2008–09 Liga Alef

The 2008–09 Liga Alef season was the last season of Liga Alef as the fourth tier of the Israeli football league system. Third tier, Liga Artzit, was scrapped, while the Premier League and Liga Leumit were expanded to 16 clubs each, making Liga Alef the third tier, as well as expanding the two regional divisions to 16 clubs.

The season saw Ahva Arraba (champions of the North Division) and Maccabi Be'er Sheva (champions of the South Division) winning the title and promotion to Liga Leumit.

At the bottom, the bottom clubs in each division, Maccabi Ironi Shlomi/Nahariya, Beitar Ihud Mashhad (from North division), Ironi Ramla and Hapoel Masos/Segev Shalom (from South division) were all automatically relegated to Liga Bet, whilst the two clubs which were ranked in 12th place in each division, Maccabi Kafr Qara and Hapoel Nahlat Yehuda entered a promotion/relegation play-offs, and both remained in Liga Alef after winning the play-offs.

Changes from last season

Format changes

At the end of the season no relegation play-offs were held. The two bottom clubs were relegated automatically, while the third from bottom club was safe from relegation.

Team changes

North Division
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Ahva Arraba 26 19 4 3 49 17 +32 61 Promoted to Liga Leumit
2 Hapoel Asi Gilboa 26 12 5 9 45 21 +24 41
3 Hapoel Herzliya 26 11 6 9 35 25 +10 39
4 Hapoel Kafr Kanna 26 9 10 7 26 26 0 37
5 Ironi Tiberias 26 10 7 9 31 33 −2 37
6 Maccabi HaShikma Ramat Hen 26 11 3 12 43 35 +8 36
7 Beitar Safed 26 10 6 10 31 29 +2 36
8 Maccabi Tamra 26 8 11 7 27 27 0 35
9 Maccabi Tzur Shalom 26 9 8 9 31 32 −1 35
10 Ironi Sayid Umm al-Fahm 26 10 5 11 32 34 −2 35
11 Hapoel Afula 26 8 8 10 32 35 −3 32
12 Maccabi Kafr Qara 26 8 8 10 27 33 −6 32 Relegation play-offs
13 Maccabi Ironi Shlomi/Nahariya 26 5 9 12 21 51 −30 24 Relegated to Liga Bet, folded
14 Beitar Ihud Mashhad 26 4 6 16 22 54 −32 18 Relegated to Liga Bet
Source:

South Division
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Maccabi Be'er Sheva 26 17 4 5 40 15 +25 55 Promoted to Liga Leumit
2 Maccabi Ironi Netivot 26 15 8 3 50 20 +30 53
3 Maccabi Yavne 26 15 6 5 46 26 +20 51
4 Hapoel Hadera 26 15 2 9 43 25 +18 47
5 Maccabi Kiryat Gat 26 12 6 8 34 29 +5 42
6 Maccabi Kiryat Malakhi 26 10 9 7 30 29 +1 39
7 Hapoel Mevaseret Zion 26 11 4 11 35 37 −2 37
8 Hapoel Kfar Shalem 26 8 10 8 36 33 +3 34
9 Maccabi Ironi Kfar Yona 26 10 4 12 31 36 −5 34
10 Hapoel Arad 26 9 6 11 33 35 −2 33
11 Beitar Kfar Saba 26 9 5 12 40 43 −3 32
12 Hapoel Nahlat Yehuda 26 9 4 13 30 36 −6 31 Relegation play-offs
13 Ironi Ramla 26 4 1 21 21 55 −34 13 Relegated to Liga Bet
14 Hapoel Masos/Segev Shalom 26 2 3 21 18 68 −50 9 Relegated to Liga Bet, folded
Source:

Relegation play-offs

North play-off

The 12th-placed team, Maccabi Kafr Qara, faced the Liga Bet promotion playoff winner Hapoel Daliyat al-Karmel.[1]

Maccabi Kafr Qara1–0 (a.e.t.)Hapoel Daliyat al-Karmel
Report (in Hebrew)

Maccabi Kafr Qara remained in Liga Alef.

South play-off

The 12th-placed team, Hapoel Nahlat Yehuda, faced the Liga Bet promotion playoff winner Maccabi Amishav Petah Tikva.[1]

Maccabi Amishav Petah Tikva0–2Hapoel Nahlat Yehuda
Report (in Hebrew)

Hapoel Nahlat Yehuda remained in Liga Alef; Maccabi Amishav Petah Tikva was promoted after Hapoel Umm al-Fahm (which relegated from Liga Artzit to Liga Alef) folded during the summer.[2]

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References
Notes
  1. Conclusion of the weekend's play-off matches in the amateur leagues Archived 2014-12-22 at the Wayback Machine Israel Football Association, 16 May 2009 (in Hebrew)
  2. Now it's final: Amishav in Liga Alef and the Bik'a in Liga Bet Doublepass, 17 August 2009 (in Hebrew)
Sources
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