Serbian Superliga 2007-08

The 2007-08 Serbian Superliga season was the second since its modification, following the secession of Montenegro from Serbia. Red Star Belgrade were the defending Superliga champions, having won their twenty-fifth national title the season before.

The Superliga changed its format from this season. The League was no longer divided into a playoff and play-out group midway through the campaign. Instead the 12 teams played each other three times in a conventional league format.

Participating clubs and their stadia

The following twelve clubs competed in the 2007/08 Serbian Superliga season.

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Like in many previous seasons, the allocation of European spots based on the final 2007/08 league and cup standings turned out to be messy.

According to the propositions, the second UEFA Cup spot is supposed to go to the Serbian Cup winner. However, since the Cup was won by FK Partizan, a club that also won the league, the second UEFA Cup spot went to the 2007/08 Serbian Cup finalist FK Zemun. This created problems, since FK Zemun couldn't obtain the UEFA licence for the year due to poor financial situation at the club, and their UEFA Cup spot went to the 4th placed league team - FK Borac Čačak. Now, since Borac Čačak earned a 2008 Intertoto Cup berth based on finishing 4th in the league, they now passed their Intertoto Cup spot down to 9th placed OFK Beograd because Napredak, Čukarički, Mladost Lučani, and Hajduk Kula (5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th placed teams in the league, respectively) didn't want it.

This created a bizarre situation whereby a team that finished fourth from the bottom barely avoiding relegation playoff (OFK Beograd) still got to play in the 2008 Intertoto Cup.

Top scorers

Last updated: May 25, 2008, final table
* *Gojko Kačar left FK Vojvodina during winter break 2007/08 and joined Hertha Berlin

Relegation playoff

The third-placed team form the bottom in 2007/08 Superliga (FK Smederevo) plays the winner of the 4-team playoff consisting of 3rd to 6th placed teams from 2007/08 Prva liga (FK Rad). The playoff has a home-and-away tie format

*June 7, 2008, FK Rad - FK Smederevo 3:1 [ [http://www.blic.co.yu/sport.php?id=44709 Rad pobedio Smederevo 3:1 u prvoj utakmici baraža, "Blic", June 7, 2008] ] [ [http://www.studio-b.co.yu/info/vest.php?id=24857 Rad pobedio Smederevo u prvoj utakmici Baraža, Studio B, June 7, 2008] ]
*June 11, 2008, FK Smederevo - FK Rad

Promoted Teams

The following teams were promoted to the Meridian Superliga at the end of the 2007-08 season:

*Javor - Prva liga champion
*Jagodina - Prva liga runner-up
*FK Rad - Winner of the playoffs against FK Smederevo

Relegated Teams

The following teams were relegated to the Prva liga at the end of the 2007-08 season based on their performance:

*Bežanija - Automatically relegated after finishing the season in the 12th position (last place).
*Banat Zrenjanin - Automatically relegated after finishing in the 11th position (second last place).
*FK Smederevo - As a result of finishing 10th (third place from the bottom) entered and lost relegation playoffs against FK Rad (a team that won the chance to compete for promotion from Prva liga amongst the 4 teams that finisheg 3rd to 6th inclusive)

However, following speculation on June 29, 2008 that 7th placed Superliga team - FK Mladost from Lučani - might decline the opportunity to compete in 2008/09 Superliga season due to lacking the funds required to compete at the top level [ [http://www.mtsmondo.com/sport/vesti/text.php?vest=101658 Lučanci istupaju iz MSL!?, MTS Mondo, June 29, 2008] ] , the official confirmation of their decision came on July 2, 2008. [ [http://www.mtsmondo.com/sport/vesti/text.php?vest=101953 Mladost iz Lučana napustila Superligu, MTS Mondo, July 2, 2008] ] Mladost Lučani will now likely be relegated down two levels to Srpska Liga.

By the decision of Serbian Football Association (FSS), the relegated team that ended up keeping its Superliga status as a result of Mladost's withdrawal became FK Banat. The FA made the decision based on their opinion that FK Banat has better support of the sponsors and its community (city of Zrenjanin) than does FK Smederevo.

The decision cuased a lot of controversy and protest from FK Smederevo officials who claimed thay should've been given the opportunity to retain the Superliga status after Mladost's withdrawal. They even launched an offical appeal with UEFA, but it got rejected. [ [http://www.mtsmondo.com/sport/vesti/text.php?vest=105499 UEFA odbila žalbu Smedereva, MTS Mondo, August 6, 2008] ]

So, in the end, the three 2007/08 Superliga teams that will not compete in the 2008/09 Superliga season are:

*Bežanija
*Mladost Lučani
*FK Smederevo

References

External links

* [http://www.uefa.com/footballeurope/countries/association=147/index.html UEFA Site]
* [http://www.yufprvaliga.co.yu/ Serbian Superliga Site]