Liga Alef

Liga Alef

Liga Alef ( _he. 'ליגה א, lit. "A League") is the fourth tier of the Israeli football league system.

History

League football started in Israel in 1949-50, a year after independence. However, the financial and security crises gripping the young nation caused the 1950-1 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.

The following season, Liga Leumit came into existence as the new top division, with Liga Alef becoming the second division. In the summer of 1974, 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, the position it holds today.

tructure

Today, Liga Alef is split into two regional divisions on a north-south basis. Due to the fact that 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 (Arad, Dimona, Yeroham, Mitzpe Ramon and Eilat are the only sizable towns south of the city, and currently only Hapoel Arad are in Liga Alef), the northern clubs tend to be clustered in the Galilee region, making travel to away matches much less of a chore.

Each division has fourteen clubs, who play each other home and away to make a 26-game season. The club finishing top of each regional division is promoted to Liga Artzit. The bottom two from each division are relegated to Liga Bet, the fifth tier. Coming into Liga Alef are the two clubs relegated from Liga Artzit and the four clubs promoted from Liga Bet (the winner of each of the four regional divisions). The clubs are then pooled and assigned to the most geographically appropriate of the two divisions.

Current members

¹ Although Maxim Lod finished top, they folded and second-placed Hapoel Kfar Shalem were promoted instead.

External links

* [http://football.org.il/Leagues/Pages/LeagueDetails.aspx?LEAGUE_ID=10061 Liga Alef North] Israel Football Association he icon
* [http://football.org.il/Leagues/Pages/LeagueDetails.aspx?LEAGUE_ID=10062 Liga Alef South] Israel Football Association he icon


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Liga Alef 1998-99 — The 1998 99 Liga Alef season was held between 11 September 1998 and 29 May 1999. It was the last season (until 2009 10) in which Liga Alef was the third tier of Israeli football, as the creation of the Israeli Premier League in the summer of 1999 …   Wikipedia

  • Liga Alef 1989-90 — The 1989 90 Liga Alef season saw Maccabi Acre and Hapoel Ashdod promoted to Liga Artzit as the respective winners of the north and south division. They were joined by Ironi Ashdod who won the promotion/relegation play offs.Hapoel Bnei Nazareth,… …   Wikipedia

  • Liga Alef 1954-55 — The 1954 55 Liga Bet season saw Hapoel Kiryat Haim and Maccabi Jaffa (South Division champions) qualify for promotion/relegation play offs with the 11th and 12th placed clubs in Liga Leumit.outh DivisionPromotion relegation play offA promotion… …   Wikipedia

  • Liga Alef 1957-58 — The 1957 58 Liga Alef season saw Beitar Jerusalem win the title. However, there was no promotion to Liga Leumit or relegation to Liga Bet.Final tableReferences* [http://www.fc bnei yehuda.co.il/cgi bin/SheepWool/sheepwool.pl?act=view wiki=3602779 …   Wikipedia

  • Liga Alef 1953-54 — The 1953 54 Liga Alef season was the last in which it was the Israel s top football league, as the following season it was replaced by Liga Leumit and became the country s second tier. Maccabi Tel Aviv were crowned champions for the third… …   Wikipedia

  • Liga Alef 1972-73 — The 1972 73 Liga Alef season saw Hapoel Hadera and Bnei Yehuda (champions of the South Division) promoted to Liga Leumit.outh DivisionReferences* [http://www.fc bnei yehuda.co.il/cgi bin/SheepWool/sheepwool.pl?act=view wiki=7263330 1972 73] Bnei… …   Wikipedia

  • Liga Alef 1958-59 — The 1958 59 Liga Alef season saw Bnei Yehuda win the title and promotion to Liga Leumit.Final tableReferences* [http://www.fc bnei yehuda.co.il/cgi bin/SheepWool/sheepwool.pl?act=view wiki=2995341 1958 59] Bnei Yehuda he icon …   Wikipedia

  • Liga Alef 1951-52 — The 1951 52 season was the first edition of Liga Alef, which had replaced the Israeli League as the top division of football in Israel following a year long hiatus. It took place between October 1951 to June 1952 and was contested by 12 clubs,… …   Wikipedia

  • Liga Artzit — ( he. ליגה ארצית, lit. State League ) is the third tier of Israeli football after the Premier League and Liga Leumit, and is run by the Israel Football Association.tructureThere are 12 teams in Liga Artzit. Each team plays thirty three matches;… …   Wikipedia

  • Liga Bet — (Hebrew: ליגה ב) is the fifth tier of the Israeli football league system. Its name translates as B League .HistoryLeague football started in Israel in 1949 50, a year after independence. However, the financial and security crises gripping the… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”