2008 Armenian Premier League
The 2008 Armenian Premier League season (known as STAR National Football League due to sponsorship reasons) was the seventeenth since its establishment. It started on 6 April 2008, while the last matches were played on 15 November 2008. FC Pyunik were the defending champions. The Yerevan side won their seventh consecutive league title the previous season, their tenth overall. FC Dinamo Yerevan were supposed to be the team to get promoted, but they withdrew from the Premier League, and were disbanded.
 | |
| Season | 2008 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Pyunik 11th Armenian title |
| Relegated | none |
| Champions League | Pyunik |
| Europa League | Gandzasar Mika Banants |
| Goals scored | 254 |
| Average goals/game | 2.27 |
| Top goalscorer |  Marcos Pizzelli (17) |
| Biggest home win | Ararat 5–0 Kilikia |
| Biggest away win | Kilikia 1–5 Ararat Kilikia 1–5 Mika |
| Highest scoring | Banants 4–2 Kilikia Kilikia 1–5 Ararat Kilikia 1–5 Mika |
← 2007 2009 → | |
On 30 April 2008, Football Federation of Armenia signed a contract with STAR retailing company by which STAR would become the sponsor of the 17th Armenian Premier League season, and henceforth the 2008 season would be called STAR National Football League.[1]
The league was played in four stages. The teams played each other four times, twice at home and twice away. The champions would have been the team with the most points after round 28. However, since Pyunik and Ararat Yerevan were tied on points at the end of the season, they had to play a decision game for the championship.
Participating teams
| Club | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ararat Yerevan | Yerevan | City Stadium (Abovyan) | 3,946 |
| Banants | Yerevan | Banants Stadium | 3,600 |
| Gandzasar | Kapan | Gandzasar Stadium | 3,500 |
| Kilikia | Yerevan | Hrazdan Stadium | 54,208 |
| Mika | Yerevan | Mika Stadium | 7,250 |
| Pyunik | Yerevan | Republican Stadium | 14,403 |
| Shirak | Gyumri | Gyumri City Stadium | 2,844 |
| Ulisses | Yerevan | Kasakhi Marzik Stadium | 3,500 |
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pyunik (C) | 28 | 18 | 5 | 5 | 40 | 18 | +22 | 59[lower-alpha 1] | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Ararat Yerevan | 28 | 18 | 5 | 5 | 48 | 23 | +25 | 59[lower-alpha 1] | |
| 3 | Gandzasar Kapan | 28 | 13 | 8 | 7 | 39 | 27 | +12 | 47 | Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round[lower-alpha 2] |
| 4 | Mika | 28 | 13 | 7 | 8 | 38 | 28 | +10 | 46 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 2] |
| 5 | Banants | 28 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 34 | 25 | +9 | 41 | |
| 6 | Ulisses | 28 | 7 | 8 | 13 | 19 | 29 | −10 | 29 | |
| 7 | Shirak | 28 | 5 | 4 | 19 | 15 | 40 | −25 | 19 | |
| 8 | Kilikia | 28 | 2 | 5 | 21 | 21 | 64 | −43 | 11 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion.
Notes:
- Championship was decided by a decision game (see below).
- Ararat Yerevan did not obtain the license to compete in European competitions. Therefore, fourth-placed Mika earned a spot in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League while Gandzasar were qualified for the second instead of first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.[2]
Decision game
Because Ararat and Pyunik were tied on points after the regular season, they played out the championship in a decision game.[3]
| Pyunik | 2 – 1 (aet) | Ararat Yerevan |
|---|---|---|
Tadevosyan  68', 118' |
Report (in Armenian) |
V. Minasyan 69' |
Results
First half of season
|
Second half of season
|
Top goalscorers
Source: ffa.am
- 17 goals
- 10 goals
- Albert Tadevosyan (Pyunik)
- 9 goals
- Alexander Petrosyan (Gandzasar)
- 8 goals
- Narek Beglaryan (Mika)
- Gevorg Ghazaryan (Pyunik)
- Karen N. Khachatryan (Kilikia)
- 7 goals
- Arsen Balabekyan (Banants)
Renato de Moraes (Ararat Yerevan)
- 6 goals
Vital Lyadzyanyow (Banants)- Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Pyunik)