# 2008–09 Israeli Premier League

The 2008–09 Israeli Premier League season began on 30 August 2008, and ended on 1 June 2009. Beitar Jerusalem were the defending champions, having won their 6th league title the previous year.
Two teams from Liga Leumit were promoted at the end of the previous season: Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan and Hapoel Petah Tikva. The two teams relegated were Hapoel Kfar Saba and Maccabi Herzliya.
At a 24 June 2008 IFA administration meeting it was decided that the league would be expanded to 16 clubs for the following season. Due to the expansion, only one team was relegated directly to Liga Leumit, while five clubs were promoted. The eleventh-ranked team played in a play-off match against the sixth-ranked team from Liga Leumit.
Maccabi Haifa clinched their 11th title after a 0–2 win against Maccabi Netanya on 23 May 2009.

## Teams

Twelve teams took part in the 2008-09 Israeli Premier League season, including ten teams from the 2007-08 season, as well as two teams which were promoted from the 2007-08 Liga Leumit.
Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan were promoted as champions of the 2007-08 Liga Leumit. Hapoel Petah Tikva were promoted as runners up. They both returned to the top flight after an absence of one season.
Hapoel Kfar Saba and Maccabi Herzliya were relegated after finishing in the bottom two places in the 2007-08 season.

### Stadiums and Locations

| Club | Stadium | Capacity |
| Beitar Jerusalem | Teddy Stadium | 21,600 |
| Bnei Yehuda | Bloomfield Stadium | 15,700 |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | Bloomfield Stadium | 15,700 |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | Bloomfield Stadium | 15,700 |
| Maccabi Haifa | Kiryat Eliezer Stadium | 14,002 |
| Hakoah Ramat Gan | Winter Stadium | 08,000 |
| Maccabi Netanya | Sar-Tov Stadium | 07,500 |
| F.C. Ashdod | Yud-Alef Stadium | 07,800 |
| Hapoel Petah Tikva | Petah Tikva Municipal Stadium | 06,800 |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | Petah Tikva Municipal Stadium | 06,800 |
| Ironi Kiryat Shmona | Kiryat Shmona Municipal Stadium | 05,300 |
| Bnei Sakhnin | Doha Stadium | 05,000 |
| Beitar Jerusalem | Bnei Yehuda Hapoel Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hakoah Ramat Gan |
| Teddy Stadium | Bloomfield Stadium | Winter Stadium |
| Maccabi Netanya | Maccabi Haifa | Hapoel Petah Tikva Maccabi Petah Tikva |
| Sar-Tov Stadium | Kiryat Eliezer Stadium | Petah Tikva Municipal Stadium |
| F.C. Ashdod | Bnei Sakhnin | Ironi Kiryat Shmona |
| Yud-Alef Stadium | Doha Stadium | Kiryat Shmona Stadium |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona | Ran Ben Shimon | End of contract | 1 June 2008 | Pre-season | Michele Dayan | 1 June 2008 |
| Maccabi Haifa | Ronny Levy | End of contract | 1 June 2008 | Pre-season | Elisha Levi | 1 June 2008 |
| Maccabi Netanya | Reuven Atar | End of contract | 1 June 2008 | Pre-season | Lothar Matthäus | 1 June 2008 |
| Bnei Sakhnin | Elisha Levy | End of contract | 1 June 2008 | Pre-season | Freddy David | 1 June 2008 |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | Nir Levin | End of contract | 1 June 2008 | Pre-season | Ran Ben Shimon | 1 June 2008 |
| Bnei Yehuda | Hezi Shirazi | End of contract | 1 June 2008 | Pre-season | Freddy David | 12 June 2008 |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | Nitzan Shirazi | Resign | 21 August 2008 | Pre-season | Guy Azouri | 21 August 2008 |
| Beitar Jerusalem | Itzhak Shum | Sacked | 3 September 2008 | 12th | Reuven Atar | 3 September 2008 |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | Ran Ben Shimon | Sacked | 2 November 2008 | 7th | Avi Nimni | 2 November 2008 |
| Bnei Sakhnin | Freddy David | Resign | 9 November 2008 | 12th | Eyal Lahman | 9 November 2008 |
| Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona | Michele Dayan | Sacked | 30 November 2008 | 10th | Eli Cohen | 11 December 2008 |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | Guy Azouri | Resign | 22 December 2008 | 6th | Ronny Levy | 22 December 2008 |
| Bnei Sakhnin | Eyal Lahman | Sacked | 8 March 2009 | 12th | Eran Kulik | 8 March 2009 |
| Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona | Eli Cohen | Sacked | 11 April 2009 | 12th | Ran Ben Shimon | 14 April 2009 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Maccabi Haifa (C) | 33 | 19 | 10 | 4 | 49 | 24 | +25 | 67 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 33 | 17 | 10 | 6 | 49 | 28 | +21 | 61 | Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round |
| 3 | Beitar Jerusalem | 33 | 16 | 12 | 5 | 47 | 28 | +19 | 57 | |
| 4 | Maccabi Netanya | 33 | 14 | 12 | 7 | 40 | 32 | +8 | 54 | Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round |
| 5 | Bnei Yehuda | 33 | 14 | 7 | 12 | 38 | 31 | +7 | 49 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 6 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 33 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 36 | 35 | +1 | 44 | |
| 7 | Maccabi Petah Tikva | 33 | 8 | 15 | 10 | 26 | 33 | −7 | 39 | |
| 8 | F.C. Ironi Ashdod | 33 | 10 | 8 | 15 | 41 | 48 | −7 | 38 | |
| 9 | Bnei Sakhnin | 33 | 7 | 12 | 14 | 26 | 41 | −15 | 33 | |
| 10 | Hapoel Petah Tikva | 33 | 8 | 7 | 18 | 30 | 42 | −12 | 31 | |
| 11 | Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan (R) | 33 | 6 | 11 | 16 | 26 | 46 | −20 | 29 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs |
| 12 | Ironi Kiryat Shmona (R) | 33 | 6 | 9 | 18 | 24 | 44 | −20 | 27 | Relegation to Liga Leumit |
* ↑ Beitar Jerusalem did not obtain the license for competing in next year's European competitions because they failed to meet their commitments to UEFA. Since Beitar won the cup and the cup runners-up are league champions Maccabi Haifa, all Europa League spots were awarded to teams according to their league positions. Since Beitar also finished third in the league, Europa League spots were given to league runners-up Hapoel Tel Aviv, fourth-placed Maccabi Netanya and fifth-placed Bnei Yehuda.
* ↑ Beitar Jerusalem were deducted two points due to Beitar fans pitch invasion the previous year against Maccabi Herzliya and one point due to racist calls from Beitar fans.
* 1 2 Qualified because Beitar Jerusalem did not obtain the license for competing in next year's European competitions.

### Positions by round

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 |
| Maccabi Haifa | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | 4 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Beitar Jerusalem | 12 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Maccabi Netanya | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Bnei Yehuda | 10 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 |
| F.C. Ironi Ashdod | 11 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 |
| Bnei Sakhnin | 8 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 |
| Hapoel Petah Tikva | 7 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 |
| Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan | 3 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 11 |
| Ironi Kiryat Shmona | 9 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 12 |

## Results

The schedule consisted of three rounds. During first two rounds, each team played each other once home and away for a total of 22 matches. The pairings of the third round were then set according to the standings after first two rounds, giving every team a third game against each opponent for a total of 33 games per team.

### First and second round

| Home \ Away | BEI | BnS | BnY | ASH | HAR | HPT | HTA | IKS | MHA | MNE | MPT | MTA |
| Beitar Jerusalem | — | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Bnei Sakhnin | 0–0 | — | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–3 |
| Bnei Yehuda | 0–3 | 2–0 | — | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 |
| F.C. Ironi Ashdod | 1–2 | 4–2 | 0–2 | — | 3–2 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan | 2–4 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | — | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–1 |
| Hapoel Petah Tikva | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | 0–2 | 3–0 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–2 | — | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Ironi Kiryat Shmona | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Maccabi Haifa | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | — | 2–3 | 3–1 | 3–2 |
| Maccabi Netanya | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | — | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | — | 0–0 |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | — |

### Third round

Key numbers for pairing determination (number marks position after 22 games):
Rounds :
| 23rd | 24th | 25th | 26th | 27th | 28th | 29th | 30th | 31st | 32nd | 33rd |
| 3 – 12 4 – 2 5 – 1 6 – 11 7 – 10 8 – 9 | 12 – 9 10 – 8 11 – 7 1 – 6 2 – 5 3 – 4 | 4 – 12 5 – 3 6 – 2 7 – 1 8 – 11 9 – 10 | 12 – 10 11 – 9 1 – 8 2 – 7 3 – 6 4 – 5 | 5 – 12 6 – 4 7 – 3 8 – 2 9 – 1 10 – 11 | 12 – 11 1 – 10 2 – 9 3 – 8 4 – 7 5 – 6 | 6 – 12 7 – 5 8 – 4 9 – 3 10 – 2 11 – 1 | 1 – 12 2 – 11 3 – 10 4 – 9 5 – 8 6 – 7 | 12 – 7 8 – 6 9 – 5 10 – 4 11 – 3 1 – 2 | 2 – 12 3 – 1 4 – 11 5 – 10 6 – 9 7 – 8 | 12 – 8 9 – 7 10 – 6 11 – 5 1 – 4 2 – 3 |
| Home \ Away | BEI | BnS | BnY | ASH | HAR | HPT | HTA | IKS | MHA | MNE | MPT | MTA |
| Beitar Jerusalem | — | 3–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 4–0 | — | 2–1 | — | — | — | — | 2–0 |
| Bnei Sakhnin | — | — | 3–1 | 3–2 | — | — | — | — | 0–0 | 0–0 | — | 0–3 |
| Bnei Yehuda | — | — | — | — | 1–0 | 2–1 | — | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | — |
| F.C. Ironi Ashdod | — | — | 0–3 | — | — | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | 0–3 | 0–0 | — | — |
| Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan | — | 1–1 | — | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | — | — | — | 1–1 |
| Hapoel Petah Tikva | 0–0 | 2–2 | — | — | — | — | 0–1 | — | — | — | 2–0 | 1–2 |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | — | — | — | — | 1–2 | — | 1–1 |
| Ironi Kiryat Shmona | 2–0 | 0–2 | — | — | — | 1–1 | 1–3 | — | — | — | 1–2 | — |
| Maccabi Haifa | 1–1 | — | — | — | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | — | — | 0–0 | — |
| Maccabi Netanya | 1–0 | — | — | — | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–3 | 0–2 | — | 1–2 | — |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | 0–2 | 0–0 | — | 0–0 | 0–2 | — | 1–2 | — | — | — | — | 0–3 |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | — | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | — | — | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | — |

## Relegation playoff

Hakoah Ramat Gan, as the 11th-placed team, faced the 6th-placed Liga Leumit team Maccabi Ahi Nazareth in a two-legged playoff. Hakoah Ramat Gan lost both games and were relegated to Liga Leumit.

## Season statistics
### Scoring

* First goal of the season: Yossi Shivhon for Maccabi Tel Aviv against Bnei Yehuda, 5th minute (30 August 2008)
* Last goal of the season: Lior Rafaelov for Maccabi Haifa against Beitar Jerusalem, 58th minute (1 June 2009)
* First own goal of the season: Nir Davidovich (Maccabi Haifa) for F.C. Ashdod, 57th minute (30 August 2008)
* Fastest goal in a match: 39 seconds – Thembinkosi Fanteni for Maccabi Haifa against Maccabi Tel Aviv (27 October 2008)
* Goal scored at the latest point in a match: 90+5 minutes – Barak Badash for Hakoah Ramat Gan against Bnei Yehuda (13 September 2008)
* Widest winning margin: 4 goals:
** Hapoel Tel Aviv 4–0 Beitar Jerusalem (9 February 2009)
** Beitar Jerusalem 4–0 Hakoah Ramat Gan (4 April 2009)
* Most goals in a match: 6 goals:
** Hakoah Ramat Gan 2–4 Beitar Jerusalem (20 September 2008)
** F.C. Ashdod 4–2 Bnei Sakhnin (8 November 2008)
** F.C. Ashdod 3–3 Maccabi Netanya (20 December 2008)

### Discipline

* First yellow card of the season: Tamir Kahlon for Bnei Yehuda against Maccabi Tel Aviv, 6th minute (30 August 2008)
* First red card of the season: Ronnie Gafney for Maccabi Haifa against F.C. Ashdod, 59th minute (30 August 2008)
* Most yellow cards in a match: 12 yellow cards – Beitar Jerusalem against Maccabi Haifa (28 September 2008)
* Most red cards in a match: 4 red cards – F.C. Ashdod against Ironi Kiryat Shmona (13 September 2008)
* Most cards in a match: 15 cards (12 yellow and 3 red) – Beitar Jerusalem against Maccabi Haifa (28 September 2008)

## Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Barak Yitzhaki | Beitar Jerusalem | 14 |
| 1 | Shimon Abuhatzira | Hapoel Petah Tikva | 14 |
| 1 | Eliran Atar | Bnei Yehuda | 14 |
| 4 | Samuel Yeboah | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 13 |
| 5 | Dimitar Makriev | F.C. Ashdod | 11 |
| 5 | Thembinkosi Fanteni | Maccabi Haifa | 11 |
| 7 | David Revivo | F.C. Ashdod | 10 |
| 7 | Pedro Galván | Bnei Yehuda | 10 |
| 9 | Maor Buzaglo | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 09 |
| 9 | Lior Rafaelov | Maccabi Haifa | 09 |
| Total | Total | Total | 432 |
| Average per game | Average per game | Average per game | 2.18 |