2008–09 Liga Alef

The 2008–09 Liga Alef season was the last season of Liga Alef as the fourth tier of the Israeli football league system. Third tier, Liga Artzit, was scrapped, while the Premier League and Liga Leumit were expanded to 16 clubs each, making Liga Alef the third tier, as well as expanding the two regional divisions to 16 clubs.

The season saw Ahva Arraba (champions of the North Division) and Maccabi Be'er Sheva (champions of the South Division) winning the title and promotion to Liga Leumit.

At the bottom, the bottom clubs in each division, Maccabi Ironi Shlomi/Nahariya, Beitar Ihud Mashhad (from North division), Ironi Ramla and Hapoel Masos/Segev Shalom (from South division) were all automatically relegated to Liga Bet, whilst the two clubs which were ranked in 12th place in each division, Maccabi Kafr Qara and Hapoel Nahlat Yehuda entered a promotion/relegation play-offs, and both remained in Liga Alef after winning the play-offs.

Changes from last season[edit]

Format changes[edit]

At the end of the season no relegation play-offs were held. The two bottom clubs were relegated automatically, while the third from bottom club was safe from relegation.

Team changes[edit]

Hapoel Umm al-Fahm and Maccabi Ironi Bat Yam were promoted to Liga Artzit; Maccabi HaShikma Ramat Hen (to North division) and Hapoel Kfar Shalem (to South division) were relegated from Liga Artzit.
Beitar Haifa, Hapoel Ahva Haifa and Hapoel Makr were relegated to Liga Bet from North division; Ahva Arraba, Maccabi Kafr Qara and Maccabi Tamra were promoted to the North division from Liga Bet.
Hapoel Tzafririm Holon, Maccabi Ironi Amishav Petah Tikva and Ironi Ofakim were relegated to Liga Bet from South division; Hapoel Hadera, Hapoel Masos/Segev Shalom and Hapoel Arad were promoted to the South division from Liga Bet.

North Division[edit]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Ahva Arraba	26	19	4	3	49	17	+32	61	Promoted to Liga Leumit
2	Hapoel Asi Gilboa	26	12	5	9	45	21	+24	41
3	Hapoel Herzliya	26	11	6	9	35	25	+10	39
4	Hapoel Kafr Kanna	26	9	10	7	26	26	0	37
5	Ironi Tiberias	26	10	7	9	31	33	−2	37
6	Maccabi HaShikma Ramat Hen	26	11	3	12	43	35	+8	36
7	Beitar Safed	26	10	6	10	31	29	+2	36
8	Maccabi Tamra	26	8	11	7	27	27	0	35
9	Maccabi Tzur Shalom	26	9	8	9	31	32	−1	35
10	Ironi Sayid Umm al-Fahm	26	10	5	11	32	34	−2	35
11	Hapoel Afula	26	8	8	10	32	35	−3	32
12	Maccabi Kafr Qara	26	8	8	10	27	33	−6	32	Relegation play-offs
13	Maccabi Ironi Shlomi/Nahariya	26	5	9	12	21	51	−30	24	Relegated to Liga Bet, folded
14	Beitar Ihud Mashhad	26	4	6	16	22	54	−32	18	Relegated to Liga Bet

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

South Division[edit]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Maccabi Be'er Sheva	26	17	4	5	40	15	+25	55	Promoted to Liga Leumit
2	Maccabi Ironi Netivot	26	15	8	3	50	20	+30	53
3	Maccabi Yavne	26	15	6	5	46	26	+20	51
4	Hapoel Hadera	26	15	2	9	43	25	+18	47
5	Maccabi Kiryat Gat	26	12	6	8	34	29	+5	42
6	Maccabi Kiryat Malakhi	26	10	9	7	30	29	+1	39
7	Hapoel Mevaseret Zion	26	11	4	11	35	37	−2	37
8	Hapoel Kfar Shalem	26	8	10	8	36	33	+3	34
9	Maccabi Ironi Kfar Yona	26	10	4	12	31	36	−5	34
10	Hapoel Arad	26	9	6	11	33	35	−2	33
11	Beitar Kfar Saba	26	9	5	12	40	43	−3	32
12	Hapoel Nahlat Yehuda	26	9	4	13	30	36	−6	31	Relegation play-offs
13	Ironi Ramla	26	4	1	21	21	55	−34	13	Relegated to Liga Bet
14	Hapoel Masos/Segev Shalom	26	2	3	21	18	68	−50	9	Relegated to Liga Bet, folded

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Relegation play-offs[edit]

North play-off[edit]

The 12th-placed team, Maccabi Kafr Qara, faced the Liga Bet promotion playoff winner Hapoel Daliyat al-Karmel.^[1]

20 May 2009

Maccabi Kafr Qara	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Hapoel Daliyat al-Karmel
	Report (in Hebrew)

Ilut Stadium

Maccabi Kafr Qara remained in Liga Alef.

South play-off[edit]

The 12th-placed team, Hapoel Nahlat Yehuda, faced the Liga Bet promotion playoff winner Maccabi Amishav Petah Tikva.^[1]

20 May 2009

Maccabi Amishav Petah Tikva	0–2	Hapoel Nahlat Yehuda
	Report (in Hebrew)

Ness Ziona Stadium

Hapoel Nahlat Yehuda remained in Liga Alef; Maccabi Amishav Petah Tikva was promoted after Hapoel Umm al-Fahm (which relegated from Liga Artzit to Liga Alef) folded during the summer.^[2]

References[edit]

Notes

^ ^a ^b Conclusion of the weekend's play-off matches in the amateur leagues Archived 2014-12-22 at the Wayback Machine Israel Football Association, 16 May 2009 (in Hebrew)
^ Now it's final: Amishav in Liga Alef and the Bik'a in Liga Bet Doublepass, 17 August 2009 (in Hebrew)

Sources

[1] The Israel Football Association (in Hebrew)
[2] The Israel Football Association (in Hebrew)
Promotion/relegation play-offs - Liga Alef livegames.co.il, The Internet Archive (in Hebrew)

[Conclusion_of_the_weekend's_play-off_matches_in_the_amateur_leagues-1] Conclusion of the weekend's play-off matches in the amateur leagues Archived 2014-12-22 at the Wayback Machine Israel Football Association, 16 May 2009 (in Hebrew)

[2] Now it's final: Amishav in Liga Alef and the Bik'a in Liga Bet Doublepass, 17 August 2009 (in Hebrew)

[1]

[2]

v t e Liga Bet
North A	Ahi Acre Ahli Tamra Ahva Arraba Ahva Kafr Manda Beitar Nahariya F.C. Bnei M.M.B.E. HaGolan VeHaGalil F.C. Shefa'-Amr F.C. Tzeirei Tamra Hapoel Bnei Bi'ina Hapoel Karmiel Ironi Bnei Kabul Maccabi Abu Sna'an Maccabi Ahva Sha'ab Maccabi Bnei Jadeida Maccabi Ironi Tamra Maccabi Ironi Yafa
North B	Beitar Haifa Bnei Qalansawe Hapoel Beit She'an Hapoel Bnei Ar'ara 'Ara Hapoel Bnei Fureidis Hapoel Bnei Musmus Hapoel F.C. Sandala Gilboa Hapoel Qalansawe Hapoel Tirat HaCarmel Hapoel Yafa Ihud Bnei Baqa Ihud Bnei Kafr Qara Maccabi Ahi Iksal Maccabi Ahva Fureidis Maccabi Neve Sha'anan Eldad Maccabi Tirat HaCarmel
South A	Beitar Ramat Gan Beitar Petah Tikva Beitar Tel Aviv Bnei Jaffa F.C. HaMakhtesh Giv'atayim Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan Hapoel Azor Hapoel Hod HaSharon Hapoel Kafr Qasim Shouaa Hapoel Kiryat Ono Hapoel Mahane Yehuda Inter Aliyah Tel Aviv Ironi Beit Dagan Maccabi Ironi Amishav Petah Tikva Sporting Tel Aviv Tzeirei Tira
South B	Beitar Kiryat Gat Beitar Yavne Bnei Eilat F.C. Jerusalem F.C. Ramla F.C. Sderot F.C. Shikun HaMizrah Hapoel Ar'arat an-Naqab Hapoel Bnei Ashdod Hapoel Shimshon Ashkelon Hapoel Gedera Hapoel Segev Shalom Hapoel Yeruham Maccabi Ironi Netivot Maccabi Kiryat Gat Maccabi Ramla
Seasons (fourth level)	1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24