2008–09 Israeli Premier League

The 2008–09 Israeli Premier League season began on 30 August 2008, and ended on 1 June 2009. Beitar Jerusalem were the defending champions, having won their 6th league title the previous year.

Israeli Premier League
Season2008–09
Dates30 August 2008 – 1 June 2009
ChampionsMaccabi Haifa
6th Premier League title
11th top-flight title
RelegatedHakoah Amidar Ramat Gan
Ironi Kiryat Shmona
Champions LeagueMaccabi Haifa (second qualifying round)
Europa LeagueHapoel Tel Aviv (third qualifying round)
Maccabi Netanya (second qualifying round)
Bnei Yehuda (first qualifying round)
Goals scored432
Average goals/game2.18
Top goalscorerIsrael Barak Yitzhaki (14)
Israel Shimon Abuhatzira (14)
Israel Eliran Atar (14)
Biggest home winHapoel Tel Aviv 4–0 Beitar Jerusalem (9 February 2009)
Beitar Jerusalem 4–0 Hakoah Ramat Gan (4 April 2009)
Biggest away win8 games with a win by 3 goals[A]
Highest scoringHakoah Ramat Gan 2–4 Beitar Jerusalem (20 September 2008)
F.C. Ashdod 4–2 Bnei Sakhnin (8 November 2008)
F.C. Ashdod 3–3 Maccabi Netanya (20 December 2008)
(6 goals)

Two teams from Liga Leumit were promoted at the end of the previous season: Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan and Hapoel Petah Tikva. The two teams relegated were Hapoel Kfar Saba and Maccabi Herzliya.

At a 24 June 2008 IFA administration meeting[1] it was decided that the league would be expanded to 16 clubs for the following season. Due to the expansion, only one team was relegated directly to Liga Leumit, while five clubs were promoted. The eleventh-ranked team played in a play-off match against the sixth-ranked team from Liga Leumit.

Maccabi Haifa clinched their 11th title after a 0–2 win against Maccabi Netanya on 23 May 2009.

Teams
Locations of the 2008–09 Israeli Premier League teams

Twelve teams took part in the 2008-09 Israeli Premier League season, including ten teams from the 2007-08 season, as well as two teams which were promoted from the 2007-08 Liga Leumit.

Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan were promoted as champions of the 2007-08 Liga Leumit. Hapoel Petah Tikva were promoted as runners up. They both returned to the top flight after an absence of one season.

Hapoel Kfar Saba and Maccabi Herzliya were relegated after finishing in the bottom two places in the 2007-08 season.

Stadiums and Locations
Club Stadium Capacity
Beitar JerusalemTeddy Stadium21,600
Bnei YehudaBloomfield Stadium15,700
Hapoel Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi HaifaKiryat Eliezer Stadium14,002
Hakoah Ramat GanWinter Stadium08,000
Maccabi NetanyaSar-Tov Stadium07,500
F.C. AshdodYud-Alef Stadium07,800
Hapoel Petah TikvaPetah Tikva Municipal Stadium06,800
Maccabi Petah Tikva
Ironi Kiryat ShmonaKiryat Shmona Municipal Stadium05,300
Bnei SakhninDoha Stadium05,000
Beitar Jerusalem Bnei Yehuda
Hapoel Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv		 Hakoah Ramat Gan
Teddy Stadium
 Bloomfield Stadium
 Winter Stadium
Maccabi Netanya Maccabi Haifa Hapoel Petah Tikva
Maccabi Petah Tikva
Sar-Tov Stadium
 Kiryat Eliezer Stadium
 Petah Tikva Municipal Stadium
F.C. Ashdod Bnei Sakhnin Ironi Kiryat Shmona
Yud-Alef Stadium Doha Stadium Kiryat Shmona Stadium

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona Israel Ran Ben Shimon End of contract 1 June 2008 Pre-season Israel Michele Dayan 1 June 2008
Maccabi Haifa Israel Ronny Levy Israel Elisha Levi 1 June 2008
Maccabi Netanya Israel Reuven Atar Germany Lothar Matthäus 1 June 2008
Bnei Sakhnin Israel Elisha Levy Israel Freddy David 1 June 2008
Maccabi Tel Aviv Israel Nir Levin Israel Ran Ben Shimon 1 June 2008
Bnei Yehuda Israel Hezi Shirazi Israel Freddy David 12 June 2008
Maccabi Petah Tikva Israel Nitzan Shirazi Resign 21 August 2008 Israel Guy Azouri 21 August 2008
Beitar Jerusalem Israel Itzhak Shum Sacked 3 September 2008 12th Israel Reuven Atar 3 September 2008
Maccabi Tel Aviv Israel Ran Ben Shimon Sacked 2 November 2008 7th Israel Avi Nimni 2 November 2008
Bnei Sakhnin Israel Freddy David Resign 9 November 2008 12th Israel Eyal Lahman 9 November 2008
Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona Israel Michele Dayan Sacked 30 November 2008 10th Israel Eli Cohen 11 December 2008
Maccabi Petah Tikva Israel Guy Azouri Resign 22 December 2008 6th Israel Ronny Levy 22 December 2008
Bnei Sakhnin Israel Eyal Lahman Sacked 8 March 2009 12th Israel Eran Kulik 8 March 2009
Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona Israel Eli Cohen Sacked 11 April 2009 12th Israel Ran Ben Shimon 14 April 2009

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Maccabi Haifa (C) 33 19 10 4 49 24 +25 67 Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
2 Hapoel Tel Aviv 33 17 10 6 49 28 +21 61 Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round
3 Beitar Jerusalem[lower-alpha 1] 33 16 12 5 47 28 +19 57[lower-alpha 2]
4 Maccabi Netanya 33 14 12 7 40 32 +8 54 Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round[lower-alpha 3]
5 Bnei Yehuda 33 14 7 12 38 31 +7 49 Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 3]
6 Maccabi Tel Aviv 33 11 11 11 36 35 +1 44
7 Maccabi Petah Tikva 33 8 15 10 26 33 −7 39
8 F.C. Ironi Ashdod 33 10 8 15 41 48 −7 38
9 Bnei Sakhnin 33 7 12 14 26 41 −15 33
10 Hapoel Petah Tikva 33 8 7 18 30 42 −12 31
11 Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan (R) 33 6 11 16 26 46 −20 29 Qualification for the relegation play-offs
12 Ironi Kiryat Shmona (R) 33 6 9 18 24 44 −20 27 Relegation to Liga Leumit
Source: Israel Football Association
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd matches won; 4th goals scored; 5th head-to-head; 6th decision match
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Beitar Jerusalem did not obtain the license for competing in next year's European competitions because they failed to meet their commitments to UEFA.[2] Since Beitar won the cup and the cup runners-up are league champions Maccabi Haifa, all Europa League spots were awarded to teams according to their league positions. Since Beitar also finished third in the league, Europa League spots were given to league runners-up Hapoel Tel Aviv, fourth-placed Maccabi Netanya and fifth-placed Bnei Yehuda.
  2. Beitar Jerusalem were deducted two points due to Beitar fans pitch invasion the previous year against Maccabi Herzliya[3] and one point due to racist calls from Beitar fans.[4]
  3. Qualified because Beitar Jerusalem did not obtain the license for competing in next year's European competitions.

Positions by round
Team ╲ Round123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233
Maccabi Haifa122221112111111111111111112121111
Hapoel Tel Aviv477577444533333323232222221212222
Beitar Jerusalem12126799697466644544444444333333333
Maccabi Netanya611112221222222232323333444444444
Bnei Yehuda1081111121112101112109897765565555555555555
Maccabi Tel Aviv233334576888989988789988876667666
Maccabi Petah Tikva544443333344566456656677767776787
F.C. Ironi Ashdod1158988985757755677877766688888878
Bnei Sakhnin89121211121011121011111111101111101010111110101010101010910109
Hapoel Petah Tikva710586575867547889999889999999109910
Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan369101010111210111212121212121212121212121212121111111111121211
Ironi Kiryat Shmona911106568699910101011101011111110101111111212121212111112
Source: Israel Football Association

Results

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.

First and second round
Home \ Away BEI BnS BnY ASH HAR HPT HTA IKS MHA MNE MPT MTA
Beitar Jerusalem — 0–0 1–0 3–2 3–0 2–2 0–2 2–2 1–1 2–1 1–1 0–0
Bnei Sakhnin 0–0 — 0–2 0–2 0–1 0–3 1–0 1–0 0–1 0–1 2–1 2–3
Bnei Yehuda 0–3 2–0 — 1–0 2–2 1–0 3–0 0–1 0–1 1–1 1–0 3–2
F.C. Ironi Ashdod 1–2 4–2 0–2 — 3–2 4–1 1–0 2–0 1–3 3–3 1–1 1–0
Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan 2–4 0–0 0–1 1–1 — 0–1 2–2 1–0 0–3 1–2 2–2 0–1
Hapoel Petah Tikva 0–2 1–1 1–0 2–1 1–0 — 0–2 3–0 1–4 0–0 0–1 0–1
Hapoel Tel Aviv 4–0 1–0 2–0 2–0 3–0 3–2 — 1–1 0–0 2–1 1–1 2–0
Ironi Kiryat Shmona 1–0 1–2 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–0 0–0 — 1–0 0–3 0–0 1–2
Maccabi Haifa 0–0 2–1 1–0 3–1 2–0 1–0 2–2 1–1 — 2–3 3–1 3–2
Maccabi Netanya 1–2 1–1 2–2 2–1 2–2 3–1 0–0 2–1 2–0 — 0–0 1–0
Maccabi Petah Tikva 0–1 1–0 0–0 2–3 1–0 2–1 1–1 2–1 2–0 1–1 — 0–0
Maccabi Tel Aviv 0–0 1–1 2–1 2–2 0–0 1–2 1–3 0–1 1–1 0–1 0–0 —
Source: Israel Football Association
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Third round

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
Home \ Away BEI BnS BnY ASH HAR HPT HTA IKS MHA MNE MPT MTA
Beitar Jerusalem — 3–0 2–2 2–1 4–0 — 2–1 — — — — 2–0
Bnei Sakhnin — — 3–1 3–2 — — — — 0–0 0–0 — 0–3
Bnei Yehuda — — — — 1–0 2–1 — 0–0 0–1 2–0 1–1 —
F.C. Ironi Ashdod — — 0–3 — — 1–0 — 2–0 0–3 0–0 — —
Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan — 1–1 — 0–0 — 1–0 — 1–0 — — — 1–1
Hapoel Petah Tikva 0–0 2–2 — — — — 0–1 — — — 2–0 1–2
Hapoel Tel Aviv — 1–1 2–1 1–0 3–2 — — — — 1–2 — 1–1
Ironi Kiryat Shmona 2–0 0–2 — — — 1–1 1–3 — — — 1–2 —
Maccabi Haifa 1–1 — — — 2–0 2–1 1–0 2–1 — — 0–0 —
Maccabi Netanya 1–0 — — — 0–0 1–0 — 1–3 0–2 — 1–2 —
Maccabi Petah Tikva 0–2 0–0 — 0–0 0–2 — 1–2 — — — — 0–3
Maccabi Tel Aviv — — 2–1 1–0 — — — 3–2 1–1 0–1 — —
Source: Israel Football Association
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation playoff

Hakoah Ramat Gan, as the 11th-placed team, faced the 6th-placed Liga Leumit team Maccabi Ahi Nazareth in a two-legged playoff. Hakoah Ramat Gan lost both games and were relegated to Liga Leumit.

Maccabi Ahi Nazareth2 – 1Hakoah Ramat Gan
Ayeli 41'
Silvas 48'		 Report For 42'
Referee: Alon Yefet
Hakoah Ramat Gan1 – 2Maccabi Ahi Nazareth
For 23' Report Jida 46'
Ayeli 76'
Referee: Eitan Tabrizi

Season statistics

Scoring

Discipline

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals[17]
1 Israel Barak Yitzhaki Beitar Jerusalem 14
Israel Shimon Abuhatzira Hapoel Petah Tikva 14
Israel Eliran Atar Bnei Yehuda 14
4 Ghana Samuel Yeboah Hapoel Tel Aviv 13
5 Bulgaria Dimitar Makriev F.C. Ashdod 11
South Africa Thembinkosi Fanteni Maccabi Haifa 11
7 Israel David Revivo F.C. Ashdod 10
Argentina Pedro Galván Bnei Yehuda 10
9 Israel Maor Buzaglo Maccabi Tel Aviv 09
Israel Lior Rafaelov Maccabi Haifa 09
Total 432
Average per game 2.18

See also

Notes
A. ^ Biggest away win
Bnei Sakhnin 0–3 Hapoel Petah Tikva (1 November 2008)
Hakoah Ramat Gan 0–3 Maccabi Haifa (1 November 2008)
Bnei Yehuda 0–3 Beitar Jerusalem (8 November 2008)
Hapoel Petah Tikva 1–4 Maccabi Haifa (22 November 2008)
Ironi Kiryat Shmona 0–3 Maccabi Netanya (22 November 2008)
F.C. Ashdod 0–3 Maccabi Haifa (6 April 2009)
Bnei Sakhnin 0–3 Maccabi Tel Aviv (11 April 2009)
F.C. Ashdod 0–3 Bnei Yehuda (2 May 2009)
Maccabi Petah Tikva 0–3 Maccabi Tel Aviv (23 May 2009)

References
  1. June 24th IFA meeting summary Archived 2008-07-01 at the Wayback Machine (in Hebrew)
  2. "Betar Jerusalem will not be eligible to play in European competition next season". Haaretz. 7 May 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  3. "Beitar punished for pitch invasion". FIFA. 18 April 2008. Archived from the original on August 3, 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2008.
  4. "Beitar punished for racist abuse". FIFA. 1 May 2009. Archived from the original on May 4, 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
  5. "Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-1 Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv". The Israel Football Association. 30 August 2008. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
  6. "Maccabi Haifa 1-1 Beitar Jerusalem". The Israel Football Association. 1 July 2009. Archived from the original on 25 June 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  7. "Maccabi Haifa 3:1 Ashdod". Live Result. 30 August 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
  8. "Maccabi Haifa 3:2 Maccabi Tel Aviv". Live Result. 27 October 2008. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
  9. "Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv 2:2 Hakoach Amidar". Live Result. 13 September 2008. Retrieved 13 September 2008.
  10. "Hapoel Tel Aviv 4:0 Beitar Jerusalem". Live Result. 9 February 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  11. "Beitar Jerusalem 4:0 Hakoah Ramat Gan". Live Result. 4 April 2009. Retrieved 4 April 2009.
  12. "Hakoach Amidar 2:4 Beitar Jerusalem". Live Result. 20 September 2008. Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
  13. "Ashdod 4:2 Bnei Sakhnin". Live Result. 8 November 2008. Retrieved 8 November 2008.
  14. "Ashdod 3:3 Maccabi Netanya". Live Result. 20 December 2008. Retrieved 20 December 2008.
  15. "Beitar Jerusalem 0:2 Maccabi Haifa". The Israel Football Association. 28 September 2008. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2008.
  16. "Ashdod 2:0 Hapoel Kiryat Shmona". The Israel Football Association. 13 September 2008. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2008.
  17. "Israeli Premier League Top Scorers". The Israel Football Association. 30 August 2008. Archived from the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
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