Liga Alef Explained
Liga Alef (Hebrew: ליגה א'||League A) is the third tier of the Israeli football league system.[1] It is divided into two regional divisions, north and south.
History
League football began in Israel in 1949–50, a year after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. However, the financial and security crises gripping the young nation caused the 1950–51 season to be abandoned before it had started. When football resumed in 1951–52, the new top division went by the name of Liga Alef. The 1952–53 season was also not played, and Liga Alef resumed in 1953–54.
In the 1955–56 season, Liga Leumit came into existence as the new top division, with Liga Alef becoming the second division. In the summer of 1976, restructuring saw the creation of Liga Artzit as a new second tier, and the second demotion of Liga Alef, as it became the third division. Further restructuring to create the Israeli Premier League in the summer of 1999 saw Liga Alef demoted again, this time to the fourth tier. At the end of the 2008–09 season, Liga Artzit was scrapped as the Premier League and Liga Leumit were expanded to 16 clubs each, with Liga Alef becoming the third tier once more.
Structure
Today, Liga Alef is split into two regional divisions on a north-south basis. Because Israel's northern half is much more densely populated than the desert south, the dividing line between the northern and southern divisions is somewhere between Haifa and Tel Aviv, meaning that the southern "half" covers about three-quarters of the country. Although this inequality is partially offset by the fact that there are so few clubs south of Beersheba (Dimona, Yeroham, Mitzpe Ramon and Eilat are the only sizable towns south of the city), the northern clubs tend to be clustered in the Galilee region, making travel to away matches much less of a chore.
Each division has sixteen clubs, who play each other home and away to make a 30-game season. The club finishing top of each regional division is promoted to Liga Leumit, whilst the eight second to fifth placed clubs have a play-off, with the winner playing-off against the third-bottom club in Liga Leumit for a place in that division. The bottom two from each division are relegated to Liga Bet, the fourth tier, and the two third-bottom clubs playing-off against play-off winners from Liga Bet for a place in Liga Alef. Coming into Liga Alef are the two or three clubs relegated from Liga Leumit and the four to six clubs promoted from Liga Bet (the winner of each of the four regional divisions, and one or two more runners-up, had they are successful in the play-off). The clubs are then pooled and assigned to the most geographically appropriate of the two divisions.
Current members
The following clubs are participating in the 2024–2025 season:
| valign=top | Liga Alef North
| valign=top | Liga Alef South
| |
Previous seasons
1951–63
| Season | Winner | Relegated |
|---|
| First tier |
|---|
| 1951–52 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Rishon LeZion, Maccabi Rishon LeZion |
| 1953–54 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | None 1 |
| 1954–55 | Hapoel Petah Tikva | Beitar Jerusalem, Hapoel Hadera, Hapoel Balfouria |
| Second tier |
|---|
| 1955–56 | Hakoah Tel Aviv 2 | Ahva Notzrit Haifa, Hapoel Ra'anana, Hapoel Balfouria |
| 1956–57 | Hapoel Kfar Saba 3 | Hapoel Nahariya, Maccabi Ramat Gan |
| 1957–58 | Beitar Jerusalem 4 | None 4 |
| 1958–59 | Bnei Yehuda | Maccabi Sha'arayim, Hapoel Afula |
| 1959–60 | Shimshon Tel Aviv | Maccabi Rehovot, Hapoel Netanya |
| 1960–61 | Hapoel Tiberias | Hapoel Hadera, Hapoel Herzliya |
| 1961–62 | Hakoah Tel Aviv | Maccabi Hadera, Hapoel Rehovot |
| 1962–63 | Hapoel Ramat Gan 5 | Hapoel Safed, Maccabi Ramla | |
Northern division
| Season | Winner | Relegated |
|---|
| Second tier |
|---|
| 1963–64 | Maccabi Netanya | Hapoel Nahariya, Hapoel Givat Haim |
| 1964–65 | Hapoel Mahane Yehuda | Maccabi Zikhron Ya'akov, Hapoel Ra'anana |
| 1965–66 | Maccabi Haifa | Hapoel Kiryat Shmona, Beitar Haifa |
| 1966–68 | Hapoel Kfar Saba | Hapoel Nahariya, Hapoel Safed |
| 1968–69 | Maccabi Petah Tikva | Hapoel Ra'anana, Hapoel Kfar Blum |
| 1969–70 | Hapoel Hadera | Hapoel Kiryat Haim, Beitar Kiryat Tiv'on |
| 1970–71 | Maccabi Jaffa | Hapoel Zikhron Ya'akov, Maccabi Hadera |
| 1971–72 | Maccabi Petah Tikva | Hapoel Netanya, Hapoel Kiryat Haim |
| 1972–73 | Hapoel Hadera | Hapoel Mahane Yehuda, Hapoel Givat Haim |
| 1973–74 | Hapoel Acre 1 | Hapoel Migdal HaEmek |
| 1974–75 | Maccabi Haifa | None 2 |
| 1975–76 | Hapoel Acre | Hapoel Tiberias, Hapoel Kiryat Ata |
| Third tier |
|---|
| 1976–77 | Hapoel Tirat HaCarmel | Hapoel Mahane Yehuda, Hapoel Safed |
| 1977–78 | Hapoel Tiberias 3 | Hapoel Bnei Nazareth, Hapoel Beit Eliezer |
| 1978–79 | Hapoel Nazareth Illit 4 | Hapoel Nahliel, Hapoel Givat Haim |
| 1979–80 | Hapoel Kiryat Shmona | Maccabi Ahi Nazareth, Hapoel Umm al-Fahm |
| 1980–81 | Beitar Netanya 5 | Hapoel Netanya, Maccabi Or Akiva |
| 1981–82 | Hapoel Hadera 6 | Hapoel Afikim, Hapoel Nahariya |
| 1982–83 | Beitar Haifa | Hapoel Givat Olga, Hapoel Nahliel |
| 1983–84 | Hapoel Tiberias | Maccabi Bnei Hatzor, Hapoel Migdal HaEmek |
| 1984–85 | Beitar Netanya 7 | Hapoel Bnei Nazareth, Hapoel Tel Hanan |
| 1985–86 | Hapoel Beit She'an 8 | Hapoel Nazareth Illit, Maccabi Shefa-'Amr |
| 1986–87 | Maccabi Hadera 9 | Hapoel Aliyah Kfar Saba, Maccabi Or Akiva |
| 1987–88 | Maccabi Tamra | Hapoel Ra'anana, Hapoel Bnei Tamra |
| 1988–89 | Hapoel Tirat HaCarmel | Hapoel Tira, Hapoel Kiryat Ata |
| 1989–90 | Maccabi Acre | Hapoel Bnei Nazareth, Beitar Haifa |
| 1990–91 | Maccabi Herzliya | Beitar Nahariya, Maccabi Hadera |
| 1991–92 | Hapoel Daliyat al-Karmel | Maccabi Tamra, Maccabi Kafr Kanna |
| 1992–93 | Hapoel Beit She'an 10 | Maccabi Bnei Hatzor |
| 1993–94 | Hapoel Ramat Gan 11 | Beitar Nahariya |
| 1994–95 | Maccabi Acre | Hapoel Tirat HaCarmel, Hapoel Tiberias |
| 1995–96 | Maccabi Kafr Kanna | Hapoel Givat Olga, Maccabi Or Akiva |
| 1996–97 | Bnei Sakhnin | Hapoel Migdal HaEmek, Hapoel Iksal |
| 1997–98 | Maccabi Ahi Nazareth | Maccabi Hadera, Hapoel Karmiel |
| 1998–99 | Hapoel Ra'anana 12 | Hapoel Umm al-Fahm, Hapoel Kafr Qasim |
| Fourth tier |
|---|
| 1999–2000 | Hapoel Majd al-Krum | Maccabi Afula |
| 2000–01 | Ironi Kiryat Shmona | Maccabi Isfiya, Hapoel Iksal |
| 2001–02 | Hapoel Kafr Sumei | Hapoel Tzeirei Nahf, Hapoel Hurfeish |
| 2002–03 | Hapoel Herzliya | Hapoel Hadera, Hapoel Tayibe |
| 2003–04 | Maccabi Hadera 13 | Hapoel Migdal HaEmek |
| 2004–05 | Maccabi Tzur Shalom | Hapoel Tuba, Maccabi Tur'an |
| 2005–06 | Hapoel Bnei Tamra | Maccabi Tamra, Hapoel Beit She'an, Maccabi Shefa-'Amr |
| 2006–07 | Hapoel Bnei Jadeidi | Hapoel Kafr Sumei, Hapoel Reineh, Maccabi Sektzia Ma'alot-Tarshiha |
| 2007–08 | Hapoel Umm al-Fahm | Beitar Haifa, Hapoel Ahva Haifa, Hapoel Makr |
| 2008–09 | Ahva Arraba | Maccabi Ironi Shlomi/Nahariya, Beitar Ihud Mashhad |
| Third tier |
|---|
| 2009–10 | Maccabi Ironi Jatt | Hapoel Bnei Jadeidi, Hapoel Bnei Tamra, Maccabi Ironi Tirat HaCarmel |
| 2010–11 | Maccabi Umm al-Fahm | Ironi Sayid Umm al-Fahm, Maccabi Kafr Qara, Hapoel Ramot Menashe Megiddo |
| 2011–12 | Hapoel Asi Gilboa 14 | Maccabi Ironi Tamra, Ahi Acre |
| 2012–13 | Hapoel Afula | Hapoel Kafr Kanna, Maccabi Sektzia Ma'alot-Tarshiha |
| 2013–14 | Hapoel Kfar Saba 15 | Hapoel Daliyat al-Karmel, Maccabi Kafr Kanna, Ahva Arraba |
| 2014–15 | Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem | Beitar Nahariya, Maccabi Umm al-Fahm |
| 2015–16 | Ironi Nesher | Maccabi Sektzia Ma'alot-Tarshiha, Ihud Bnei Majd al-Krum |
| 2016–17 | Hapoel Hadera | Tzeirei Kafr Kanna |
| 2017–18 | Hapoel Iksal | Hapoel Beit She'an, Maccabi Daliyat al-Karmel |
| 2018–19 | Hapoel Umm al-Fahm | Ironi Nesher, Hapoel Jerusalem | |
Southern division
| Season | Winner | Relegated |
|---|
| Second tier |
|---|
| 1963–64 | Beitar Tel Aviv | Maccabi Shmuel Tel Aviv, Hapoel Rishon LeZion |
| 1964–65 | Hapoel Be'er Sheva | Hapoel Ramla, Beitar Harari Tel Aviv |
| 1965–66 | SK Nes Tziona | HaBira Jerusalem, Hapoel Giv'atayim |
| 1966–68 | Beitar Jerusalem | Beitar Kiryat Ono, Hapoel Kfar Shalem |
| 1968–69 | Beitar Tel Aviv | Hapoel Yehud, Maccabi Holon |
| 1969–70 | Hapoel Holon | Beitar Be'er Sheva, Hapoel Sderot |
| 1970–71 | Hapoel Be'er Sheva | SK Nes Tziona, Beitar Lod |
| 1971–72 | Hapoel Marmorek | Hapoel Ashkelon, Maccabi Bat Yam |
| 1972–73 | Bnei Yehuda | Hapoel Eilat, Hapoel Kiryat Ono |
| 1973–74 | Maccabi Sha'arayim 1 | Maccabi Holon |
| 1974–75 | Maccabi Ramat Amidar | None 2 |
| 1975–76 | Hapoel Yehud | Beitar Jaffa, Hapoel Lod |
| Third tier |
|---|
| 1976–77 | Hapoel Beit Shemesh | Hapoel Dimona, Hapoel Be'er Ya'akov |
| 1977–78 | Hapoel Marmorek 3 | Maccabi HaShikma Ramat Gan, Hapoel Rosh HaAyin |
| 1978–79 | Hapoel Beit Shemesh | SK Nes Tziona, Beitar Ashdod |
| 1979–80 | Maccabi Yavne 4 | Hapoel Or Yehuda, Hapoel Kafr Qasim |
| 1980–81 | Maccabi Kiryat Gat | Maccabi Be'er Sheva, Hapoel Rosh HaAyin |
| 1981–82 | Hapoel Ashkelon | Hapoel Herzliya, Maccabi Lazarus Holon |
| 1982–83 | Hapoel Marmorek 5 | Hapoel Ashdod, Hapoel Dimona |
| 1983–84 | Maccabi Sha'arayim 6 | Ironi Ashdod, Maccabi Herzliya |
| 1984–85 | Hapoel Beit Shemesh | Hapoel Ramla, Hapoel Ihud Tzeirei Jaffa |
| 1985–86 | Hapoel Dimona | Maccabi HaShikma Ramat Gan 7 |
| 1986–87 | Hapoel Bat Yam | Beitar Be'er Sheva, Hapoel Yeruham |
| 1987–88 | Beitar Ramla | Hapoel Ramat HaSharon, Hapoel Azor |
| 1988–89 | Hapoel Rishon LeZion | Hapoel Ramla, Hapoel Beit Shemesh |
| 1989–90 | Hapoel Ashdod 8 | Hapoel Or Yehuda, Hapoel Dimona |
| 1990–91 | SK Nes Tziona 9 | Maccabi Shikun HaMizrah, Hapoel Lod |
| 1991–92 | Hapoel Ashkelon | Hapoel Yehud, Hapoel Aliyah Kfar Saba |
| 1992–93 | Ironi Rishon LeZion 10 | Beitar Netanya |
| 1993–94 | Maccabi Kiryat Gat 11 | Maccabi HaShikma Ramat Hen |
| 1994–95 | Hapoel Kfar Shalem | Hapoel Be'er Ya'akov, Hapoel Daliyat al-Karmel |
| 1995–96 | Hapoel Ashkelon | Hapoel Marmorek, Hapoel Merhavim |
| 1996–97 | Hapoel Lod | Maccabi Shikun HaMizrah, Hapoel Kiryat Malakhi |
| 1997–98 | Beitar Be'er Sheva | Hapoel Kiryat Ono, Hapoel Yehud |
| 1998–99 | Hapoel Ironi Dimona 12 | Hapoel Yeruham, Beitar Ramla |
| Fourth tier |
|---|
| 1999–2000 | Maccabi Ashkelon 13 | Hapoel Or Yehuda |
| 2000–01 | Maccabi Yavne | Hapoel Ihud Tzeirei Jaffa, Sektzia Nes Tziona |
| 2001–02 | Maccabi Ramat Amidar | Hapoel Kiryat Ono, Hapoel Lod, Maccabi Jerusalem/Ma'ale Adumim |
| 2002–03 | Hapoel Tira 14 | None 15 |
| 2003–04 | Maccabi Be'er Sheva 16 | Hapoel Bat Yam |
| 2004–05 | Hapoel Bnei Lod | Hapoel Qalansawe, Hapoel Jaljulia |
| 2005–06 | Sektzia Nes Tziona | Maccabi Sha'arayim, F.C. Kafr Qasim, Beitar Givat Ze'ev |
| 2006–07 | Hapoel Maxim Lod 17 | AS Jaffa, Hapoel Arad |
| 2007–08 | Maccabi Ironi Bat Yam | Tzafririm Holon, Maccabi Amishav Petah Tikva, Ironi Ofakim |
| 2008–09 | Maccabi Be'er Sheva | Ironi Ramla, Hapoel Masos Shaqib al-Salam |
| Third tier |
|---|
| 2009–10 | Hapoel Herzliya | Beitar Kfar Saba, Hapoel Mevaseret Zion |
| 2010–11 | Hapoel Jerusalem | Hapoel Nahlat Yehuda, Tzafririm Holon, Shimshon Bnei Tayibe |
| 2011–12 | Maccabi Yavne | Maccabi Ironi Netivot, Maccabi HaShikma Ramat Hen, Maccabi Ironi Jatt Alahli |
| 2012–13 | Hapoel Katamon | Hapoel Arad, Maccabi Ironi Kfar Yona, Ortodoxim Lod |
| 2013–14 | Maccabi Kiryat Gat | Maccabi Be'er Ya'akov, Bnei Eilat |
| 2014–15 | Hapoel Ashkelon | Maccabi Be'er Sheva, Maccabi Kiryat Malakhi |
| 2015–16 | Maccabi Sha'arayim | Maccabi Amishav Petah Tikva, Bnei Eilat, Hapoel Morasha Ramat HaSharon |
| 2016–17 | Hapoel Marmorek | Bnei Jaffa Ortodoxim, F.C. Shikun HaMizrah |
| 2017–18 | Sektzia Nes Tziona | F.C. Dimona, Hapoel Hod HaSharon |
| 2018–19 | Hapoel Umm al-Fahm | Hapoel Jerusalem | |
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Nakrani . Sachin . 2020-01-12 . Interview ‘The men were screaming. They made me feel I should not be a referee’ . 2024-03-01 . The Guardian.
