1955–56 Liga Alef

The 1955–56 Liga Alef season was the first in which Liga Alef was the second tier of Israeli football due to the formation of Liga Leumit, and was the first nationwide second tier season (replacing Liga Bet North and South regional divisions).

Liga Alef
Season1955-56
ChampionsHakoah Tel Aviv
Matches played132
Goals scored430 (3.26 per match)
← 1954-55
1956-57 →

Hakoah Tel Aviv won the league and qualified for the promotion play-offs against Maccabi Jaffa (10th at the 1955–56 Liga Leumit).

League matches were completed on 2 June 1956,[1] however, Hapoel Balfouria appealed against the results which were set in its matches against Hapoel Nahariya (a walkover loss of 0–3) and Hapoel Jerusalem (which was abandoned with a score of 4–0 to Hapoel Jerusalem),[2] as Balfouria could be spared from relegation with two wins in these matches. The first replayed match was played on 28 July 1956, and as Hapoel Balfouria lost 2–4 to Hapoel Nahariya,[3][4] Balfouria gave up its claims regarding the match against Hapoel Jerusalem, agreeing to set the score to 0–4 to Hapoel Jerusalem.

An 18th round match between Hapoel Nahariya and Beitar Jerusalem wasn't played due to misunderstanding between the teams regarding the time of the match,[5] and was left unplayed at the end of the season.[6]

Final table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Hakoah Tel Aviv 22 17 2 3 47 19 +28 36 Promotion play-offs
2 Hapoel Kiryat Haim 22 13 4 5 60 30 +30 30
3 Hapoel Jerusalem 22 9 7 6 38 33 +5 25
4 Hapoel Rehovot 22 8 7 7 28 29 −1 23
5 Hapoel Nahariya 21 7 8 6 40 36 +4 22[lower-alpha 1]
6 Hapoel Mahane Yehuda 22 7 6 9 38 33 +5 20
7 Hapoel Hadera 22 9 2 11 42 38 +4 20
8 Maccabi Ramat Gan 22 7 6 9 31 34 −3 20
9 Ahva Notzrit Haifa 22 9 2 11 31 40 −9 20 Relegation play-offs
10 Beitar Jerusalem 21 7 3 11 26 45 −19 17[lower-alpha 1]
11 Hapoel Ra'anana 22 6 4 12 20 49 −29 16 Relegated to Liga Bet
12 Hapoel Balfouria 22 5 3 14 29 44 −15 13
Source:
Notes:
  1. An 18th round match between Hapoel Nahariya and Beitar Jerusalem wasn't played due to misunderstanding between the teams regarding the time of the match,[7] and was left unplayed at the end of the season.[8]

Relegation playoff

Liga Alef winner, Hakoah Tel Aviv face Liga Leumit 10th-placed club, Maccabi Jaffa. The matches took place on June 10 and 17, 1956.

Maccabi Jaffa3–1Hakoah Tel Aviv
B. Cohen 32', 53'
Kalev 72'		 Davar 74' Ashkenazi
Attendance: 5000
Referee: Reuven Frizner
Hakoah Tel Aviv0–1Maccabi Jaffa
Davar 18' Ghougasian
Attendance: 4000
Referee: Aharon Werner

Maccabi Jaffa won 4–1 on aggregate and remained in Liga Leumit. Hakoah Tel Aviv remained in Liga Alef.

Relegation play-offs

A promotion-relegation play-off between the 9th and 10th placed teams in Liga Alef, Ahva Notzrit Haifa and Beitar Jerusalem, and the winners of the regional divisions of Liga Bet, Maccabi Sha'arayim and Maccabi Hadera. Each team played the other three once.

17 August 1956 Ahva Notzrit Haifa 0–3 Maccabi Hadera Kfar Saba
Yehuda 3' report (p. 6) (in Hebrew) 50' Karni
70' Gvirzman		 Stadium: Hapoel Ground
Attendance: 800
Referee: Sulami
17 August 1956 Beitar Jerusalem 1–0 Maccabi Sha'arayim Tel Aviv
Zion 88' report (p. 6) (in Hebrew) Stadium: Hatikva Neighborhood Stadium
Attendance: 1,500
Referee: Palman
25 August 1956 Ahva Notzrit Haifa 0–3 Beitar Jerusalem Kfar Saba
report (p. 6) (in Hebrew) 73', 87' Hasson
83' Zion		 Stadium: Hapoel Ground
Attendance: 1,000
Referee: Palman
25 August 1956 Maccabi Hadera 1–3 Maccabi Sha'arayim Tel Aviv
Gvirzman 54' report (p. 6) (in Hebrew) 34' Tzuman
46' Gamilel
61' Madhala		 Stadium: Hatikva Neighborhood Stadium
Attendance: 1,500
Referee: Sulami
1 September 1956 Beitar Jerusalem 4–2 Maccabi Hadera Tel Aviv
Ashkenazi 37', 48', 52'
Hasson 42'		 report (p. 6) (in Hebrew) 44' Cohen
84' Gvirzman		 Stadium: Maccabi Jaffa Ground
Attendance: 500
Referee: Sulami
1 September 1956 Maccabi Sha'arayim 1–1 Ahva Notzrit Haifa Tel Aviv
Rokvan 3' report (p. 6) (in Hebrew) 5' Y. Salim Stadium: Hatikva Neighborhood Stadium
Attendance: 1,500
Referee: Palman

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Beitar Jerusalem 3 3 0 0 8 2 +6 6 Liga Alef
2 Maccabi Sha'arayim 3 1 1 1 4 3 +1 3
3 Maccabi Hadera 3 1 0 2 5 8 −3 2 Liga Bet
4 Ahva Notzrit Haifa 3 0 1 2 2 6 −4 1
Source:

Notes

1.^ Abandoned at the 70th minute with the score of 2–1 to Maccabi Hadera as Ahva Notzrit Haifa players protested awarding Hadera's second goal, which they claimed was stopped by the goalkeeper before the goal line.

References
  1. Hapoel Balfouria and Ra'anana to Liga Bet Davar, 3 June 1956, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  2. Hapoel Balfouria's Appeal Given Ma'ariv, 17 June 1956, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  3. Replay Match in Liga Alef: Hapoel Nahariya – Hapoel Balfouria 4:2 (1:1) Davar, 29 July 1956, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  4. The Trick That Didn't Work… Herut, 29 July 1956, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  5. Hapoel J-m – Hapoel Balfouria 4:0 Davar, 15 April 1956, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  6. Liga Alef Justified Its Existence Herut, 10 June 1956, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  7. Hapoel J-m – Hapoel Balfouria 4:0 Davar, 15 April 1956, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  8. Liga Alef Justified Its Existence Herut, 10 June 1956, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
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