2008–09 Montenegrin First League

Promotion and relegation

FK Mladost Podgorica were directly relegated to the Montenegrin Second League after finishing 12th in last year's standings. Their place was taken by Second League champions Jezero Plav.

10th placed Bokelj Kotor and 11th placed Sutjeska Nikšić had to compete in two-legged relegation play-offs. Bokelj were relegated by losing 1–0 on aggregate against the 3rd placed team from Second League, Jedinstvo Bijelo Polje. On the other hand, Sutjeska saved their place in Montenegrin top league by beating cross-town rivals Čelik Nikšić, who had finished in 2nd place in the Second League, also with 1–0 on aggregate.

Standings

Source: fscg.co.me
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
¹Petrovac qualified for the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League as winners of Montenegrin Cup 2008–09.
²Zeta were docked 9 points because of their decision not to include great number of players that have not been injured, ill or under suspension in their lineup in the match against Mogren.
³Zeta were also docked one more point due to the incident in their match against Sutjeska. The referee did not want to enter the field and start the game due to threats by Radojica Božović, Zeta's chairman, about Zeta must having to win in that match. Božović was also excluded from the Football Association of Montenegro.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.

Results

The schedule consists of three rounds. During the first two rounds, each team played each other once home and away for a total of 22 matches. The pairings of the third round will then be set according to the standings after the first two rounds, giving every team a third game against each opponent for a total of 33 games per team.

First and second round

Source: fscg.co.me
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Third round

Key numbers for pairing determination (number marks position after 22 games):

23rd round 24th round 25th round 26th round 27th round 28th round 1 - 12 1 - 2 2 - 12 1 - 4 3 - 12 1 - 6 2 - 11 8 - 6 3 - 1 2 - 3 4 - 2 2 - 5 3 - 10 9 - 5 4 - 11 9 - 7 5 - 1 3 - 4 4 - 9 10 - 4 5 - 10 10 - 6 6 - 11 10 - 8 5 - 8 11 - 3 6 - 9 11 - 5 7 - 10 11 - 7 6 - 7 12 - 7 7 - 8 12 - 8 8 - 9 12 - 9 29th round 30th round 31st round 32nd round 33rd round 4 - 12 1 - 8 5 - 12 1 - 10 6 - 12 5 - 3 2 - 7 6 - 4 2 - 9 7 - 5 6 - 2 3 - 6 7 - 3 3 - 8 8 - 4 7 - 1 4 - 5 8 - 2 4 - 7 9 - 3 8 - 11 11 - 9 9 - 1 5 - 6 10 - 2 9 - 10 12 - 10 10 - 11 12 - 11 11 - 1

Source: fscg.co.me
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
²The match of Round 29 was registered as 0–3 for Sutjeska. Actually, the match was not played because the main referee Jovan Kaluđerović was being threatened by Radojica Božović, Zeta's chairman, about Zeta must having to win in that match. Due to that the referee did not want to enter the field and start the game.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers

Source: [1]

Relegation play-offs

The 10th placed team (against the 3rd placed team of the Second League) and the 11th placed team (against the 2nd placed team of the Second League) will both compete in two-legged relegation play-offs after the end of the season.

FK Dečić & FK Mornar plays 2009/10 in the Montenegrin First League.