2009–10 Qatar Stars League

League expansion

The Qatar Stars League has slowly expanded since the turn of the decade, moving from 9 clubs to 10 clubs and then latest setup of 12 clubs for the Qatari League 2009-10 campaign.

There are 2 divisions in the Qatari football structure and the league has previously seen one club promoted and relegated each year except in 'expansion' years.

It was announced on 15 April 2009 that no clubs would be relegated from the top flight in the Qatari League 2008-09 season, due to expansion reasons. The announcement was made with only one game remaining.

The expansion benefited relegated Al Kharatiyat, who will now stay in the first division, and will be joined by two second division clubs Al Ahli and Al Shamal, to bring the number up to 12.

Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifah said the expansion would help in improving league action, which was also curtailed to two rounds instead of the prevailing system where the teams played each other three times.

Final league table

Updated to games played on 4 April 2010.
Source: [http://en.qfa.com.qa QFA
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
1. Qualified by winning the 2010 Emir of Qatar Cup.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Fixtures and results

Updated to games played on 4 April 2010.
Source: [http://en.qfa.com.qa QFA
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers