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Contents |
Events
- 20 January to 10 February — Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana
- June 7 to June 29 — Euro 2008 held in Austria and Switzerland
- August 6 to August 24 - Men's and Women's Football Tournaments at the Beijing Olympics
- October 30 to November 16 — Inauguration of FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup held In New Zealand
- November 20 to December 7 — 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Chile
News
January
- 3 – Argentine midfielder Éver Banega leaves CA Boca Juniors and joins the Spanish club Valencia CF for an estimated fee of €18 million.
- 5 – Everton are knocked out of the FA Cup in the third round by Oldham, a team from Football League One (third division) as Huddersfield Town from the same division beat Birmingham City.
- 6 – Toulouse are eliminated from the Coupe de France by Paris FC, a team from the Championnat National (third division).
- 9 – Sam Allardyce leaves the manager's position at Newcastle United by mutual agreement.
- 11 – Jürgen Klinsmann is unveiled as the new coach of FC Bayern Munich, it was announced this would be effective from July.
- 20 – The Africa Cup of Nations begins in Ghana with the hosts beating Guinea 2-1.
- 23 – Tottenham Hotspur defeat Arsenal 5-1 in the semi-final second-leg of the League Cup. This was the first time they had beaten their local rivals since 1999.
- 24 – George Burley is announced as the new coach of the Scotland national football team.
- 28 – Mohamed Sissoko leaves Liverpool to sign for Juventus, costing the Italian team €13 million.
February
- 2 – Frédéric Kanouté is named 2007 African Footballer of the Year
- 4 – Víctor Muñoz is sacked from the managers job of Spanish team Recreativo de Huelva, Manolo Zambrano is immediately installed as the new coach of the La Liga team.
- 10 – Egypt win the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations after beating Cameroon in the final 1-0.
- 13 – Giovanni Trapattoni is announced as the new coach of the Republic of Ireland national football team. He will officially take up this role in May.
- 23 – South Korean men's team won East Asian Cup 2008.
- 23 – Japanese J. League Cup winner Gamba Osaka defeated MLS champion Houston Dynamo at the final game of Pan-Pacific Championship 2008 by 6-1, won the champion title of inaugural tournament. Los Angeles Galaxy won the third place match against Sydney FC from A-league by 2-1.
- 24 – Japan won the Women's East Asian Cup 2008 with three straight wins over South Korea, North Korea, and China.
- 24 – Tottenham Hotspur won the Football League Cup, also known as the Carling Cup, after beating Chelsea 2-1 after extra time at Wembley Stadium.
March
- 11 – Newport County win the FAW Premier Cup beating Llanelli 1–0 in the final.
- 12 – The United States women's national soccer team wins the 2008 Algarve Cup for the sixth time, beating Denmark 2–1 in the final.
- 16 – Rangers win the Scottish League Cup by beating Dundee United 3-2 in a penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw at Hampden Park.
May
- 5 – Real Madrid wins the 31st La Liga title after beating Osasuna 2-1.
- 8 – Announced that Frank Rijkaard would leave his managerial post at F.C Barcelona at the end of the season and be replaced by Barcelona B coach Josep Guardiola.
- 11 – Manchester United wins it's 10th Premier League title after beating Wigan Athletic 2-0 away.
National champions
AFC nations
UEFA nations
Campionat de Lliga: Santa Coloma
Austrian Bundesliga: SK Rapid Wien
Jupiler League: Standard Liège
Prva HNL: Dinamo Zagreb
Premier League: Manchester United
German Bundesliga: Bayern Munich
Super League Greece: Olympiacos FC
Luxembourg National Division: F91 Dudelange
Maltese Premier League: Valletta FC
Eredivisie: PSV Eindhoven
Irish Premier League: Linfield
Orange Ekstraklasa: Wisła Kraków
Portuguese Liga: FC Porto
Liga I: CFR Cluj
La Liga: Real Madrid
Welsh Premier League: Llanelli AFC
Danish Superliga: AaB
International tournaments
- Men's East Asian Cup 2008 final in Chongqing, China (February 17 – 23, 2008)
- Women's East Asian Cup 2008 final in Chongqing, China (February 18 – 24, 2008)
Deaths
January
- January 4 – Bjørn Odmar Andersen (64), Norwegian footballer
- January 4 – Vyacheslav Ambartsumyan (67), Russian footballer
- January 5 – Louis Hon (83), French footballer
- January 9 – Paul Aimson (64), English footballer
- January 11 – Frank Loughran (77), Australian international footballer
- January 12 – Leszek Jezierski (78), Polish footballer and manager
- January 14 – Johnny Steele (91), English footballer and manager
- January 18 – Wally Fielding (88), English footballer
- January 21 – Billy Elliott (82), English footballer
February
- February 1 – Władysław Kawula (70), Polish footballer
- February 9 – Guy Tchingoma (22), Gabonese footballer
- February 10 – Ove Jørstad (37), Norwegian footballer
- February 12 – Jean Prouff (88), French footballer and manager
- February 12 – Thomas Grosser (42), German footballer
- February 14 – Len Boyd (84), English footballer
- February 15 – Inge Thun (62), Norwegian footballer
- February 17 – Brian Harris (72), English footballer and manager
- February 21 – Emmanuel Sanon (56), Haitian footballer
March
- March 2 – Carl Hoddle (40), English footballer
- March 5 – Derek Dooley (78), English footballer and manager
April
- April 3 – Hrvoje Ćustić (24), Croatian footballer
- April 5 – Wang Donglei (23), Chinese footballer
- April 18 – Erminio Favalli (64), Italian footballer
- April 19 – Constant Vanden Stock (93), Belgian footballer, manager, and executive
May
- May 8 – François Sterchele (26), Belgian footballer
