Liga Alef

Liga Alef (ליגה א') is the third tier of the Israeli football league system. It is divided into two regional divisions, north and south.

History
League football began in Israel in 1949–50, a year after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. However, the financial and security crises gripping the young nation caused the 1950–51 season to be abandoned before it had started. When football resumed in 1951–52, the new top division went by the name of Liga Alef. The 1952–53 season was also not played, and Liga Alef resumed in 1953–54.

In the 1955–56 season, Liga Leumit came into existence as the new top division, with Liga Alef becoming the second division. In the summer of 1976, restructuring saw the creation of Liga Artzit as a new second tier, and the second demotion of Liga Alef, as it became the third division. Further restructuring to create the Israeli Premier League in the summer of 1999 saw Liga Alef demoted again, this time to the fourth tier. At the end of the 2008–09 season, Liga Artzit was scrapped as the Premier League and Liga Leumit were expanded to 16 clubs each, with Liga Alef becoming the third tier once more.

Structure
Today, Liga Alef is split into two regional divisions on a north-south basis. Because Israel's northern half is much more densely populated than the desert south, the dividing line between the northern and southern divisions is somewhere between Haifa and Tel Aviv, meaning that the southern "half" covers about three-quarters of the country. Although this inequality is partially offset by the fact that there are so few clubs south of Beersheba (Dimona, Yeroham, Mitzpe Ramon and Eilat are the only sizable towns south of the city), the northern clubs tend to be clustered in the Galilee region, making travel to away matches much less of a chore.

Each division has sixteen clubs, who play each other home and away to make a 30-game season. The club finishing top of each regional division is promoted to Liga Leumit, whilst the eight second to fifth placed clubs have a play-off, with the winner playing-off against the third-bottom club in Liga Leumit for a place in that division. The bottom two from each division are relegated to Liga Bet, the fourth tier, and the two third-bottom clubs playing-off against play-off winners from Liga Bet for a place in Liga Alef. Coming into Liga Alef are the two or three clubs relegated from Liga Leumit and the four to six clubs promoted from Liga Bet (the winner of each of the four regional divisions, and one or two more runners-up, had they are successful in the play-off). The clubs are then pooled and assigned to the most geographically appropriate of the two divisions.

Current members
The following clubs are participating in the 2024–2025 season:

1951–63
1 No clubs were relegated as the league was expanded to 14 clubs in the following season.

2 There was no automatic promotion in the 1955-56 season. Hakoah Tel Aviv lost in the promotion play-offs to Maccabi Jaffa of Liga Leumit.

3 First placed Hapoel Kfar Saba and third placed Hapoel Jerusalem were promoted after promotion play-offs.

4 No clubs were promoted or relegated after the Israel Football Association decided to abandon the league before the end of the season, due to suspicions of bribery.

5 Hapoel Lod and Maccabi Sha'arayim were also promoted.

Northern division
1 There was no automatic promotion in the 1973-74 season. Hapoel Acre finished fifth in the promotion play-offs and remained in Liga Alef. However, runners-up, Shimshon Tel-Aviv, finished second in the promotion play-offs and were promoted to Liga Leumit.

2 Hapoel Kiryat Shmona and Hapoel Safed were reprieved from relegation after the Israel Football Association decided to expand Liga Leumit to 18 clubs and Liga Alef to 17 clubs in each division for the following season.

3 Maccabi Herzliya and Hapoel Beit She'an were also promoted.

4 Hapoel Herzliya were also promoted after play-off victory over runners-up of Liga Alef South, Maccabi Kiryat Gat.

5 Hapoel Tel Hanan were also promoted after play-off victory over runners-up of Liga Alef South, Hapoel Ramla.

6 Maccabi Shefa-'Amr were also promoted after play-off victory over runners-up of Liga Alef South, Hapoel Bat Yam.

7 Hapoel Acre were also promoted after play-off victory over runners-up of Liga Alef South, Maccabi Lazarus Holon.

8 Beitar Nahariya were also promoted after play-off victory over runners-up of Liga Alef South, Hapoel Rishon LeZion.

9 There was no automatic promotion in the 1986-87 season. Maccabi Hadera finished third in the promotion play-offs after Hapoel Bat Yam of Liga Alef South and Hapoel Ramat Gan of Liga Artzit and remained in Liga Alef.

10 Hapoel Tayibe were also promoted as runners-up.

11 Hapoel Kiryat Shmona were also promoted as runners-up.

12 Hapoel Nazareth Illit, Hapoel Iksal and Hapoel Acre were also promoted.

13 Although Maccabi Hadera finished top, they folded and second-placed Maccabi Ironi Tirat HaCarmel were promoted instead.

14 There was no automatic promotion in the 2011-12 season. Hapoel Asi Gilboa lost in promotion play-offs to the South division champions, Maccabi Yavne in away goals (2-2 on aggregate) and remained in Liga Alef.

15 Ironi Tiberias were also promoted after play-off victory over Hapoel Katamon of Liga Leumit.

Southern division
1 There was no automatic promotion in the 1973-74 season. Maccabi Sha'arayim finished sixth and bottom in the promotion play-offs and remained in Liga Alef.

2 SK Nes Tziona and Beitar Jaffa were reprieved from relegation after the Israel Football Association decided to expand Liga Leumit to 18 clubs and Liga Alef to 17 clubs in each division for the following season.

3 Hapoel Lod and Hapoel Bat Yam were also promoted.

4 Beitar Ramla were also promoted after play-off victory over runners-up of Liga Alef North, Hapoel Ramat HaSharon.

5 Hapoel Holon were also promoted after play-off victory over runners-up of Liga Alef North, Maccabi Hadera.

6 Hapoel Ramat HaSharon were also promoted after play-off victory over runners-up of Liga Alef North, Beitar Netanya.

7 Season played with 13 clubs after Tzafririm Holon merged with Liga Artzit club, Hapoel Holon.

8 Ironi Ashdod were also promoted after play-off victory over Maccabi Tamra of Liga Artzit.

9 Hakoah Ramat Gan were also promoted after play-off victory over Hapoel Bat Yam of Liga Artzit.

10 Hapoel Bat Yam were also promoted as runners-up.

11 Hapoel Lod were also promoted as runners-up.

12 Hapoel Ramat Gan, Maccabi Sha'arayim and Shimshon Tel Aviv were also promoted.

13 Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon were also promoted as the best runners-up in Liga Alef, following the merger of Liga Artzit clubs, Beitar Tel Aviv and Shimshon Tel Aviv.

14 Hapoel Marmorek were also promoted as the best runners-up in Liga Alef, after Beitar Be'er Sheva (which were relegated from Liga Leumit to Liga Artzit) folded.

15 No club relegated as both Beitar Be'er Sheva (which were relegated from Liga Leumit to Liga Artzit) and Hapoel Ironi Dimona folded.

16 Maccabi HaShikma Ramat Hen were also promoted as the best runners-up in Liga Alef, after Maccabi Kiryat Gat were demoted from Liga Leumit to Liga Alef.

17 Although Hapoel Maxim Lod finished top, they folded and second-placed Hapoel Kfar Shalem were promoted instead.