2015–16 Israeli Premier League

The 2015–16 Israeli Premier League was the seventeenth season since its introduction in 1999 and the 74th season of top-tier football in Israel. It began on 22 August 2015 and ended in May 2016. Hapoel Be'er Sheva became champion after 40 years without winning a main national competition, interrupting the sequence of three consecutive titles of Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Israeli Premier League
Dates22 August 2015 – 21 May 2016
ChampionsHapoel Be'er Sheva (3rd title)
RelegatedHapoel Acre
Maccabi Netanya
Champions LeagueHapoel Be'er Sheva
Europa LeagueMaccabi Tel Aviv
Beitar Jerusalem
Maccabi Haifa
Top goalscorerEran Zahavi (35 goals)[1]
Biggest home winMaccabi Tel Aviv 6–0 Maccabi Haifa
Biggest away winHapoel Tel Aviv 0-4 Bnei Sakhnin
Highest scoringHapoel Be'er Sheva 5-2 Maccabi Petah Tikva
Average attendance6,953 [2]

Teams edit

A total of fourteen teams were competing in the league, including twelve sides from the 2014–15 season and two promoted teams from the 2014–15 Liga Leumit.

Hapoel Petah Tikva and F.C. Ashdod were relegated to the 2015–16 Liga Leumit after finishing the 2014–15 Israeli Premier League in the bottom two places.

Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv and Hapoel Kfar Saba were promoted after finishing the 2014–15 Liga Leumit in the top two places.

Stadia and locations edit

Team Location Stadium Capacity
Beitar Jerusalem Jerusalem Teddy Stadium 31,733
Bnei Sakhnin Sakhnin Doha Stadium 8,500
Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv Bloomfield Stadium 14,413
Hapoel Acre Acre Acre Stadium 5,000
Hapoel Be'er Sheva Be'er Sheva Turner Stadium 16,126
Hapoel Haifa Haifa Sammy Ofer Stadium 30,942
Hapoel Kfar Saba Kfar Saba Levita Stadium 5,800
Hapoel Ra'anana Ra'anana Netanya Stadium, Netanya 13,610
Hapoel Tel Aviv Tel Aviv Bloomfield Stadium 14,413
Ironi Kiryat Shmona Kiryat Shmona Kiryat Shmona Stadium 5,300
Maccabi Haifa Haifa Sammy Ofer Stadium 30,942
Maccabi Netanya Netanya Netanya Stadium 13,610
Maccabi Petah Tikva Petah Tikva HaMoshava Stadium 11,500
Maccabi Tel Aviv Tel Aviv Bloomfield Stadium 14,413
Bloomfield Stadium Netanya Stadium Sammy Ofer Stadium
Bnei Yehuda
Hapoel Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Hapoel Ra'anana
Maccabi Netanya
Hapoel Haifa
Maccabi Haifa
     
Acre Stadium Doha Stadium HaMoshava Stadium
Hapoel Acre Bnei Sakhnin Maccabi Petah Tikva
 
 
 
Kiryat Shmona Stadium Levita Stadium Teddy Stadium Turner Stadium
Ironi Kiryat Shmona Hapoel Kfar Saba Beitar Jerusalem Hapoel Be'er Sheva
       

Personnel and sponsorship edit

Team President Manager Captain Kitmaker Shirt sponsor
Beitar Jerusalem   Eli Tabib   Slobodan Drapić   Dušan Matović Puma itrader
Bnei Sakhnin   Mohammed Abu Yunes   Yossi Abukasis   Khaled Khalaila Umbro Toyga
Bnei Yehuda   Moshe Damaio   Yossi Mizrahi   Assi Baldout Macron Azrieli Group
Hapoel Acre   Yehuda Barshishat   Shlomi Dora   Moshe Mishaelof Macron Azrieli Group
Hapoel Be'er Sheva   Alona Barkat   Barak Bakhar   Elyaniv Barda Kappa Mobli
Hapoel Kfar Saba   Stav Shaham   Sharon Mimer   Hen Dilmoni Lotto
Hapoel Haifa   Yoav Katz   Meir Ben Margi   Oshri Roash Diadora Hatama
Hapoel Ra'anana   Asher Alon   Haim Silvas   Snir Shuker Umbro ME Tel Aviv
Hapoel Tel Aviv   The Red Fans   Eli Guttman   Ariel Harush Puma Fujicom
Ironi Kiryat Shmona   Izzy Sheratzky   Shlomi Dora   Oz Raly Puma Ituran
Maccabi Haifa   Ya'akov Shahar   Ronny Levy   Yossi Benayoun Nike Honda
Maccabi Netanya   Eli Segev   Meni Koretski   Eran Levy Joma Burgus Burger Bar
Maccabi Petah Tikva   Amos Luzon   Ran Ben Shimon   Naor Peser Macron Panorama North
Maccabi Tel Aviv   Mitchell Goldhar   Peter Bosz   Eran Zahavi Adidas

Foreign players edit

The number of foreign players is restricted to five per team.[citation needed]

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5
Beitar Jerusalem   Nikita Rukavytsya   Claudemir   Arsenio Valpoort   Dušan Matović   Jesús Rueda
Bnei Sakhnin   Eldar Hasanović   Georginho   Diogo Kachuba   Wanderson   Abraham Paz
Bnei Yehuda   Pedro Galván   Antonio Mršić   Thierry Doubai   Dele Aiyenugba   Jude Nworuh
Hapoel Acre   Dylan Seys   Boris Kopitović   Samuel Gilmore   Lanry Kahinda   Branislav Jovanović
Hapoel Be'er Sheva   William Soares   Anthony Nwakaeme   John Ogu   Ovidiu Hoban
Hapoel Haifa   Dmitriy Baga   Marijan Antolovic   Tadas Kijanskas   Žarko Korać   Bruno Pinheiro
Hapoel Kfar Saba   Mavis Tchibota   Dino Škvorc   Yiannis Papadopoulos   Hugo López
Hapoel Ra'anana   Dejan Radonjić   Mamadou Thiam   Rene Mihelič   Evans Kangwa   Emmanuel Mbola
Hapoel Tel Aviv   Cauê   Hamza Barry   Loukas Vyntra   Nemanja Nikolić   Claudiu Bumba
Ironi Kiryat Shmona   Luis Gutiérrez   Bruno   Kassio   Rokas Stanulevičius   Austin Amutu
Maccabi Haifa   Romário   Glynor Plet   Ludovic Obraniak   Vladimir Stojković   Marc Valiente
Maccabi Netanya   Issoumaila Lingane   Nemanja Petrović   Milan Smiljanić   Andriy Mischenko
Maccabi Petah Tikva   Allyson   Joachim Mununga   Xavier Tomas   Aitor Monroy   Rade Prica
Maccabi Tel Aviv   Haris Medunjanin   Nosa Igiebor   Orlando Sá   Predrag Rajković   Carlos García

In bold: Players that have been capped for their national team.

Managerial changes edit

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Ironi Kiryat Shmona   Barak Bakhar Sacked 14 May 2015 Pre-season   Salah Hasarma 30 May 2015
Hapoel Be'er Sheva   Elisha Levy End of contract 30 May 2015   Barak Bakhar 30 May 2015
Maccabi Haifa   Marco Balbul End of contract 30 May 2015   Ronny Levy 30 May 2015
Hapoel Tel Aviv   Eli Cohen End of contract 30 May 2015   César Mendiondo 30 May 2015
Maccabi Tel Aviv   Pako Ayestarán End of contract 30 May 2015   Slaviša Jokanović 15 June 2015
Maccabi Netanya   Ronny Levy End of contract 30 May 2015   Shlomi Dora 21 June 2015
Beitar Jerusalem   Guy Levy End of contract 7 June 2015   Slobodan Drapić 7 June 2015
Hapoel Acre   Shlomi Dora Sacked 21 June 2015   Yaron Hochenboim 28 June 2015
Hapoel Tel Aviv   César Mendiondo Sacked 3 September 2015 12th   Walid Badir (caretaker) 3 September 2015
Maccabi Netanya   Shlomi Dora Sacked 2 November 2015 14th   Reuven Atar 6 November 2015
Hapoel Tel Aviv   Walid Badir (caretaker) End of caretaker time 5 November 2015 13th   Guy Levy 5 November 2015
Bnei Yehuda   Yossi Abukasis Sacked 8 December 2015 9th   Yossi Mizrahi 9 December 2015
Bnei Sakhnin   Eli Cohen Sacked 18 December 2015 12th   Yossi Abukasis 19 December 2015
Hapoel Haifa   Tal Banin Sacked 21 December 2015 10th   Meir Ben Margi 21 December 2015
Maccabi Tel Aviv   Slaviša Jokanović Signed By Fulham 27 December 2015 2nd   Javier Pereira Megía (caretaker) 27 December 2015
Hapoel Kfar Saba   Felix Naim Sacked 3 January 2016 13th   Sharon Mimer 11 January 2016
Maccabi Tel Aviv   Javier Pereira Megía (caretaker) End of caretaker time 4 January 2016 2nd   Peter Bosz 4 January 2016
Maccabi Netanya   Reuven Atar Sacked 10 January 2016 14th   Menahem Koretski 20 January 2016
Hapoel Tel Aviv   Guy Levi Sacked 19 January 2016 11th   Eli Guttman 19 January 2016
Ironi Kiryat Shmona   Salah Hasarma Sacked 13 February 2016 10th   Shlomi Dora 14 February 2016

Regular season edit

Regular season table edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Hapoel Be'er Sheva 26 20 4 2 48 17 +31 64 Qualification for the championship round
2 Maccabi Tel Aviv 26 19 4 3 59 20 +39 61
3 Beitar Jerusalem 26 15 6 5 38 19 +19 51
4 Maccabi Haifa 26 10 8 8 33 25 +8 38
5 Bnei Sakhnin 26 10 6 10 32 25 +7 36
6 Hapoel Ra'anana 26 10 6 10 29 31 −2 36
7 Bnei Yehuda 26 9 6 11 27 35 −8 33 Qualification for the relegation round
8 Maccabi Petah Tikva 26 8 6 12 23 30 −7 30
9 Hapoel Kfar Saba 26 7 8 11 19 31 −12 29
10 Hapoel Acre 26 8 5 13 18 36 −18 29
11 Ironi Kiryat Shmona 26 6 10 10 25 31 −6 28
12 Hapoel Tel Aviv 26 6 9 11 17 31 −14 27
13 Hapoel Haifa 26 5 10 11 27 37 −10 25
14 Maccabi Netanya 26 1 8 17 10 37 −27 11
Source: Israel Football Association, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Matches won; 4) Goals scored; 5) Head-to-head points; 6) Head-to-head goal difference; 7) Head-to-head goals scored; 8) Play-off.[3]


Regular season results edit

Home \ Away BEI BnS BnY HAC HBS HHA HKS HRA HTA IKS MHA MNE MPT MTA
Beitar Jerusalem 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–3 1–1 3–1 1–0 0–0 2–0 3–0 1–0 2–0 2–2
Bnei Sakhnin 1–3 2–2 2–0 0–1 0–0 2–0 2–3 1–0 3–0 1–2 0–0 1–0 0–2
Bnei Yehuda 2–1 0–2 0–2 0–0 1–0 2–1 1–3 1–3 2–2 0–0 1–2 1–1 0–1
Hapoel Acre 1–3 2–2 0–1 1–0 0–1 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 0–3
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2–1 2–2 2–0 3–0 1–0 3–0 2–0 3–1 2–1 0–0 2–0 5–2 0–1
Hapoel Haifa 1–1 2–0 0–1 3–1 1–2 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–4 2–4 2–0 0–3 0–3
Hapoel Kfar Saba 1–0 1–0 1–2 0–1 1–2 2–2 0–0 1–1 0–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 0–0
Hapoel Ra'anana 0–2 1–0 0–2 3–1 2–3 2–2 2–2 0–1 1–1 0–2 1–0 1–0 0–2
Hapoel Tel Aviv 0–0 0–4 3–1 0–2 0–1 0–0 0–1 2–1 0–3 0–3 1–1 0–1 0–1
Ironi Kiryat Shmona 0–2 0–2 1–1 0–0 1–3 1–1 0–2 0–0 3–0 2–0 3–0 0–1 1–1
Maccabi Haifa 0–2 0–0 0–3 4–0 1–1 3–2 1–1 2–0 0–0 0–1 1–0 4–0 0–2
Maccabi Netanya 0–0 0–2 0–2 0–0 0–2 1–2 0–1 1–3 1–1 1–1 0–3 0–0 1–3
Maccabi Petah Tikva 2–0 0–1 3–1 1–2 0–1 1–1 2–0 0–2 1–1 0–0 1–1 1–0 1–2
Maccabi Tel Aviv 2–4 3–2 4–0 5–0 1–2 2–1 5–0 1–2 1–1 5–0 2–1 2–1 3–1
Source: Israel Football Association
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-offs edit

Championship round edit

Key numbers for pairing determination (number marks position after 26 games):[4]

Rounds
27th 28th 29th 30th 31st 32nd 33rd 34th 35th 36th
1 – 6
2 – 5
3 – 4
1 – 2
5 – 3
6 – 4
2 – 6
3 – 1
4 – 5
1 – 4
2 – 3
6 – 5
3 – 6
4 – 2
5 – 1
6 – 1
5 – 2
4 – 3
2 – 1
3 – 5
4 – 6
6 – 2
1 – 3
5 – 4
3 – 2
4 – 1
5 – 6
6 – 3
2 – 4
1 – 5

Championship round table edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Hapoel Be'er Sheva (C) 36 25 8 3 66 24 +42 83 Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
2 Maccabi Tel Aviv 36 24 9 3 76 24 +52 81 Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round
3 Beitar Jerusalem[a] 36 18 6 12 46 37 +9 58
4 Maccabi Haifa 36 14 11 11 45 42 +3 53 Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round[b]
5 Bnei Sakhnin 36 13 9 14 46 40 +6 48
6 Hapoel Ra'anana 36 11 9 16 38 48 −10 42
Source: Israel Football Association, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Matches won; 4) Goals scored; 5) Head-to-head points; 6) Head-to-head goal difference; 7) Head-to-head goals scored; 8) Play-off.[6]
(C) Champions
Notes:
  1. ^ Beitar Jerusalem deducted two points because of racial slurs by their fans.[5]
  2. ^ Maccabi Haifa qualified for the Europa League second qualifying round by winning the 2015–16 Israel State Cup.


2015–16 Israeli Premier League champions


Hapoel Be'er Sheva
3rd title

Championship round results edit

Home \ Away BEI BnS HBS HRA MHA MTA
Beitar Jerusalem 0–3 0–2 1–0 3–2 0–2
Bnei Sakhnin 2–0 1–4 1–1 0–1 0–0
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2–0 3–1 0–0 1–1 1–1
Hapoel Ra'anana 1–2 2–3 1–4 3–0 1–1
Maccabi Haifa 1–0 3–3 2–1 2–0 0–0
Maccabi Tel Aviv 3–2 1–0 0–0 3–0 6–0
Source: Israel Football Association
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation round edit

Key numbers for pairing determination (number marks position after 26 games):[4]

Rounds
27th 28th 29th 30th 31st 32nd 33rd
7 – 11
8 – 13
9 – 12
10 – 14
7 – 8
13 – 9
12 – 10
11 – 14
8 – 11
9 – 7
10 – 13
14 – 12
8 – 9
7 – 10
13 – 14
11 – 12
9 – 11
10 – 8
14 – 7
12 – 13
9 – 10
8 – 14
7 – 12
11 – 13
10 – 11
14 – 9
12 – 8
13 – 7

Relegation round table edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Relegation
7 Maccabi Petah Tikva 33 13 7 13 34 35 −1 46
8 Bnei Yehuda 33 13 7 13 37 43 −6 46
9 Hapoel Tel Aviv 33 10 12 11 30 37 −7 42
10 Hapoel Kfar Saba 33 9 11 13 23 37 −14 38
11 Ironi Kiryat Shmona 33 8 12 13 32 39 −7 36
12 Hapoel Haifa 33 7 13 13 38 48 −10 34
13 Hapoel Acre (R) 33 9 7 17 27 48 −21 34 Relegation to Liga Leumit
14 Maccabi Netanya (R) 33 1 9 23 14 50 −36 12
Source: Israel Football Association, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Matches won; 4) Goals scored; 5) Head-to-head points; 6) Head-to-head goal difference; 7) Head-to-head goals scored; 8) Play-off.[7]
(R) Relegated


Relegation round results edit

Home \ Away BnY HAC HHA HKS HTA IKS MNE MPT
Bnei Yehuda 3–1 2–4 1–0 1–2
Hapoel Acre 2–3 1–1 4–1 1–3
Hapoel Haifa 1–1 0–0 2–1
Hapoel Kfar Saba 0–1 0–0 0–3 2–1
Hapoel Tel Aviv 1–0 3–3 0–0
Ironi Kiryat Shmona 2–1 1–1 2–0
Maccabi Netanya 0–1 1–1 0–1
Maccabi Petah Tikva 2–1 0–1 2–0 2–1
Source: Israel Football Association
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Positions by round edit

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. Note that Championship round teams will play in 36 matchdays, and the Relegation round teams will compete in only 33 matches.

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 34 35 36
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2 7 3 2 7 3 2 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1
Maccabi Tel Aviv 3 2 2 4 2 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2
Beitar Jerusalem 8 10 9 12 10 5 7 5 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Maccabi Haifa 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 12 11 13 11 8 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 6 5 5 5 6 6 4 4 6 6 5 5 5 5 4 4 4
Bnei Sakhnin 10 13 13 9 6 9 6 7 8 9 10 7 7 10 12 13 12 11 12 10 10 9 7 5 5 5 6 5 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5
Hapoel Ra'anana 7 3 6 3 4 8 5 3 5 5 4 5 5 5 4 4 5 5 6 4 4 4 4 4 4 6 5 4 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
Maccabi Petah Tikva 5 1 1 1 1 2 4 6 6 7 5 4 4 4 5 5 4 4 4 5 6 7 9 8 8 8 8 7 7 8 8 7 7
Bnei Yehuda 1 6 10 5 11 12 8 8 7 6 7 9 9 7 7 7 8 10 8 8 8 6 6 7 7 7 7 8 8 7 7 8 8
Hapoel Tel Aviv 9 12 12 8 5 6 9 10 13 10 12 10 10 8 11 11 11 9 11 12 12 12 11 11 12 12 10 9 9 9 9 9 9
Hapoel Kfar Saba 6 4 7 10 12 13 11 9 12 12 8 11 11 11 9 12 13 12 10 9 9 10 8 9 9 9 11 12 12 10 10 10 10
Ironi Kiryat Shmona 13 5 5 7 9 4 3 4 4 4 6 6 8 9 8 8 7 7 7 7 7 8 10 10 10 10 12 11 11 11 12 11 11
Hapoel Haifa 4 9 8 11 8 10 12 13 9 11 13 13 13 12 10 9 9 8 9 11 11 11 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 12 11 12 12
Hapoel Acre 11 8 4 6 3 7 10 11 10 8 9 12 12 13 13 10 10 13 13 13 13 13 12 12 11 11 9 10 10 13 13 13 13
Maccabi Netanya 12 11 11 13 13 11 13 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14

Source: Israel Football Association

2016–17 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round
2016–17 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round
Relegation to 2016–17 Liga Leumit

Season statistics edit

Top scorers edit

Rank Scorer Club Goals
1   Eran Zahavi Maccabi Tel Aviv 35
2   Nikita Rukavytsya Beitar Jerusalem 14
  Shlomi Azulay Bnei Sakhnin
  Elyaniv Barda Hapoel Be'er Sheva
5   Evans Kangwa Hapoel Ra'anana 11
  Pedro Joaquín Galván Bnei Yehuda
  Anthony Nwakaeme Hapoel Be'er Sheva
  Mahran Lala Hapoel Haifa
9   Eliran Atar Maccabi Haifa 10
  Ofir Mizrahi Ironi Kiryat Shmona
  Tal Ben Haim Maccabi Tel Aviv

Source: Israel Football Association

Attendances edit

Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Maccabi Haifa 20,826 n/a
2 Hapoel Be'er Sheva 15,941 n/a
3 Maccabi Tel Aviv 11,915 n/a
4 Beitar Jerusalem 10,416 n/a
5 Hapoel Tel Aviv 9,375 n/a
6 Hapoel Haifa 4,572 n/a
7 Maccabi Netanya 4,241 n/a
8 Bnei Yehuda 3,642 n/a
9 Maccabi Petah Tikva 3,462 n/a
10 Hapoel Kfar Saba 2,968 n/a
11 Bnei Sakhnin 2,805 n/a
12 Hapoel Ra'anana 2,305 n/a
13 Hapoel Acre 1,958 n/a
14 Ironi Kiryat Shmona 1,800 n/a
League total 7,479 n/a

Updated to games played on 4 June 2016
Source: Official club websites and [1]

References edit

  1. ^ "Top league scorers in 2015/2016 season". IFA. Archived from the original on 20 October 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  2. ^ "Average home attendance in 2015/2016 season". walla.co.il. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  3. ^ "Ligat ha'AL 2015/2016 - Season rules". Scoresway. Archived from the original on 2 November 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  4. ^ a b "The full fixture list" (PDF) (in Hebrew).
  5. ^ Ben Ziv, Guy (10 May 2016). "Two points deducted from Beitar for racial crys" (in Hebrew). ONE.
  6. ^ "Ligat ha'AL 2015/2016 - Season rules". Scoresway. Archived from the original on 2 November 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  7. ^ "Ligat ha'AL 2015/2016 - Season rules". Scoresway. Archived from the original on 2 November 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2015.

External links edit