2020–21 Liga Alef

Liga Alef
Season2020–21
ChampionsMaccabi Bnei Reineh
Hapoel "Adumim" Ashdod

The 2020–21 Liga Alef season is the 12th season as third tier since its re-alignment in 2009 and the 54th season of third-tier football in Israel.

Changes from last season

Team changes

Format change

To accommodate the shortened schedule caused by COVID-19 pandemic, the league was split into two phases. For the first phase each division was split to two sub-divisions with nine teams in each sub-division, to be played as a double round robin tournament (16 matches in total). At the end of the first phase in each division the two top teams from each sub-division qualifying to a promotion group of four teams, again to be played as a double round robin tournament (6 matches in total), with the winning team gaining promotion to Liga Leumit and the second-placed team qualifying to the promotion play-offs.
The seven bottom placed teams in each sub-division would continue in their respective sub-division with the points gained during the first phase, playing an additional round robin schedule (six matches in total). The bottom team in each sub-division would be relegated to Liga Bet and the sixth placed team would compete to the relegation play-offs.[2]

North Division

Sub-division A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 F.C. Tira 16 12 2 2 42 11 +31 38 Promotion group
2 Maccabi Tamra 16 9 4 3 16 13 +3 31
3 Hapoel Bu'eine 22 11 2 9 33 33 0 35
4 Hapoel Herzliya 22 8 7 7 28 18 +10 31
5 Maccabi Tzur Shalom Bialik 22 8 6 8 34 26 +8 30
6 Hapoel Bnei Fureidis 22 8 6 8 32 30 +2 30
7 Hapoel Kafr Kanna 22 8 6 8 32 33 −1 30
8 Ironi Tiberias 22 7 6 9 24 22 +2 27 Relegation play-offs
9 Ihud Bnei Majd al-Krum 22 1 3 18 14 69 −55 6 Relegation to Liga Bet
Source: Liga Alef North IFA (in Hebrew)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of wins; 4) goals scored; 5) head to head; 6) deciding match.

Sub-division B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Hapoel Kaukab 16 11 5 0 29 6 +23 38 Promotion group
2 Maccabi Bnei Reineh 16 7 6 3 23 16 +7 27
3 Hapoel Bnei Arara-'Ara 22 7 8 7 26 29 −3 29
4 F.C. Haifa Robi Shapira 22 7 7 8 28 26 +2 28
5 Hapoel Migdal HaEmek 22 6 10 6 28 35 −7 28
6 Hapoel Baqa al-Gharbiyye 22 7 6 9 29 32 −3 27
7 Hapoel Bnei Zalafa F.C. 22 7 6 9 35 39 −4 27
8 Tzeirei Tayibe 22 5 11 6 30 31 −1 26 Relegation play-offs
9 F.C. Daburiyya 22 3 7 12 16 30 −14 16 Relegation to Liga Bet
Source: Liga Alef North IFA (in Hebrew)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of wins; 4) goals scored; 5) head to head; 6) deciding match.

Promotion group

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Maccabi Bnei Reineh 6 3 1 2 8 8 0 10 Promotion to Liga Leumit
2 F.C. Tira 6 2 3 1 6 4 +2 9 Promotion play-offs
3 Hapoel Kaukab 6 2 2 2 6 5 +1 8
4 Maccabi Tamra 6 1 2 3 6 9 −3 5
Source: Liga Alef North IFA (in Hebrew)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of wins; 4) goals scored; 5) head to head; 6) deciding match.

South Division

Sub-division A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 F.C. Holon Yermiyahu 16 8 6 2 18 9 +9 30 Promotion group
2 Hapoel "Adumim" Ashdod 16 8 5 3 20 10 +10 29
3 Maccabi Herzliya 22 11 4 7 32 24 +8 37
4 Shimshon Kafr Qasim 22 7 10 5 31 23 +8 31
5 Maccabi Yavne 22 7 6 9 23 24 −1 27
6 Hapoel Azor 22 7 6 9 27 31 −4 27
7 F.C. Dimona 22 6 8 8 18 17 +1 26
8 Hapoel Bnei Lod 22 6 5 11 27 36 −9 23 Relegation play-offs
9 F.C Or Yehuda 22 6 4 12 26 48 −22 22 Relegation to Liga Bet
Source: Liga Alef South IFA (in Hebrew)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of wins; 4) goals scored; 5) head to head; 6) deciding match.

Sub-division B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Hapoel Bik'at HaYarden 16 9 5 2 32 14 +18 32 Promotion group
2 Maccabi Kabilio Jaffa 16 8 7 1 30 11 +19 31
3 Hapoel Marmorek 22 13 5 4 41 21 +20 44
4 Maccabi Sha'arayim 22 8 7 7 26 27 −1 31
5 Ironi Kuseife 22 6 8 8 22 35 −13 26
6 Maccabi Ashdod 22 6 7 9 30 30 0 25
7 Hapoel Ashkelon 22 5 10 7 21 26 −5 25
8 Nordia Jerusalem 22 6 6 10 32 35 −3 24 Relegation play-offs
9 Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan 22 2 5 15 23 58 −35 11 Relegation to Liga Bet
Source: Liga Alef South IFA (in Hebrew)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of wins; 4) goals scored; 5) head to head; 6) deciding match.

Promotion group

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Hapoel "Adumim" Ashdod 6 4 2 0 9 4 +5 14 Promotion to Liga Leumit
2 Maccabi Kabilio Jaffa 6 4 0 2 6 5 +1 12 Promotion play-offs
3 Hapoel Bik'at HaYarden 6 2 1 3 6 5 +1 7
4 F.C. Holon Yermiyahu 6 0 1 5 4 11 −7 1
Source: Liga Alef North IFA (in Hebrew)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of wins; 4) goals scored; 5) head to head; 6) deciding match.

Promotion play-offs

In the first round of the play-offs the two second-placed teams from the promotion groups faced each other in a single match on neutral ground. The winner of the match faced the 14th-placed team from Liga Leumit in a single match.

First round

F.C. Tira1–1 (a.e.t.)Maccabi Kabilio Jaffa
A. Malka 44' IFA 90' (pen.) Beit Ya'akov
Penalties
Amasha soccer ball with check mark
Haj Yahia soccer ball with red X
D. Malka soccer ball with red X		 1–4 soccer ball with check mark Volowelski
soccer ball with check mark Arzuan
soccer ball with check mark Eshel
soccer ball with check mark Beit Ya'akov
Referee: Idan Leiba

Second round

Hapoel Umm Al-Fahm1–0Maccabi Kabilio Jaffa
Elimelech 21' IFA
Referee: Gal Leibovich

Maccabi Kabilio Jaffa was not promoted to Liga Leumit.

Relegation play-offs

In each division (North and South) the sixth-placed teams from each sub-division played each other, with the winning team staying in Liga Alef. The losing team from each division faced the Liga Bet play-off winner in a single match for a place in Liga Alef.

North division

First round

Ironi Tiberias0–1Tzeirei Taiybe
IFA 47' Baraa
Referee: Idan Leiba

Second round

Ironi Tiberiasw/o
(1–0)
(abandoned '90+7)[3]		Ihud Bnei Shefa-'Amr
Mahfud Yellow card 59'
Davidov 82'
Ben David Yellow card 83'		 IFA Red card 22' T. Diab
Yellow card 22' Yellow-red card 24' A. Diab
Yellow card 80' Red card 84' Khatib
Red card 90+5' Nassar
Yellow card 90+5' Shabal
Yellow card 8' Red card 90+7' Younes

Ironi Tiberias was not relegated to Liga Bet.

South division

First round

Nordia Jerusalem0–1Hapoel Bnei Lod
IFA 12' Turiel

Second round

Nordia Jerusalem1–0Hapoel Mahane Yehuda
Cohen 18' IFA
Referee: Gal Leibovich

Nordia Jerusalem was not relegated to Liga Bet.

References

  1. ^ Ron, Ohad (9 July 2020). "פרסום ראשון: איחוד ענק בין צור שלום וקרית אתא" [A Huge Merge Between Tzur Shalom and Kiryat Ata] (in Hebrew). Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  2. ^ "הוראת שעה ליגות א'-ג' 2020-21" [Temporary Provisions Leagues Alef to Gimel 2020-21] (PDF) (in Hebrew). 13 August 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  3. ^ "שישה אדומים והפסד טכני השאירו את עירוני טבריה בליגה א'" [Six Reds and a Technical Loss Kept Ironi Tiberias in Liga Alef]. Sport5 (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv. 25 June 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.