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.

Motherwell

2008–09 season
Chairman	John Boyle
Manager	Mark McGhee
Premier League	7th
Scottish Cup	Fifth Round
League Cup	Third Round
UEFA Cup	First Round
Top goalscorer	David Clarkson (13)
Highest home attendance	11,318 vs Nancy (2 October 2008)
Lowest home attendance	2,818 vs Inverness (13 May 2009)
Average home league attendance	5,351
Home colours Away colours
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

Important Events

• 15 August 2008 – The first Scottish Premier League fixture of the season (against Hearts) ends in a 3–2 defeat at Tynecastle.
• 29 August 2008 – Draw for the UEFA Cup First round. Motherwell draw French side Nancy.
• 1 September 2008 – Draw for the Scottish League Cup third round. Motherwell draw Hamilton (home).
• 1 December 2008 – Draw for the Scottish Cup fourth round. Motherwell draw Inverurie (away).
• 1 January 2009 – Draw for the Scottish Cup fifth round. Motherwell draw St Mirren (home).
• 23 May 2009 – The final Scottish Premier League fixture of the season (against Kilmarnock) ends in a 2–1 defeat at Fir Park.
• 26 May 2009 – Motherwell are awarded a place in the Europa League after finishing in the fair play top three, alongside Randers and Rosenborg.^[1]
• 12 June 2009 – Mark McGhee leaves the club to become manager of Aberdeen. Assistant Scott Leitch and goalkeeping coach Colin Meldrum also leave for the Pittodrie outfit.^[2]

Transfers

For a list of Scottish football transfers in 2008–09, see transfers in season 2008–09

Summer Transfer Window (1 July – 1 September 2008)

In Permanent

Date	Player	From	Fee	Contract length
8 July 2008	Bob Malcolm^[3]	unattached	Free	One year
8 August 2008	Jim O'Brien^[4]	Celtic	Undisclosed	Two years
19 August 2008	John Sutton^[5]	Wycombe Wanderers	Undisclosed	Three years

Loans in

Date	Player	From	Loan Length
19 August 2008	Gunnar Nielsen^[4]	Blackburn Rovers	6 months
19 August 2008	Maros Klimpl^[6]	FC Midtjylland	6 months

Loans out

Date	Player	To	Loan Length

Out Permanent

Date	Player	To	Fee	Note
13 June 2008	Martin Grehan^[3]	Stirling Albion	Free
13 June 2008	Ross McCormack^[7]	Cardiff City	£100,000
20 July 2008	David Nixon^[8]	Airdrie United	Free
25 July 2008	Stephen McGuire^[9]	Airdrie United	Free

Winter Transfer Window (1 January – 2 February 2009)

In Permanent

Date	Player	From	Fee	Contract length

Loans in

Date	Player	From	Loan Length
2 January 2009	Artur Krysiak^[10]	Birmingham City	6 months
2 February 2009	Cillian Sheridan^[11]	Celtic	6 months
2 February 2008	Semih Aydilek^[11]	Birmingham City	6 months

Loans out

Date	Player	To	Loan Length
24 January 2009	Ross Forbes^[12]	Dumbarton	6 months

Out Permanent

Date	Player	To	Fee	Note
17 January 2009	Kenny Connolly^[13]	Ayr United	Free
31 January 2009	Chris Porter^[14]	Derby County	£400,000

Motherwell F.C. Season 2008–09 First-team Squad

Updated 5 December 2010^[15]

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 ((c)) 6 DF   NIR Brian McLean 7 MF   SCO Stephen Hughes 8 MF   SCO Robert Malcolm (Departed January 2009) 9 FW   ENG Chris Porter (Departed January 2009) 9 FW   IRL Cillian Sheridan (Arrived January 2009) 10 FW   SCO David Clarkson 11 FW   ENG John Sutton 12 MF   SCO Darren Smith 13 DF   SVK Maros Klimpl (On loan from FC 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 (Arrived January 2009) 21 GK   FRO Gunnar Neilsen (On loan from Blackburn Rovers (Departed January 2009)) 22 MF   GER Semih Aydilek (Arrived January 2009) 23 FW   SCO Mark Archdeacon 26 MF   SCO Kenny Connolly 29 MF   SCO Ross Forbes 35 FW   SCO Robert McHugh 37 DF   ENG Shaun Hutchinson 43 DF   SCO Steven Saunders 45 FW   SCO Paul Slane

Motherwell F.C. Season 2008–09 Statistics

Appearances

Updated 8 December 2010^[16][17]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Scottish Premier League		UEFA Cup		Scottish Cup		Scottish League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	SCO	Graeme Smith	43	0	37+0	0	2+0	0	3+0	0	1+0	0
2	DF	SCO	Paul Quinn	40	0	33+1	0	2+0	0	3+0	0	1+0	0
3	DF	SCO	Steven Hammell	43	0	37+0	0	2+0	0	3+0	0	1+0	0
4	DF	SCO	Mark Reynolds	42	0	36+0	0	2+0	0	3+0	0	1+0	0
5	DF	NIR	Stephen Craigan	28	0	22+0	0	2+0	0	3+0	0	1+0	0
6	DF	NIR	Brian McLean	12	2	12+0	2	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
7	MF	SCO	Stephen Hughes	40	2	35+0	1	2+0	0	2+0	1	1+0	0
8	MF	SCO	Robert Malcolm	16	2	11+2	2	2+0	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
9	FW	ENG	Chris Porter	25	9	21+1	9	1+1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
9	FW	IRL	Cillian Sheridan	15	2	9+4	2	0+0	0	1+1	0	0+0	0
10	FW	SCO	David Clarkson	39	14	30+3	13	2+0	0	3+0	1	1+0	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	Maros Klimpl	24	1	20+1	1	0+0	0	3+0	0	0+0	0
14	MF	SCO	Keith Lasley	33	0	24+4	0	2+0	0	2+0	0	1+0	0
15	FW	SCO	Jamie Murphy	34	3	11+19	2	0+2	0	0+1	0	1+0	1
16	MF	SCO	Marc Fitzpatrick	28	1	14+9	1	1+0	0	3+0	0	0+1	0
17	MF	SCO	Jim O'Brien	33	1	19+10	1	0+0	0	3+0	0	1+0	0
19	MF	SCO	Steven McGarry	25	0	16+7	0	1+0	0	0+1	0	0+0	0
21	GK	FRO	Gunnar Neilsen	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
21	GK	POL	Artur Krysiak	1	0	1+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
22	FW	GER	Semih Aydilek	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
23	FW	SCO	Mark Archdeacon	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
26	MF	SCO	Kenny Connolly	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
29	MF	SCO	Ross Forbes	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
35	FW	SCO	Robert McHugh	2	0	0+2	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
37	DF	ENG	Shaun Hutchinson	1	0	1+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
43	DF	SCO	Steven Saunders	3	0	2+1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
45	MF	SCO	Paul Slane	1	0	0+1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0

2008–09 Motherwell Top scorers

Last updated on 8 December 2010^[16]

Position	Nation	Number	Name	Scottish Premier League	UEFA Cup	Scottish Cup	Scottish League Cup	Total
1		10	David Clarkson	13	0	1	0	14
2		11	John Sutton	10	0	2	0	12
3		9	Chris Porter	9	0	0	0	10
4		8	Robert Malcolm	3	0	0	0	3
5		15	Jamie Murphy	2	0	0	1	3
6		28	Brian McLean	2	0	0	0	2
7		9	Cillian Sheridan	2	0	0	0	2
8		7	Stephen Hughes	1	0	1	0	2
9		16	Marc Fitzpatrick	1	0	0	0	1
10		13	Maros Klimpl	1	0	0	0	1
11		17	Jim O'Brien	1	0	0	0	1
12		2	Paul Quinn	1	0	0	0	1
/	/	/	Own Goals	0	0	0	0	0
/	/	/	TOTALS	46	0	4	1	51

2008–09 Motherwell Disciplinary Record

Last updated 8 December 2010^[16]

Nation	Position	Number	Name	Scottish Premier League		UEFA Cup		Scottish Cup		Scottish League Cup		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	0	0	1	0	5	0
	DF	4	Mark Reynolds	6	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	7	0
	DF	5	Stephen Craigan	3	0	0	0	1	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	Robert Malcolm	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
	FW	9	Chris Porter	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
	FW	9	Cillian Sheridan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	10	David Clarkson	6	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	1
	FW	11	John Sutton	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	12	Darren Smith	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	DF	13	Maroš Klimpl	8	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	9	0
	MF	14	Keith Lasley	7	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	9	0
	FW	15	Jamie Murphy	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	16	Marc Fitzpatrick	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	MF	17	Jim O'Brien	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	19	Steven McGarry	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	GK	21	Gunnar Nielsen	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	GK	21	Artur Krysiak	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	22	Semih Aydilek	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	23	Mark Archdeacon	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	26	Kenny Connolly	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	29	Ross Forbes	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	35	Robert McHugh	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	DF	37	Shaun Hutchinson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	DF	43	Steven Saunders	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	45	Paul Slane	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
/	/	/	TOTALS	52	3	1	0	3	0	2	1	58	4

2008–09 season

  Win   Draw   Loss

Scottish Premier League

Main article: 2008–09 Scottish Premier League

^[17]

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result^[18]	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

UEFA Cup 2008–09

Main article: 2008–09 UEFA Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	H/A	Score^[18]	Motherwell Scorer(s)^[19]	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 2008–09

Main article: 2008–09 Scottish Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	H/A	Score^[18]	Motherwell Scorer(s)^[19]	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

Scottish League Cup 2008–09

Main article: 2008–09 Scottish League Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	H/A	Score^[18]	Motherwell Scorer(s)^[19]	Attendance	Report
24 September 2008	3rd Round	Hamilton	H	1–2	Jamie Murphy	5,590	BBC Sport

Overall

Competition	Started round	Current position / round	Final position / round	First match	Last match
Scottish Premier League	—	—	7	9 August 2008	23 May 2009
Scottish League Cup	Third round	—	Third round	24 September 2008	24 September 2008
Scottish Cup	Fourth round	—	Fifth round	2 February 2009	19 February 2009
UEFA Cup	First round	—	First round	2 September 2008	2 October 2008

Source: Competitions

SPL

Main article: 2008–09 Scottish Premier League

Classification

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation^[a]
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^[b]
8	Kilmarnock	38	12	8	18	38	48	−10	44
9	Hamilton Academical	38	12	5	21	30	53	−23	41

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. 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								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	13	9	16	46	51	−5	48	7	6	6	24	27	−3	6	3	10	22	24	−2

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

Source: BBC Sport
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results by opponent

Team	Results^[18]				Points
	1	2	3	4
Aberdeen	0–1	0–2	1–1	—	1
Celtic	2–4	0–2	1–1	—	1
Dundee United	1–1	0–4	2–1	–	7
Falkirk	3–2	0–1	1–1	1–2	4
Hamilton Academical	2–0	0–2	1–0	3–0	9
Heart of Midlothian	2–3	1–0	1–2	–	3
Hibernian	1–0	1–4	1–1	–	4
Inverness CT	2–1	3–2	2–1	2–2	10
Kilmarnock	0–1	0–2	0–0	1–2	1
Rangers	1–2	0–0	1–3	–	1
St Mirren	2–1	0–0	0–2	3–1	7

Source: 2008–09 Scottish Premier League article

See also

• List of Motherwell F.C. seasons

References

1. Motherwell Awarded European Place, BBC Sport, 26 May 2008
2. Dons Welcome Returning Hero, BBC Sport, 12 June 2009
3. Malcolm pens Well deal Sky Sports, 8 July 2008
4. 'Well unveil double signing Motherwell F.C., 8 August 2008
5. Motherwell seal Sutton transfer BBC Sport, 19 August 2008
6. Well sign Slovak defender Klimpl BBC Sport, 1 September 2008
7. Cardiff add McCormack and Dennehy BBC Sport, 28 June 2008
8. Nixon is Airdrie United new boy BBC Sport, 19 July 2008
9. McGuire given Airdrie contract BBC Sport, 25 July 2008
10. Blues loan keeper Krysiak to Well BBC Sport, 2 January 2009
11. Motherwell sign loan duo Sky Sports, 2 February 2009
12. Forbes and Pope head out on loan BBC Sport, 24 January 2009
13. Ayr snap up midfielder Connolly BBC Sport, 17 January 2009
14. Well's Porter agrees Derby move BBC Sport, 31 January 2009
15. "FootballSquads - Motherwell - 2008/09".
16. Motherwell F.C. 2008–09 Statistics, Motherwell F.C. Official Site
17. Motherwell FC season 2008–09, Fir Park Corner
18. Motherwell's score is shown first.
19. The number(s) in brackets shows the minutes of the goal(s) that was/were scored.