Israeli Premier League

{{Short description|Top-division men's association football league in Israel}}

{{About|the top-flight association football league|the American football league|Israel Football League|its counterpart at the Israeli basketball|Israeli Basketball Premier League}}

{{Infobox football league

| name = Israeli Premier League

| logo = winnerleague.png

| pixels = 200px

| upright = 0.5

| organiser = Israel Football Association

| country = Israel

| confed = UEFA (Europe; 1980–81; 1991–present)
OFC (Oceania; 1985–89)
AFC (Asia; 1954–74)

| founded = {{Start date and age|1999}}

| teams = 14 (since 2013–14)

| relegation = Liga Leumit

| levels = 1

| domest_cup = Israel State Cup
Toto Cup (Al)
Israel Super Cup

| confed_cup = UEFA Champions League
UEFA Europa League
UEFA Conference League

| champions = Maccabi Tel Aviv
(25th title)

| season = 2023–24

| most successful club = Maccabi Tel Aviv
(25 titles)

| sponsorship_name =

| tv = [http://www.sport1.co.il Charlton Sport], [http://www.sport5.co.il Sport 5]

| website = [https://www.football.co.il/en/ football.co.il]

| current = 2024–25 Israeli Premier League

}}

The Israeli Premier League ({{langx|he|ליגת העל}}, Ligat HaAl, {{lit|The Super League}}) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with its second division Liga Leumit. Seasons run from August to May, with teams playing between 33 and 36 matches each, totalling 240 matches in every season.

The competition formed in 1999 following the decision of the Israel Football Association to form a new league. It is also ranked 15th in the UEFA coefficients of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the last five years.{{Cite web|title=UEFA Country Ranking 2021|url=https://kassiesa.net/uefa/data/method5/crank2021.html|access-date=2020-10-05|website=kassiesa.net}}

Since 1932, a total of 15 clubs have been crowned champions of the Israeli Football League. Of the thirty clubs to have competed since the inception of the Israeli Premier League in 1999, six have won the title: Beitar Jerusalem (twice), Hapoel Be'er Sheva (three times), Hapoel Tel Aviv (twice), Maccabi Haifa (ten times), Maccabi Tel Aviv (seven times), and Ironi Kiryat Shmona (once). The current champions are Maccabi Tel Aviv, who won the 2023–24 season.

Background

The Israeli Premier League was founded in 1999 to replace its predecessor Liga Leumit (which became the second division) when the Israel Football Association decided to reshuffle all the leagues in hopes of improving competition. In its first season there were 14 clubs; the top thirteen clubs from the 1998–99 season and the top place club from the Liga Artzit (then, the third division). That season three clubs were relegated and one from Liga Leumit was promoted.{{fact|date=August 2022}}

Competition

There are 14 clubs in the league. At the end of each season, the two lowest-placed teams are relegated to Liga Leumit while two highest-placed teams of Liga Leumit are promoted in their place. For the 2012–13 season the league was decreased from 16 to 14 clubs as a result of reforms passed by the IFA on 27 June 2011.{{cite news |title=This season will have no halving of points |url=http://www.one.co.il/Article/182085.html |publisher=. ONE |date=27 June 2011 |access-date=27 June 2011 |language=he}}

The participating clubs first play a conventional round-robin schedule for a total of 26 matches.

Following this, the top six teams play in a championship playoff, where they meet each other twice. Upon its conclusion, the first place team wins the Israeli championship and qualifies to participate in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. The runners-up and the third-placed teams qualify for the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa Conference League.

In addition, the Israeli State Cup winners qualify for the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.

If the State Cup winners are also one of the teams to finish in the league's top three places then the fourth-placed team will also play in UEFA Europa Conference League. In case the State Cup winners also win the Israeli Premier League then the second-placed league team will play in first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.

In addition, the bottom eight teams will play each other once to avoid two relegation spots.

Clubs

{{See also|List of Israeli football champions|List of Israeli Premier League seasons|#All-time table}}

A total of 31 clubs have played in the Israeli Premier League from its inception in 1999 and the start of the 2024–25 season. For a list of winners and runners-up of the Israeli Premier League since its inception, and top scorers for each season, see List of Israeli football champions.

Three clubs have been members of the Israeli Premier League for every season since its inception. This group is composed of Beitar Jerusalem, Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

= Members of the 2024–25 season =

{{location map+ |Israel |caption=Locations of the 2024–25 Israeli Premier League teams |float=right |width=300 |places=

{{location map~ |Israel |lat=33.208056 |long=35.575694 |label_size=80 |label= {{nowrap|Ironi Kiryat Shmona}}|background=#fefeea|position=left}}

{{location map~ |Israel |lat=32.689981 |long=35.311312 |label_size=80 |label= {{nowrap|Ironi Tiberias}}|position=right}}

{{location map~ |Israel |lat=31.810278 |long=34.648333 |label_size=80 |label= {{nowrap|F.C. Ashdod}}|position=left}}

{{location map~ |Israel |lat=31.27315 |long=34.779361 |label_size=80 |label= {{nowrap|Hapoel Be'er Sheva}}|position=bottom}}

{{location map~ |Israel |lat=32.440404 |long=34.919187 |label_size=80 |label= {{nowrap|Hapoel Hadera}}|position=left}}

{{location map~ |Israel |lat=32.783111 |long=34.965167 |label_size=80 |label= {{nowrap|Hapoel Haifa}}
{{nowrap|Maccabi Haifa}}|position=left}}

{{location map~ |Israel |lat=31.751167 |long=35.190617 |label_size=80 |label= {{nowrap|Hapoel Jerusalem}}
{{nowrap|Beitar Jerusalem}}|background=#fefeea|position=right}}

{{location map~ |Israel |lat=32.294333 |long=34.864575 |label_size=80 |label= {{nowrap|Maccabi Netanya}}|position=left}}

{{location map~ |Israel |lat=32.866692 |long=35.31085 |label_size=80 |label= {{nowrap|Bnei Sakhnin}}|position=top}}

{{location map~ |Israel |lat=32.051728 |long=34.761439 |label_size=80 |label={{nowrap|}}{{nowrap|Maccabi Tel Aviv}}|position=left}}

{{location map~ |Israel |lat=32.689981 |long=35.311314 |label_size=80 |label= {{nowrap|Maccabi Bnei Reineh}}|position=top}}

{{location map~ |Israel |lat=32.104197 |long=34.865078 |label_size=80 |label={{nowrap|}}
{{nowrap|Maccabi Petah Tikva}}|position=right}}

}}

The following 14 clubs will compete in the Israeli Premier League during the 2024–25 season.

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"

! Club

! Position
in 2023–24

! First season in
the Israeli Premier League

! Number of seasons
in the Israeli Premier League

! First season of
current spell in
Israeli Premier League

! Top division
titles

! Last top division title

align=left| {{Nowrap|Beitar Jerusalem{{efn|name=a|{{sort|0|Never}} been relegated from the Israeli Premier League}}{{efn|name=b|One of the original Israeli Premier League teams}}}}

| 11th

| 1999–2000

| 25th

| 1999–2000

| 6

| 2007–2008

align=left| Bnei Sakhnin

| 6th

| 2009–2010

| 19th

| 2020–2021

| 0

| {{sort|0|Never}}

align=left| {{Nowrap|F.C. Ashdod{{efn|name=b|One of the original Israeli Premier League teams}}}}

| 10th

| 1999–2000

| 24th

| 2016–2017

| 0

| {{sort|0|Never}}

align=left| {{Nowrap|Hapoel Be'er Sheva}}

| 3rd

| 2001–2002

| 19th

| 2009–2010

| 5

| 2017–2018

align=left| Hapoel Hadera

| 12th

| 2018–2019

| 6th

| 2018–2019

| 0

| {{sort|0|Never}}

align=left| Hapoel Haifa{{efn|name=b}}

| 4th

| 1999–2000

| 19th

| 2009–2010

| 1

| 1998–1999

align=left| Hapoel Jerusalem{{efn|name=b}}

| 7th

| 1999–2000

| 5th

| 2021-2022

| 0

| Never

align=left| Ironi Tiberias

| {{Nowrap|2nd Liga Leumit}}

| 2024–2025

| 1st

| 2024–2025

| 0

| Never

align=left| Ironi Kiryat Shmona

| {{Nowrap|1st Liga Leumit}}

| 2007–2008

| 16th

| 2024–2025

| 1

| 2011–2012

align=left| Maccabi Bnei Reineh

| 5th

| 2022–2023

| 3rd

| 2022–2023

| 0

| Never

align=left| Maccabi Haifa{{efn|name=a}}{{efn|name=b}}

| 2nd

| 1999–2000

| 25th

| 1999–2000

| 15

| 2022–2023

align=left| Maccabi Netanya

| 9th

| 2003–2004

| 23rd

| 2017–2018

| 5

| 1982–1983

align=left| Maccabi Petah Tikva{{efn|name=b}}

| 8th

| 1999–2000

| 22nd

| 2023–2024

| 0

| {{sort|0|Never}}

align=left| Maccabi Tel Aviv{{efn|name=a}}{{efn|name=b}}

| 1st

| 1999–2000

| 25th

| 1999–2000

| 25

| 2023–2024

Sponsorship

In recent years, the league has been sponsored. The sponsor has been able to determine the league's sponsorship name. The list below details who the sponsors have been and what they called the competition:

1999–2002: Pelephone – a mobile phone company (Ligat Pelephone){{cite news|url=https://www.calcalist.co.il/sport/articles/0,7340,L-3609534,00.html|title=80 מיליון שקל על ליגת העל, לא הגזמנו?|trans-title=80 million shekel for the Premier League, haven't we exaggerated?|language=he|first=Oriel|last=Daskal|newspaper=Calcalist|date=7 August 2013}}
2005–2010: Toto Winner Organization – the Israeli Sports Betting Board (Ligat Toto)
2010–2016: Toto Winner Organization – the Israeli Sports Betting Board (Ligat Winner){{cite news|url=https://www.makorrishon.co.il/nrg/online/3/ART2/127/444.html|title=ליגת העל בכדורגל היא מהיום "ליגת ווינר"|trans-title=The Football Premier League is from now on "Winner League"|language=he|newspaper=Maariv|date=1 July 2010}}
2016–2018: Toto Winner Organization – the Israeli Sports Betting Board (Ligat Ha'al){{cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.co.il/sport/israel-soccer/.premium-1.3010046|title=כך ייראה הסכם השיווק הבא של ליגת העל|trans-title=This is how the next sponsorship deal of the Premier League will look|language=he|first=Dor|last=Blech|newspaper=Haaretz|date=18 July 2016}}
2018–2019: Japanika – Asian restaurant (Ligat Japanika){{cite news|url=https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-5333934,00.html|title=ליגת העל תיקרא מעתה "ליגת ג'פניקה"|trans-title=The Premier League will be called "Japanika League" from now on|language=he|newspaper=ynet|date=23 August 2018}}
2019–2022: Tel Aviv Stock Exchange – Stock Exchange (Ligat Habursa Leniyarot Erech){{cite news|url=https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-5516755,00.html|title=שמה החדש של ליגת העל: ליגת הבורסה לניירות ערך|trans-title=The New Name of the Premier League: The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange League|language=he|first=David|last=Ben Shimol|newspaper=ynet|date=28 May 2019}}
2022–2024: ONE ZERO – Digital Bank (Ligat ONE ZERO){{cite news|url=https://www.one.co.il/Article/21-22/1,0,1,53097/407256.html?ref=hp|title=ליגת ONE ZERO: ספונסר חדש לכדורגל ישראלי

|trans-title=ONE ZERO League: New sponsor to the Israeli football|language=he|first=Gidi|last=Lipkin|date=31 March 2022}}

2024- : Toto Winner Organization – the Israeli Sports Betting Board (Ligat Toto Winner){{cite news |last1=Lipkin |first1=Gidi |title=Toto Winner - the sponsor of the Premier League in football |url=https://one.co.il/Article/23-24/53,800,0,0/466827.html |access-date=3 July 2024 |work=One |date=3 July 2024 |language=he}}

Number of foreigners

Teams are limited to six foreign players per team. Special circumstances such as Druze players from the Golan (no citizenship) or cases such as that of Toto Tamuz, do not count against the foreign player limit.

In addition, players who play in the league for 6 consecutive years do not count against the foreign player limit. Also, Jewish players and players who are married to Israelis are exempt from these restrictions, as they are entitled to Israeli citizenship.

Broadcast rights

=Television=

Israeli Premier League games are broadcast live on Sport 1, Sport 1 HD, and Sport 2 channels, with the big match of the week which is reserved to be shown by Sport 5 and Channel 1 HD network television. There is also a league review show on Saturday nights at Sport 5 channel.

Abroad, rights to broadcasting in Hebrew are owned by The Israeli Network which broadcasts the matches in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Panama, Costa Rica and in Europe.

In the United Kingdom, William Hill broadcasts matches live with English commentary on their online television service, William Hill TV.

=Radio=

The rights of broadcasting on the radio belongs to Radio Tel Aviv since 2011, which broadcast alongside Radio Haifa, Radio Darom, Radio Galei Zahal and Radio Darom 101.5 in a show called Saturday of Football which also broadcasts live on ONE TV channel.

=Internet=

The big match of the week is shown on the Channel 1 website. Since 2010, games summaries are shown online by Ynet, ONE and Sport 5.

=Cellular=

Since 2012, ONE owns the broadcasting rights, which was previously owned by Sport 5.

Revenue

Main sources of revenue for the clubs:

Broadcast rights
Ticket sales
Merchandise
Toto Winner – The Israeli Sports Betting Council
Sponsorship

UEFA league ranking

;Country ranking in European Leagues:

UEFA League Ranking for the 2019–2024 period:

15. {{rise|b|5}} (20) {{flagicon|Greece}} Super League Greece (31.525)
16. {{rise|b|1}} (17) {{flagicon|Denmark}} Danish Superliga (31.450)
17. {{rise|b|4}} (21) {{flagicon|Israel}} Israeli Premier League (31.125)
18. {{fall|b|-4}} (14) {{flagicon|Ukraine}} Ukrainian Premier League (28.000)
19. {{fall|b|-8}} (11) {{flagicon|Serbia}} Serbian SuperLiga (27.775)

Source: [https://kassiesa.net/uefa/graphs/index.html UEFA Coefficients Graphs], [https://kassiesa.net/uefa/data/method5/crank2024.html 2024 UEFA Country Ranking]

ImageSize = width:660 height:60

PlotArea = left:10 right:10 bottom:30 top:10

TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy

Period = from:01/07/1998 till:01/07/2024

ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:1999

Colors =

id:bl1 value:rgb(0.5,0.8,0.5)

PlotData=

bar:Position width:20 color:white align:center

from:01/07/1998 till:01/07/1999 shift:(0,-4) text:27

from:01/07/1999 till:01/07/2000 shift:(0,-4) text:24

from:01/07/2000 till:01/07/2001 shift:(0,-4) text:26

from:01/07/2001 till:01/07/2002 shift:(0,-4) text:18

from:01/07/2002 till:01/07/2003 shift:(0,-4) text:15

from:01/07/2003 till:01/07/2004 shift:(0,-4) text:17

from:01/07/2004 till:01/07/2005 shift:(0,-4) text:16

from:01/07/2005 till:01/07/2006 shift:(0,-4) text:18

from:01/07/2006 till:01/07/2007 shift:(0,-4) text:19

from:01/07/2007 till:01/07/2008 shift:(0,-4) text:22

from:01/07/2008 till:01/07/2009 shift:(0,-4) text:22

from:01/07/2009 till:01/07/2010 shift:(0,-4) text:20

from:01/07/2010 till:01/07/2011 shift:(0,-4) text:17

from:01/07/2011 till:01/07/2012 shift:(0,-4) text:17

from:01/07/2012 till:01/07/2013 shift:(0,-4) text:19

from:01/07/2013 till:01/07/2014 shift:(0,-4) text:17

from:01/07/2014 till:01/07/2015 shift:(0,-4) text:20

from:01/07/2015 till:01/07/2016 shift:(0,-4) text:23

from:01/07/2016 till:01/07/2017 shift:(0,-4) text:22

from:01/07/2017 till:01/07/2018 shift:(0,-4) text:18

from:01/07/2018 till:01/07/2019 shift:(0,-4) text:27

from:01/07/2019 till:01/07/2020 shift:(0,-4) text:23

from:01/07/2020 till:01/07/2021 shift:(0,-4) text:21

from:01/07/2021 till:01/07/2022 shift:(0,-4) text:22

from:01/07/2022 till:01/07/2023 shift:(0,-4) text:21

from:01/07/2023 till:01/07/2024 shift:(0,-2) text:17

from:01/07/1998 till:01/07/2024 color:bl1 shift:(0,26) text: "Seasonal Coefficients Ranking Graph"

Champions

For the complete list read the main article.

=Performance by club=

A star above the crest is awarded for every five titles.

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="width:100%;"
style="width:15%;" \|Club ! style="width:10%;" \|Titles ! style="width:10%;" \|Runners-up ! style="width:65%;" \|Winning seasons
scope="row" \|Maccabi Tel Aviv ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ \| align="center" \|{{sort\|25\|25}} \| align="center" \|12 \|1935–36, 1937, 1939, 1941–42, 1946–47, 1949–50, 1951–52, 1953–54, 1955–56, 1957–58, 1966–68, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1991–92, 1994–95, 1995–96, 2002–03, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2023–24
scope="row" \|Maccabi Haifa ⭐⭐⭐ \| align="center" \|{{sort\|15\|15}} \| align="center" \|10 \|1983–84, 1984–85, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1993–94, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23
scope="row" \|Hapoel Tel Aviv ⭐⭐ \| align="center" \|{{sort\|13\|13}} \| align="center" \|16 \|1933–34, 1934–35, 1938–39, 1940–41, 1943–44, 1956–57, 1965–66, 1968–69, 1980–81, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1999–2000, 2009–10
scope="row" \|Hapoel Petah Tikva ⭐ \| align="center" \|{{sort\|06\|6}} \| align="center" \|10 \|1954–55, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63
scope="row" \|Beitar Jerusalem ⭐ \| align="center" \|{{sort\|06\|6}} \| align="center" \|6 \|1986–87, 1992–93, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2006–07, 2007–08
scope="row" \|Maccabi Netanya ⭐ \| align="center" \|{{sort\|05\|5}} \| align="center" \|5 \|1970–71, 1973–74, 1977–78, 1979–80, 1982–83
scope="row" \|Hapoel Be'er Sheva ⭐ \| align="center" \|{{sort\|04\|5}} \| align="center" \|3 \|1974–75, 1975–76, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18
scope="row" \|Hakoah Ramat Gan \| align="center" \|{{sort\|02\|2}} \| align="center" \|— \|1964–65, 1972–73
scope="row" \|Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv \| align="center" \|{{sort\|01\|1}} \| align="center" \|3 \|1989–90
scope="row" \|Hapoel Ramat Gan \| align="center" \|{{sort\|01\|1}} \| align="center" \|— \|1963–64
scope="row" \|Hapoel Haifa \| align="center" \|{{sort\|01\|1}} \| align="center" \|1 \|1998–99
scope="row" \|Ironi Kiryat Shmona \| align="center" \|{{sort\|01\|1}} \| align="center" \|1 \|2011–12
scope="row" \|British Police{{#tag:ref\|British Police ceased to exist along its parent organisation, the Palestine Police Force, in 1948.\|group=nb\|name=police}} \| align="center" \|{{sort\|01\|1}} \| align="center" \|— \|1931–32
scope="row" \|Hapoel Kfar Saba \| align="center" \|{{sort\|01\|1}} \| align="center" \|— \|1981–82

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="width:100%;"

style="width:15%;" |Club

! style="width:10%;" |Titles

! style="width:10%;" |Runners-up

! style="width:65%;" |Winning seasons

scope="row" |Maccabi Tel Aviv
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

| align="center" |{{sort|25|25}}

| align="center" |12

|1935–36, 1937, 1939, 1941–42, 1946–47, 1949–50, 1951–52, 1953–54, 1955–56, 1957–58, 1966–68, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1991–92, 1994–95, 1995–96, 2002–03, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2023–24

scope="row" |Maccabi Haifa
⭐⭐⭐

| align="center" |{{sort|15|15}}

| align="center" |10

|1983–84, 1984–85, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1993–94, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23

scope="row" |Hapoel Tel Aviv
⭐⭐

| align="center" |{{sort|13|13}}

| align="center" |16

|1933–34, 1934–35, 1938–39, 1940–41, 1943–44, 1956–57, 1965–66, 1968–69, 1980–81, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1999–2000, 2009–10

scope="row" |Hapoel Petah Tikva
⭐

| align="center" |{{sort|06|6}}

| align="center" |10

|1954–55, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63

scope="row" |Beitar Jerusalem
⭐

| align="center" |{{sort|06|6}}

| align="center" |6

|1986–87, 1992–93, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2006–07, 2007–08

scope="row" |Maccabi Netanya
⭐

| align="center" |{{sort|05|5}}

| align="center" |5

|1970–71, 1973–74, 1977–78, 1979–80, 1982–83

scope="row" |Hapoel Be'er Sheva
⭐

| align="center" |{{sort|04|5}}

| align="center" |3

|1974–75, 1975–76, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18

scope="row" |Hakoah Ramat Gan

| align="center" |{{sort|02|2}}

| align="center" |—

|1964–65, 1972–73

scope="row" |Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv