1961–62 in Israeli football

Football in Israel

Season	1961–62
Men's football
Liga Leumit	Hapoel Petah Tikva
Liga Alef	Hakoah Tel Aviv
Liga Bet	Hapoel Safed Hapoel Hadera Hapoel Lod Hapoel Holon
State Cup	Maccabi Haifa

The 1961–62 season was the 14th season of competitive football in Israel and the 36th season under the Israeli Football Association, established in 1928, during the British Mandate.

Review and Events

• The national team completed their involvement in the 1962 World Cup qualification, playing Italy during October 1961. The team stunned Italy in the first match by taking a 2–0 lead in the first half of the first match, played at Ramat Gan Stadium, only to concede 4 goals in the second half,[1] and then losing 0–6 in the second leg.[2]
• At the end of the season, Liga Alef was expanded from 14 clubs to 16 clubs, as 2 clubs relegated from the league at the end of the season and the 4 winners of Liga Bet promoted to Liga Alef. This also meant that at the end of the season the 8 relegated teams from Liga Bet were replaced by 10 promoted clubs from Liga Gimel.

Domestic leagues

Promotion and relegation

The following promotions and relegations took place at the end of the season:

Promoted to Liga Leumit Hakoah Tel Aviv^1 Promoted to Liga Alef Hapoel Safed Hapoel Hadera Hapoel Lod Hapoel Holon Promoted to Liga Bet Beitar Kiryat Shmona Beitar Binyamina Hapoel Bnei Nazareth Hapoel Dora Netanya Beitar Kiryat Ono Hapoel Givatayim ASA Jerusalem Beitar Harari Tel Aviv Hapoel Ofakim Hapoel Kiryat Gat

Relegated from Liga Leumit Maccabi Netanya Relegated from Liga Alef Maccabi Hadera Hapoel Rehovot Relegated from Liga Bet Hapoel Tel Hanan Hapoel Beit HaShita Hapoel Pardesiya HaCarmel Club Haifa Maccabi Jerusalem Hapoel Ein Karem Hapoel Bnei Zion Beitar Jaffa

1. Hakoah Tel Aviv merged with Maccabi Ramat Gan to form Hakoah Maccabi Ramat Gan. The merged club took Hakoah Tel Aviv's place in Liga Leumit.

Domestic cups

Israel State Cup

The 1961–62 Israel State Cup started on 12 February 1961, during the previous season, and was carried over the summer break and finished with the replayed final on 7 May 1962, in which Maccabi Haifa defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv 5–2.

On 24 March 1962, the next season's competition began, and was carried over to the next season.

National Teams

National team

1962 World Cup qualification (UEFA Group 7, final round)

Main article: 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 7

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Italy	2	2	0	0	10	2	+8	4
2	Israel	2	0	0	2	2	10	−8	0

Source: ^[citation needed]

1961–62 matches

Israel  v  Italy

15 October 1961 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification	Israel	2–4	Italy	Ramat Gan
	Stelmach 15' Young 38'	Report	Lojacono 53' (pen.) Altafini 79' Corso 87', 90'	Stadium: Ramat Gan Stadium Attendance: 45,000 Referee: Takov

Israel  v  South Korea

22 October 1961 Friendly	Israel	1–1	South Korea	Ramat Gan
	Stelmach 86'		Chung Soon-Chun 10'	Stadium: Ramat Gan Stadium Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Dudai

Italy  v  Israel

4 November 1961 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification	Italy	6–0	Israel	Turin
	Sivori 16', 52', 65', 88' Corso 59' Angelillo 69'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Comunale Attendance: 60,799 Referee: Asensi

England U-23  v  Israel

9 November 1961 Friendly (unofficial)	England U-23	7–1	Israel	Leeds
	Byrne 15', 70' F. Hill 18', 53' Farmer 40' S. Hill 74' Harris 86'		S. Levi 8'	Stadium: Elland Road Attendance: 12,419 Referee: Ashkenazi

Israel  v  Yugoslavia

14 December 1961 Friendly	Israel	0–2	Yugoslavia	Ramat Gan
			Galić 36', 57'	Stadium: Ramat Gan Stadium Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Adami

Turkey  v  Israel

16 May 1962 Friendly	Turkey	1–0	Israel	Istanbul
	Lefter 55' (pen.)			Stadium: Mithat Paşa Stadium Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Škorić

References

1. QWC 1962 Israel vs. Italy 2-4 youtube.com
2. QWC 1962 Italy vs. Israel 6-0 (04.11.1961) youtube.com