2008–09 Falkirk F.C. season

Falkirk Football Club
2008–09 season
Chairman	Campbell Christie
Manager	John Hughes
Scottish Premier League	10th
Scottish Cup	Runners-up
Scottish League Cup	Semi-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Steve Lovell (8); All: Michael Higdon, Steve Lovell (9)
	← 2007–08 2009–10 →

Falkirk competed in the Scottish Premier League, the Scottish League Cup and the Scottish Cup in 2008–09. Although they slipped from a final league position of seventh to tenth, they performed well in both cups, reaching the semi-finals of the League Cup and finishing as runners-up in the Scottish Cup, losing 1–0 to Rangers.

Squad

First team Squad

As of 2 February 2009 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	ESP	Dani Mallo
2	DF	SCO	Lee Bullen
3	DF	NIR	Dean Holden
4	MF	IRL	Patrick Cregg
5	DF	SCO	Jackie McNamara
6	MF	SCO	Kevin McBride
7	MF	SCO	Neil McCann
8	MF	ESP	Arnau
10	DF	SCO	Steven Pressley
11	FW	ENG	Michael Higdon
12	MF	IRL	Stephen Bradley
14	DF	NED	Gerard Aafjes
15	FW	ENG	Steve Lovell
16	MF	SCO	Scott Arfield
17	GK	AUT	Bobby Olejnik


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
18	DF	SCO	Brian Allison
20	DF	SCO	Darren Barr (Captain)
21	FW	ENG	Carl Finnigan
22	DF	SCO	Chris Mitchell
23	FW	SCO	Kevin Moffat
24	FW	SCO	Mark Stewart
29	MF	SCO	Sean Lynch
30	GK	SCO	Jamie Barclay
31	DF	NIR	Dermot McCaffrey
33	DF	SCO	Tam Scobbie
34	MF	SCO	Dayne Robertson
35	DF	SCO	Mark Staunton
47	MF	RSA	Burton O'Brien
56	DF	SWE	Erik Schultz-Eklund

Transfers

In

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

Out

Player	To	Fee

Results and fixtures

Date	Venue	Opponents	Score^[1]	Competition	Falkirk scorer(s)	Match Report
22 July 2008	Falkirk Stadium	Ross County	2–2	F	Higdon, Finnigan	Falkirk Official Site
23 July 2008	Shielfield Park	Berwick Rangers	1–2	F	Stewart	Falkirk Official Site
26 July 2008	Falkirk Stadium	QPR	2–0	F	Own goal, Stewart	Falkirk Official Site
28 July 2008	Falkirk Stadium	Alloa Athletic	0–0	F		Falkirk Official Site
30 July 2008	Cambuur Stadion	SC Cambuur	0–1	F		Falkirk Official Site
1 August 2008	De Langeleegte	BV Veendam	2–0	F	Finnigan, Stewart	Falkirk Official Site
2 August 2008	Abe Lenstra Stadion	SC Heerenveen	0–4	F		Falkirk Official Site
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
26 August 2008	Stark's Park	Raith Rovers	3–1	SLC	Higdon, J Stewart, M Stewart	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
23 September 2008	Falkirk Stadium	Queen of the South	2–1	SLC	McCann, Lovell	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
28 October 2008	Falkirk Stadium	Inverness CT	1–0	SLC	McCann	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
10 January 2009	Falkirk Stadium	Queen of the South	4–2	SC	Arfield (2) (1st pen.), Barrett (2)	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
27 January 2009	Hampden Park	Rangers	0–3	SLC		Falkirk Official Site
31 January 2009	Falkirk Stadium	Aberdeen	1–0	SPL	Higdon	Falkirk Official Site
7 February 2009	Tynecastle Stadium	Heart of Midlothian	1–0	SC	Lovell	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
7 March 2009	Caledonian Stadium	Inverness CT	1–0	SC	Finnigan (pen.)	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
26 April 2009	Hampden Park	Dunfermline Athletic	2–0	SC	Scobbie, Arfield (pen.)	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
30 May 2009	Hampden Park	Rangers	0–1	SC		Falkirk Official Site

League table

Pos	Team v t e	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 (R)	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
(R) Relegated
Notes:

^ 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.
^ 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.

References

^ Falkirk's score is shown first.

[2] 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.

[table_note_res_EL2Q0.54269135628952-3] 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.

[Falkirk_score-1] Falkirk's score is shown first.

[1]

[a]

[b]

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v t e 2008–09 in Scottish football
« 2007–08 2009–10 »
Domestic leagues	Premier League Football League First Division Second Division Third Division Highland League East of Scotland Women's Premier League Women's First Division
Domestic cups	Scottish Cup Final League Cup Final Challenge Cup Final Junior Cup Youth Cup Women's Cup Women's League Cup
European competitions	Champions League UEFA Cup Intertoto Cup
Related to national team	Results 2010 World Cup qualifying (UEFA Group 9)
Club seasons
Premier League	Aberdeen Celtic Dundee United Falkirk Hamilton Academical Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Inverness Caledonian Thistle Kilmarnock Motherwell Rangers St. Mirren
First Division	Airdrie United Clyde Dundee Dunfermline Athletic Greenock Morton Livingston Queen of the South Partick Thistle Ross County St. Johnstone
Second Division	Alloa Athletic Arbroath Ayr United Brechin City East Fife Peterhead Queen's Park Raith Rovers Stirling Albion Stranraer
Third Division	Albion Rovers Annan Athletic Berwick Rangers Cowdenbeath Dumbarton East Stirlingshire Elgin City Forfar Athletic Montrose Stenhousemuir
List of Scottish football transfers 2008–09 2008–09 in Scottish reserve and youth football