Liga Alef
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Liga Alef (Hebrew: 'ליגה א, lit. A League) is the fourth tier of the Israeli football league system.
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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 abandoned before it had started. When football resumed in 1951-52, the new top division went by the name of Liga Alef. The 1952-53 season was also not played, and Liga Alef resumed in 1953-54.
The following season, Liga Leumit came into existence as the new top division, with Liga Alef becoming the second division. In the summer of 1974, restructuring saw the creation of Liga Artzit as a new second tier, and the second demotion of Liga Alef, as it became the third division. Further restructuring to create Ligat Ha'Al in the summer of 1999 saw Liga Alef demoted again, this time to the fourth tier, the position it holds today.
[edit] Structure
Today, Liga Alef is split into two regional divisions on a north-south basis. Due to the fact that Israel's northern half is much more densely populated than the desert south, the dividing line between the northern and southern divisions is somewhere between Haifa and Tel Aviv, meaning that the southern "half" covers about three-quarters of the country. Although this inequality is partially offset by the fact that there are so few clubs south of Beersheba (Arad, Dimona, Yeroham, Mitzpe Ramon and Eilat are the only sizable towns south of the city, and currently only Hapoel Arad are in Liga Alef), the northern clubs tend to be clustered in the Galilee region, making travel to away matches much less of a chore.
Each division has fourteen clubs, who play each other home and away to make a 26-game season. The club finishing top of each regional division is promoted to Liga Artzit. The bottom two from each division are relegated to Liga Bet, the fifth tier. Coming into Liga Alef are the two clubs relegated from Liga Artzit and the four clubs promoted from Liga Bet (the winner of each of the four regional divisions). The clubs are then pooled and assigned to the most geographically appropriate of the two divisions.
[edit] Current members
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Liga Alef North
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Liga Alef South
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[edit] Previous Seasons
[edit] Northern Division
| Season | Winner | Relegated |
|---|---|---|
| 2000-1 | Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona | Maccabi Ospia, Hapoel Iksal |
| 2001-2 | Kfar Semia | Tzairi Nakhaf, Hapoel Horfish |
| 2002-3 | Hapoel Herzliya | Hapoel Hadera, Hapoel Taibe |
| 2003-4 | Maccabi Hadera¹ | Ironi Shlomi, Migdal HaEmek |
| 2004-5 | Maccabi Tzur Shalom | Hapoel Tuva, Maccabi Tura'an |
| 2005-6 | Hapoel Bnei Tamra | Hapoel Beit She'an, Maccabi Shafra'am |
| 2006-7 | Hapoel Bnei Jadida | Hapoel Kfar Semia, Hapoel Reina, Maccabi Ma'alot |
¹ Maccabi Hadera folded in the summer of 2004. Maccabi Tirat Carmel (who had finished in second place) were promoted in their place.
[edit] Southern Division
| Season | Winner | Relegated |
|---|---|---|
| 2000-1 | Maccabi Yavne | Tzairi Jaffa, Sektzia Nes Tziona |
| 2001-2 | Maccabi Ramat Amidar | Hapoel Lod, Ma'aleh Adumim |
| 2002-3 | Hapoel Tira | Beitar Kiryat Gat, AS Ramat Eliahu |
| 2003-4 | Maccabi Beersheba | Hapoel Bat Yam, Mevaserret Tzion |
| 2004-5 | Hapoel Bnei Lod | Hapoel Kalanswa'a, Hapoel Jaljulia |
| 2005-6 | Sektzia Nes Tziona | Maccabi Kfar Kassem, Beitar Givat Ze'ev |
| 2006-7 | Maxim Lod 1 | AS Jaffa, Hapoel Arad |
1 Although Maxim Lod finished top, they folded and second-placed Hapoel Kfar Shelem were promoted instead.
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