# 2008–09 Liga Artzit

The 2008–09 Liga Artzit season started on 5 September 2008 and ended on 29 May 2009.
Two teams from Liga Alef were promoted at the end of the previous season: Hapoel Umm al-Fahm and Maccabi Ironi Bat Yam along with two teams relegated from Liga Leumit: Hapoel Nazareth Illit and Hapoel Rishon LeZion. The two teams relegated to Liga Alef were Hapoel Kfar Shalem and Maccabi HaShikma/Ramat Hen.
It was scheduled to be the last season before the league closing, as the top two divisions are both expanded to 16 clubs. As a result of the restructuring, the top seven clubs were promoted to Liga Leumit, whilst the eight-placed club played in a play-off against the 11th-placed club in Liga Leumit for a place in that division. The losers of that match and the bottom four clubs in Liga Artzit were relegated to Liga Alef, which has regained its status as the third tier of Israeli football.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Sektzia Nes Tziona (C, P) | 33 | 19 | 10 | 4 | 62 | 25 | +37 | 67 | Promotion to Liga Leumit |
| 2 | Hapoel Ashkelon (P) | 33 | 18 | 9 | 6 | 46 | 24 | +22 | 63 | Promotion to Liga Leumit |
| 3 | Hapoel Marmorek (P) | 33 | 17 | 9 | 7 | 60 | 28 | +32 | 60 | Promotion to Liga Leumit |
| 4 | Hapoel Rishon LeZion (P) | 33 | 16 | 8 | 9 | 58 | 33 | +25 | 56 | Promotion to Liga Leumit |
| 5 | Ironi Bat Yam (P) | 33 | 16 | 7 | 10 | 42 | 31 | +11 | 55 | Promotion to Liga Leumit |
| 6 | Beitar Shimshon Tel Aviv (P) | 33 | 15 | 8 | 10 | 44 | 34 | +10 | 53 | Promotion to Liga Leumit |
| 7 | Hapoel Nazareth Illit (P) | 33 | 14 | 7 | 12 | 37 | 25 | +12 | 49 | Promotion to Liga Leumit |
| 8 | Maccabi Kafr Kanna (R) | 33 | 12 | 8 | 13 | 40 | 42 | −2 | 44 | Qualification for promotion play-offs |
| 9 | Hapoel Bnei Tamra (R) | 33 | 8 | 9 | 16 | 41 | 45 | −4 | 33 | Relegation to Liga Alef |
| 10 | Hapoel Umm al-Fahm (R) | 33 | 7 | 10 | 16 | 22 | 59 | −37 | 30 | Relegation to Liga Alef |
| 11 | Hapoel Bnei Jadeidi (R) | 33 | 5 | 5 | 23 | 25 | 60 | −35 | 20 | Relegation to Liga Alef |
| 12 | Maccabi Ironi Tirat HaCarmel (R) | 33 | 3 | 6 | 24 | 30 | 101 | −71 | 15 | Relegation to Liga Alef |
* ↑ Hapoel Umm al-Fahm were deducted 1 point due to contravention in the budgets control.

### 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 |
| Sektzia Nes Tziona | 4 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Hapoel Ashkelon | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Hapoel Marmorek | 2 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Hapoel Rishon LeZion | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Ironi Bat Yam | 11 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| Beitar Shimshon Tel Aviv | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| Hapoel Nazareth Illit | 9 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Maccabi Kafr Kanna | 1 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Hapoel Bnei Tamra | 5 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Hapoel Umm al-Fahm | 12 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Hapoel Bnei Jadeidi | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| Maccabi Ironi Tirat HaCarmel | 6 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 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 | BTA | HBT | HAS | HBJ | HNI | HMK | HRL | HUF | IBY | MKK | MTC | SNT |
| Beitar Shimshon Tel Aviv | | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 0–2 |
| Hapoel Bnei Tamra | 1–1 | | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 |
| Hapoel Ashkelon | 2–1 | 1–0 | | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 |
| Hapoel Bnei Jadeidi | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 0–3 |
| Hapoel Nazareth Illit | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 5–0 | 1–2 |
| Hapoel Marmorek | 2–0 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 1–0 | | 2–1 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–3 |
| Hapoel Rishon LeZion | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | | 2–2 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 6–1 | 3–0 |
| Hapoel Umm al-Fahm | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 |
| Ironi Bat Yam | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | | 0–0 | 6–0 | 1–3 |
| Maccabi Kafr Kanna | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 3–1 | 3–0 |
| Maccabi Ironi Tirat HaCarmel | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 1–4 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 3–1 | | 0–2 |
| Sektzia Nes Tziona | 0–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 5–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | |

### 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 | BTA | HBT | HAS | HBJ | HNI | HMK | HRL | HUF | IBY | MKK | MTC | SNT |
| Beitar Shimshon Tel Aviv | | 3–0 | | 6–1 | | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–2 | | | | 1–4 |
| Hapoel Bnei Tamra | | | 0–1 | | 1–1 | 2–4 | | | | 4–1 | 7–0 | |
| Hapoel Ashkelon | 0–1 | | | 2–1 | | | 3–1 | | 0–0 | 1–2 | 5–1 | |
| Hapoel Bnei Jadeidi | | 1–0 | | | | | | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–3 | |
| Hapoel Nazareth Illit | 0–0 | | 0–1 | 0–1 | | | | | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | |
| Hapoel Marmorek | | | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | | | | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | |
| Hapoel Rishon LeZion | | 3–0 | | 0–3 | 3–0 | 0–2 | | 5–0 | | | | 0–4 |
| Hapoel Umm al-Fahm | | 1–0 | 1–3 | | 0–6 | 0–8 | | | | | 6–0 | |
| Ironi Bat Yam | 1–1 | 3–0 | | | | | 1–3 | 1–0 | | | | 1–1 |
| Maccabi Kafr Kanna | 4–1 | | | | | | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | | | 0–1 |
| Maccabi Ironi Tirat HaCarmel | 5–3 | | | | | | 1–5 | | 0–3 | 0–4 | | 0–3 |
| Sektzia Nes Tziona | | 3–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | | 7–0 | | | | |
* ↑ Hapoel Umm al-Fahm received a technical loss of 2-0 to Beitar/Shimshon Tel Aviv because only six of their players showed up for the game.
* ↑ Hapoel Umm al-Fahm showed up for the game with eight players, the game was played until the referee stopped the game in the 30th minute after Hapoel Rishon LeZion was leading 5–0.

## Promotion playoff

Maccabi Kafr Kanna as the 8th-placed team faced the 11th-placed Liga Leumit team Ironi Ramat HaSharon for a two-legged playoff, Maccabi Kafr Kanna lost both games and were relegated to Liga Alef.

## Season statistics
### Scoring

* First goal of the season: Wajdi Abu Yones for Bnei Tamra against Maccabi Tirat HaCarmel, 2nd minute (5 September 2008)
* Widest winning margin: 8 goals: Hapoel Umm al-Fahm 0–8 Hapoel Marmorek (29 May 2009)
* Most goals in a match: 8 goals: Hapoel Umm al-Fahm 0–8 Hapoel Marmorek (29 May 2009)

### Discipline

* First yellow card of the season: Roshdi Soph for Bnei Tamra against Maccabi Tirat HaCarmel, 13th minute (5 September 2008)
* First red card of the season: Moshe Ben Haim for Ironi Bat Yam against Hapoel Rishon LeZion, 73rd minute (29 August 2008)

## Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Yosef Asayag | Sektzia Nes Tziona | 15 |
| 2 | Shay Abuksis | Sektzia Nes Tziona | 14 |
| 3 | Ofir Halwani | Hapoel Umm al-Fahm / Beitar Shimshon Tel Aviv | 11 |
| 3 | Nissim Ben David | Hapoel Ashkelon | 11 |
| 3 | Bryan Man | Hapoel Ashkelon | 11 |
| 6 | Mati Avraham | Ironi Bat Yam | 10 |
| 6 | Wajdi Abu Yones | Bnei Tamra | 10 |
| 6 | Ofer Shitrit | Hapoel Rishon LeZion | 10 |
| 6 | Shlomi Tolado | Beitar Shimshon Tel Aviv | 10 |
| 10 | Enon Barda | Hapoel Ashkelon | 09 |
| 10 | Mordechai Kol Tuv | Hapoel Nazareth Illit | 09 |
| Total | Total | Total | 505 |
| Average per game | Average per game | Average per game | 2.55 |