| Season: | 2011–12 |
| Dates: | 20 August 2011 – 12 May 2012 |
| Winners: | Ironi Kiryat Shmona 1st Premier League title 1st Israel title overall |
| League Topscorer: | Achmad Saba'a (20) |
| Matches: | 296 |
| Total Goals: | 749 |
| Average Attendance: | 3,667[1] |
| Nextseason: | 2012–13 |
The 2011–12 Israeli Premier League was the thirteenth season since its introduction in 1999 and the 70th season of top-tier football in Israel. It began on 20 August 2011 and ended on 12 May 2012.[2] Maccabi Haifa were the defending champions.
Ironi Kiryat Shmona secured the title with a 0–0 draw against Hapoel Tel Aviv on 2 April 2012. This was their first Israeli league title, This draw gave Ironi Kiryat Shmona a 16-point advantage over the second-place team Hapoel Tel Aviv with five more rounds to go.
There was three structural changes:[3] [4]
A total of sixteen teams are competing in the league, including fourteen sides from the 2010–11 season and two promoted teams from the 2010–11 Liga Leumit.
Hapoel Ashkelon and Hapoel Ramat Gan were directly relegated to the 2011–12 Liga Leumit after finishing the 2010–11 season in the bottom two places.
Two teams were directly promoted from the 2010–11 Liga Leumit. These were champions Ironi Ramat HaSharon and the runners-up Hapoel Rishon LeZion.
| Club | Stadium | Capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21,600 | |||
| 8,500 | |||
| 15,700 | |||
| 7,800 | |||
| 5,000 | |||
| 13,000 | |||
| 14,002 | |||
| 11,500 | |||
| 6,000 | |||
| 15,700 | |||
| 5,300 | |||
| 4,300 | |||
| 14,002 | |||
| 7,500 | |||
| 11,500 | |||
| 15,700 |
While Teddy Stadium was in renovation. Beitar Jerusalem hosted their home games in alternative stadia until the stadium was completed on 20 November 2011. Beitar chose to host its games in Ramat Gan Stadium.[5]
Hapoel Acre played their first home game at the Ilut Stadium while their stadium was under construction.
The Petah Tikva Municipal Stadium was demolished. Hapoel and Maccabi Petah Tikva hosted their home games in alternative stadia until the new Petah Tikva Stadium was fully constructed in December 2011. Both Hapoel and Maccabi hosted its games in Ramat Gan Stadium.[6]
Ironi Ramat HaSharon played their home games at the Winter Stadium until March 2012 while their stadium was under construction.
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment | Table | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maccabi Petah Tikva |  Freddy David | End of contract | 8 May 2011[7] | 7th (10–11) | Marco Balbul | 28 May 2011[8] | Pre-Season | |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | Eli Guttman | End of contract | 25 May 2011[9] | 2nd (10–11) | Dror Kashtan | 4 June 2011 | Pre-Season | |
| Bnei Yehuda | Dror Kashtan | End of contract | 4 June 2011[10] | 4th (10–11) | Yossi Abukasis | 14 June 2011[11] | Pre-Season | |
| Beitar Jerusalem | Ronny Levy | Resigned | 10 June 2011[12] | 11th (10–11) | David Amsalem | 10 June 2011 | Pre-Season | |
| Beitar Jerusalem | David Amsalem | Resigned | 15 August 2011[13] | Pre-Season | Yuval Naim | 17 August 2011[14] | Pre-Season | |
| Hapoel Petah Tikva | Gili Landau | Resigned | 16 August 2011[15] | 14th (10–11) | Gili Landau | 17 August 2011[16] | Pre-Season | |
| Hapoel Be'er Sheva | Nir Klinger | Resigned | 1 October 2011[17] | 14th | Guy Levy | 3 October 2011[18] | 14th | |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | Marco Balbul | Resigned | 15 October 2011[19] | 9th | Eyal Lahman | 18 October 2011[20] | 11th | |
| Ironi Ramat HaSharon | Momi Zafran | Sacked | 13 November 2011[21] | 9th | Meni Koretski (caretaker) | 13 November 2011 | 9th | |
| Hapoel Haifa | Nitzan Shirazi | Resigned | 26 November 2011[22] | 14th | Tal Banin | 27 November 2011[23] | 14th | |
| Ironi Ramat HaSharon | Meni Koretski (caretaker) | End of caretaker spell | 5 December 2011[24] | 4th | Yehoshua Feigenbaum | 5 December 2011 | 4th | |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | Motti Ivanir | Sacked | 5 December 2011[25] | 9th | Nir Levine | 6 December 2011[26] [27] | 9th | |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | Dror Kashtan | Sacked | 9 January 2012[28] | 3rd | Ron Tziblin (caretaker) | 9 January 2012 | 3rd | |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | Ron Tziblin (caretaker) | End of caretaker spell | 11 January 2012[29] | 3rd | Nitzan Shirazi | 11 January 2012 | 3rd | |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | Eyal Lahman | Resigned | 21 January 2012[30] | 12th | Moshe Sinai | 22 January 2012[31] | 12th | |
| Hapoel Rishon LeZion | Nissan Yehezkel | Sacked | 29 January 2012[32] | 15th | Eyal Lahman | 30 January 2012[33] | 15th | |
| Beitar Jerusalem | Yuval Naim | Resigned | 8 February 2012[34] | 12th | Hanan Azulay (caretaker) | 9 February 2012[35] | 12th | |
| Beitar Jerusalem | Hanan Azulay (caretaker) | End of caretaker spell | 13 February 2012[36] | 12th | Eli Cohen | 13 February 2012 | 12th |
Gili Landau refused to reduce his salary and was resigned, he was appointed the following day after his salary was intact.
Nir Levine was acted as caretaker manager for a month until his appointment as manager on 9 January 2012.
Ron Tziblin acted as caretaker manager only once, in the club Toto Cup Al semi-finals against Maccabi Petah Tikva.
Key numbers for pairing determination (number marks position after 30 games):
| Rounds | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31st | 32nd | 33rd | 34th | 35th | 36th | 37th | |
| 1 – 8 2 – 7 3 – 6 4 – 5 | 1 – 2 6 – 4 7 – 3 8 – 5 | 2 – 8 3 – 1 4 – 7 5 – 6 | 1 – 4 2 – 3 7 – 5 8 – 6 | 3 – 8 4 – 2 5 – 1 6 – 7 | 1 – 6 2 – 5 3 – 4 8 – 7 | 4 – 8 5 – 3 6 – 2 7 – 1 | |
| 9 – 16 10 – 15 11 – 14 12 – 13 | 9 – 10 14 – 12 15 – 11 16 – 13 | 10 – 16 11 – 9 12 – 15 13 – 14 | 9 – 12 10 – 11 15 – 13 16 – 14 | 11 – 16 12 – 10 13 – 9 14 – 15 | 9 – 14 10 – 13 11 – 12 16 – 15 | 12 – 16 13 – 11 14 – 10 15 – 9 | |
| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maccabi Netanya | 20 | ||
| 2 | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 17 | ||
| 3 | Bnei Yehuda | 16 | ||
| 4 | Bnei Sakhnin | 14 | ||
| Maccabi Haifa | 14 | |||
| 6 | Yuval Avidor | Ironi Kiryat Shmona / Hapoel Haifa | 13 | |
| Ironi Kiryat Shmona | 13 | |||
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | 13 | |||
| Bnei Sakhnin | 13 | |||
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 13 | |||
| Total | 749 | |||
| Average per game | ||||
Firas Mugrabi for Maccabi Netanya against Maccabi Haifa, 21st minute (20 August 2011)[37] Mohammad Ghadir for Maccabi Haifa against Maccabi Netanya, 40th minute (20 August 2011) Eyal Tartazky for Hapoel Haifa against Ironi Kiryat Shmona, 68th minute (20 August 2011)[45]