Liga Alef (Hebrew: ליגה א', lit. A League) is the third tier of the Israeli football league system.
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League football began in Israel in 1949–50, a year after independence. However, the financial and security crises gripping the young nation caused the 1950–51 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 the Israeli Premier League in the summer of 1999 saw Liga Alef demoted again, this time to the fourth tier. At the end of the 2008–09 season, Liga Artzit was scrapped as the Premier League and Liga Leumit were expanded to 16 clubs each, with Liga Alef becoming the third tier once more.
Today, Liga Alef is split into two regional divisions on a north-south basis. Because 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 (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 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 Leumit, whilst the two second-placed teams have a play-off, with the winner playing-off against the third-bottom team in Liga Leumit for a place in that division. The bottom two from each division are relegated to Liga Bet, the fourth tier. Coming into Liga Alef are the two or three clubs relegated from Liga Leumit 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.
The following clubs are participating in the 2010–11 season:
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Liga Alef North
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Liga Alef South
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| Season | Winner | Relegated |
|---|---|---|
| Third tier | ||
| 1998–99 | Hapoel Ra'anana | Hapoel Umm al-Fahm, Hapoel Kafr Qasim |
| Fourth tier | ||
| 1999–2000 | Hapoel Majd al-Krum | Maccabi Afula |
| 2000–01 | Ironi Kiryat Shmona | Maccabi Isfiya, Hapoel Iksal |
| 2001–02 | Hapoel Kisra-Sumei | Tzairi Nahf, Hapoel Hurfeish |
| 2002–03 | Hapoel Herzliya | Hapoel Hadera, Hapoel Tayibe |
| 2003–04 | Maccabi Hadera¹ | Ironi Shlomi, Migdal HaEmek |
| 2004–05 | Maccabi Tzur Shalom | Hapoel Tuva, Maccabi Tura'an |
| 2005–06 | Hapoel Bnei Tamra | Hapoel Beit She'an, Maccabi Shefa-'Amr |
| 2006–07 | Hapoel Bnei Jadeidi | Hapoel Kisra-Sumei, Hapoel Reineh, Maccabi Ma'alot |
| 2007–08 | Hapoel Umm al-Fahm | Beitar Haifa, Hapoel Ahva Haifa, Hapoel Maka |
| 2008–09 | Ahva Arraba | Maccabi Ironi Shlomi/Nahariya, Beitar Ihud Mashhad |
| Third tier | ||
| 2009–10 | Maccabi Ironi Jatt | Hapoel Bnei Jadeidi, Hapoel Bnei Tamra, Maccabi Ironi Tirat HaCarmel |
| 2010–11 | Maccabi Umm al-Fahm | Maccabi Kafr Qara, Hapoel Ramot Menashe Megiddo |
¹ Maccabi Hadera folded in the summer of 2004. Maccabi Tirat Carmel (who had finished in second place) were promoted in their place.
| Season | Winner | Relegated |
|---|---|---|
| Third tier | ||
| 1998–99 | Hapoel Ironi Dimona | Hapoel Yeruham, Beitar Ramla |
| Fourth tier | ||
| 1999–2000 | Maccabi Ashkelon | Hapoel Or Yehuda |
| 2000–01 | Maccabi Yavne | Tzairi Jaffa, Sektzia Nes Tziona |
| 2001–02 | Maccabi Ramat Amidar | Hapoel Lod, Ma'ale Adumim |
| 2002–03 | Hapoel Tira | Beitar Kiryat Gat, IS Jaffa |
| 2003–04 | Maccabi Be'er Sheva | Hapoel Bat Yam, Mevaseret Zion |
| 2004–05 | Hapoel Bnei Lod | Hapoel Qalansawe, Hapoel Jaljulia |
| 2005–06 | Sektzia Nes Tziona | Maccabi Kafr Qasim, Beitar Givat Ze'ev |
| 2006–07 | Maxim Lod¹ | IS Jaffa, Hapoel Arad |
| 2007–08 | Maccabi Ironi Bat Yam | Tzafririm Holon, Maccabi Ironi Amishav Petah Tikva, Ironi Ofakim |
| 2008–09 | Maccabi Be'er Sheva | Ironi Ramla, Hapoel Mashush Shaqib al-Salam |
| Third tier | ||
| 2009–10 | Hapoel Herzliya | Beitar Kfar Saba, Hapoel Mevaseret Zion |
| 2010–11 | Hapoel Jerusalem | Tzafririm Holon, Shimshon Bnei Tayibe |
¹ Although Maxim Lod finished top, they folded and second-placed Hapoel Kfar Shalem were promoted instead.
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