1955–56 Hapoel Petah Tikva F.C. season

The 1955–56 Hapoel Petah Tikva season was the club's 21st season since its establishment in 1935, and 8th since the establishment of the State of Israel.

Hapoel Petah Tikva

1955–56 season
Manager	Moshe Varon
Stadium	Hapoel Ground, Petah Tikva
Liga Alef (1955) Liga Leumit (1956)	Winners 2nd
State Cup	Runners-up
Top goalscorer	League: Stelmach (26) All: Stelmach (31)

At the start of the season, the league which started during the previous season was completed, with the club finishing 1st, winning its first ever championship.[1] The new league season, with the top division being re-named Liga Leumit, began on 3 December 1955 and was completed on 3 June 1956, with the club finishing as runners-up.[2]

During the season, the club also competed in the State Cup, which was also carried over the summer break. The club eliminated Beitar Tel Aviv[3] and Hapoel Ramat Gan[4] to reach the cup final against Hapoel Petah Tikva. Maccabi Tel Aviv won the match 3–1 and won its 8th State Cup. [5]

Match Results

Legend

  Win   Draw   Loss

International friendly matches

During the season Hapoel Petah Tikva played two international friendly matches, drawing one and winning the other.

In February 1956 the Israeli government lifted the ban on hosting teams from Austria and Hapoel and Maccabi Petah Tikva invited Kapfenberger SV to a tour of Israel.[6] The visit was met with criticism from right-wing politicians[7][8] and acts of sabotage in order to stop the Austrian team from playing,[9][10] but the matches went ahead as planned.

Hapoel Petah Tikva v Kapfenberger SV

12 February 1956	Hapoel Petah Tikva	2–2	Kapfenberger SV	Petah Tikva
	Kofman  17' Flascher  45' (o.g.)	Davar (in Hebrew)	41' Bihas  59' Gollnhuber	Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 3,500

Hapoel Petah Tikva v São Cristóvão

6 June 1956	Hapoel Petah Tikva	3–0	São Cristóvão	Petah Tikva
	Kofman  18' Stelmach  51' Ratzabi  75'	Davar (in Hebrew)		Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Dudkevich

1954–55 Liga Alef

The league began on 6 February 1955, and by the time the previous season ended, only 20 rounds of matches were completed, with the final 6 rounds being played during September and October 1955.[11]

Final table

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Gr	Pts	Notes
1	Hapoel Petah Tikva	26	18	4	4	68	23	2.96	40	Champions
2	Maccabi Tel Aviv	26	17	4	5	84	28	3.00	38
3	Hapoel Tel Aviv	26	12	9	5	49	23	2.13	33
4	Maccabi Netanya	26	13	7	6	54	43	1.26	33
5	Beitar Tel Aviv	26	12	5	9	64	47	1.36	29

Matches

Beitar Jerusalem v Hapoel Petah Tikva

3 September 1955 21	Beitar Jerusalem	2–1	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Jerusalem
	Elfasi  49' Yehezkel  58'	Report (p. 8)	Kofman  72'	Stadium: YMCA Stadium Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Werner

Hapoel Petah Tikva v Hapoel Hadera

10 September 1955 22	Hapoel Petah Tikva	3–1	Hapoel Hadera	Petah Tikva
	Stelmach  28', 40', 60'	Report (p. 8)	12' (pen.) Weinberg	Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Scheindling

Hapoel Petah Tikva v Hapoel Balfouria

24 September 1955 23	Hapoel Petah Tikva	13–2	Hapoel Balfouria	Petah Tikva
	Chirik  3', 23', 42' Kofman  22', 73' Markus  26', 53', 81' Stelmach  28', 77', 85', 89' Zelikovich  58'	Report (p. 8)	18' Dubnov  57' Tal	Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 500 Referee: Zahavi

Hapoel Haifa v Hapoel Petah Tikva

1 October 1955 24	Hapoel Haifa	3–9	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Haifa
	Kremer  13' Nestenfober  65' Schneid  71'	Report (p. 8)	2', 12', 29', 39', 87' Stelmach  35' Chirik  70', 73', 86' Kofman	Stadium: Kiryat Haim Stadium Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Dudkevich

Hapoel Petah Tikva v Maccabi Rehovot

8 October 1955 25	Hapoel Petah Tikva	3–0	Maccabi Rehovot	Petah Tikva
	Kofman  6' Stelmach  12' Zelikovich  60'	Report (p. 8)		Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Nahman Cohen

Hapoel Tel Aviv v Hapoel Petah Tikva

15 October 1955 26	Hapoel Tel Aviv	0–1	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Jaffa
		Report (p. 8)	49' Kofman	Stadium: Hap. Tel Aviv Ground Attendance: 6,500 Referee: Werner

Results by match

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
Result	W	D	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	D	W	L	D	L	L	D	L	W	W	W	W	L
Position	3	4	4	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1

Updated to match(es) played on 15 October 1955. Source: 2 Dear Points
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

1955–56 Liga Leumit

Final table

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Notes
1	Hapoel Petah Tikva	22	13	6	3	47	16	2.94	32	Champions
2	Hapoel Petah Tikva	22	12	5	5	54	28	1.93	29
3	Hapoel Tel Aviv	22	12	5	5	49	29	1.69	29
4	Maccabi Petah Tikva	22	10	7	5	47	34	1.38	27
5	Maccabi Haifa	22	11	3	8	51	29	1.76	25

Matches

Maccabi Haifa v Hapoel Petah Tikva

3 December 1955 1	Maccabi Haifa	1–2	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Haifa
	Almani  80'		24' (pen.) Kofman  76' Chirik	Stadium: Kiryat Eliezer Stadium Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Ben-Rubi

Maccabi Tel Aviv v Hapoel Petah Tikva

10 December 1955 2	Maccabi Tel Aviv	1–1	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Jaffa
	Merimovich  77'		36' Haldi	Stadium: Hap. Tel Aviv Ground Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Werner

Hapoel Petah Tikva v Maccabi Jaffa

17 December 1955 3	Hapoel Petah Tikva	4–2	Maccabi Jaffa	Petah Tikva
	Kofman  23', 50', 63' Zelikovich  80'		86' Ghougasian  89' B. Cohen	Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Markovich

Maccabi Netanya v Hapoel Petah Tikva

24 December 1955 4	Maccabi Netanya	1–3	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Netanya
	H. Meller  81'		68' Kofman  70' Stelmach  75' Markus	Stadium: Sar-Tov Stadium Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Klein

Hapoel Petah Tikva v Beitar Tel Aviv

31 December 1955 5	Hapoel Petah Tikva	2–0	Beitar Tel Aviv	Petah Tikva
	Kofman  12' (pen.) Zelikovich  72'			Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Frizner

Hapoel Petah Tikva v Hapoel Ramat Gan

7 January 1956 6	Hapoel Petah Tikva	3–0	Hapoel Ramat Gan	Petah Tikva
	Mizrahi  27' Stelmach  46' Kofman  60'	Report		Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Yunes

Hapoel Kfar Saba v Hapoel Petah Tikva

14 January 1956 7	Hapoel Kfar Saba	2–1	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Kfar Saba
	Bonin  11' Tobiash  47'		65' Nahari	Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Dudkevich

Hapoel Tel Aviv v Hapoel Petah Tikva

21 January 1956 8	Hapoel Tel Aviv	1–0	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Jaffa
	Michaelov  45'			Stadium: Hap. Tel Aviv Ground Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Sher

Hapoel Petah Tikva v Hapoel Haifa

11 February 1956 9	Hapoel Petah Tikva	2–2	Hapoel Haifa	Petah Tikva
	Kofman  22' (Pen.) Zelikovich  35'		57' Schneid  62' M. Simantiris	Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Rosenbaum

Maccabi Petah Tikva v Hapoel Petah Tikva

18 February 1956 10	Maccabi Petah Tikva	4–4	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Petah Tikva
	Spiegel  7' Nadel  61', 64' Bernard  68'		14', 35' Stelmach  74' Kofman  80' Nahari	Stadium: Maccabi Ground Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Werner

Hapoel Petah Tikva v Maccabi Rehovot

25 February 1956 11	Hapoel Petah Tikva	3–0	Maccabi Rehovot	Petah Tikva
	Zelikovich  44' Nahari  68' Stemlach  89'			Stadium: Hapoel Ground

Hapoel Petah Tikva v Maccabi Haifa

3 March 1956 12	Hapoel Petah Tikva	1–3	Maccabi Haifa	Petah Tikva
	Z. Ratzabi  33'		16', 55' S. Levi  60' Hardy	Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Fritzner

Hapoel Petah Tikva v Maccabi Tel Aviv

10 March 1956 13	Hapoel Petah Tikva	1–1	Maccabi Tel Aviv	Petah Tikva
	Kofman  44'		37' Nahmias	Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Ben-Rubi

Maccabi Jaffa v Hapoel Petah Tikva

17 March 1956 14	Maccabi Jaffa	3–3	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Jaffa
	Ghougasian  54', 69' Aroyo  78'		38' Kofman  59', 63' Stelmach	Stadium: Maccabi Ground Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Frizner

Hapoel Petah Tikva v Maccabi Netanya

24 March 1956 15	Hapoel Petah Tikva	6–0	Maccabi Netanya	Petah Tikva
	Nahari  6', 19', 78' Stelmach  57' Z. Ratzabi  65' Kofman  81'			Stadium: Hapoel Ground Referee: Dudkevich

Beitar Tel Aviv v Hapoel Petah Tikva

31 March 1956 16	Beitar Tel Aviv	1–2	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Jaffa
	Arbiv  61'		1' Stelmach  59' Z. Ratzabi	Stadium: Maccabi Ground Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Ben-Rubi

Hapoel Ramat Gan v Hapoel Petah Tikva

7 April 1956 17	Hapoel Ramat Gan	2–5	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Givatayim
	Mesika  19' Kirschenberg  60'		6' Kofman  37', 72' Stelmach  42' Ratzabi  55' Varon	Stadium: HaMakhtesh Stadium Referee: Werner

Hapoel Petah Tikva v Hapoel Kfar Saba

14 April 1956 18	Hapoel Petah Tikva	4–0	Hapoel Kfar Saba	Petah Tikva
	Rabayov  3' Zelikovich  18' Kofman  77' Ratzabi  88'			Stadium: Hapoel Ground Referee: Moshe Cohen

Hapoel Petah Tikva v Hapoel Tel Aviv

22 April 1956 19	Hapoel Petah Tikva	1–2	Hapoel Tel Aviv	Petah Tikva
	Vissoker  65' (pen.)		20' Michaelov  30' (pen.) Balut	Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Fritzner

Hapoel Haifa v Hapoel Petah Tikva

19 May 1956 20	Hapoel Haifa	1–0	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Haifa
	Schneid  73'			Stadium: Kiryat Eliezer Stadium Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Moshe Cohen

Hapoel Petah Tikva v Maccabi Petah Tikva

27 May 1956 21	Hapoel Petah Tikva	3–1	Maccabi Petah Tikva	Petah Tikva
	Z. Ratzabi  1' Stelmach  27' Nahari  74'		4' Spiegel	Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Frizner

Maccabi Rehovot v Hapoel Petah Tikva

2 June 1956 22	Maccabi Rehovot	0–3	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Rehovot
			28' Stelmach  60' (pen.) Kermer  85' Nahari	Stadium: Maccabi Ground Referee: Fried

Results by match

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Result	W	D	W	W	W	W	L	L	D	D	W	L	L	D	D	W	W	W	L	L	W	W
Position	3	4	2	4	2	1	1	2	2	3	2	4	4	3	2	1	1	1	3	4	3	2

Updated to match(es) played on 28 July 1956. Source: IFA
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

State Cup

Main article: 1954–55 Israel State Cup

Beitar Tel Aviv v Hapoel Petah Tikva

27 August 1955 QF	Beitar Tel Aviv	0–4	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Tel Aviv
		Report (p. 8)	47', 59' Chirik  61' Stelmach  75' Zelikovich	Stadium: Hapoel Ground, Jaffa Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Frizner

Hapoel Petah Tikva v Hapoel Ramat Gan

22 October 1955 SF	Hapoel Petah Tikva	2–0	Hapoel Ramat Gan	Jaffa
	Chirik  32' Stelmach  86'	Report (p. 8)		Stadium: Hap. Tel Aviv Ground Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Sher

Hapoel Petah Tikva v Maccabi Tel Aviv

19 November 1955 F	Hapoel Petah Tikva	1–3	Maccabi Tel Aviv	Jaffa
	Kofman  84'	Report (p. 8)	8' Nahmias  35' Glazer  68' Studinski	Stadium: Hap. Tel Aviv Ground Attendance: 12,000 Referee: Fritzner

Shapira Cup

In October and November, while the promotion playoffs and the State Cup were being played, two cup competitions were organized by Liga Leumit Clubs, the second edition of the Shapira Cup, and the Netanya 25th Anniversary Cup. Maccabi Haifa, Hapoel Petah Tikva, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Maccabi Tel Aviv played for the Shapira Cup, named after former Hapoel Tel Aviv treasurer Yosef Shapira. The competition was designed to be played as a double round-robin tournament but the competition was delayed after the teams playing only two matches each, as the third round matches were postponed due to weather conditions and then due to the 1954–55 Israel State Cup final, which involved Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Petah Tikva. As league matches started on 3 December 1955, the competition was abandoned altogether.

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts
1	Maccabi Tel Aviv	2	2	0	0	7	4	1.750	4
2	Maccabi Haifa	2	1	0	1	7	7	1.000	2
3	Hapoel Petah Tikva	2	1	0	1	6	6	1.000	2
4	Hapoel Tel Aviv	2	0	0	2	3	6	0.500	0

Source: Hadshot HaSport, p. 1

Maccabi Haifa v Hapoel Petah Tikva

27 August 1955 1	Maccabi Haifa	4–2	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Jaffa
	Ben-Tzvi  60' (pen.) Parizat  69' (o.g.) S. Levi  88' Held  89'		24' Kofman  40' Stelmach	Stadium: Hap. Tel Aviv Ground Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Dudkevich

Hapoel Tel Aviv v Hapoel Petah Tikva

5 November 1955 2	Hapoel Tel Aviv	2–4	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Jaffa
	Weiss  12', 15'	Report (p. 8)	11' Stelmach  27', 65' Kofman  68' Markus	Stadium: Hap. Tel Aviv Ground Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Rosenbaum

References

1. Hapoel P.T. Took the Championship Title from Maccabi T.A. After 10 Years Hadshot HaSport, 16 October 1955 (in Hebrew)
2. Maccabi T.A. Won the Liga Leumit Championship After Beating Hapoel T.A. 3:0 (1:0) Davar, 3 June 1956, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
3. Maccabi T.A. – Maccabi Haifa, Hapoel P.T. – Hapoel R.G. in the Semi-Finals Hadshot HaSport, 28 August 1955, p. 1 (in Hebrew)
4. Chirik Began – Stelmach Finished Hadshot HaSport, 23 October 1955, p. 8 (in Hebrew)
5. State Cup to Maccabi T.A., Beat Hapoel P.T. 3:1 Hadshot HaSport, 20 November 1955 (in Hebrew)
6. Kapfenberg Will Go Through the Mandelbaum Gate to Israel on Friday Davar, 8 February 1956, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
7. Kapfenberg A. Hetzroni, Herut, 14 February 1956, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
8. Footnotes Davar, 15 February 1956, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
9. The Efforts to Prevent the Shame – to No Avail Herut, 13 February 1956, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
10. The Day the Goals Went Aflame Nisim Kalderon, 1 July 2014, P.T. Neto (in Hebrew)
11. 1955-1955 Liga Leumit Schedule Archived 2015-07-26 at the Wayback Machine dribblist.com (in Hebrew)