2008–09 Tranmere Rovers F.C. season
# 2008–09 Tranmere Rovers F.C. season

During the 2008–09 English football season, Tranmere Rovers F.C. competed in Football League One.

## Season summary

In the 2007-08 season, Tranmere finished 11th and their ambition for 2008-09 was the play-offs. Their form in the first half of the season was mixed, but they found themselves in 8th place at Christmas. Tranmere finished 7th, missing out on the play-offs by one point. Despite this 7th-placed finish, manager Ronnie Moore was sacked and replaced by John Barnes in mid-June. A run of 5 games unbeaten in March/April led rovers into the play-off positions with 3 games remaining, but 7th placed Scunthorpe were two points behind and had played two games less. Tranmere lost to fellow play-off contenders Leeds United, but Scunthorpe lost too, leaving Rovers in 6th place. They failed to win their final 2 games, meaning they finished 7th.

## Kit

Tranmere's kits were manufactured by Vandanel and sponsored by the Wirral Metropolitan Council.

## Squad

Squad at end of season

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 | WAL | Danny Coyne |
| 3 | DF | ENG | Andy Taylor |
| 4 | DF | ENG | Ben Chorley |
| 5 | DF | JAM | Ian Goodison |
| 6 | MF | ENG | Antony Kay |
| 7 | FW | ENG | Bas Savage |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Ian Thomas-Moore |
| 10 | FW | ENG | Chris Greenacre |
| 11 | MF | PAK | Adnan Ahmed |
| 12 | MF | ENG | Steve Jennings |
| 13 | DF | AUS | Gareth Edds |
| 14 | FW | ENG | Terry Gornell |
| 15 | DF | ENG | Danny Holmes |
| 16 | MF | GAM | Edrissa Sonko |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 17 | DF | ENG | Luke Waterfall |
| 18 | DF | ENG | Aaron Cresswell |
| 19 | MF | ENG | Charlie Barnett |
| 20 | MF | ENG | Paul Henry |
| 21 | FW | ENG | Josh Macauley |
| 22 | MF | WAL | Ash Taylor |
| 23 | MF | ENG | Chris Shuker |
| 24 | GK | NED | John Achterberg |
| 25 | FW | ENG | Craig Curran |
| 26 | DF | ENG | Ryan Shotton |
| 28 | MF | ENG | Robbie Burns |
| 29 | GK | ENG | Peter Kennedy |
| 30 | MF | ENG | Ryan Fraughan |

### Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| - | - | - | - |
| 22 | GK | ENG | Phillip Palethorpe (Signed for Airbus UK Broughton F.C.) |
| 27 | MF | ENG | Mark Wilson (on loan from Doncaster Rovers) |
| 2 | DF | ESP | Godwin Antwi (on loan from Liverpool) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 28 | DF | ENG | John Johnson (on loan from Middlesbrough) |
| 8 | MF | IRL | George O'Callaghan (released) |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Danny Mayor (on loan from Preston North End) |

## Competitions

### League One

**League table**

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 5 | Millwall | 46 | 25 | 7 | 14 | 63 | 53 | +10 | 82 | Qualification for League One play-offs |
| 6 | Scunthorpe United (O, P) | 46 | 22 | 10 | 14 | 82 | 63 | +19 | 76 | Qualification for League One play-offs |
| 7 | Tranmere Rovers | 46 | 21 | 11 | 14 | 62 | 49 | +13 | 74 | |
| 8 | Southend United | 46 | 21 | 8 | 17 | 58 | 61 | −3 | 71 | |
| 9 | Huddersfield Town | 46 | 18 | 14 | 14 | 62 | 65 | −3 | 68 | |

**Results summary**

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |

Source:

