Season 2008–09 Dates 30 Aug 2008 – 1 Jun 2009 Goals scored 432 | Average goals/game 2.18 Location Israel | |
Champions Maccabi Haifa
6th Premier League title
11th top-flight title Champions League Maccabi Haifa (second qualifying round) Europa League Hapoel Tel Aviv (third qualifying round)
Maccabi Netanya (second qualifying round)
Bnei Yehuda (first qualifying round) Top goalscorer Barak Yitzhaki (14)
Shimon Abuhatzira (14)
Eliran Atar (14) Relegated Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan F.C., Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona F.C. People also search for 2009–10 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.
Contents
- League table
- Positions by round
- Results
- First and second round
- Third round
- Relegation playoff
- Scoring
- Discipline
- References
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 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.
League table
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
1Beitar Jerusalem did not obtain the license for competing in next year's European competitions because they failed to meet their commitments to UEFA. 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.
2Beitar Jerusalem were deducted two points due to Beitar fans pitch invasion the previous year against Maccabi Herzliya and one point due to racist calls from Beitar fans.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
Positions by round
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
Source: Israel Football Association
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Third round
Key numbers for pairing determination (number marks position after 22 games):
Source: Israel Football Association
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: 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.