1943–44 in Mandatory Palestine football explained

Country:	Mandatory Palestine
Season:	1943–44
Prevseason:	1942–43
Prevlink:	1942–43 in Mandatory Palestine football
Nextseason:	1944–45
Nextlink:	1944–45 in Mandatory Palestine football

The 1943–44 season was the 17th season of competitive football in the British Mandate for Palestine under the Eretz Israel Football Association.

IFA Competitions

1941–42 Palestine League

See main article: 1941–42 Palestine League. League matches, which started during the previous season were completed during the season with a single match played in the southern division^[1] and the final round play-offs. Maccabi Rishon LeZion won the southern division^[2] and qualified to the playoffs, along with second placed Maccabi Tel Aviv and Jerusalem division winner, Homenetmen Jerusalem. In the play-offs, Maccabi Tel Aviv won both its matches against Maccabi Rishon LeZion, while Homenetmen withdrew after playing one match, forfeiting the rest of its fixtures, and Maccabi Tel Aviv was declared league champions.^[3]

Championship play-off

1943–44 Palestine League

See main article: 1943–44 Palestine League. League matches began on 11 September 1943^[4] However, the league matches were not completed by the end of the season, and were continued after the summer break.

League table (top 5)

1943 Palestine Cup

See main article: 1943 Palestine Cup. A cup competition was held during the previous season, in spring 1943, which was called The Wartime Cup, with the semi-finals and final being delayed over the summer break.^[5] The final, between Hapoel Jerusalem and a Royal Artillery XI was played on 16 October 1943, with the Gunners winning 7–1.^{[6] [7]}

1944 Palestine Cup

See main article: 1944 Palestine Cup. The competition started on 19 February 1944,^[8] but was delayed over the summer break and were completed during the following season.

Notable events

• Between 28 August and 6 September, Al Ahly Cairo visited Mandatory Palestine. The team was billed as Cairo All Stars as the visit was against the Egyptian FA decision. The visiting team played five matches, three against the Jewish team: Beitar Tel Aviv, losing the first match 1–3,^[9] winning the second 2–0^{[10] [11]} and winning the third 4–1,^[12] and two against selected Arab XI teams from Jerusalem, winning 4–2,^[13] and Haifa, winning 4–0.^[14]
  Prior to Al Ahly's first match against Beitar Tel Aviv, the Egyptian FA notified the EIFA that Al Ahly's visit was against EFA decisions and asked to forbid any matches against Al Ahly. The EIFA notified Beitar Tel Aviv, which decided to go on with the planned match on 28 August 1943 and with the entire tour. Beitar Tel Aviv was suspended from all activities, forcing the team to forfeit its cup semi-final match against Hapoel Jerusalem, and in October 1943 was given a six months suspension, a 12 months ban on matches against foreign teams and a 50 PP fine.^[15]
• On 15 April 1944, Hapoel Haifa won the Haifa Cup for the third consecutive year, after beating British army team All White 3–2^[16] and 6–2 in the two legged final.^[17]
• In early July 1944, a Maccabi Palestine XI took a brief tour to Lebanon, playing two matches, against Homenetmen, losing 2–3, and against a Beirut XI, losing 0–1.^[18]

Notes and References

1. http://archive.football.org.il/multimedia/Images/do000479_001.jpg Memo no. 11, p. 2
2. https://web.archive.org/web/20160615061732/http://archive.football.org.il/multimedia/Images/do000479_002.jpg Memo No. 11, P.3
3. http://archive.football.org.il/multimedia/Images/do000476.jpg League and Cup Committee Meeting 1.11.43
4. http://archive.football.org.il/multimedia/PDF/Newspapers/haboker/1943/09-12-1943.pdf Wartime League Matches Began
5. Book: Shohat. Elisha. 100 Years of Football 1906-2006. 2006. 128–129.
6. http://jpress.org.il/Olive/APA/NLI_heb/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=PLS%2F1943%2F10%2F17&id=Ar00208&sk=6355DD1B Gunners Route Hapoel in War Cup Final
7. http://archive.football.org.il/multimedia/PDF/Newspapers/haboker/1943/10-17-1943.pdf Gunners Team Won the 1943 Wartime Cup
8. http://archive.football.org.il/multimedia/PDF/Newspapers/haboker/1944/02-20-1944.pdf Wartime Cup Matches Started With a Surprise
9. http://archive.football.org.il/multimedia/PDF/Newspapers/haboker/1943/08-29-1943.pdf Beitar T.A. Beats N.S.C. Cairo 3:1 (1:0)
10. http://jpress.org.il/Olive/APA/NLI_heb/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=PLS%2F1943%2F09%2F03&id=Ar00207&sk=a5f641fd Cairo All-Stars Win Return With Betar
11. http://jpress.org.il/Olive/APA/NLI_heb/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=PLS%2F1943%2F09%2F05&id=Ar00205&sk=a917b245 Egyptians Turn Tables on Tel Aviv Betar
12. http://jpress.org.il/Olive/APA/NLI_heb/sharedpages/SharedView.Page.aspx?sk=14EB6ACF&href=PLS/1943/09/06&page=2 Betar Win 'Rubber' With Egyptians
13. http://jpress.org.il/Olive/APA/NLI_heb/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=PLS%2F1943%2F09%2F01&id=Ar00220&sk=F528D89F Cairo All Stars Beat Jerusalem Stars
14. http://jpress.org.il/Olive/APA/NLI_heb/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=PLS%2F1943%2F09%2F08&id=Ar00207&sk=34fc6507 Egyptian Tourists Win at Haifa
15. http://archive.football.org.il/multimedia/PDF/Newspapers/haboker/1943/10-10-1943.pdf Beitar Before the FA Disciplinary Committee
16. http://archive.football.org.il/multimedia/PDF/Newspapers/haboker/1944/04-09-1944.pdf Haifa Cup Final
17. http://archive.football.org.il/multimedia/PDF/Newspapers/haboker/1944/04-16-1944.pdf Hapoel Won the Haifa Cup
18. http://archive.football.org.il/multimedia/PDF/Newspapers/haboker/1944/07-09-1944.pdf Around the Two Maccabi E.I. Matches in Beirut