LIGAT HA'AL

Ligat ha'Al
''Ligat ha'Al 2007/08''
'Founded'
1932
'Nation'
'Relegation To'
Liga Leumit
'Number of Teams'
12
'European Qualification'
Champions League
UEFA Cup
Intertoto Cup
'Cups'
Israeli Cup
Toto Cup
'Current Champions'
Beitar Jerusalem
'Website'

'Ligat ha'Al' (, lit. ''Super League''), often referred to as the 'Israeli Premier League' and currently known as 'Ligat Toto' () for sponsorship reasons, is the top division in the Israeli football league system.

Contents
Background
Competition
Ligat ha'Al clubs, 2007-08
Sponsorship
Worldwide reach
Number of foreigners
Television broadcasting rights
Revenue
UEFA Ranking
History
Champions
Israel Championship
Total Championships
Top Goalscorers
See also

Background


Ligat ha'Al was created in 1999 to replace Liga Leumit (which became the second tier) 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 second division). That season three clubs were relegated and one from Liga Leumit was promoted. Over the years the league has changed names though the new names were simply commercial rebranding, including Ligat Pelephone and Ligat Toto.

Competition


There are 12 clubs in the league. During the course of a season each club plays the others three times, with the third round matches scheduled according to positions after the first two rounds. At the end of each season the two lowest placed teams are relegated to Liga Leumit and the top two teams from Liga Leumit are promoted in their place.
The top team in the league qualifies for the early qualification stages of the UEFA Champions League, this means they must win a two-legged knockout tie in order to enter the group phase. The second and third placed teams together with the State Cup winner qualify for the early qualification stages of the UEFA Cup, though if the State Cup champions finish in the top three, the State Cup's UEFA Cup spot goes to the fourth placed team in the League.
If the cup winner is not one of the top four clubs in the table, the forth club qualifies for the second stage of the UEFA Intertoto Cup that leads to qualify in the UEFA Cup. If the cup winner is one of the top four clubs in the table, the ticket to the Intertoto Cup moves to the fifth place in this league.

Ligat ha'Al clubs, 2007-08



Beitar Jerusalem

Bnei Sakhnin

Bnei Yehuda

FC Ashdod

Hapoel Kfar Saba

Hapoel Tel Aviv

Ironi Kiryat Shmona

Maccabi Haifa

Maccabi Herzliya

Maccabi Netanya

Maccabi Petah Tikva

Maccabi Tel Aviv
''See also: 2007/08 season in Israeli football''

Sponsorship


For the past couple of years, Ligat ha'Al 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:

★ 2002-2004: Pelephone - a mobile phone company (Ligat Pelephone ליגת פלאפון)

★ 2005-present: Toto Organization - the football pools company (Ligat Toto ליגת טוטו)

Worldwide reach


Currently, league matches are mostly followed by Israeli expatriates living abroad.

Number of foreigners


Teams are limited to five foreign players per team. Special circumstances such as Druze players from the Golan (no citizenship) or cases such as that of Toto Tammuz, do not count against the foreign player limit.
Ligat ha'Al was represented at the 2006 World Cup, with 3 players in the competition, all playing for the Republic of Ghana.

Television broadcasting rights


The rights to the league have been owned by Hot, Israel's cable provider who decided to broadcast the league for the first time on a Pay Per View basis. One big match a week is reserved to be shown by Israel 10 network television on Sunday nights. There is also a league review show on Saturday nights on Sport 5 channel.
Abroad, rights to broadcasting in Hebrew are owned by The Israeli Network which broadcasts the matches in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Panama, Costa Rica and Europe. Currently, no company has purchased the rights to broadcast matches abroad in any other language.

Revenue


Main sources of revenue for the clubs:

★ Television

★ Ticket sales

★ Merchandise

★ Toto - The Israel Sports Betting Board

★ Sponsorship
Sport 5 Has purchased the rights for IFL over the internet.The games are broadcasted live at JumpTv.com since December 2006

UEFA Ranking


'Current National League Ranking'

★ 17 Swiss League

★ 18 Norwegian League

★ '19' 'Israeli League'

★ 20 Serbian League

★ 21 Danish League

Full List

History


The championship of Israel exists under various names since 1932 (before 1948 as League A).

Champions


=== Before Israeli Independence ===

★ 1932 :
British Mandate of Palestine
British Police

★ 1934 : Hapoel Tel Aviv

★ 1935 : Hapoel Tel Aviv

★ 1936 : Hapoel Tel Aviv

★ 1937 : Maccabi Tel Aviv

★ 1938 : Hapoel Tel Aviv

★ 1939 : Maccabi Tel Aviv

★ 1940 : Hapoel Tel Aviv

★ 1941 : Maccabi Tel Aviv

★ 1943 : Hapoel Tel Aviv

★ 1947 : Maccabi Tel Aviv
Israel Championship

SeasonChampion
1949/50 Maccabi Tel Aviv
1951/52 Maccabi Tel Aviv
1953/54 Maccabi Tel Aviv
1954/55 Hapoel Petah Tikva
1955/56 Maccabi Tel Aviv
1956/57 Hapoel Tel Aviv
1957/58 Maccabi Tel Aviv
1958/59 Hapoel Petah Tikva
1959/60 Hapoel Petah Tikva
1960/61 Hapoel Petah Tikva
1961/62 Hapoel Petah Tikva
1962/63 Hapoel Petah Tikva
1963/64 Hapoel Ramat Gan
1964/65 Hakoah Ramat Gan
1965/66 Hapoel Tel Aviv
1966/68 Maccabi Tel Aviv
1968/69 Hapoel Tel Aviv
1969/70 Maccabi Tel Aviv
1970/71 Maccabi Netanya
SeasonChampion
1971/72 Maccabi Tel Aviv
1972/73 Hakoah Ramat Gan
1973/74 Maccabi Netanya
1974/75 Hapoel Be'er Sheva
1975/76 Hapoel Be'er Sheva
1976/77 Maccabi Tel Aviv
1977/78 Maccabi Netanya
1978/79 Maccabi Tel Aviv
1979/80 Maccabi Netanya
1980/81 Hapoel Tel Aviv
1981/82 Hapoel Kfar Saba
1982/83 Maccabi Netanya
1983/84 Maccabi Haifa
1984/85 Maccabi Haifa
1985/86 Hapoel Tel Aviv
1986/87 Beitar Jerusalem
1987/88 Hapoel Tel Aviv
1988/89 Maccabi Haifa
1989/90 Bnei Yehuda
SeasonChampion
1990/91 Maccabi Haifa
1991/92 Maccabi Tel Aviv
1992/93 Beitar Jerusalem
1993/94 Maccabi Haifa
1994/95 Maccabi Tel Aviv
1995/96 Maccabi Tel Aviv
1996/97 Beitar Jerusalem
1997/98 Beitar Jerusalem
1998/99 Hapoel Haifa
1999/00 Hapoel Tel Aviv
2000/01 Maccabi Haifa
2001/02 Maccabi Haifa
2002/03 Maccabi Tel Aviv
2003/04 Maccabi Haifa
2004/05 Maccabi Haifa
2005/06 Maccabi Haifa
2006/07 Beitar Jerusalem

Total Championships


Club
Number of Championships
Maccabi Tel Aviv18
Hapoel Tel Aviv13
Maccabi Haifa10
Hapoel Petah Tikva6
Maccabi Netanya5
Beitar Jerusalem5
Hapoel Be'er Sheva2
Hakoah Ramat Gan2
Hapoel Haifa1
Bnei Yehuda1
Hapoel Kfar Saba1
Hapoel Ramat Gan1
British Police1

Top Goalscorers


Name Years Goals
Alon Mizrahi 1989 - 2005 207
Oded Machnes 1974 - 1990 196
Avi Nimni 1989 - present 194
Moshe Romano 1965 - 1982 193
Mordechai Spiegler 1963 - 1977 168

See also



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