2009–10 Israeli Premier League

Template:Short description The 2009–10 Israeli Premier League was the 11th season since its introduction in 1999 and the 68th season of top-tier football in Israel. It began on 22 August 2009 and ended on 15 May 2010 with the last matches of the playoff round.

On 15 May 2010, Hapoel Tel Aviv won the title in the last play-off round after Maccabi Haifa failed to win against Bnei Yehuda and they won their game against Beitar Jerusalem in a late goal at the 90+2' minute of extra time.

Changes from 2008–09 season

Structural changes

The league size has been increased from twelve to sixteen teams. Further, the competition has been split into two stages, a conventional season and playoffs.

The participating clubs were first play a conventional round-robin schedule for a total of 30 matches.

The top six teams were first had to play in the Top playoff. Points earned during the regular season were halved with an odd number of points being rounded up. The round was played on a round-robin schedule. The winner after this round would win the Israeli championship and would participate in the second qualifying round of the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League. The runners-up would play in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League, and the third-placed team would play in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.

If the Israel State Cup winner finishes in the top three places than the fourth-placed would play in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.

In addition, clubs ranked seventh through tenth in the regular season would engage in a placement round, while the bottom six teams played out two relegation spots and one relegation play-off.

Team changes

Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona were directly relegated to the 2009–10 Liga Leumit after finishing the 2008–09 season in last place.

Due to the increase in the number of teams, five teams were directly promoted from the 2008–09 Liga Leumit. These were champions Hapoel Haifa, runners-up Hapoel Acre, third-placed Hapoel Be'er Sheva, fourth-placed Hapoel Ramat Gan and fifth-placed Hapoel Ra'anana.

Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan as 11th-placed team of the Premier League and Maccabi Ahi Nazareth as sixth-placed team of Liga Leumit competed in a two-legged playoff for another spot. Maccabi Ahi Nazareth won both matches by an aggregated score of 4–2 and were promoted to the Premier League. In turn, Hakoah Ramat Gan were relegated to Liga Leumit.

Overview

Stadia and locations

Club	Stadium	Capacity
Beitar Jerusalem	Teddy Stadium	21,600
Bnei Sakhnin	Doha Stadium	08,500
Bnei Yehuda	Bloomfield Stadium	15,700
F.C. Ashdod	Yud-Alef Stadium	07,800
Hapoel Acre	Green Stadium	0004,000[A]
Hapoel Be'er Sheva	Vasermil Stadium	13,000
Hapoel Haifa	Kiryat Eliezer Stadium	14,002
Hapoel Petah Tikva	Petah Tikva Municipal Stadium	06,800
Hapoel Ra'anana	Levita Stadium	0005,800[A]
Hapoel Ramat Gan	Winter Stadium	0008,000[A]
Hapoel Tel Aviv	Bloomfield Stadium	15,700
Maccabi Ahi Nazareth	Ilut Stadium	04,932
Maccabi Haifa	Kiryat Eliezer Stadium	14,002
Maccabi Netanya	Sar-Tov Stadium	07,500
Maccabi Petah Tikva	Petah Tikva Municipal Stadium	06,800
Maccabi Tel Aviv	Bloomfield Stadium	15,700

^ ^ ^ The club played their home games at a neutral venue because their own ground did not meet Premier League requirements.

Beitar Jerusalem	Bnei Yehuda Hapoel Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv	Hapoel Ramat Gan	Hapoel Acre
Teddy Stadium	Bloomfield Stadium	Winter Stadium	Green Stadium
File:Teddy stadium, Jerusalem.JPG	File:Bloomfield stadium.jpg	File:Winter Stadium, May 2011 04.jpg	File:Green Stadium01.jpg
Maccabi Netanya	Hapoel Haifa Maccabi Haifa	Hapoel Petah Tikva Maccabi Petah Tikva	Hapoel Ra'anana
Sar-Tov Stadium	Kiryat Eliezer Stadium	Petah Tikva Municipal Stadium	Levita Stadium
File:Sar-Tov Stadium (21).jpg	File:Haifa-WM01 - Kiryat Eliezer Stadium during a local derby.jpg	File:Petah Tikva Municipal Stadium04.jpg	File:Levita Stadium9.jpg
F.C. Ashdod	Bnei Sakhnin	Hapoel Be'er Sheva	Maccabi Ahi Nazareth
Yud-Alef Stadium	Doha Stadium	Vasermil Stadium	Ilut Stadium
File:Yod alef1.JPG	File:Doha Stadium01.jpg	File:Vasermil Stadium24.jpg

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment	Table
Beitar Jerusalem	Template:Flagicon Reuven Atar	Sacked	21 July 2009	3rd (08–09)	Template:Flagicon Itzhak Shum	21 July 2009	Pre-Season
Maccabi Netanya	Template:Flagicon Nati Azaria	Stepped down to assistant position	29 September 2009	16th	Template:Flagicon Reuven Atar	29 September 2009	16th
Bnei Sakhnin	Template:Flagicon Eran Kulik	Sacked	19 October 2009	14th	Template:Flagicon Marco Balbul	21 October 2009	14th
Maccabi Tel Aviv	Template:Flagicon Marco Balbul	Resigned	21 October 2009	3rd	Template:Flagicon Nir Levine	21 October 2009	3rd
Maccabi Petah Tikva	Template:Flagicon Ronny Levy	Resigned	21 November 2009	9th	Template:Flagicon Freddy David	22 November 2009	9th
Hapoel Petah Tikva	Template:Flagicon Danny Nir'on	Resigned	21 November 2009	14th	Template:Flagicon Shavit Elimelech	22 November 2009	15th
Maccabi Ahi Nazareth	Template:Flagicon Eli Mahpud	Sacked	8 December 2009	16th	Template:Flagicon John Gregory	8 December 2009	16th
Hapoel Petah Tikva	Template:Flagicon Shavit Elimelech	Stepped down to assistant position	16 December 2009	15th	Template:Flagicon Eli Mahpud	16 December 2009	15th
Beitar Jerusalem	Template:Flagicon Itzhak Shum	Sacked	20 February 2010	7th	Template:Flagicon David Amsalem	20 February 2010	7th
Hapoel Ra'anana	Template:Flagicon Eli Cohen	Sacked	28 February 2010	16th	Template:Flagicon Ami Vazana	28 February 2010	16th
Hapoel Be'er Sheva	Template:Flagicon Guy Azouri	Resigned	28 February 2010	8th	Template:Flagicon Vico Haddad	3 March 2010	8th
Beitar Jerusalem	Template:Flagicon David Amsalem	Stepped down to assistant position	18 March 2010	5th	Template:Flagicon Shimon Edri	18 March 2010	5th
Hapoel Ra'anana	Template:Flagicon Ami Vazana	End of contract	28 March 2010	16th	Template:Flagicon Tzvika Tzemah	31 March 2010	16th
Maccabi Ahi Nazareth	Template:Flagicon John Gregory	End of contract	20 May 2010	16th	Template:Flagicon Shimon Edri	30 June 2010	Post-Season
F.C. Ashdod	Template:Flagicon Yossi Mizrahi	Resigned	20 May 2010	6th	Template:Flagicon John Gregory	20 May 2010	Post-Season

Foreign players

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	Player 5	Non-visa foreign	Former players
Beitar Jerusalem	Template:Flagicon Junior Viza	Template:Flagicon Paolo de la Haza	Template:Flagicon Sebastián Vázquez				Template:Flagicon David Gomez Template:Flagicon Joslain Mayebi
Bnei Sakhnin	Template:Flagicon Cadu	Template:Flagicon Paty Yeye Lenkebe	Template:Flagicon Đorđije Ćetković	Template:Flagicon Nastja Čeh	Template:Flagicon Arafat Djako		Template:Flagicon Jair Céspedes Template:Flagicon Scott Sealy
Bnei Yehuda	Template:Flagicon Pedro Galván	Template:Flagicon Iván Garrido	Template:Flagicon Siniša Linić	Template:Flagicon Dele Aiyenugba
F.C. Ashdod	Template:Flagicon Dragan Stojkić	Template:Flagicon Dimitar Makriev	Template:Flagicon Stéphane Kingué Mpondo	Template:Flagicon Marko Popović	Template:Flagicon Cristian González		Template:Flagicon Nenad Begović
Hapoel Acre	Template:Flagicon Aka Adek Mba	Template:Flagicon Emmanuel Emangoa	Template:Flagicon Awudu Okocha	Template:Flagicon Ibrahim Abdul Razak	Template:Flagicon Ben Martin	Template:Flagicon Jony Tenenboim1 Template:Flagicon Kevin Rainstein1	Template:Flagicon Abedi Sarfo Template:Flagicon Ismail Abdul Razak Template:Flagicon Ardian Nuhiu
Hapoel Be'er Sheva	Template:Flagicon Danilo	Template:Flagicon William Soares	Template:Flagicon Adamu Mohammed	Template:Flagicon James Bissue		Template:Flagicon Tvrtko Kale2 Template:Flagicon Dandi Okogo1 Template:Flagicon Ryan Adeleye2	Template:Flagicon Marcos Galarza Template:Flagicon Pavel Pergl Template:Flagicon Joseph Tachie-Mensah
Hapoel Haifa	Template:Flagicon Levan Khmaladze	Template:Flagicon Yero Bello	Template:Flagicon Rui Lima	Template:Flagicon Savity Lipenia	Template:Flagicon Bryan Gerzicich		Template:Flagicon Emmanuel Pappoe
Hapoel Petah Tikva	Template:Flagicon Daniel Addo	Template:Flagicon Ibrahim Basit	Template:Flagicon Osman Bashiru	Template:Flagicon Austin Ejide	Template:Flagicon Emmanuel Mathias	Template:Flagicon Jonathan Assous2	Template:Flagicon Tomo Barlecaj Template:Flagicon Revaz Gotsiridze Template:Flagicon Mark Gurman2 Template:Flagicon George Gebro Template:Flagicon James Koko Lomell
Hapoel Ra'anana	Template:Flagicon Cristiano Pinto	Template:Flagicon Davit Dighmelashvili	Template:Flagicon Irmantas Zelmikas	Template:Flagicon Ričardas Beniušis		Template:Flagicon Steven Cohen2	Template:Flagicon Armando Lezcano Template:Flagicon Lira Template:Flagicon Erik Hort2
Hapoel Ramat Gan	Template:Flagicon André Caldeira	Template:Flagicon Pavel Pergl	Template:Flagicon Serge Ayeli	Template:Flagicon George Datoru		Template:Flagicon Carlos Chacana12	Template:Flagicon William Soares Template:Flagicon Hrvoje Kovačević
Hapoel Tel Aviv	Template:Flagicon Douglas da Silva	Template:Flagicon Bojan Vručina	Template:Flagicon Zurab Menteshashvili	Template:Flagicon Vincent Enyeama	Template:Flagicon Nemanja Vučićević	Template:Flagicon Daniël de Ridder2	Template:Flagicon Samuel Yeboah
Maccabi Akhi Nazareth	Template:Flagicon Joslain Mayebi	Template:Flagicon Yves Djidda	Template:Flagicon Tcham N'Toya	Template:Flagicon Anderson West		Template:Flagicon Mark Gurman2	Template:Flagicon Michael Tukura Template:Flagicon Jair Céspedes Template:Flagicon Ruslan Nigmatullin Template:Flagicon Eric Akoto
Maccabi Haifa	Template:Flagicon Jhon Culma	Template:Flagicon Vladimir Dvalishvili	Template:Flagicon Sadat Bukari	Template:Flagicon Jorge Teixeira	Template:Flagicon Tsepo Masilela	Template:Flagicon Gustavo Boccoli1	Template:Flagicon Eial Strahman2 Template:Flagicon Tiago Dutra
Maccabi Netanya	Template:Flagicon David Gomez	Template:Flagicon Fabrício	Template:Flagicon Aristide Zogbo	Template:Flagicon Bevan Fransman		Template:Flagicon Leonid Krupnik2	Template:Flagicon Awudu Okocha Template:Flagicon Stephen Offei
Maccabi Petah Tikva	Template:Flagicon Tomislav Bušić	Template:Flagicon Sébastien Sansoni	Template:Flagicon Vančo Trajanov	Template:Flagicon Dragoslav Jevrić	Template:Flagicon Nebojša Marinković	Template:Flagicon Murad Magomedov1	Template:Flagicon Reinaldo Alderete
Maccabi Tel Aviv	Template:Flagicon Ronald Raldes	Template:Flagicon Igor Tomašić	Template:Flagicon Ivica Iliev	Template:Flagicon Andrej Komac	Template:Flagicon Emmanuel Mayuka	Template:Flagicon Guillermo Israilevich2 Template:Flagicon Yeghia Yavruyan1

Playoffs

Key numbers for pairing determination (number marks position after 30 games):

Rounds
31st	32nd	33rd	34th	35th
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
07 – 10 8 – 9	7 – 8 10 – 90	08 – 10 9 – 7	0 0	0 0
11 – 16 12 – 15 13 – 14	11 – 12 15 – 13 16 – 14	12 – 16 13 – 11 14 – 15	11 – 14 12 – 13 16 – 15	13 – 16 14 – 12 15 – 11

Top Playoff

The points obtained during the regular season were halved (and rounded up) before the start of the playoff. Thus, Maccabi Haifa started with 39 points, Hapoel Tel Aviv with 36, Maccabi Tel Aviv with 26, Beitar Jerusalem with 23, Bnei Yehuda with 23 and F.C. Ashdod started with 22.

Middle Playoff

The points obtained during the regular season were halved (and rounded up) before the start of the playoff. Thus, Bnei Sakhnin started with 21 points, Hapoel Be'er Sheva with 20, Maccabi Netanya with 18 and Maccabi Petah Tikva started with 18.

Bottom Playoff

The points obtained during the regular season were halved (and rounded up) before the start of the playoff. Thus, Hapoel Ramat Gan started with 17 points, Hapoel Haifa with 16, Hapoel Petah Tikva with 16, Hapoel Acre with 13, Maccabi Ahi Nazareth with 12 and Hapoel Ra'anana started with 10.

Relegation playoff

The 14th-placed team Hapoel Ramat Gan faced the 3rd-placed Liga Leumit team Hapoel Kfar Saba. The winner Hapoel Ramat Gan earned a spot in the 2010–11 Israeli Premier League. The match took place on 22 May 2010.

Season statistics

Scoring

• First goal of the season: Shahar Balilti for Hapoel Petah Tikva against Maccabi Ahi Nazareth, 61st minute (22 August 2009)
• Fastest goal in a match: 17 seconds – Maor Buzaglo for Maccabi Tel Aviv against Beitar Jerusalem (17 April 2010)
• Widest winning margin: 7 goals – Maccabi Ahi Nazareth 0–7 Hapoel Ramat Gan (15 May 2010)
• Most goals in a match: 8 goals –
  • Hapoel Tel Aviv 7–1 Hapoel Petah Tikva (21 November 2009)
  • Hapoel Tel Aviv 5–3 Hapoel Acre (27 March 2010)

Discipline

• First yellow card of the season: Gal Cohen for Hapoel Petah Tikva against Maccabi Ahi Nazareth, 40th minute (22 August 2009)
• First red card of the season: Ismail Abdul Razak for Hapoel Acre against Maccabi Haifa, 72nd minute (22 August 2009)

Top scorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals
1	Template:Flagicon Shlomi Arbeitman	Maccabi Haifa	28
2	Template:Flagicon Itay Shechter	Hapoel Tel Aviv	22
3	Template:Flagicon Vladimir Dvalishvili	Maccabi Haifa	16
	Template:Flagicon Barak Yitzhaki	Beitar Jerusalem	16
5	Template:Flagicon Dimitar Makriev	F.C. Ashdod	0013[B]
6	Template:Flagicon Pedro Galván	Bnei Yehuda	12
	Template:Flagicon Toto Tamuz	Beitar Jerusalem	12
8	Template:Flagicon Idan Shriki	F.C. Ashdod	11
	Template:Flagicon Dedi Ben Dayan	Hapoel Tel Aviv	11
	Template:Flagicon Eran Levy	Hapoel Haifa	11
	Template:Flagicon Eran Zahavi	Hapoel Tel Aviv	11
Total			718
Average per game			2.6

^B The IFA also recognize Dimitar Makrievs goal in favour of F.C. Ashdod against Bnei Yehuda game which was later annulled because F.C. Ashdod fielded an ineligible player, for that F.C. Ashdod received a technical loss of 3–0. The original game finished in a 1–1 draw.

See also

• 2009–10 Israel State Cup
• 2009–10 Toto Cup Al
• List of 2009–10 Israeli football summer transfers
• List of 2009–10 Israeli football winter transfers