2008–09 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season

The 2008–09 season was Tottenham Hotspur's 17th season in the Premier League, their 30th successive season in the top division of the English football league system and the 126th year of their history.

Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

2008–09 season
Chairman	Daniel Levy
Manager	Juande Ramos (until 25 October) Harry Redknapp (from 25 October)
Premier League	8th
FA Cup	Fourth round
Football League Cup	Runners-up
UEFA Cup	Round of 32
Top goalscorer	League: Darren Bent (12) All: Darren Bent (17)
Highest home attendance	36,183 (vs. Liverpool, 1 November 2008)
Lowest home attendance	35,507 (vs. Bolton Wanderers, 26 October 2008)
Average home league attendance	35,929
Home colours Away colours Third colours

After finishing 11th in the 2007–08 Premier League, Tottenham began the season under the leadership of Spaniard Juande Ramos, drafted in to replace Martin Jol midway through the previous season. However, after suffering the worst start of a league season in Tottenham's history, with no wins in eight league games and only two points, Ramos was sacked and replaced by seasoned manager Harry Redknapp, who quickly eliminated the continental structure that the club had established over the past seasons. Tottenham's league form improved and mainly remained positive with the final position of eighth a far cry from the relegation places Tottenham had occupied throughout the campaign. Spurs also reached the final of the League Cup, and, as the reigning champions, faced league leaders Manchester United but lost 4–1 on penalties. With an average attendance of 35,929, Tottenham had the ninth-highest attendance in the Premier League.

Tottenham drafted in a total of 15 players through transfers and sold 19 players during the combined summer and winter transfer windows.

2008–09 season

Pre-season

Transfers

Luka Modrić – Tottenham's most expensive signing of the 2008–09 season

At the end of the 2007–08 season, which saw Tottenham finish 11th in the Premier League, the club announced the signing of Croatian playmaker Luka Modrić and reiterated that any club wishing to sign Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov would need to offer more than £30 million. Tottenham's transfer movement began immediately, with Czech goalkeeper Radek Černý moving on a free transfer to Queens Park Rangers following the end of the season; Černý's loan deal had expired and was not offered a contract extension by Tottenham nor his parent club, Slavia Prague. Little under a month later, Tottenham agreed a deal with Barcelona for 19-year-old Mexican forward Giovani dos Santos for an initial fee of £4.7 million. Not long afterwards, Tottenham reached a deal with Dutch club PSV for Brazilian goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, valued at around £8 million.

Following comments made by Sir Alex Ferguson indicating confidence over signing Dimitar Berbatov despite negotiations not yet underway, the club issued a press statement on 18 July 2008 on behalf of Daniel Levy, saying that both Manchester United and Liverpool had been reported to the Premier League over comments their respective managers had made which were seen as unsettling both Berbatov and Irish striker Robbie Keane with a view of enticing them away from Tottenham. Levy said of United boss Alex Ferguson:

"Today's public comments by Manchester United's manager, announcing that he has made an offer for Dimitar and is confident that the deal will go through with time working in their favour, is a blatant example of sheer arrogance and interference with one of our players. It is also probably one of the worst offences by any manager in the Premier League to date and is unbelievably hypocritical given his recent comments in respect of Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid.

"I have absolutely no wish to sell either player and to date we have not accepted any offer for either. However, when a player's head is turned and their commitment is absent, particularly when they occupy key positions such as that of striker, they become a negative influence in a team dressing room in which they were once a positive addition and influence. This is the situation we now have on our hands, with both Dimitar and Robbie having made it clear that they wish to leave for Manchester United and Liverpool respectively."

Throughout July, Tottenham parted ways with many first team members of the squad. On 23 July 2008, it was announced that the club had sold the services of Teemu Tainio; the Finnish midfielder joined Sunderland on a three-year contract, while French defender Pascal Chimbonda followed him a day later, joining the same club for an undisclosed fee. The following day, former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson signed a five-year contract with Blackburn Rovers for £3.5 million, having played for Spurs for four years. Robinson joined the club from Leeds United in May 2004 and made 175 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring once against Watford in 2007.

On 28 July 2008, Tottenham agreed to sell Robbie Keane to Liverpool for a total that could amount to £20.3 million. With the sale, Tottenham also agreed to drop its official complaint to the Premier League regarding Liverpool's pursuit of Keane after Liverpool issued a formal apology and made a donation to the Tottenham Foundation.

Dimitar Berbatov joined Manchester United within moments of the summer transfer window's closure

Levy issued a statement coinciding with the confirmation of the Keane transfer:

"I was incredibly disappointed when I first heard, not only that Liverpool had been working behind the scenes to bring Robbie to Anfield, but that Robbie himself wanted to go and he submitted a transfer request to this effect. I have already made my opinion clear on the nature of this transaction. I don't regard it as a transfer deal – that is something which happens between two clubs when they both agree to trade – this is very much an enforced sale, for which we have agreed a sum of £19m as compensation plus a potential further £1.3m in additional compensation."

On 30 July 2008, French midfielder Steed Malbranque became the third player in a week to leave, following Tainio and Chimbonda to Sunderland for a fee of £7.8 million. Later the same day, Tottenham announced they had reached agreement with Blackburn for the transfer of David Bentley to the club for £15 million.

Totttenham made their first transfer move in the month of August with the signing of veteran goalkeeper César from Real Zaragoza on 8 August 2008. The deal was initially a season-long loan with the permanent signing being completed at the end of the 2008–09 season. The first Tottenham departure in August was French defender Younès Kaboul, who on 11 August 2008 joined Portsmouth for an undisclosed fee. Towards the end of August, two more players left, with Anthony Gardner moving to Hull City and Lee Young-pyo leaving for Borussia Dortmund.

Friendlies

As part of their pre-season preparations, Tottenham held a training camp in Spain, along with numerous friendlies, in July. Their first friendly, against local side Tavernes, saw Spurs stroll to an 8–0 success, with Giovanni dos Santos scoring his first goals for the club. Tottenham then faced two of Juande Ramos' former teams in Dénia and Hércules. Spurs beat Dénia 4–2 and then curtailed the Spanish section of their preparations with a 1–1 with Hércules.

Tottenham returned to England to play Norwich City, recovering from being a goal down to win 5–1, with Darren Bent netting four of the strikes. They later played Leyton Orient, again winning 5–1 with Luka Modrić scoring his first goal for Spurs and Bent scoring a hat-trick to take his tally to nine goals in five games. Tottenham then embarked to the Netherlands to play in the Feyenoord Jubilee Tournament, held in Rotterdam at the start of August, with a 2–0 victory over Celtic thanks to goals from Bent and David Bentley. Spurs followed this with another win, over German club Borussia Dortmund 3–0 with goals from Bent, Dos Santos and Jamie O'Hara. Tottenham were crowned the winners of the tournament on 3 August.

Tottenham finished their pre-season preparations with a 5–0 victory over Serie A giants Roma, which ensured they stayed unbeaten throughout the period, scoring 33 goals and conceding 5 in a total of 7 games, with Darren Bent scoring 13 times.

August

Stamford Bridge was the venue for Tottenham's first point of the season

Tottenham's league season got off to a poor start with a 2–1 loss to Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium, followed a week later by another 2–1 defeat to Sunderland, with debutant Djibril Cissé scoring the winning goal in the final minutes. The defeats against Middlesbrough and Sunderland were punctuated with the ongoing transfer saga concerning Dimitar Berbatov and Manchester United; rumours that Berbatov had refused to play (later revealed to be true) began to circulate, along with the theory that this refusal from one of Tottenham's best players was hurting team morale. Tottenham got their first point of the season eight days after the Sunderland loss in a 1–1 draw at Stamford Bridge against title contenders Chelsea. With both the end of August and the summer transfer window approaching, the Berbatov saga ended with him making a transfer to Manchester United for £30.75 million and young striker Fraizer Campbell coming on loan for the entire season. Manchester City had tried to enter the fray in the final hours with a £30 million bid accepted but Berbatov rejected the move. Vedran Ćorluka also completed his move from Manchester City to join Croatian teammate Luka Modrić and provide competition for the right-back position.

September

Tottenham's first match in September led to another 2–1 loss, at home to Aston Villa. This resulted in three losses in four and one point from a possible twelve, rooting Spurs to the bottom of the Premier League table. Tottenham achieved their first competitive win of the season in the UEFA Cup against Wisła Kraków, with David Bentley scoring his debut and the winning goal. Spurs returned to the league with a goalless home draw against Wigan Athletic and a tepid 2–0 away defeat to Portsmouth, with ex-Tottenham player Jermain Defoe scoring a penalty. At the end of September, Tottenham were bottom of the league and officially suffering their worst Premier League start. Spurs, however, were able to make a successful start to the defence of their League Cup title, defeating Newcastle United 2–1 at St James' Park to progress to the fourth round of the competition.

October

Roman Pavlyuchenko scored his first league goal in Tottenham's first win over Bolton Wanderers at White Hart Lane

October started with progression to the group stages of the UEFA Cup for Tottenham with a 1–1 draw in Poland against Wisła Kraków in their second leg tie, but Spurs' horrendous league form continued with a home loss to newly promoted Hull City, Geovanni's long range free-kick in the early minutes of the game condemning Tottenham to another loss, They then followed this match with another battle against a newly promoted side, Stoke City. The match concluded with Tottenham conceding two penalties and having Michael Dawson and Gareth Bale sent off in a 2–1 loss. This loss meant that Tottenham had only two points from eight games, were bottom of the Premier League and now were amidst the worst start to a season in their 126-year history. The ever-increasing pressure on manager Juande Ramos grew after a 2–0 loss in Italy to Udinese in the first match of the UEFA Cup group stage.

On 25 October, the club announced the departure, with immediate effect, of sporting director Damien Comolli, head coach Juande Ramos and first team coaches Marcos Álvarez and Gus Poyet. It was announced, within hours, that the club had agreed a deal worth £5 million with Portsmouth to permit manager Harry Redknapp to become the new head coach at Spurs.

Redknapp was unveiled as Tottenham manager the same day before the home match against Bolton Wanderers and gave the team talk, although the team itself was selected by Clive Allen and Alex Inglethorpe. Tottenham eased to their first league win of the season, with Roman Pavlyuchenko scoring his first Premier League goal. Tottenham then faced bitter rivals Arsenal in the latest installment of the North London derby; the match ended 4–4 and viewed as one of the best games in the long history of the derby. Tottenham took the lead with a stunning David Bentley volley from 35-yards, while Arsenal responded with a Mikaël Silvestre header and found themselves 3–1 ahead deep inside the second half. Darren Bent made it 3–2 before Robin van Persie seemingly wrapped up the points making it 4–2 to Arsenal. With five minutes left, however, Jermaine Jenas made it 4–3 after capitalising on a Gaël Clichy slip, and then Aaron Lennon salvaged a point for Tottenham when he, four minutes into stoppage time, made it 4–4 with a tap-in.

November

Tottenham's revitalised form continued into November with a win over league leaders Liverpool. Dirk Kuyt blasted Liverpool into an early lead before a Jamie Carragher own goal and a Pavlyuchenko tap-in gave Spurs the three points. Five days later, Redknapp took charge of his first Tottenham UEFA Cup match, which ended with Tottenham thrashing Dinamo Zagreb 4–0 on the strength of a Darren Bent hat-trick.

The first away win for Tottenham's season came on 9 November 2008, with a 2–1 win over Manchester City; Bent scored his fifth goal in two games. Tottenham's fourth game in eleven days sent them to fifth round of the League Cup with a 4–2 win over Liverpool, which also included the first goals for on-loan striker Fraizer Campbell.

Tottenham's six-game unbeaten run ended with a 2–1 loss to Fulham; a mistake from Heurelho Gomes helped Fulham into a two-goal lead before Fraizer Campbell pulled one back. Tottenham recovered quickly with a 1–0 win over Blackburn, increasing the pressure on Blackburn manager Paul Ince. The club followed this with another 1–0 win against NEC in the UEFA Cup, almost assuring safe passage to the next round.

November ended with a 1–0 home loss to Everton. Steven Pienaar's deflected effort, later attributed as a Vedran Ćorluka own goal, was enough to get the victory for Everton.

December

Tottenham began December by putting themselves into the semi-finals of the League Cup with a 2–1 win over Watford. Watford had taken the lead through a Tamas Priskin strike but a penalty from Roman Pavlyuchenko and a goal from Darren Bent earned Spurs a tie against Burnley in the semi-finals. Tottenham continued their decent league form with a 2–0 win over West Ham United which also included Ledley King's first goal in three years.

Spurs then faced defending Premier League champions Manchester United in a home tie which ended in a 0–0 draw, which meant that Tottenham were now unbeaten against the Premier League's top four. Tottenham then completed their UEFA Cup group stage with a 2–2 draw with Spartak Moscow; they proceeded to the next stage in the runner-up place to face UEFA Champions League drop-outs Shakhtar Donetsk.

Tottenham faced Newcastle at St James' Park in a losing 2–1 effort. The match was heading for a 1–1 draw until Damien Duff scored in stoppage time to give Newcastle the three points. Five days later, Tottenham opposed Fulham in the return match at White Hart Lane, the match ending 0–0.

December ended the same as November: with a loss, this time to newly promoted West Bromwich Albion. The 2–0 win was controversial, however, as defender Michael Dawson claimed that he had been fouled by West Brom striker Roman Bednář while the latter scored the opening goal. The goal stood and Tottenham ended the year still very much in a relegation battle.

January Transfer Window

Robbie Keane returned to Tottenham only six months after his move to Liverpool

With the January transfer window opening on 1 January, Tottenham made movement in the market straight away. On 6 January 2009, Jermain Defoe returned to the club from Portsmouth in a deal worth an initial £9 million, with extras and the writing-off of past transfer fees in Pedro Mendes and Defoe himself; the media announced the total fee at £15 million. Just over two weeks later, Tottenham came to an agreement for the transfer of Wilson Palacios for a fee of £12 million from Wigan Athletic; the deal for Palacios was officially concluded on 30 January with the approval of a work permit. Tottenham also signed experienced goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini from Chelsea on a free transfer and also concluded a deal to re-sign Pascal Chimbonda from Sunderland for a fee thought to be around £3 million. On the final day of the transfer window, Tottenham resigned their third former player in a month, signing striker Robbie Keane for a fee of an initial £12 million, which, depending on circumstances, could rise to £15 million.

The departures in January saw Andy Barcham made his loan move to Gillingham permanently for an undisclosed fee. Four days later, Charlie Daniels left Tottenham to join Leyton Orient on a free transfer. On 21 January, Spanish goalkeeper César's contract was cancelled so he could return to Spain to sign for Valencia. Two days later, Tottenham outcast Hossam Ghaly joined Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr for an undisclosed fee.

January

January began well for Tottenham, advancing to the next round of the FA Cup with a 3–1 win over Wigan and then following that with a 4–1 win against Burnley in the League Cup semi-final first leg. However, Tottenham's league form again suffered when in the next game, against Wigan, Spurs lost 1–0 when Maynor Figueroa powered in a header in stoppage time to confine Tottenham to another loss from last-minute goals.

Tottenham responded seven days later with a 1–1 draw against Portsmouth at White Hart Lane. The match had massive publicity because of the return of Harry Redknapp and Jermain Defoe. In the match, David Nugent scored a deflected goal before Defoe returned to haunt his old club by scoring the equaliser.

Tottenham then faced Burnley in the League Cup semi-final second leg. Burnley could only progress by winning by three clear goals and it was widely seen as unlikely that Burnley would offer much in terms of opposition. After 90 minutes, however, goals from Robbie Blake, Chris McCann and Jay Rodriguez took the game to extra time and if they held on they would progress thanks to the away goals rule, but facing elimination with under three minutes left to play, goals from Roman Pavlyuchenko and Jermain Defoe saw Spurs progress to the final 6–4 on aggregate.

Three days after the extra-time tie, Tottenham faced Manchester United in the FA Cup, losing 2–1, having taken the lead through Pavlyuchenko before a deflected goal from Paul Scholes and a strike from Dimitar Berbatov ended eliminated the side from the competition.

Three days later, Tottenham got their first league win in six games with a 3–1 home win over Stoke. Brilliant play saw Spurs take a 3–0 lead in the first 30 minutes before James Beattie scored a consolation goal for the visitors. January ended in defeat for Spurs with 3–2 loss to Bolton. Bolton took a 2–0 lead before a Darren Bent double levelled until another last minute goal from Kevin Davies claimed the points for the home side.

February

February for Tottenham started with the North London derby against Arsenal. The highly anticipated match ended 0–0 with Spurs enjoying the dominant moments in the game, thanks in part to the first-half sending-off of Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Eboué. An 11-day rest period ended with a trip to Ukraine to face Shakhtar Donetsk in the last 32 of the UEFA Cup. Tottenham lost 2–0 thanks to late goals from Evhen Seleznyov and Jádson. The match incurred criticism due to Tottenham playing a weakened side, however the criticisms were brushed aside by Redknapp, who emphatically prioritized the Premier League and League Cup over the UEFA Cup. On 23 February, Tottenham faced Hull City at the KC Stadium in the Monday night fixture. Spurs eased to a 2–1 win with goals from Aaron Lennon and Jonathan Woodgate, sealing a valuable set of points.

Tottenham ended the February set of fixtures only three days later with the return leg of Shakhtar. Tottenham again fielded a severely weakened team due in part to the 2009 Football League Cup Final being only three days away, and earned a valiant 1–1 draw, with Giovani dos Santos scoring his first Tottenham goal before a late Fernandinho goal sealed the leg for Shakhtar in the dying moments to eliminate Spurs from Europe.

March

Tottenham visited Wembley two years consecutively, In 2008–09 they entered as incumbent League Cup Champions

March began with the 2009 League Cup Final against Manchester United. The frantic final ended 0–0 and resulted in a penalty shoot-out, which United won 4–1 to win the first major trophy of the 2008–09 season.

Tottenham rebounded from the heart-break of the final loss three days later with a comprehensive 4–0 win over Middlesbrough to ease the immediate relegation concerns. The unbeaten run continued with a 1–1 at Sunderland on 7 March. The tense match began with an early goal for Kieran Richardson and remained so until in the dying embers of the game, where Robbie Keane struck a volley to earn Spurs a point. Eight days later, Tottenham faced fourth-placed Aston Villa at Villa Park. An early goal from Jermaine Jenas gave Spurs the lead until early in the second-half when the lead was extended thanks to a Darren Bent tap-in; John Carew stuck a consolation goal as Tottenham took the three points. Days before the last match of the March fixtures, Tottenham announced a record amount of profit in the 2008 fiscal year.

Tottenham faced Chelsea in the final match in March at White Hart Lane. In a thrilling London derby, Tottenham took maximum points thanks to a second-half goal from Luka Modrić and a much improved performance by goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, putting Tottenham only three away from a European place.

March ended with three call-ups into the England squad with Aaron Lennon in, thanks to being in mercurial form during the month of March and Ledley King earning a shock call-up, though with the injury situation surrounding the defender, King had to withdraw from the squad three days later. Darren Bent also received a call up on 28 March, after an injury to Carlton Cole ruled him out of the World Cup qualifier against Ukraine.

April

The penultimate month of the Premier League season began with a trip to Ewood Park, on 4 April, to face relegation-battlers Blackburn. Tottenham took the lead through a Robbie Keane penalty and led until the 80th minute, when the contentious sending off of Wilson Palacios swung the game back in Blackburn's favour, and two late goals from Benni McCarthy and André Ooijer gave the three points to the home side.

Seven days later, Tottenham faced West Ham in a London derby. The match ended 1–0 thanks to a solo effort from the returning Roman Pavlyuchenko. The win ignited Tottenham's charge into the final Europa league place which was consolidated eight days later on 19 April, with another 1–0 win, this time over struggling Newcastle. An early Darren Bent goal was enough to secure the points and help steer the club further towards European football.

April ended with a defeat to league leaders Manchester United at Old Trafford. Tottenham led 2–0 through two quick-fire strikes from Darren Bent and Luka Modrić, but in the second-half, United were awarded a penalty by referee Howard Webb and went on to win the game 5–2. Webb later admitted that he had got the penalty decision wrong. The loss damaged Tottenham's hopes of a seventh-place finish.

May

Against the norm, there were four Premier League fixtures in May. Tottenham took on relegation strugglers West Brom at White Hart Lane, looking to bounce back from the heavy defeat at Old Trafford. The game was settled by a well-placed Jermaine Jenas effort from just outside the area on the stroke of half-time, and secured Spurs' fifth home win a row. It was their fourth 1–0 win at home in a row, and sixth consecutive home clean sheet, leaving them on the verge of a club record of the fewest goals conceded at home in a season.

A week later, Tottenham travelled to Goodison Park. The game was marred by the pre-match news that the brother of Wilson Palacios had been confirmed dead in his native Honduras, causing him to leave the team hotel hours before the game. This was one of many factors that caused Harry Redknapp to go with an unorthodox 3–5–2 formation, notably bringing in Gareth Bale at left wing-back for the Welsh youngster's first league start for four months. The match finished 0–0, and for the second consecutive season earned Tottenham a point in their European quest.

The following Saturday, Tottenham went into their final home game of the season against Manchester City, with a target of setting a new club record for goals conceded at home. They simply had to concede no more than a goal to break the record of 11, which had stood since 1920. Spurs could also end Manchester City's hopes of Europe next season, while increasing their own slender hopes. Tottenham took the lead in the 29th minute when Jermain Defoe improvised with a back-heel from close range from Tom Huddlestone's cross. In the second-half, Spurs were forced to rue their earlier missed chances when Valeri Bojinov grabbed an equaliser, in the process scoring the first away goal at the lane since James Beattie's consolation in January. A draw was looking increasingly likely until Fraizer Campbell was brought down to win a penalty, which was converted by Robbie Keane. The game finished 2–1 and Tottenham, having conceded just ten goals at home all season, broke their own club record and ensured ending the season with the best home defence in the 2008–09 season.

Tottenham went into the final game of the season at Anfield, with a small chance of finishing in seventh place and Europe, needing to beat Liverpool and hoping that Everton could earn three points against Fulham at Craven Cottage; Everton, however, won 2–0. In Spurs' match, Fernando Torres and an own goal by Alan Hutton had Liverpool 2–0 up. A goal from Robbie Keane on his return to Anfield gave Tottenham a glimmer of hope, but just three minutes later Yossi Benayoun scored for the home team, condemning Tottenham to a 3–1 loss to finish their domestic league season.

Spurs finished the season in eighth, a turnaround in form pushing them into higher reaches of the league, when they were as low as 19th place as recently as January and 20th for a part of the season. Having made their worst start to a league season in their 126-year history, Tottenham made a three place improvement on the 2007–08 season.

Transfers

In

Date	Player	Previous Club	Cost
30 May 2008	John Bostock	Crystal Palace	£700,000
30 June 2008	Mirko Ranieri	Perugia	Undisclosed
1 July 2008	Paul-José M'Poku	Standard Liège	Undisclosed
1 July 2008	Luka Modrić	Dinamo Zagreb	£16,000,000
1 July 2008	Giovani dos Santos	Barcelona	£5,000,000
1 July 2008	Heurelho Gomes	PSV	£7,800,000
30 July 2008	David Bentley	Blackburn Rovers	£15,000,000
8 August 2008	César	Real Zaragoza	Undisclosed
30 August 2008	Roman Pavlyuchenko	Spartak Moscow	£14,000,000
1 September 2008	Vedran Ćorluka	Manchester City	£8,500,000
6 January 2009	Jermain Defoe	Portsmouth	£9,000,000
21 January 2009	Wilson Palacios	Wigan Athletic	£12,000,000
26 January 2009	Carlo Cudicini	Chelsea	Free
26 January 2009	Pascal Chimbonda	Sunderland	£4,500,000
2 February 2009	Robbie Keane	Liverpool	£12,000,000
			Total
			£104.5 million +

Out

Date	Player	New Club	Cost
1 July 2008	Radek Černý	Queens Park Rangers	Free
1 July 2008	Joe Martin	Blackpool	Undisclosed
7 July 2008	Tommy Forecast	Southampton	Undisclosed
23 July 2008	Teemu Tainio	Sunderland	£5,000,000
25 July 2008	Paul Robinson	Blackburn	£3,500,000
26 July 2008	Pascal Chimbonda	Sunderland	£5,000,000
28 July 2008	Robbie Keane	Liverpool	£19,000,000
30 July 2008	Steed Malbranque	Sunderland	£7,000,000
11 August 2008	Younès Kaboul	Portsmouth	£6,000,000
14 August 2008	Anthony Gardner	Hull City	£2,500,000
27 August 2008	Lee Young-pyo	Borussia Dortmund	Undisclosed
1 September 2008	Dimitar Berbatov	Manchester United	£30,750,000
21 December 2008	Paul Stalteri	Borussia Mönchengladbach	Released
29 December 2008	Dag Alexander Olsen	Valencia	Undisclosed
2 January 2009	Andy Barcham	Gillingham	Undisclosed
6 January 2009	Charlie Daniels	Leyton Orient	Free
21 January 2009	César	Valencia	Undisclosed
23 January 2009	Hossam Ghaly	Al Nassr	Undisclosed
9 February 2009	Leigh Mills	Unattached	Released
			Total
			£78.75 million +

Trials

Date	Player	Club	Result
6 January 2009	Stephen Appiah	Free Agent	Unsuccessful
16 January 2009	Quincy Owusu-Abeyie	Spartak Moscow	Unsuccessful

Loan arrivals

Date	Player	Club	Loan Length
2 September 2008	Fraizer Campbell	Manchester United	24 May 2009

Loan departures

Loan Start Date	Player	Club	Loan End Date
11 July 2008	Jake Livermore	Crewe Alexandra	23 July 2008
26 August 2008	Charlie Daniels	Gillingham	29 September 2008
8 August 2008	Troy Archibald-Henville	Norwich City	10 November 2008
16 October 2008	Ben Alnwick	Carlisle United	17 November 2008
19 September 2008	David Button	Grays Athletic	20 November 2008
2 July 2008	Simon Dawkins	Leyton Orient	1 January 2009
8 August 2008	Leigh Mills	Gillingham	1 January 2009
26 August 2008	Tomáš Pekhart	Southampton	1 January 2009
25 September 2008	Andy Barcham	Gillingham	2 January 2009
1 January 2009	Lee Butcher	Grays Athletic	15 February 2009
16 January 2009	David Button	AFC Bournemouth	16 February 2009
25 February 2009	Kyle Fraser-Allen	Macclesfield Town	1 April 2009
6 March 2009	David Button	Luton Town	7 April 2009
10 March 2009	Lee Butcher	St Albans City	11 April 2009
13 March 2009	Adel Taarabt	QPR	24 April 2009
17 April 2009	David Button	Dagenham & Redbridge	1 May 2009
20 January 2009	Troy Archibald-Henville	Exeter City	4 May 2009
29 January 2009	Dorian Dervite	Southend United	4 May 2009
3 March 2009	Danny Hutchins	Yeovil Town	4 May 2009
12 March 2009	Chris Gunter	Nottingham Forest	4 May 2009
13 March 2009	Giovani dos Santos	Ipswich Town	4 May 2009
19 March 2009	Jonathan Obika	Yeovil Town	4 May 2009
19 March 2009	Andros Townsend	Yeovil Town	4 May 2009
24 March 2009	Danny Rose	Watford	4 May 2009
26 March 2009	Yuri Berchiche	Cheltenham Town	4 May 2009
26 March 2009	David Hutton	Cheltenham Town	4 May 2009
18 April 2009	Lee Butcher	Grays Athletic	4 May 2009
11 January 2009	Kevin-Prince Boateng	Borussia Dortmund	24 May 2009
2 February 2009	Tomáš Pekhart	Slavia Prague	January 2010

Long-term injury list

Date Injured	Player	Injury	Return Date
8 November 2008	Giovani dos Santos	Ankle Ligament	2 January 2009
17 January 2009	Ledley King	Hamstring strain	23 February 2009
20 November 2008	Alan Hutton	Foot fracture	23 March 2009
29 January 2009	Jermain Defoe	Broken metatarsal	15 April 2009
19 April 2009	Michael Dawson	Torn ankle ligament	Start of 2009–10 season
25 April 2009	Darren Bent	Medial ligament injury	24 May 2009
26 April 2009	Jamie O'Hara	Knee Injury	Start of 2009–10 season
18 May 2009	Tom Huddlestone	Knee Injury	Start of 2009–10 season

Pre-season and friendlies

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result	Scorers	Attendance
14 July 2008	Tavernes	N	0–8	Lennon 27', Pekhart 47', 63', Dos Santos 53', 68', Malbranque 76', O'Hara 84', 85'	N/A
19 July 2008	CD Dénia	N	2–4	Taarabt 30', Jenas 38', Townsend 54', Bent 59',	N/A
24 July 2008	Hércules	A	1–1	Bent 34'	N/A
28 July 2008	Norwich City	A	1–5	Stefanović 10' (o.g), Bent 44', 57', 72', 75'	25,243
30 July 2008	Leyton Orient	A	1–5	Bent 45', 59', 76', Lennon 47', Modrić 51'	9,250
1 August 2008	Celtic	N	0–2	Bent 24, Bentley 79'	N/A
3 August 2008	Borussia Dortmund	N	0–3	Bent 9', Dos Santos 54, O'Hara 87'	N/A
10 August 2008	Roma	H	5–0	Bentley 2', 45', Bent 4', 53', Lennon 49'	35,841

Competitions

Overview

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Record
					Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Premier League	16 August 2008	24 May 2009	Matchday 1	8th	38	14	9	15	45	45	+0	036.84
FA Cup	3 January 2009	24 January 2009	Third round	Fourth round	2	1	0	1	4	3	+1	050.00
Football League Cup	23 September 2008	1 March 2009	Third round	Runners-up	6	4	1	1	14	8	+6	066.67
UEFA Cup	18 September 2008	26 February 2009	First round	Round of 32	8	3	3	2	11	9	+2	037.50
Total					54	22	13	19	74	65	+9	040.74

Last updated: 24 May 2009
Source:

Premier League

Main article: 2008–09 Premier League

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
6	Aston Villa	38	17	11	10	54	48	+6	62	Qualification for the Europa League play-off round
7	Fulham	38	14	11	13	39	34	+5	53	Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round
8	Tottenham Hotspur	38	14	9	15	45	45	0	51
9	West Ham United	38	14	9	15	42	45	−3	51
10	Manchester City	38	15	5	18	58	50	+8	50

Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	14	9	15	45	45	0	51	10	5	4	21	10	+11	4	4	11	24	35	−11

Last updated: 24 May 2009.
Source: Results

Results by matchday

Matchday	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Ground	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A
Result	L	L	D	L	D	L	L	L	W	D	W	W	L	W	L	W	D	L	D	L	L	D	W	L	D	W	W	D	W	W	L	W	W	L	W	D	W	L
Position	14	17	19	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	16	19	16	16	15	15	16	16	16	19	17	15	16	17	14	13	12	11	11	11	9	9	10	10	8	8	8

Updated to match(es) played on 24 May 2009. Source:
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; P = Postponed

Matches

Middlesbrough v Tottenham Hotspur

16 August 2008 1	Middlesbrough	2–1	Tottenham Hotspur	Middlesbrough
15:00 BST	Wheater 71' Mido 86' Digard  90+2'	Report	Jenas  61' Bentley  76' Huth 90+3' (o.g.)	Stadium: Riverside Stadium Attendance: 32,623 Referee: Martin Atkinson

Tottenham Hotspur v Sunderland

23 August 2008 2	Tottenham Hotspur	1–2	Sunderland	Tottenham, London
15:00 BST	Bale  26' Jenas 73'	Report	Richardson  55' Malbranque  58' Cissé 82'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 36,064 Referee: Mike Dean

Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur

31 August 2008 3	Chelsea	1–1	Tottenham Hotspur	Fulham, London
13:30 BST	Deco  10' Belletti 27' Cole  45' Bosingwa  86'	Report	Bent 45+1'	Stadium: Stamford Bridge (stadium) Attendance: 41,790 Referee: Howard Webb

Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa

15 September 2008 4	Tottenham Hotspur	1–2	Aston Villa	Tottenham, London
20:00 BST	Dawson  60' Bent 87'	Report	Reo-Coker 5' Shorey  21' Carew  52' Young 54'  90+3' Agbonlahor  83'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 36,075 Referee: Steve Bennett

Tottenham Hotspur v Wigan Athletic

21 September 2008 5	Tottenham Hotspur	0–0	Wigan Athletic	Tottenham, London
15:00 BST	Ćorluka  43' O'Hara  51'	Report	Boyce  29' Palacios  62'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 35,808 Referee: Steve Tanner

Portsmouth v Tottenham Hotspur

28 September 2008 6	Portsmouth	2–0	Tottenham Hotspur	Portsmouth
13:30 BST	Defoe 34' (pen.) Diarra  38'  88' Belhadj  57' Crouch 68'  80' Hughes  84'	Report	Woodgate  26' O'Hara  32' Lennon  90+5'	Stadium: Fratton Park Attendance: 20,352 Referee: Mike Dean

Tottenham Hotspur v Hull City

5 October 2008 7	Tottenham Hotspur	0–1	Hull City	Tottenham, London
15:00 BST	Jenas  34' Lennon  73' Bent  81' Campbell  88'	Report	Geovanni 9' Ashbee  21' Boateng  38'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 36,062 Referee: Rob Styles

Stoke City v Tottenham Hotspur

19 October 2008 8	Stoke City	2–1	Tottenham Hotspur	Stoke-on-Trent
16:00 BST	Higginbotham 19' (pen.) Delap 53' Faye  87'	Report	Bale  17' Bent 25' Hutton  64' Woodgate  90' Dawson  90+9'	Stadium: Britannia Stadium Attendance: 27,500 Referee: Lee Mason

Tottenham Hotspur v Bolton Wanderers

26 October 2008 9	Tottenham Hotspur	2–0	Bolton Wanderers	Tottenham, London
15:00 BST	Pavlyuchenko 17' Bent 76' (pen.)	Report	Nolan  37' McCann  42'  56' Jääskeläinen  75'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 35,507 Referee: Andre Marriner

Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur

29 October 2008 10	Arsenal	4–4	Tottenham Hotspur	Holloway, London
20:00 GMT	Silvestre 37' Gallas 46' Adebayor 64' van Persie 68' Diaby  90+2'	Report	Bentley 13'  57' Assou-Ekotto  54' Huddlestone  59' Bent 67' Jenas  85' 89' Lennon 90+4'	Stadium: Emirates Stadium Attendance: 60,043 Referee: Martin Atkinson

Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool

1 November 2008 11	Tottenham Hotspur	2–1	Liverpool	Tottenham, London
17:30 GMT	Carragher 69' (o.g.) King  79' Pavlyuchenko 90+1'	Report	Kuyt 3' Gerrard  45+1' Carragher  67'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 36,183 Referee: Phil Dowd

Manchester City v Tottenham Hotspur

9 November 2008 12	Manchester City	1–2	Tottenham Hotspur	Manchester
15:00 GMT	Robinho 16' Fernandes  18'  26' Dunne  83'	Report	Bent 29', 64' Assou-Ekotto  48'  89' King  61'	Stadium: City of Manchester Stadium Attendance: 41,893 Referee: Mike Dean

Fulham v Tottenham Hotspur

15 November 2008 13	Fulham	2–1	Tottenham Hotspur	Fulham, London
15:00 GMT	Zamora  16' Davies 33' Johnson 70'	Report	Campbell 81'	Stadium: Craven Cottage Attendance: 25,139 Referee: Alan Wiley

Tottenham Hotspur v Blackburn Rovers

23 November 2008 14	Tottenham Hotspur	1–0	Blackburn Rovers	Tottenham, London
13:30 GMT	Pavlyuchenko 9' Bentley  45+2' Jenas  89'	Report	Olsson  27'  39' Ooijer  69' Andrews  89'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 35,903 Referee: Alan Wiley

Tottenham Hotspur v Everton

30 November 2008 15	Tottenham Hotspur	0–1	Everton	Tottenham, London
15:00 GMT	Assou-Ekotto  33'	Report	Ćorluka 51' (o.g.) Pienaar  51' Fellaini  64' Cahill  77'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 35,742 Referee: Steve Bennett

West Ham United v Tottenham Hotspur

8 December 2008 16	West Ham United	0–2	Tottenham Hotspur	Upton Park, London
20:00 GMT	Behrami  78' Noble  90+1'	Report	King 68' O'Hara 89'	Stadium: Boleyn Ground Attendance: 34,277 Referee: Chris Foy

Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United

13 December 2008 17	Tottenham Hotspur	0–0	Manchester United	Tottenham, London
17:30 GMT	Huddlestone  56'	Report	Rafael  62'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 35,882 Referee: Mike Dean

Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur

21 December 2008 18	Newcastle United	2–1	Tottenham Hotspur	Newcastle upon Tyne
15:00 GMT	N'Zogbia 11' Enrique  11' Gutiérrez  89' Duff  90'	Report	Modrić 28'  88' Huddlestone  62'	Stadium: St James' Park Attendance: 47,982 Referee: Andre Marriner

Tottenham Hotspur v Fulham

26 December 2008 19	Tottenham Hotspur	0–0	Fulham	Tottenham, London
13:00 GMT		Report	Konchesky  79'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 35,869 Referee: Peter Walton

West Bromwich Albion v Tottenham Hotspur

28 December 2008 20	West Bromwich Albion	2–0	Tottenham Hotspur	West Bromwich
14:00 GMT	Morrison  28' Brunt  45' Zuiverloon  59' Bednář 83' Beattie 90+4'	Report	Dawson  13' Assou-Ekotto  35' Jenas  88'	Stadium: The Hawthorns Attendance: 26,344 Referee: Steve Tanner

Wigan Athletic v Tottenham Hotspur

11 January 2009 21	Wigan Athletic	1–0	Tottenham Hotspur	Wigan
13:30 GMT	Valencia  65' Palacios  69' Scharner  81' Figueroa 90+1'	Report	Bale  33' Zokora  72' Woodgate  75'	Stadium: JJB Stadium Attendance: 17,500 Referee: Andre Marriner

Tottenham Hotspur v Portsmouth

18 January 2009 22	Tottenham Hotspur	1–1	Portsmouth	Tottenham, London
16:00 GMT	Defoe 70'	Report	Davis  27' Nugent 59' Kaboul  75'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 36,011 Referee: Steve Bennett

Tottenham Hotspur v Stoke City

27 January 2009 23	Tottenham Hotspur	3–1	Stoke City	Tottenham, London
20:00 GMT	Lennon 8' Defoe 21' Dawson 24' Bentley  38' Woodgate  51'	Report	Higginbotham  40' Beattie 57' Cresswell  63' Whelan  69'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 36,072 Referee: Mike Riley

Bolton Wanderers v Tottenham Hotspur

31 January 2009 24	Bolton Wanderers	3–2	Tottenham Hotspur	Horwich
15:00 GMT	Puygrenier 31' Davies 64', 87'	Report	Dawson  50' Bent 72', 74'	Stadium: Reebok Stadium Attendance: 21,575 Referee: Phil Dowd

Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal

8 February 2009 25	Tottenham Hotspur	0–0	Arsenal	Tottenham, London
13:30 GMT	Modrić  37'	Report	Eboué  17'  37' Clichy  43'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 36,021 Referee: Mike Dean

Hull City v Tottenham Hotspur

23 February 2009 26	Hull City	1–2	Tottenham Hotspur	Kingston upon Hull
20:00 GMT	A. Dawson  7' Turner 27' Ashbee  42'	Report	Lennon 17' Modrić  44' Woodgate 85'	Stadium: KC Stadium Attendance: 24,742 Referee: Lee Probert

Tottenham Hotspur v Middlesbrough

4 March 2009 27	Tottenham Hotspur	4–0	Middlesbrough	Tottenham, London
20:00 GMT	Keane 9' Pavlyuchenko 14' Lennon 40', 79'	Report	Pogatetz  29'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 35,761 Referee: Howard Webb

Sunderland v Tottenham Hotspur

7 March 2009 28	Sunderland	1–1	Tottenham Hotspur	Sunderland
15:00 GMT	Richardson 3'  34' McCartney  36' Bardsley  45+2'	Report	Ćorluka  22' Woodgate  37' Keane 89'	Stadium: Stadium of Light Attendance: 37,894 Referee: Phil Dowd

Aston Villa v Tottenham Hotspur

15 March 2009 29	Aston Villa	1–2	Tottenham Hotspur	Birmingham
16:00 GMT	Reo-Coker  54' Carew 85'	Report	Jenas 5' Zokora  23' Bent 50' Modrić  68' Keane  70'	Stadium: Villa Park Attendance: 41,205 Referee: Steve Bennett

Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea

21 March 2009 30	Tottenham Hotspur	1–0	Chelsea	Tottenham, London
15:00 GMT	Modrić 50'  78' Palacios  78'	Report	Belletti  45+2' Ballack  84'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 36,034 Referee: Mike Dean

Blackburn Rovers v Tottenham Hotspur

4 April 2009 31	Blackburn Rovers	2–1	Tottenham Hotspur	Blackburn
12:45 BST	Samba  65' McCarthy 82' Ooijer 89'	Report	Keane 30' (pen.) Palacios  78'  80'	Stadium: Ewood Park Attendance: 21,891 Referee: Peter Walton

Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United

11 April 2009 32	Tottenham Hotspur	1–0	West Ham United	Tottenham, London
15:00 BST	Zokora  56' Pavlyuchenko 65'	Report	Boa Morte  45+1' Neill  57' Di Michele  63' Noble  90+1' Collins  90+4'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 35,969 Referee: Martin Atkinson

Tottenham Hotspur v Newcastle United

19 April 2009 33	Tottenham Hotspur	1–0	Newcastle United	Tottenham, London
13:30 BST	Bent 24' Assou-Ekotto  77'	Report	Taylor  78'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 35,850 Referee: Mark Halsey

Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur

25 April 2009 34	Manchester United	5–2	Tottenham Hotspur	Old Trafford
17:30 BST	Ronaldo 57' (pen.), 68'  69' Tevez  58' Rooney 67', 71' Berbatov 79'	Report	Bent 29' Modrić 32' Woodgate  37' Jenas  41' Gomes  57'	Stadium: Old Trafford Attendance: 75,458 Referee: Howard Webb

Tottenham Hotspur v West Bromwich Albion

2 May 2009 35	Tottenham Hotspur	1–0	West Bromwich Albion	Tottenham, London
15:00 BST	Jenas 43' Palacios  76'	Report	Mulumbu  58'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 35,836 Referee: Rob Styles

Everton v Tottenham Hotspur

9 May 2009 36	Everton	0–0	Tottenham Hotspur	Walton, Liverpool
15:00 BST	Lescott  17' Pienaar  18'	Report	Hutton  55' Jenas  83' Pavlyuchenko  90+1'	Stadium: Goodison Park Attendance: 36,646 Referee: Lee Mason

Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City

16 May 2009 37	Tottenham Hotspur	2–1	Manchester City	Tottenham, London
15:00 BST	Defoe 29' Keane 86' (pen.)	Report	Zabaleta  42' Bojinov 65'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 36,000 Referee: Mark Halsey

Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur

24 May 2009 38	Liverpool	3–1	Tottenham Hotspur	Anfield, Liverpool
16:00 BST	Torres 31' Hutton 64' (o.g.) Benayoun 81'	Report	Keane 77'	Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 43,937 Referee: Peter Walton

FA Cup

Main article: 2008–09 FA Cup

Tottenham Hotspur v Wigan Athletic

2 January 2009 Third round	Tottenham Hotspur	3–1	Wigan Athletic	Tottenham, London
20:00 GMT	Pavlyuchenko 52' (pen.), 90+3' Modrić 76'	Report	Palacios  49' Kingson  52' Camara 88'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 34,040 Referee: Alan Wiley

Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur

24 January 2009 Fourth round	Manchester United	2–1	Tottenham Hotspur	Old Trafford
17:15 GMT	Scholes 35' Berbatov 36' Vidić  60' Tevez  90'	Report	Pavlyuchenko 5'	Stadium: Old Trafford Attendance: 75,014 Referee: Alan Wiley

Football League Cup

Main article: 2008–09 Football League Cup

Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur

23 September 2008 Third round	Newcastle United	1–2	Tottenham Hotspur	Newcastle upon Tyne
19:45 BST	Butt  22' Owen 90'	Report	Ćorluka  35' O'Hara  45' 66' Pavlyuchenko 62' Zokora  63'	Stadium: St James' Park Attendance: 20,577 Referee: Alan Wiley

Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool

12 November 2008 Fourth round	Tottenham Hotspur	4–2	Liverpool	Tottenham, London
19:45 GMT	Pavlyuchenko 38', 52'  41' Campbell 42', 45'  44'	Report	Plessis  10' 49' Torres  35' Babel  40' Hyypiä 63'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 33,242 Referee: Mike Riley

Watford v Tottenham Hotspur

3 December 2008 Fifth round	Watford	1–2	Tottenham Hotspur	Watford
19:45 GMT	McAnuff  9' Priskin 13'  45'	Report	Pavlyuchenko 45' (pen.) Assou-Ekotto  67' Bent 76'	Stadium: Vicarage Road Attendance: 16,501 Referee: Phil Dowd

Tottenham Hotspur v Burnley

6 January 2009 Semi-finals first leg	Tottenham Hotspur	4–1	Burnley	Tottenham, London
20:00 GMT	Dawson 47' O'Hara 52' Pavlyuchenko 65' Duff 68' (o.g.)	Report	Paterson 15' Duff  84'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 31,377 Referee: Martin Atkinson

Burnley v Tottenham Hotspur

21 January 2009 Semi-finals second leg	Burnley	3–2 (a.e.t.) (4–6 agg.)	Tottenham Hotspur	Burnley
19:45 GMT	Blake 34' McCann  38' 73' Duff  69' Rodriguez 88'	Report	Bentley  21' Pavlyuchenko 118' Defoe 120'	Stadium: Turf Moor Attendance: 19,533 Referee: Mark Halsey

Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur

1 March 2009 Final	Manchester United	0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–1 p)	Tottenham Hotspur	Wembley, London
15:00 GMT		Report		Stadium: Wembley Stadium Attendance: 88,217 Referee: Chris Foy
	Penalties
	Giggs Tevez Ronaldo Anderson		O'Hara Ćorluka Bentley

UEFA Cup

Main article: 2008–09 UEFA Cup

First round

Main article: 2008–09 UEFA Cup first round

Tottenham Hotspur v Wisła Kraków

18 September 2008 First leg	Tottenham Hotspur	2–1	Wisła Kraków	London, England
20:10 BST	Bentley 33' Bent 73' O'Hara  90'	Report	Jirsák 34' Sobolewski  44' Małecki  88'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 35,751 Referee: Lucílio Batista (Portugal)

Wisła Kraków v Tottenham Hotspur

2 October 2008 Second leg	Wisła Kraków	1–1 (2–3 agg.)	Tottenham Hotspur	Kraków, Poland
14:40 CEST	Łobodziński  44' Cléber  76' Brożek 83'	Report	Woodgate  34' Głowacki 58' (o.g.) Modrić  59' Bale  62' Zokora  76'	Stadium: Stadion Miejski im. Henryka Reymana Attendance: 12,900 Referee: Alexandru Tudor (Romania)

Group stage

Main article: 2008–09 UEFA Cup group stage § Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		UDI	TOT	NEC	SPA	DZ
1	Udinese	4	3	0	1	6	4	+2	9	Advance to knockout stage		—	2–0	—	—	2–1
2	Tottenham Hotspur	4	2	1	1	7	4	+3	7			—	—	—	2–2	4–0
3	NEC	4	2	0	2	6	5	+1	6			2–0	0–1	—	—	—
4	Spartak Moscow	4	1	1	2	5	6	−1	4			1–2	—	1–2	—	—
5	Dinamo Zagreb	4	1	0	3	4	9	−5	3			—	—	3–2	0–1	—

Source: RSSSF

Udinese v Tottenham Hotspur

23 October 2008 1	Udinese	2–0	Tottenham Hotspur	Udine, Italy
18:10 CEST	Luković  23' Di Natale 24' (pen.) D'Agostino  75' Isla  83' Pepe 86'	Report	Gomes  23' O'Hara  56'  57' Bale  63'	Stadium: Stadio Friuli Attendance: 22,000 Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)

Tottenham Hotspur v Dinamo Zagreb

6 November 2008 2	Tottenham Hotspur	4–0	Dinamo Zagreb	London, England
20:00 GMT	Bent 30', 33', 70' Huddlestone 59'	Report	Lovren  45' Hrgović  72'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 32,788 Referee: Fredy Fautrel (France)

NEC v Tottenham Hotspur

27 November 2008 3	NEC	0–1	Tottenham Hotspur	Nijmegen, Netherlands
18:00 CET	Davids  79'	Report	O'Hara 14'	Stadium: Goffertstadion Attendance: 12,500 Referee: César Muñiz Fernández (Spain)

Tottenham Hotspur v Spartak Moscow

18 December 2008 4	Tottenham Hotspur	2–2	Spartak Moscow	London, England
19:45 GMT	Modrić 67' Huddlestone 74'	Report	Dzyuba 23', 33'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 28,906 Referee: Pedro Proença (Portugal)

Knockout stage

Main article: 2008–09 UEFA Cup knockout stage

Round of 32

Shakhtar Donetsk v Tottenham Hotspur

19 February 2009 First leg	Shakhtar Donetsk	2–0	Tottenham Hotspur	Donetsk, Ukraine
19:45 EET	Raț  40' Seleznyov 79' Jádson 88'	Report		Stadium: RSC Olimpiyskiy Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Thomas Einwaller (Austria)

Tottenham Hotspur v Shakhtar Donetsk

26 February 2009 Second leg	Tottenham Hotspur	1–1 (1–3 agg.)	Shakhtar Donetsk	London, England
20:00 GMT	O'Hara  28' dos Santos 55' Palacios  90'	Report	Lewandowski  17' Hübschman  50' Fernandinho 86'	Stadium: RSC Olimpiyskiy Attendance: 30,595 Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (Italy)

Manager statistics

Manager	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	H-Win%	A-Win%	Pos	Pts	PPLG	Lge Cup	FA Cup	UEFA Cup
Juande Ramos (August 2008 – October 2008)	12	2 (16.6%)	3 (25%)	7 (58.3%)	20%	14.2%	20th	2	0.25	Fourth Round	Not Entered	Group Stage
Harry Redknapp (October 2008 – Onwards)	42	20 (47.6%)	10 (23.8%)	12 (28.5%)	66.6%	28.5%	8th	49	1.63	Runners-Up	Fourth Round	Last 32
Tottenham Hotspur (August 2008 – May 2009)	54	22 (40.7%)	13 (24%)	19 (35.1%)	57.6%	25%	8th	51	1.34	Runners-Up	Fourth Round	Last 32

• Pts = League Points
• Pos = League Position
• H-Win% = Home Win%
• A-Win% = Away Win%
• PPLG = Points Per League Game
• Data includes all competitions

Statistics

Appearances

Last updated: 26 July 2020.
Source: premierleague.com

No.	Pos.	Name	Premier League		FA Cup		League Cup		UEFA Cup		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	GK	Heurelho Gomes	34	0	1	0	5	0	8	0	48	0
23	GK	Carlo Cudicini	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
27	GK	Ben Alnwick	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	0
Defenders
2	DF	Alan Hutton	5+3	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	8+3	0
3	DF	Gareth Bale	12+4	0	2	0	3+2	0	7	0	24+6	0
16	DF	Chris Gunter	2+1	0	1	0	1	0	6+1	0	10+2	0
20	DF	Michael Dawson	13+3	1	2	0	5	1	3+1	0	23+4	2
21	DF	Pascal Chimbonda	1+2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	3+2	0
22	DF	Vedran Corluka	33+1	0	2	0	5	0	0	0	40+1	0
26	DF	Ledley King	24	1	0	0	2	0	3	0	29	1
32	DF	Benoît Assou-Ekotto	29	0	1	0	4	0	1+1	0	35+1	0
39	DF	Jonathan Woodgate	34	1	1	0	4	0	5	0	44	1
Midfielders
4	MF	Didier Zokora	23+5	0	2	0	6	0	7	0	38+5	0
5	MF	David Bentley	20+5	1	2	0	2+1	0	5	1	29+6	2
6	MF	Tom Huddlestone	14+8	0	1	0	2	0	5+1	2	22+9	2
7	MF	Aaron Lennon	26+9	5	0+1	0	5	0	4+2	0	35+12	5
8	MF	Jermaine Jenas	29+4	4	0	0	3	0	4	0	36+4	4
11	MF	Gilberto	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	3	0
12	MF	Wilson Palacios	11	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	12	0
14	MF	Luka Modrić	34	3	2	1	3+1	0	3+1	1	42+2	5
19	MF	Adel Taarabt	0+1	0	0+1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0+3	0
23	MF	Kevin-Prince Boateng	0+1	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0	0+2	0
24	MF	Jamie O'Hara	6+9	1	1	0	4+2	2	4+2	1	15+13	4
36	MF	Simon Dawkins	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
51	MF	John Bostock	0	0	0	0	0	0	0+3	0	0+3	0
52	MF	Dean Parrett	0	0	0	0	0	0	1+1	0	1+1	0
77	MF	Ryan Mason	0	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0	0+1	0
Forwards
9	FW	Roman Pavlyuchenko	19+9	5	2	3	5+1	6	0	0	26+10	14
10	FW	Darren Bent	21+12	12	1	0	1+2	1	5+1	4	28+15	17
15	FW	Robbie Keane	14	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	5
17	FW	Giovani dos Santos	2+4	0	0+1	0	0+1	0	3+1	1	5+7	1
18	FW	Fraizer Campbell	1+9	1	0+1	0	3+1	2	5+2	0	9+13	3
25	FW	Jermain Defoe	6+2	3	0+1	0	1	1	0	0	7+3	4
80	FW	Jonathan Obika	0	0	0	0	0	0	1+1	0	1+1	0
Players transferred out during the season
9	FW	Dimitar Berbatov	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0
21	GK	César Sánchez	0	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0	0+1	0

Goal scorers

Last updated: 26 July 2020.
Source: premierleague.com

The list is sorted by shirt number when total goals are equal.

Rnk	Pos	No.	Player	Premier League	FA Cup	League Cup	UEFA Cup	Total
1	FW	10	Darren Bent	12	0	1	4	17
2	FW	9	Roman Pavlyuchenko	5	3	6	0	14
3	MF	7	Aaron Lennon	5	0	0	0	5
	MF	14	Luka Modrić	3	1	0	1	5
	FW	15	Robbie Keane	5	0	0	0	5
6	MF	8	Jermaine Jenas	4	0	0	0	4
	MF	24	Jamie O'Hara	1	0	2	1	4
	FW	25	Jermain Defoe	3	0	1	0	4
9	FW	18	Fraizer Campbell	1	0	2	0	3
10	MF	5	David Bentley	1	0	0	1	2
	MF	6	Tom Huddlestone	0	0	0	2	2
	DF	20	Michael Dawson	1	0	1	0	2
13	FW	17	Giovani dos Santos	0	0	0	1	1
	DF	26	Ledley King	1	0	0	0	1
	DF	39	Jonathan Woodgate	1	0	0	0	1
TOTALS				43	4	13	10	70

Clean sheets

Last updated: 26 July 2020.
Source: premierleague.com

The list is sorted by shirt number when total clean sheets are equal.

Rnk	No.	Player	Premier League	FA Cup	League Cup	UEFA Cup	Total
1	1	Heurelho Gomes	12	0	1	2	15
2	21	César Sánchez	0	0	1	0	1
	23	Carlo Cudicini	1	0	0	0	1
TOTALS			13	0	2	2	17