Liga Bet
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Liga Alef (Hebrew: 'ליגה ב) is the fifth tier of the Israeli football league system. Its name translates as B League.
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[edit] History
League football started in Israel in 1949-50, a year after independence. However, the financial and security crises gripping the young nation caused the 1950-1 season to be abandonded before it had started. When football resumed in 1951-2, the new top division went by the name of Liga Alef with Liga Bet as the second division. The 1952-3 season was also not played, and Liga Bet resumed in 1953-4.
The following season, Liga Leumit came into existence as the new top division, with Liga Alef becoming the second division and Liga Bet demoted to the third division. In the summer of 1974, restructuring saw the creation of Liga Artzit as a new second tier, and the second demotion of Liga Bet, as it became the fourth division. Further restructuring to create Ligat Ha'Al in the summer of 1999 saw Liga Bet demoted again, this time to the fifth tier, the position it holds today.
[edit] Structure
Today, Liga Bet is split into four regional divisions, North A, North B, South A and South B. Due to the fact that Israel's northern half is much more densely populated than the desert south, the divisions are not spread equally and the southernmost division, South B, covers about two-thirds of the country. Although this inequality is partially offset by the fact that there are so few clubs south of Be'er Sheva (Arad, Dimona, Yeroham, Mitzpe Ramon and Eilat are the only sizeable towns south of the city, and currently only MS Dimona are in Liga Bet), the northern clubs tend to be clustered in the Galilee region, making travel to away matches much less of a chore.
Each division has sixteen clubs, who play each other home and away to make a 30-game season. The club finishing top of each regional division is promoted to Liga Alef. The bottom two from each division are relegated to Liga Gimel, the sixth and bottom tier, though at least one club is usually reprieved as there are a maximum of seven clubs from Liga Gimel eligible for promotion (i.e. the champion of each of the seven regional divisions) and many do not meet the promotion criteria. Coming into Liga Bet are the two clubs are relegated from each of the regional Liga Alefs and the seven clubs promoted from Liga Gimel, assuming they meet the promotion criteria. The clubs are then pooled and assigned to the most geographically appropriate of the four divisions.
[edit] Current members
[edit] Liga Bet North A
- Ahua Arava
- Beitar Kfar Kana
- Beitar Mishad
- Bnei Abu Sanan
- Hapoel Carmiel
- Hapoel Dir Hana
- Hapoel Kisra
- Hapoel Sakhnin
- Hapoel Timra
- Hapoel Yanuakh
- Maccabi Ba'ana
- Maccabi Kfar Semia
- Maccabi Kfar Yasif
- Maccabi Sha'av
- Maccabi Timra
[edit] Liga Bet North B
- Hapoel Arara
- Hapoel Dalit El Carmel
- Hapoel Galil Takhton (aka Hapoel Lower Galilee)
- Hapoel Migdal HaEmek
- Hapoel Tel Hanan
- Hapoel Yekna'am
- Ikhud Bnei Beka
- Ironi HaCarmel
- Ironi Umm Al-Fakhem
- Maccabi Dalit El Carmel
- Maccabi Kfar Kara
- Maccabi Or Akiva
- Maccabi Tura'an
- Maccabi Umm Al-Fakhem
- Tzairi Bir Al-Makhsur
[edit] Liga Bet South A
- Beitar Kfar Saba
- Beitar Pardes Hana
- Beitar Ramat Gan
- Bnei Jaffa (aka Bnei Yafo)
- Bnei Taibe
- Hapoel Hadera
- Hapoel Hod HaSharon
- Hapoel Kiryat Ono
- Hapoel Kalanswa'a
- Hapoel Mekhane Yehuda
- Hapoel Ramat Israel
- Maccabi Kfar Kassem
- Maccabi Kfar Yona
- Otzma Holon
- Shikun Vatikim Ramat Gan
[edit] Liga Bet South B
- Beitar Givat Ze'ev
- Beitar Ma'aleh Adumim
- Bnei Lakhish
- MS Dimona
- Hapoel Jaljulia
- Hapoel Mashush
- Hapoel Oranit
- Hapoel Tel Sheva
- Hapoel Tirat Shalom
- Ironi Netivot
- Ironi Sderot
- Maccabi Sha'arim
- Maccabi Be'er Ya'akov
- Maccabi Kiryat Ekron
- Tzairi Rahat
[edit] Previous Seasons
[edit] North A
| Season | Winner | Relegated |
|---|---|---|
| 2000-1 | Maccabi Ironi Shlomi | Beitar Safed, Ironi Abalin |
| 2001-2 | Hapoel Tuva | Ramot Menashe¹ |
| 2002-3 | Hapoel Makar | Hapoel Caesaria² |
| 2003-4 | Hapoel Bnei Jadida | Maccabi Bir Makhsur³ |
| 2004-5 | Maccabi Ma'alot | Beitar Acre† |
| 2005-6 | Beitar Safed | Ironi Abalin‡ |
| 2006-7 |
¹ Only 15 teams competed in the season 2001-2 and second-bottom Hapoel Bnei Manda were excused from relegation as numbers were made up
² Hapoel Sakhnin finished bottom but were not demoted
³ Beitar Acre finished bottom but were not demoted
† 2004-5 season played with only 15 teams
‡ Hapoel Dir Hana finished in the relegation zone but were not demoted as both teams relegated from the northern division of Liga Alef folded
[edit] North B
| Season | Winner | Relegated |
|---|---|---|
| 2000-1 | Hapoel Asi Gilboa | Beitar Iksal, Ironi Umm Al-Fakhem |
| 2001-2 | Maccabi Tzur Shalom | Maccabi Baka Al-Garbia, Hapoel Pardis |
| 2002-3 | Hapoel Reina | Hapoel Nakhalial¹ |
| 2003-4 | Hapoel Afula | Hapoel Bnei Nazareth² |
| 2004-5 | Hapoel Bnei Timra | Hapoel Kfar Masar² |
| 2005-6 | Ahua Haifa | None³ |
| 2006-7 |
¹ Hapoel Bnei Nazareth finished in the relegation zone but were not demoted
² Maccabi Dalit El Carmel finished in the relegation zone but were not demoted
³ 2005-6 season played with 15 teams. Maccabi Dalit El Carmel finished bottom but were not demoted as both teams relegated from the northern division of Liga Alef folded
[edit] South A
| Season | Winner | Relegated |
|---|---|---|
| 2001-2 | Maccabi HaShikma/Ramat Hen | Beitar Ariel, Nes Tubruk¹ |
| 2002-3 | Maccabi Kfar Kassem | Bnei Taibe² |
| 2003-4 | Hapoel Kalanswa'a | Maccabi Montefiore³ |
| 2004-5 | Ironi Bat Yam | Maccabi Bnei Tira, Beitar Kiryat Ono |
| 2005-6 | Maccabi Amishav Petakh Tikva | Beitar Jaffa, AS Holon |
| 2006-7 |
¹ 2001-2 season played with 18 teams
² Maccabi Yehud finished in the relegation zone but were not demoted
³ Maccabi Yehud finished bottom but were transferred to Liga Bet South B
[edit] South B
| Season | Winner | Relegated |
|---|---|---|
| 2000-1 | Ironi Ofakim | Hapoel Rahat¹ |
| 2001-2 | Maccabi Be'er Sheva | Maccabi Noah Alon Lod, Hapoel Aliyah Kfar Saba |
| 2002-3 | Beitar Givat Ze'ev | Hapoel Rahat, Hapoel Sde Ozia |
| 2003-4 | Hapoel Bnei Lod | Maccabi Kiryat Ekron, Hapoel Ornit |
| 2004-5 | Hapoel Arad | None² |
| 2005-6 | Maxim Lod | Maccabi Yehud³ |
| 2006-7 |
¹ Hapoel Aliyah Kfar Saba finished in the relegation zone but were not demoted
² Tzairi Rahat and Maccabi Yehud finished in the relegation zone but were not demoted
³ Bnei Lakhish finished in the relegation zone but were not demoted
| League competitions | The IFA | Cup competitions |
|---|---|---|
| Ligat Ha'Al (Premier League) | Israel | State Cup |
| Liga Leumit (National League) | (U-21) | Toto Cup |
| Liga Artzit (Nationwide League) | List of clubs | |
| Liga Alef (A League) | List of venues | |
| Liga Bet (B League) | ||
| Liga Gimel (C League) | ||
| Israeli football league system | Records | |
| Women's football in Israel | ||
| League competitions | Cup competitions | |
| Women's Liga Leumit | Israel women | State Cup for Women |
| List of clubs | ||
