2015–16 Israeli Premier League

The 2015–16 Israeli Premier League was the seventeenth season since its introduction in 1999 and the 74th season of top-tier football in Israel. It began on 22 August 2015 and ended in May 2016. Hapoel Be'er Sheva became champion after 40 years without winning a main national competition, interrupting the sequence of three consecutive titles of Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Israeli Premier League
ChampionsHapoel Be'er Sheva (3rd title)
RelegatedHapoel Acre
Maccabi Netanya
Champions LeagueHapoel Be'er Sheva
Europa LeagueMaccabi Tel Aviv
Beitar Jerusalem
Maccabi Haifa
Top goalscorerEran Zahavi (35 goals)[1]
Biggest home winMaccabi Tel Aviv 6–0 Maccabi Haifa
Biggest away winHapoel Tel Aviv 0-4 Bnei Sakhnin
Highest scoringHapoel Be'er Sheva 5-2 Maccabi Petah Tikva
Average attendance6,953 [2]

Teams

A total of fourteen teams were competing in the league, including twelve sides from the 2014–15 season and two promoted teams from the 2014–15 Liga Leumit.

Hapoel Petah Tikva and F.C. Ashdod were relegated to the 2015–16 Liga Leumit after finishing the 2014–15 Israeli Premier League in the bottom two places.

Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv and Hapoel Kfar Saba were promoted after finishing the 2014–15 Liga Leumit in the top two places.

Stadia and locations
Locations of the 2015–16 Israeli Premier League teams
Team Location Stadium Capacity
Beitar Jerusalem Jerusalem Teddy Stadium 31,733
Bnei Sakhnin Sakhnin Doha Stadium 8,500
Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv Bloomfield Stadium 14,413
Hapoel Acre Acre Acre Stadium 5,000
Hapoel Be'er Sheva Be'er Sheva Turner Stadium 16,126
Hapoel Haifa Haifa Sammy Ofer Stadium 30,780
Hapoel Kfar Saba Kfar Saba Levita Stadium 5,800
Hapoel Ra'anana Ra'anana Netanya Stadium, Netanya 13,610
Hapoel Tel Aviv Tel Aviv Bloomfield Stadium 14,413
Ironi Kiryat Shmona Kiryat Shmona Kiryat Shmona Stadium 5,300
Maccabi Haifa Haifa Sammy Ofer Stadium 30,780
Maccabi Netanya Netanya Netanya Stadium 13,610
Maccabi Petah Tikva Petah Tikva HaMoshava Stadium 11,500
Maccabi Tel Aviv Tel Aviv Bloomfield Stadium 14,413
Bloomfield Stadium Netanya Stadium Sammy Ofer Stadium
Bnei Yehuda
Hapoel Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv		 Hapoel Ra'anana
Maccabi Netanya		 Hapoel Haifa
Maccabi Haifa
Acre Stadium Doha Stadium HaMoshava Stadium
Hapoel Acre Bnei Sakhnin Maccabi Petah Tikva
Kiryat Shmona Stadium Levita Stadium Teddy Stadium Turner Stadium
Ironi Kiryat Shmona Hapoel Kfar Saba Beitar Jerusalem Hapoel Be'er Sheva

Personnel and sponsorship
Team President Manager Captain Kitmaker Shirt sponsor
Beitar Jerusalem Eli Tabib Slobodan Drapić Dušan Matović Puma itrader
Bnei Sakhnin Mohammed Abu Yunes Yossi Abukasis Khaled Khalaila Umbro Toyga
Bnei Yehuda Moshe Damaio Yossi Mizrahi Assi Baldout Macron Azrieli Group
Hapoel Acre Yehuda Barshishat Shlomi Dora Moshe Mishaelof Macron Azrieli Group
Hapoel Be'er Sheva Alona Barkat Barak Bakhar Elyaniv Barda Kappa Mobli
Hapoel Kfar Saba Stav Shaham Sharon Mimer Hen Dilmoni Lotto
Hapoel Haifa Yoav Katz Meir Ben Margi Oshri Roash Diadora Hatama
Hapoel Ra'anana Asher Alon Haim Silvas Snir Shuker Umbro ME Tel Aviv
Hapoel Tel Aviv The Red Fans Eli Guttman Ariel Harush Puma Fujicom
Ironi Kiryat Shmona Izzy Sheratzky Shlomi Dora Oz Raly Puma Ituran
Maccabi Haifa Ya'akov Shahar Ronny Levy Yossi Benayoun Nike Honda
Maccabi Netanya Eli Segev Meni Koretski Eran Levy Joma Burgus Burger Bar
Maccabi Petah Tikva Amos Luzon Ran Ben Shimon Naor Peser Macron Panorama North
Maccabi Tel Aviv Mitchell Goldhar Peter Bosz Eran Zahavi Adidas

Foreign players

The number of foreign players is restricted to five per team.

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5
Beitar Jerusalem Nikita Rukavytsya Claudemir Arsenio Valpoort Dušan Matović Jesús Rueda
Bnei Sakhnin Eldar Hasanović Georginho Diogo Kachuba Wanderson Abraham Paz
Bnei Yehuda Pedro Galván Antonio Mršić Thierry Doubai Dele Aiyenugba Jude Nworuh
Hapoel Acre Dylan Seys Boris Kopitović Samuel Gilmore Lanry Kahinda Branislav Jovanović
Hapoel Be'er Sheva William Soares Anthony Nwakaeme John Ogu Ovidiu Hoban
Hapoel Haifa Dmitriy Baga Marijan Antolovic Tadas Kijanskas Žarko Korać Bruno Pinheiro
Hapoel Kfar Saba Mavis Tchibota Dino Škvorc Yiannis Papadopoulos Hugo López
Hapoel Ra'anana Dejan Radonjić Mamadou Thiam Rene Mihelič Evans Kangwa Emmanuel Mbola
Hapoel Tel Aviv Cauê Hamza Barry Loukas Vyntra Nemanja Nikolić Claudiu Bumba
Ironi Kiryat Shmona Luis Gutiérrez Bruno Kassio Rokas Stanulevičius Austin Amutu
Maccabi Haifa Romário Glynor Plet Ludovic Obraniak Vladimir Stojković Marc Valiente
Maccabi Netanya Issoumaila Lingane Nemanja Petrović Milan Smiljanić Andriy Mischenko
Maccabi Petah Tikva Allyson Joachim Mununga Xavier Tomas Aitor Monroy Rade Prica
Maccabi Tel Aviv Haris Medunjanin Nosa Igiebor Orlando Sá Predrag Rajković Carlos García

In bold: Players that have been capped for their national team.

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Ironi Kiryat Shmona Barak Bakhar Sacked 14 May 2015 Pre-season Salah Hasarma 30 May 2015
Hapoel Be'er Sheva Elisha Levy End of contract 30 May 2015 Barak Bakhar 30 May 2015
Maccabi Haifa Marco Balbul End of contract 30 May 2015 Ronny Levy 30 May 2015
Hapoel Tel Aviv Eli Cohen End of contract 30 May 2015 César Mendiondo 30 May 2015
Maccabi Tel Aviv Pako Ayestarán End of contract 30 May 2015 Slaviša Jokanović 15 June 2015
Maccabi Netanya Ronny Levy End of contract 30 May 2015 Shlomi Dora 21 June 2015
Beitar Jerusalem Guy Levy End of contract 7 June 2015 Slobodan Drapić 7 June 2015
Hapoel Acre Shlomi Dora Sacked 21 June 2015 Yaron Hochenboim 28 June 2015
Hapoel Tel Aviv César Mendiondo Sacked 3 September 2015 12th Walid Badir (caretaker) 3 September 2015
Maccabi Netanya Shlomi Dora Sacked 2 November 2015 14th Reuven Atar 6 November 2015
Hapoel Tel Aviv Walid Badir (caretaker) End of caretaker time 5 November 2015 13th Guy Levy 5 November 2015
Bnei Yehuda Yossi Abukasis Sacked 8 December 2015 9th Yossi Mizrahi 9 December 2015
Bnei Sakhnin Eli Cohen Sacked 18 December 2015 12th Yossi Abukasis 19 December 2015
Hapoel Haifa Tal Banin Sacked 21 December 2015 10th Meir Ben Margi 21 December 2015
Maccabi Tel Aviv Slaviša Jokanović Signed By Fulham 27 December 2015 2nd Javier Pereira Megía (caretaker) 27 December 2015
Hapoel Kfar Saba Felix Naim Sacked 3 January 2016 13th Sharon Mimer 11 January 2016
Maccabi Tel Aviv Javier Pereira Megía (caretaker) End of caretaker time 4 January 2016 2nd Peter Bosz 4 January 2016
Maccabi Netanya Reuven Atar Sacked 10 January 2016 14th Menahem Koretski 20 January 2016
Hapoel Tel Aviv Guy Levi Sacked 19 January 2016 11th Eli Guttman 19 January 2016
Ironi Kiryat Shmona Salah Hasarma Sacked 13 February 2016 10th Shlomi Dora 14 February 2016

Regular season

Regular season table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Hapoel Be'er Sheva 26 20 4 2 48 17 +31 64 Qualification for the championship round
2 Maccabi Tel Aviv 26 19 4 3 59 20 +39 61
3 Beitar Jerusalem 26 15 6 5 38 19 +19 51
4 Maccabi Haifa 26 10 8 8 33 25 +8 38
5 Bnei Sakhnin 26 10 6 10 32 25 +7 36
6 Hapoel Ra'anana 26 10 6 10 29 31 −2 36
7 Bnei Yehuda 26 9 6 11 27 35 −8 33 Qualification for the relegation round
8 Maccabi Petah Tikva 26 8 6 12 23 30 −7 30
9 Hapoel Kfar Saba 26 7 8 11 19 31 −12 29
10 Hapoel Acre 26 8 5 13 18 36 −18 29
11 Ironi Kiryat Shmona 26 6 10 10 25 31 −6 28
12 Hapoel Tel Aviv 26 6 9 11 17 31 −14 27
13 Hapoel Haifa 26 5 10 11 27 37 −10 25
14 Maccabi Netanya 26 1 8 17 10 37 −27 11
Source: Israel Football Association, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Matches won; 4) Goals scored; 5) Head-to-head points; 6) Head-to-head goal difference; 7) Head-to-head goals scored; 8) Play-off.[3]

Regular season results
Home \ Away BEI BnS BnY HAC HBS HHA HKS HRA HTA IKS MHA MNE MPT MTA
Beitar Jerusalem 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–3 1–1 3–1 1–0 0–0 2–0 3–0 1–0 2–0 2–2
Bnei Sakhnin 1–3 2–2 2–0 0–1 0–0 2–0 2–3 1–0 3–0 1–2 0–0 1–0 0–2
Bnei Yehuda 2–1 0–2 0–2 0–0 1–0 2–1 1–3 1–3 2–2 0–0 1–2 1–1 0–1
Hapoel Acre 1–3 2–2 0–1 1–0 0–1 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 0–3
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2–1 2–2 2–0 3–0 1–0 3–0 2–0 3–1 2–1 0–0 2–0 5–2 0–1
Hapoel Haifa 1–1 2–0 0–1 3–1 1–2 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–4 2–4 2–0 0–3 0–3
Hapoel Kfar Saba 1–0 1–0 1–2 0–1 1–2 2–2 0–0 1–1 0–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 0–0
Hapoel Ra'anana 0–2 1–0 0–2 3–1 2–3 2–2 2–2 0–1 1–1 0–2 1–0 1–0 0–2
Hapoel Tel Aviv 0–0 0–4 3–1 0–2 0–1 0–0 0–1 2–1 0–3 0–3 1–1 0–1 0–1
Ironi Kiryat Shmona 0–2 0–2 1–1 0–0 1–3 1–1 0–2 0–0 3–0 2–0 3–0 0–1 1–1
Maccabi Haifa 0–2 0–0 0–3 4–0 1–1 3–2 1–1 2–0 0–0 0–1 1–0 4–0 0–2
Maccabi Netanya 0–0 0–2 0–2 0–0 0–2 1–2 0–1 1–3 1–1 1–1 0–3 0–0 1–3
Maccabi Petah Tikva 2–0 0–1 3–1 1–2 0–1 1–1 2–0 0–2 1–1 0–0 1–1 1–0 1–2
Maccabi Tel Aviv 2–4 3–2 4–0 5–0 1–2 2–1 5–0 1–2 1–1 5–0 2–1 2–1 3–1
Updated to match(es) played on 7 March 2016. Source: Israel Football Association
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-offs

Championship round

Key numbers for pairing determination (number marks position after 26 games):[4]

Rounds
27th 28th 29th 30th 31st 32nd 33rd 34th 35th 36th
1 – 6
2 – 5
3 – 4		 1 – 2
5 – 3
6 – 4		 2 – 6
3 – 1
4 – 5		 1 – 4
2 – 3
6 – 5		 3 – 6
4 – 2
5 – 1		 6 – 1
5 – 2
4 – 3		 2 – 1
3 – 5
4 – 6		 6 – 2
1 – 3
5 – 4		 3 – 2
4 – 1
5 – 6		 6 – 3
2 – 4
1 – 5

Championship round table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Hapoel Be'er Sheva (C) 36 25 8 3 66 24 +42 83 Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
2 Maccabi Tel Aviv 36 24 9 3 76 24 +52 81 Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round
3 Beitar Jerusalem[lower-alpha 1] 36 18 6 12 46 37 +9 58
4 Maccabi Haifa 36 14 11 11 45 42 +3 53 Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round[lower-alpha 2]
5 Bnei Sakhnin 36 13 9 14 46 40 +6 48
6 Hapoel Ra'anana 36 11 9 16 38 48 −10 42
Source: Israel Football Association, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Matches won; 4) Goals scored; 5) Head-to-head points; 6) Head-to-head goal difference; 7) Head-to-head goals scored; 8) Play-off.[6]
(C) Champion.
Notes:
  1. Beitar Jerusalem deducted two points because of racial slurs by their fans.[5]
  2. Maccabi Haifa qualified for the Europa League second qualifying round by winning the 2015–16 Israel State Cup.
2015–16 Israeli Premier League champions


Hapoel Be'er Sheva
3rd title

Championship round results
Home \ Away BEI BnS HBS HRA MHA MTA
Beitar Jerusalem 0–3 0–2 1–0 3–2 0–2
Bnei Sakhnin 2–0 1–4 1–1 0–1 0–0
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2–0 3–1 0–0 1–1 1–1
Hapoel Ra'anana 1–2 2–3 1–4 3–0 1–1
Maccabi Haifa 1–0 3–3 2–1 2–0 0–0
Maccabi Tel Aviv 3–2 1–0 0–0 3–0 6–0
Updated to match(es) played on 21 May 2016. Source: Israel Football Association
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation round

Key numbers for pairing determination (number marks position after 26 games):[4]

Rounds
27th 28th 29th 30th 31st 32nd 33rd
7 – 11
8 – 13
9 – 12
10 – 14		 7 – 8
13 – 9
12 – 10
11 – 14		 8 – 11
9 – 7
10 – 13
14 – 12		 8 – 9
7 – 10
13 – 14
11 – 12		 9 – 11
10 – 8
14 – 7
12 – 13		 9 – 10
8 – 14
7 – 12
11 – 13		 10 – 11
14 – 9
12 – 8
13 – 7

Relegation round table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Relegation
7 Maccabi Petah Tikva 33 13 7 13 34 35 −1 46
8 Bnei Yehuda 33 13 7 13 37 43 −6 46
9 Hapoel Tel Aviv 33 10 12 11 30 37 −7 42
10 Hapoel Kfar Saba 33 9 11 13 23 37 −14 38
11 Ironi Kiryat Shmona 33 8 12 13 32 39 −7 36
12 Hapoel Haifa 33 7 13 13 38 48 −10 34
13 Hapoel Acre (R) 33 9 7 17 27 48 −21 34 Relegation to Liga Leumit
14 Maccabi Netanya (R) 33 1 9 23 14 50 −36 12
Source: Israel Football Association, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Matches won; 4) Goals scored; 5) Head-to-head points; 6) Head-to-head goal difference; 7) Head-to-head goals scored; 8) Play-off.[7]
(R) Relegated.

Relegation round results
Home \ Away BnY HAC HHA HKS HTA IKS MNE MPT
Bnei Yehuda 3–1 2–4 1–0 1–2
Hapoel Acre 2–3 1–1 4–1 1–3
Hapoel Haifa 1–1 0–0 2–1
Hapoel Kfar Saba 0–1 0–0 0–3 2–1
Hapoel Tel Aviv 1–0 3–3 0–0
Ironi Kiryat Shmona 2–1 1–1 2–0
Maccabi Netanya 0–1 1–1 0–1
Maccabi Petah Tikva 2–1 0–1 2–0 2–1
Updated to match(es) played on 16 May 2016. Source: Israel Football Association
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. Note that Championship round teams will play in 36 matchdays, and the Relegation round teams will compete in only 33 matches.

Team \ Round 123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536
Hapoel Be'er Sheva273273211122221111111111111112111111
Maccabi Tel Aviv322421122211112222222222222221222222
Beitar Jerusalem810912105753333333333333333333333333333
Maccabi Haifa14141414141414121113118666666565556644665555444
Bnei Sakhnin101313969678910771012131211121010975556544444555
Hapoel Ra'anana736348535545554455644444465456666666
Maccabi Petah Tikva511112466754445544456798888778877
Bnei Yehuda1610511128876799777810888667777887788
Hapoel Tel Aviv91212856910131012101081111119111212121111121210999999
Hapoel Kfar Saba647101213119121281111119121312109910899911121210101010
Ironi Kiryat Shmona135579434446689887777781010101012111111121111
Hapoel Haifa498118101213911131313121099891111111313131313131312111212
Hapoel Acre1184637101110891212131310101313131313121211119101013131313
Maccabi Netanya121111131311131414141414141414141414141414141414141414141414141414

Source: Israel Football Association

2016–17 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round
2016–17 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round
Relegation to 2016–17 Liga Leumit

Season statistics

Top scorers
Rank Scorer Club Goals
1 Eran Zahavi Maccabi Tel Aviv 35
2 Nikita Rukavytsya Beitar Jerusalem 14
Shlomi Azulay Bnei Sakhnin
Elyaniv Barda Hapoel Be'er Sheva
5 Evans Kangwa Hapoel Ra'anana 11
Pedro Joaquín Galván Bnei Yehuda
Anthony Nwakaeme Hapoel Be'er Sheva
Mahran Lala Hapoel Haifa
9 Eliran Atar Maccabi Haifa 10
Ofir Mizrahi Ironi Kiryat Shmona
Tal Ben Haim Maccabi Tel Aviv

Source: Israel Football Association

Attendances
Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Maccabi Haifa 20,826 n/a†
2 Hapoel Be'er Sheva 15,941 n/a†
3 Maccabi Tel Aviv 11,915 n/a†
4 Beitar Jerusalem 10,416 n/a†
5 Hapoel Tel Aviv 9,375 n/a†
6 Hapoel Haifa 4,572 n/a†
7 Maccabi Netanya 4,241 n/a†
8 Bnei Yehuda 3,642 n/a†
9 Maccabi Petah Tikva 3,462 n/a†
10 Hapoel Kfar Saba 2,968 n/a†
11 Bnei Sakhnin 2,805 n/a†
12 Hapoel Ra'anana 2,305 n/a†
13 Hapoel Acre 1,958 n/a†
14 Ironi Kiryat Shmona 1,800 n/a†
League total 7,479 n/a†

Updated to games played on 4 June 2016
Source: Official club websites and

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References
  1. "Top league scorers in 2015/2016 season". IFA. Archived from the original on 20 October 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  2. "Average home attendance in 2015/2016 season". walla.co.il. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  3. "Ligat ha'AL 2015/2016 - Season rules". Scoresway. Archived from the original on 2 November 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  4. "The full fixture list" (PDF) (in Hebrew).
  5. Ben Ziv, Guy (10 May 2016). "Two points deducted from Beitar for racial crys" (in Hebrew). ONE.
  6. "Ligat ha'AL 2015/2016 - Season rules". Scoresway. Archived from the original on 2 November 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  7. "Ligat ha'AL 2015/2016 - Season rules". Scoresway. Archived from the original on 2 November 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
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