| Season: | 2008–09 |
| Matches: | 198 |
| Total Goals: | 457 |
| Nextseason: | 2009–10 |
The 2008–09 Liga Leumit season began on 29 August 2008 and ended on 29 May 2009.
Two teams from Liga Artzit were promoted at the end of the previous season: Hapoel Jerusalem and Maccabi Ironi Kiryat Ata along with two teams relegated from Israeli Premier League: Maccabi Herzliya and Hapoel Kfar Saba.
The two teams relegated to Liga Artzit were Hapoel Nazareth Illit and Hapoel Rishon LeZion.
Due to an expected league expansion,[1] at the end of the season five clubs were automatically promoted to the Israeli Premier League, whilst the sixth-placed club in Liga Leumit played in a play-off match against the 11th-placed team in the Premier League. Only one team relegated automatically, and one team played in a play-off match against a team from Liga Artzit (which ceased to exist, with the regionalised Liga Alef becoming the third tier).
| Club | Stadium | Capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21,600 | |||
| 14,002 | |||
| 13,000 | |||
| 8,100 | |||
| 5,500 | |||
| 5,800 | |||
| Napoleon Stadium | 5,0001 | ||
| 4,932 | |||
| Karnei Oren Memorial Field | 2,500 | ||
| Lod Municipal Stadium | 2,000 | ||
| 2,200 | |||
| Kiryat Ata Municipal Stadium | 726 |
The schedule consisted of three rounds. During first two rounds, each team played each other once home and away for a total of 22 matches. The pairings of the third round were then set according to the standings after first two rounds, giving every team a third game against each opponent for a total of 33 games per team.
Key numbers for pairing determination (number marks position after 22 games):
| Rounds | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23rd | 24th | 25th | 26th | 27th | 28th | 29th | 30th | 31st | 32nd | 33rd | |
| 3 – 12 4 – 2 5 – 1 6 – 11 7 – 10 8 – 9 | 12 – 9 10 – 8 11 – 7 1 – 6 2 – 5 3 – 4 | 4 – 12 5 – 3 6 – 2 7 – 1 8 – 11 9 – 10 | 12 – 10 11 – 9 1 – 8 2 – 7 3 – 6 4 – 5 | 5 – 12 6 – 4 7 – 3 8 – 2 9 – 1 10 – 11 | 12 – 11 1 – 10 2 – 9 3 – 8 4 – 7 5 – 6 | 6 – 12 7 – 5 8 – 4 9 – 3 10 – 2 11 – 1 | 1 – 12 2 – 11 3 – 10 4 – 9 5 – 8 6 – 7 | 12 – 7 8 – 6 9 – 5 10 – 4 11 – 3 1 – 2 | 2 – 12 3 – 1 4 – 11 5 – 10 6 – 9 7 – 8 | 12 – 8 9 – 7 10 – 6 11 – 5 1 – 4 2 – 3 | |
Maccabi Ahi Nazareth as the 6th-placed team faced the 11th-placed Israeli Premier League team Hakoah Ramat Gan for a two-legged playoff. Maccabi Ahi Nazareth won both games and were promoted to the Israeli Premier League.
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Ironi Ramat HaSharon as the 11th-placed team faced the 8th-placed Liga Artzit team Maccabi Kafr Kanna for a two-legged playoff, Ironi Ramat HaSharon won both games and will continue playing in Liga Leumit next season.
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| Rank | Player | Club | Goals[5] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Ohad Kadousi | Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 18 | |
| 2 | Eran Levy | Hapoel Haifa | 13 | |
| Achmad Saba'a | Hapoel Bnei Lod | 13 | ||
 Serge Ayeli | Maccabi Ahi Nazareth | 13 | ||
| 5 | Shay Aharon | Hapoel Jerusalem | 12 | |
| 6 |  Irakliy Geperidze | Hapoel Haifa | 11 | |
| 7 | Dovev Gabay | Maccabi Herzliya | 10 | |
 Emmanuel Banahene | Ironi Nir Ramat HaSharon | 10 | ||
| 9 | Ronen Shwartzman | Hapoel Acre | 8 | |
| Dudu Biton | Hapoel Ra'anana | 8 | ||
| Mor Golan | Hapoel Ramat Gan | 8 | ||
 Alain Masudi | Maccabi Herzliya | 8 | ||
| Total | 457 | |||
| Average per game | 2.3 | |||