2009 Meistriliiga
# 2009 Meistriliiga

The 2009 Meistriliiga was the 19th season of the Meistriliiga, Estonia's premier football league. It started on 7 March 2009 and ended on 10 November 2009. Levadia won their seventh title.

## Changes from the previous season

TVMK were disbanded after the end of the previous season. Hence Vaprus, who originally were to be directly relegated, faced Esiliiga side Paide Linnameeskond in a relegation play-off series for one spot in Meistriliiga 2009. With an aggregate 5–5, Paide Linnameeskond won the promotion play-off against Vaprus on the away goals rule and play their first season in Estonian top division. Tallinna Kalev, who originally were to participate in the relegation series, were spared.

Kuressaare earned promotion to the 2009 Meistriliiga after finishing in second place in the 2008 Esiliiga; champions Levadia II were not eligible to be promoted.

Maag Tammeka changed their name to Tammeka following the loss of a major sponsor.

## Overview

| Club | Location | Stadium | Capacity | Manager |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Flora | Tallinn | A. Le Coq Arena | 9,300 | Tarmo Rüütli |
| Kalju | Tallinn | Hiiu Stadium | 500 | Getúlio Fredo |
| Kuressaare | Kuressaare | Kuressaare Linnastaadion | 2,000 | Jan Važinski |
| Levadia | Tallinn | Kadrioru Stadium | 4,750 | Igor Prins |
| Paide Linnameeskond | Paide | ÜG Stadium | 268 | Viktor Mets |
| Sillamäe Kalev | Sillamäe | Kalevi Stadium | 2,000 | Anatoli Ushanov |
| Tallinna Kalev | Tallinn | Kalevi Keskstaadion | 12,000 | Daniel Meijel |
| Tammeka | Tartu | Tamme Stadium | 2,000 | Norbert Hurt |
| Trans | Narva | Kreenholmi Stadium | 3,000 | Sergei Ratnikov |
| Tulevik | Viljandi | Viljandi Linnastaadion | 2,500 | Marko Lelov |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Levadia (C) | 36 | 31 | 4 | 1 | 121 | 23 | +98 | 97 | Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Sillamäe Kalev | 36 | 24 | 4 | 8 | 85 | 40 | +45 | 76 | Qualification for Europa League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Trans | 36 | 23 | 7 | 6 | 82 | 29 | +53 | 76 | Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Flora | 36 | 22 | 6 | 8 | 79 | 31 | +48 | 72 | Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Kalju | 36 | 15 | 9 | 12 | 65 | 47 | +18 | 54 | |
| 6 | Tulevik | 36 | 15 | 6 | 15 | 55 | 49 | +6 | 51 | |
| 7 | Tammeka | 36 | 7 | 3 | 26 | 29 | 86 | −57 | 24 | |
| 8 | Kuressaare | 36 | 7 | 3 | 26 | 21 | 99 | −78 | 24 | |
| 9 | Paide Linnameeskond (O) | 36 | 6 | 4 | 26 | 21 | 97 | −76 | 22 | Qualification for relegation play-offs |
| 10 | Tallinna Kalev (R) | 36 | 4 | 4 | 28 | 32 | 89 | −57 | 16 | Relegation to Esiliiga |

* ↑ The winner of the 2009–10 Estonian Cup, Levadia have already qualified for Champions League, that means Flora will qualify for the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League 1st qualifying round as cup runners-up.

### Relegation play-off

The ninth placed team of Meistriliiga and the runners-up of Esiliiga will compete in a two-legged relegation play-off for one spot in 2010 Meistriliiga.

Paide Linnameeskond wins 2–1 on aggregate and retains their spot in next season's Meistriliiga.

## Results

Each team plays every opponent four times, twice at home and twice on the road, for a total of 36 games.

## Season statistics

### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Vitali Gussev | Levadia | 26 |
| 2 | Felipe Nunes | Kalju | 20 |
| 3 | Nikita Andreev | Levadia | 17 |
| 4 | Jüri Jevdokimov | Tulevik | 14 |
| 5 | Alo Dupikov | Flora | 13 |
| 5 | Vitali Leitan | Levadia | 13 |
| 5 | Aleksei Naumov | Sillamäe Kalev | 13 |
| 5 | Aleksandr Tarassenkov | Trans | 13 |
| 5 | Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko | Flora | 13 |
| 10 | Konstantin Nahk | Levadia | 12 |

## Awards

### Monthly awards

| Month | Manager of the Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Month | Manager | Club | Player | Club |
| March | Igor Prins | Levadia | Jüri Jevdokimov | Tulevik |
| April | Igor Prins | Levadia | Vitali Gussev | Levadia |
| May | Anatoli Ushanov | Sillamäe Kalev | Alo Dupikov | Flora |
| June | Igor Prins | Levadia | Aleksei Naumov | Sillamäe Kalev |
| July | Tarmo Rüütli | Flora | Sander Puri | Levadia |
| August | Sergei Ratnikov | Levadia | Tomas Rimas | Trans |
| September | Igor Prins | Levadia | Konstantin Nahk | Levadia |
| October | Igor Prins | Levadia | Eduard Ratnikov | Trans |
