# 2001–02 Israeli Premier League

The 2001–02 Israeli Premier League season saw Maccabi Haifa win their second consecutive title. It took place from the first match on 25 August 2001 to the final match on 18 May 2002.
Two teams from Liga Leumit were promoted at the end of the previous season: Hapoel Be'er Sheva and Maccabi Kiryat Gat. The two teams relegated were Bnei Yehuda and Tzafririm Holon.

## Teams and Locations

Twelve teams took part in the 2001-02 Israeli Premier League season, including ten teams from the 2000-01 season, as well as two teams which were promoted from the 2000-01 Liga Leumit.
Hapoel Be'er Sheva were promoted as champions of the 2000-01 Liga Leumit. Maccabi Kiryat Gat were promoted as runners up. Hapoel Be'er Sheva returned to the top flight after an absence of four seasons while Maccabi Kiryat Gat made their debut in the top flight.
Bnei Yehuda and Tzafririm Holon were relegated after finishing in the bottom two places in the 2000-01 season.
| Club | Stadium | Capacity |
| Beitar Jerusalem | Teddy Stadium | 021,600 |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | Bloomfield Stadium | 015,700 |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | Bloomfield Stadium | 015,700 |
| Hapoel Haifa | Kiryat Eliezer Stadium | 014,002 |
| Maccabi Haifa | Kiryat Eliezer Stadium | 014,002 |
| Hapoel Be'er Sheva | Vasermil Stadium | 013,000 |
| F.C. Ashdod | Yud-Alef Stadium | 07,800 |
| Maccabi Kiryat Gat | Yud-Alef Stadium | 07,800 |
| Maccabi Netanya | Sar-Tov Stadium | 07,500 |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | Petah Tikva Municipal Stadium | 06,800 |
| Hapoel Petah Tikva | Petah Tikva Municipal Stadium | 06,800 |
| Ironi Rishon LeZion | Haberfeld Stadium | 06,000 |
^ ^ The club played their home games at a neutral venue because their own ground did not meet Premier League requirements.
| Beitar Jerusalem | Hapoel Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Be'er Sheva |
| Teddy Stadium | Bloomfield Stadium | Vasermil Stadium |
| Maccabi Haifa Hapoel Haifa | Maccabi Petah Tikva Hapoel Petah Tikva | F.C. Ashdod Maccabi Kiryat Gat |
| Kiryat Eliezer Stadium | Petah Tikva Municipal Stadium | Yud-Alef Stadium |
| Maccabi Netanya | Ironi Rishon LeZion |
| Sar-Tov Stadium | Haberfeld Stadium |

## Final table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Maccabi Haifa (C) | 33 | 22 | 9 | 2 | 72 | 32 | +40 | 75 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 33 | 20 | 7 | 6 | 55 | 32 | +23 | 67 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round |
| 3 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 33 | 15 | 12 | 6 | 43 | 24 | +19 | 57 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round |
| 4 | F.C. Ashdod | 33 | 14 | 7 | 12 | 47 | 52 | −5 | 49 | Qualification for the Intertoto Cup first round |
| 5 | Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 33 | 14 | 6 | 13 | 44 | 48 | −4 | 48 | |
| 6 | Hapoel Petah Tikva | 33 | 13 | 8 | 12 | 39 | 35 | +4 | 47 | |
| 7 | Maccabi Netanya | 33 | 11 | 7 | 15 | 41 | 44 | −3 | 40 | |
| 8 | Maccabi Petah Tikva | 33 | 8 | 12 | 13 | 36 | 47 | −11 | 36 | |
| 9 | Ironi Rishon LeZion | 33 | 10 | 5 | 18 | 39 | 53 | −14 | 35 | |
| 10 | Beitar Jerusalem | 33 | 7 | 12 | 14 | 39 | 49 | −10 | 33 | |
| 11 | Hapoel Haifa (R) | 33 | 7 | 9 | 17 | 35 | 50 | −15 | 30 | Relegation to Liga Leumit |
| 12 | Maccabi Kiryat Gat (R) | 33 | 7 | 6 | 20 | 34 | 58 | −24 | 27 | Relegation to Liga Leumit |
* ↑ Maccabi Tel Aviv won the Israeli State Cup.

## Results
### First and second round

| Home \ Away | BEI | ASH | HBS | HHA | HPT | HTA | IRZ | MHA | MKG | MNE | MPT | MTA |
| Beitar Jerusalem | — | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| F.C. Ashdod | 1–1 | — | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 3–3 | 3–1 | — | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–4 |
| Hapoel Haifa | 4–1 | 6–1 | 1–3 | — | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Hapoel Petah Tikva | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–2 | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 6–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | — | 3–1 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 |
| Ironi Rishon LeZion | 1–0 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | — | 1–3 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 2–1 |
| Maccabi Haifa | 2–1 | 0–0 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 4–1 | — | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Maccabi Kiryat Gat | 1–2 | 2–4 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–5 | — | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 |
| Maccabi Netanya | 4–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 4–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–4 |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | — | 0–4 |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | — |

### Third round

| Home \ Away | BEI | ASH | HBS | HHA | HPT | HTA | IRZ | MHA | MKG | MNE | MPT | MTA |
| Beitar Jerusalem | — | — | — | 3–0 | 0–1 | — | — | 1–1 | — | 2–1 | — | 0–0 |
| F.C. Ashdod | 1–0 | — | — | 4–0 | 0–1 | 4–2 | — | — | 2–1 | 0–3 | — | — |
| Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 3–3 | 1–3 | — | 1–0 | — | 2–2 | — | — | 3–1 | 1–0 | — | — |
| Hapoel Haifa | — | — | — | — | 0–1 | — | — | 0–2 | — | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| Hapoel Petah Tikva | — | — | 0–1 | — | — | — | 2–0 | 0–5 | 3–1 | — | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | 2–0 | — | — | 2–1 | 2–1 | — | — | — | 3–0 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 |
| Ironi Rishon LeZion | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Maccabi Haifa | — | 5–1 | 3–1 | — | — | 3–0 | 3–1 | — | 0–4 | — | 1–1 | — |
| Maccabi Kiryat Gat | 3–3 | — | — | 2–0 | — | — | 2–1 | — | — | 2–1 | 1–2 | — |
| Maccabi Netanya | — | — | — | — | 3–1 | — | 2–2 | 2–6 | — | — | 2–0 | 1–2 |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | 2–3 | 3–1 | 0–0 | — | — | 1–3 | 1–1 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | — | 2–1 | 4–0 | — | — | — | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | — | 1–0 | — |

## Top goal scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Kobi Refua | Maccabi Petah Tikva | 18 |
| 2 | Shay Holtzman | Ironi Rishon LeZion | 17 |
| 3 | Serghei Cleşcenco | Hapoel Tel-Aviv | 14 |
| 4 | Yakubu | Maccabi Haifa | 13 |
| 4 | Rodrigo Goldberg | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 13 |
| 4 | Avi Nimni | Maccabi Tel-Aviv | 13 |
| 7 | Assi Tubi | F.C. Ashdod | 12 |
| 8 | Manor Hassan | Beitar Jerusalem | 11 |
| 8 | Itzik Zohar | Beitar Jerusalem | 11 |
| 10 | Motti Kakoun | Hapoel Petah Tikva | 10 |