2009–10 Liga Leumit

Structure changes

League size has been increased from twelve to sixteen teams for this season, teams will thus play a home-and-away round-robin schedule for a total of 30 matches.

After the conclusion of this "regular season", teams will be split up into three playoff groups according to their league position. Points earned during the season will be halved and taken over to the respective playoff group. The best six teams will compete for the promotion spots. Clubs ranked 7th through 10th will engage in a placement round, while the bottom six teams will play out two relegation spots.

Team changes

Maccabi Kiryat Ata were directly relegated to the 2009–10 Liga Alef after finishing the 2008–09 season in last place.

Due to the increase in the number of teams, seven teams were directly promoted from the 2008–09 Liga Artzit. These were champions Sektzia Nes Tziona, runners-up Hapoel Ashkelon, third-placed Hapoel Marmorek, fourth-placed Hapoel Rishon LeZion, fifth-placed Ironi Bat Yam, sixth-placed Beitar Shimshon Tel Aviv and seventh-placed Hapoel Nazareth Illit.

In addition, five teams were directly promoted from the 2008–09 Liga Leumit to the 2009–10 Israeli Premier League. These were champions Hapoel Haifa, runners-up Hapoel Acre, third-placed Hapoel Be'er Sheva, fourth-placed Hapoel Ramat Gan and fifth-placed Hapoel Ra'anana.

Regular season table

Source: Israel Football Association
Rules for classification: 1^st points; 2^nd goal difference; 3^rd matches won; 4^th goals scored; 5^th head-to-head; 6^th decision match
¹Hapoel Kfar Saba received a technical loss of 3–0 to Ironi Rishon LeZion for fielding an ineligible player. The original game was finished in a 0–0 draw.
²Hapoel Ashkelon received a technical loss of 3–0 to Ironi Ramat HaSharon for fielding an ineligible player. The original game was finished in a 0–2 win for Hapoel Ashkelon.
³Maccabi Be'er Sheva received a technical loss of 3–0 to Ahva Arraba for fielding an ineligible player. The original game was finished in a 1–1 draw.
⁴Ahva Arraba were deducted one point for editing double contracts with several players.
(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.

Regular season results

Source: Israel Football Association
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
²Maccabi Be'er Sheva received a technical loss of 3–0 to Ahva Arraba for fielding an ineligible player. The original game was finished in a 1–1 draw.
³Hapoel Ashkelon received a technical loss of 3–0 to Ironi Ramat HaSharon for fielding an ineligible player. The original game was finished in a 0–2 win for Hapoel Ashkelon.
⁴Hapoel Kfar Saba received a technical loss of 3–0 to Hapoel Rishon LeZion for fielding an ineligible player. The original game was finished in a 0–0 draw.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Playoffs

Key numbers for pairing determination (number marks position after 30 games):

Top Playoff

The points obtained during the regular season were halved (and rounded up) before the start of the playoff. Thus, Ironi Kiryat Shmona started with 31 points, Hapoel Kfar Saba with 26, Sektzia Nes Tziona with 24, Ironi Ramat HaSharon with 23, Ironi Bat Yam with 23 and Hapoel Ashkelon started with 22.

Top Playoff 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
(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.

Top Playoff results

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.

Middle Playoff

The points obtained during the regular season were halved (and rounded up) before the start of the playoff. Thus, Hapoel Nazareth Illit started with 22 points, Ahva Arraba with 22, Hapoel Rishon LeZion with 20 and Maccabi Herzliya started with 20.

Middle Playoff 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
(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.

Middle Playoff results

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.

Bottom Playoff

The points obtained during the regular season were halved (and rounded up) before the start of the playoff. Thus, Hapoel Bnei Lod started with 20 points, Hakoah Ramat Gan with 19, Maccabi Be'er Sheva with 18, Beitar Shimshon Tel Aviv with 17, Hapoel Jerusalem with 12 and Hapoel Marmorek started with 7.

Bottom Playoff 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
(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.

Bottom Playoff results

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.

Promotion playoff

The 3rd-placed team Hapoel Kfar Saba faced the 14th-placed Israeli Premier League team Hapoel Ramat Gan. The winner Hapoel Ramat Gan earned a spot in the 2010–11 Israeli Premier League. The match took place on 22 May 2010.

Relegation playoff

The 14th-placed team Maccabi Be'er Sheva faced the Liga Alef promotion playoff winner Maccabi HaShikma Ramat Hen. The winner Maccabi Be'er Sheva earned a spot in the 2010–11 Liga Leumit. The match took place on 31 May 2010.

Scoring

Discipline

Miscellaneous