the Libyan Football Federation.

Season summary

In a more closely contested league contest than in recent seasons, Al Ittihad took until week 28 to secure their 14th league title. Al Ahly Tripoli challenged their close rivals all the way in the title race, but just four points from their last three games, including a humiliating 1-0 defeat to eventually relegated Al Tahaddy, ended their title hopes and their 29-game unbeaten record, which had lasted all year. Al Ittihad also went through the league season unbeaten. After just one defeat in the 2006-07 season, this shows signs that the Big Two are pulling even further away, proved by the 20-point gap between 2nd placed Al Ahly Tripoli and 3rd placed Al Ahly Benghazi.

2007-08 was a very successful season for Khaleej Sirte. The club won two trophies (its first major honours since the three Sirte clubs merged to form Khaleej Sirte). The club won the Libyan Confederation Cup, a newly created trophy similar to England's League Cup, before later lifting the Libyan Cup, beating Al Madina in a tense final 1-0.

At the bottom, Al Suqoor and Nojom Ajdabiya both had very poor seasons, with just 9 wins between the two sides. Al Suqoor suffered one of the worst defeats in Libyan history, as they were crushed 10-2 by A Ahli Tripoli. Al Urouba did put up a decent fight, winning 4 of their last 7 matches, nearly half of the number of wins they had obtained in their previous 23 matches. In the end, they paid the price for losing to relegation rivals.

The Relegation/Promotion Play Off place was an interesting battle. Three teams were on 33 points, and it was head-to-head record that sent Al Tahaddy to their eventual relegation.

In general, the league was pretty close, with just 10 points separating 5th placed Khaleej Sirte from 14th placed (and relegated) Al Urouba.

The competition

There are 16 clubs in the League. During the course of the season each clubs plays others two times, for a total of 30 games. At the end of season, the bottom three sides are automatically relegated to the Libyan Second Division, and the fourth bottom side goes into the Relegation Play-Off.

The winner of the LPL qualifies for the CAF Champions League, and the top two sides qualify for the Arab Champions League, while the Libyan Cup winner qualifies for the CAF Confederation Cup

Clubs

Club City Stadium
Ahly Benghazi Benghazi 28 March Stadium
Ahly Tripoli Tripoli 11 June Stadium
Akhdar Bayda Green Document Stadium
Jazeera Zuwara Zuwara Stadium
Nojom Ajdabiya Ajdabiya 10 March Stadium
Ittihad Tripoli 11 June Stadium
Madina Tripoli 11 June Stadium
Nasr Benghazi 28 March Stadium
Olomby Zawiya Zaawia Stadium
Al Shat Tripoli Ali Alsgozy Stadium
Suqoor Tobruk 2 March Stadium
Tahaddy Benghazi 28 March Stadium
Khaleej Sirte Sirte 2 March Stadium
Wahda Tripoli GMR Stadium
Urouba Ajaylat Ajaylat Stadium
Tersanah Tripoli GMR Stadium

Statistics

League table

Pos
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Qualification or relegation
Head-to-head
1 Ittihad (C) 30 26 4 0 68 16 +52 82 CAF Champions League 2009
2 Ahly Tripoli 30 23 6 1 77 28 +49 75 CAF Champions League 2009
3 Ahly Benghazi 30 15 10 5 44 20 +24 55 CAF Confederation Cup 2009
4 Akhdar 30 15 8 7 48 33 +15 50*rowspan=1 style="background-color:white;"|
5 Khaleej Sirte 30 11 8 11 34 35 1 41 CAF Confederation Cup 2009 NSR 0–1 KHA
KHA 1–1 NSR
6 Nasr 30 11 9 10 39 29 +10 41**rowspan=7 style="background-color:white;"|
7 Madina 30 9 13 8 29 28 +1 40
8 Olomby 30 9 12 9 36 34 +2 39
9 Shat 30 11 3 16 34 47 13 36
10 Jazeera 30 9 8 13 27 37 10 35
11 Tersanah 30 8 9 13 32 40 8 33 TER: 10 pts 5–2
WAH: 3 pts 3–4
THD: 2 pts 5–7
12 Wahda 30 9 6 15 38 48 10 33
13 Tahaddy (R) 30 8 9 13 37 42 5 33 Qualification to Promotion/Relegation Playoffs
14 Urouba (R) 30 9 4 17 29 47 18 31 Relegation to the Libyan Second Division
15 Suqoor (R) 30 6 3 21 23 69 46 20***
16 Nojom Ajdabiya (R) 30 3 4 23 25 67 42 13

Updated to games played on July 22, 2008.
Source: Libyan Premier League at kooora.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head goals scored; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored
* Al Akhdar deducted 3 points for cancelling their match with Al Ittihad
** Al Nasr deducted 1 point for failing to show up for their match against Al Shat
*** Al Suqoor deducted one point for abandoning their match with Al Ahly Tripoli
Khaleej Sirte qualify for CAF Confederation Cup as Libyan Cup winners
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
Head-to-Head: used when head-to-head record is used to rank tied teams.

Results

Home \ Away[1] AHLB AHLT AKHITTJAZKHAMADNSRNJMAOLYSHTSQRTHDTERUROWAH
Ahly Benghazi 11 20 01 11 50 00 00 22 10 30 30 31 21 40 21
Ahly Tripoli 31 41 22 30 20 21 10 10 21 40 102 30 52 31 51
Akhdar 01 22 02 10 20 10 00 21 22 30 30 11 20 10 30
Ittihad 21 11 52 21 51 11 10 60 10 21 31 10 10 30 10
Jazeera 02 01 10 03 21 11 21 10 12 31 20 10 00 01 11
Khaleej Sirte 00 01 14 01 41 11 11 20 11 01 40 01 42 31 22
Madina 11 22 11 01 00 10 02 10 01 20 20 11 10 22 21
Nasr 00 11 13 12 11 01 31 41 11 21 51 20 20 31 12
Nojom Ajdabiya 01 02 14 13 12 01 11 12 13 21 12 24 23 00 20
Olomby 21 23 11 00 11 02 00 00 50 01 10 32 11 03 12
Shat 02 12 33 01 21 00 10 20 30 21 32 23 35 10 13
Suqoor 01 03 00 04 13 00 01 01 12 22 10 10 21 20 21
Tahaddy 22 10 21 12 20 00 00 13 51 11 01 31 01 00 33
Tersanah 00 34 01 02 11 01 21 00 00 11 11 20 32 01 10
Urouba 01 12 23 14 10 12 01 21 21 12 02 21 31 02 21
Wahda 21 12 01 15 20 02 12 21 32 01 10 61 00 00 11

Updated to games played on 28 July 2008.
Source: Libyan Premier League @ goalzz.com
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers

21 goals
18 goals
16 goals
13 goals
12 goals
11 goals

Awards

External links