The 2014–15 Liga Leumit was the 16th season as second tier since its re-alignment in 1999 and the 73rd season of second-tier football in Israel.

Liga Leumit
Season2014–15
ChampionsBnei Yehuda Tel Aviv
PromotedBnei Yehuda Tel Aviv
Hapoel Kfar Saba
RelegatedIroni Tiberias
Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan
Matches played296
Goals scored739 (2.5 per match)
Top goalscorerPedro Galván (22 goals)
Biggest home winHapoel Bnei Lod 5–0 Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla
(14 November 2014)
Maccabi Kiryat Gat 5–0 Maccabi Yavne
(18 May 2015)
Biggest away winHakoah Ramat Gan 0–6 Hapoel Ramat HaSharon
(22 September 2014)
Highest scoringMaccabi Ahi Nazareth 3–5 Hapoel Bnei Lod
(22 May 2015)
All statistics correct as of 25 May 2015.

A total of sixteen teams are contesting in the league, including eleven sides from the 2013–14 season, the three promoted teams from 2013–14 Liga Alef and the two relegated teams from 2013–14 Israeli Premier League.

Changes from 2013–14 season

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Team changes

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Maccabi Netanya and Hapoel Petah Tikva, were promoted to the 2014–15 Israeli Premier League.

Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon and Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv were directly relegated to the 2014–15 Liga Leumit after finishing the 2013–14 Israeli Premier League season in the bottom two places.

Hapoel Ashkelon, and Maccabi Umm al-Fahm were directly relegated to Liga Alef after finishing in the previous season in last two league places. They were replaced by Hapoel Kfar Saba and Maccabi Kiryat Gat who finished first their respective 2013–14 Liga Alef Liga Alef. Ironi Tiberias won the Liga Alef playoffs, and after relegation play-offs replaced Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem in Liga Leumit.

Overview

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Stadia and locations

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Club Home City Stadium Capacity
Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla Tel Aviv and Ramla Ramla Municipal Stadium 02,000
Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv Bloomfield Stadium 14,413
Hakoah Ramat Gan Ramat Gan Winter Stadium 08,000
Hapoel Afula Afula Afula Illit Stadium 03,000
Hapoel Bnei Lod Lod Lod Municipal Stadium 03,000
Hapoel Jerusalem Jerusalem Teddy Stadium 31,733
Hapoel Nazareth Illit Nazareth Illit Green Stadium 04,000
Hapoel Ramat HaSharon Ramat HaSharon Grundman Stadium 4,300
Hapoel Ramat Gan Ramat Gan Winter Stadium 08,000
Hapoel Rishon LeZion Rishon LeZion Haberfeld Stadium 06,000
Ironi Tiberias Tiberias Afula Illit Stadium[A] 3,000
Maccabi Ahi Nazareth Nazareth Ilut Stadium 04,932
Maccabi Herzliya Herzliya Herzliya Municipal Stadium 08,100
Hapoel Kfar Saba Kfar Saba Levita Stadium 5,800
Maccabi Kiryat Gat Kiryat Gat Sala Stadium[B] 05,250
Maccabi Yavne Yavne Ness Ziona Stadium[C] 03,500

^A The club is playing their home games at a neutral venue because their own ground does not meet Premier League requirements.
^B While Kiryat Gat Municipal Stadium is under construction. Maccabi Kiryat Gat will host their home games in Sala Stadium.
^C While Yavne Municipal Stadium is under construction. Maccabi Yavne will host their home games in Ness Ziona Stadium until January 2014.

Regular season

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv 30 18 10 2 56 18 +38 64 Qualification for the Promotion playoffs
2 Hapoel Bnei Lod 30 16 9 5 46 25 +21 57
3 Hapoel Kfar Saba 30 15 10 5 45 25 +20 55
4 Hapoel Afula 30 12 10 8 41 32 +9 46
5 Maccabi Kiryat Gat 30 12 8 10 28 24 +4 44
6 Maccabi Ahi Nazareth 30 10 11 9 42 47 −5 41
7 Maccabi Yavne 30 10 10 10 42 46 −4 40
8 Hapoel Ramat Gan 30 10 10 10 30 35 −5 40
9 Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon 30 10 9 11 33 33 0 39 Qualification for the Relegation playoffs
10 Hapoel Rishon LeZion 30 11 6 13 41 42 −1 39
11 Maccabi Herzliya 30 10 8 12 37 35 +2 38
12 Hapoel Jerusalem 30 9 11 10 37 41 −4 38
13 Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla 30 9 7 14 30 45 −15 34
14 Hapoel Nazareth Illit 30 6 12 12 34 47 −13 30
15 Ironi Tiberias 30 6 9 15 28 40 −12 27
16 Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan 30 4 4 22 14 49 −35 16
Source: Israel Football Association
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd matches won; 4th goals scored; 5th head-to-head; 6th decision match. Winners of 2014–15 Israel State Cup qualify for the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.
Home \ Away BTR BnY HAR HAF HBL HJE HKS HNI HRH HRG HRL ITI MAN MHE MKG MYA
Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla 0–4 2–0 3–4 3–0 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–1 1–0 1–4 2–1 2–1 0–0 0–0 0–3
Bnei Yehuda 2–1 3–0 2–1 1–0 0–3[a] 0–0 2–2 3–0 1–1 2–0 2–1 4–0 1–0 0–1 2–0
Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan 1–0 0–2 0–0 1–2 0–0 1–2 1–2 0–6 1–2 0–1 1–2 1–1 1–0 0–2 1–0
Hapoel Afula 2–1 1–1 3–0 0–3 2–0 2–0 3–1 0–0 1–2 3–2 3–0 0–0 1–0 0–0 0–0
Hapoel Bnei Lod 5–0 1–2 1–0 0–0 1–1 1–1 3–1 0–0 0–0 2–1 1–0 3–1 3–1 2–0 1–3
Hapoel Jerusalem 1–2 1–1 0–2 3–2 1–2 1–3 2–2 2–0 0–3 2–0 4–2 4–2 2–2 1–0 3–3
Hapoel Kfar Saba 1–2 1–1 4–0 4–1 0–2 2–0 1–1 0–0 1–0 1–0 2–0 2–2 1–0 2–2 4–2
Hapoel Nazareth Illit 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–4 0–0 0–0 0–2 1–3 1–1 1–2 3–3 0–0 1–2 0–1 1–2
Hapoel Ramat HaSharon 0–1 0–1 2–1 0–1 1–2 1–0 1–1 2–1 1–1 1–3 2–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 2–1
Hapoel Ramat Gan 1–0 0–4 1–0 2–1 1–1 0–0 1–1 2–1 1–1 0–1 0–1 1–4 2–1 0–0 1–1
Hapoel Rishon LeZion 2–2 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–1 0–1 0–3 4–0 1–0 2–1 1–4 1–3 3–3 1–2 0–1
Ironi Tibieras 2–2 0–1 2–0 0–0 0–2 0–1 0–1 1–1 2–0 0–1 1–2 1–1 0–1 2–1 1–1
Maccabi Ahi Nazareth 0–0 1–6 2–1 2–2 2–0 1–1 2–0 0–2 3–2 2–3 1–0 1–1 2–2 0–3 2–0
Maccabi Herzliya 2–0 0–0 1–0 0–1 2–2 3–1 1–2 2–3 2–0 3–1 3–1 0–0 2–4 2–0 1–0
Maccabi Kiryat Gat 1–0 0–0 1–1 1–0 0–2 0–1 1–0 1–2 2–2 2–0 1–1 2–0 0–1 1–0 2–1
Maccabi Yavne 0–2 1–6 2–0 3–2 1–3 2–2 1–1 1–1 2–2 2–1 2–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–1
Source: Israel Football Association
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. ^ The match originally was abandoned after supporter violence while the score was 1–1.[1] The Israel Football Association declared the match a 3–0 technical win for Hapoel Jerusalem, with Kęstutis Ivaškevičius being handed a one-match suspension.[1]

Playoffs

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

Rounds
31st 32nd 33rd 34th 35th 36th 37th
1 – 5
2 – 7
3 – 6
4 – 8
1 – 2
5 – 8
6 – 4
7 – 3
2 – 5
3 – 1
4 – 7
8 – 6
1 – 4
2 – 3
5 – 6
7 – 8
3 – 5
4 – 2
6 – 7
8 – 1
1 – 6
2 – 8
3 – 4
5 – 7
4 – 5
6 – 2
7 – 1
8 – 3
09 – 13
10 – 15
11 – 14
12 – 16
09 – 10
13 – 16
14 – 12
15 – 11
10 – 13
11 – 90
12 – 15
16 – 14
09 – 12
10 – 11
13 – 14
15 – 16
11 – 13
12 – 10
14 – 15
16 – 9
09 – 14
10 – 16
11 – 12
13 – 15
12 – 13
14 – 10
15 – 9
16 – 11

Top Playoff

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion
1 Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv (P) 37 21 13 3 69 26 +43 76 Promotion to Israeli Premier League
2 Hapoel Kfar Saba (P) 37 21 10 6 61 28 +33 73
3 Hapoel Bnei Lod 37 20 11 6 56 32 +24 71
4 Hapoel Afula 37 15 12 10 56 42 +14 57
5 Maccabi Kiryat Gat 37 13 10 14 36 36 0 49
6 Hapoel Ramat Gan 37 11 14 12 39 47 −8 47
7 Maccabi Ahi Nazareth 37 11 12 14 54 67 −13 45
8 Maccabi Yavne 37 11 12 14 47 62 −15 45
Source: Israel Football Association
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd matches won; 4th goals scored; 5th head-to-head; 6th decision match
(P) Promoted
Home \ Away BnY HBL HKS HAF MKG MAN MYA HRG
Bnei Yehuda 0–0 2–1 1–1 5–1
Hapoel Bnei Lod 0–3 1–0 1–0 2–0
Hapoel Kfar Saba 0–1 2–1 3–0 1–0
Hapoel Afula 1–1 4–1 4–2 1–1
Maccabi Kiryat Gat 1–3 5–0 0–0
Maccabi Ahi Nazareth 3–5 1–3 1–2
Maccabi Yavne 1–1 0–4 0–0
Hapoel Ramat Gan 4–3 1–3 3–3
Source: Israel Football Association
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Bottom Playoff

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Relegation
9 Hapoel Jerusalem 37 12 14 11 47 47 0 50
10 Hapoel Rishon LeZion 37 13 9 15 51 50 +1 48
11 Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon 37 12 12 13 39 40 −1 48
12 Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla 37 12 11 14 44 53 −9 47
13 Maccabi Herzliya 37 11 11 15 42 46 −4 44
14 Hapoel Nazareth Illit (O) 37 9 12 16 41 54 −13 39 Qualification for the relegation play-offs
15 Ironi Tiberias (R) 37 9 10 18 38 50 −12 37 Relegation to Liga Alef
16 Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan (R) 37 5 7 25 19 59 −40 22
Source: Israel Football Association
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd matches won; 4th goals scored; 5th head-to-head; 6th decision match
(O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Home \ Away HRH HRL MHE HJE BTR HNI ITI HAR
Hapoel Ramat HaSharon 4–1 1–1 0–2 1–0
Hapoel Rishon LeZion 4–0 0–0 2–0 1–1
Maccabi Herzliya 0–0 0–1 1–1 0–3
Hapoel Jerusalem 1–1 3–3 2–0 2–0
Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla 2–0 3–3 3–1
Hapoel Nazareth Illit 2–1 1–0 1–2
Ironi Tibieras 3–0 0–2 2–0
Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan 0–0 2–2 1–0
Source: Israel Football Association
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation playoff

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Relegation playoff

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The 14th-placed Hapoel Nazareth Illit faced 2014–15 Liga Alef promotion play-offs winner, Ironi Nesher. The matches took place on May 26 and 29, 2015.

Hapoel Nazareth Illit5 - 0Ironi Nesher
Hudeda   30' (pen.)
Giditz   46' (o.g.)
Basit   63'
Owusu   73'
Deri   89'
Report (in Hebrew)

Hapoel Nazareth Illit won 5–1 on aggregate and remained in Liga Leumit. Ironi Nesher remained in Liga Alef.

Season statistics

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Scoring

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Top scorers

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Rank Player Club Goals[2]
1   Pedro Galván Bnei Yehuda 22
2   Ido Exbard Maccabi Ahi Nazareth 21
3   Lanry Kahinda Hapoel Afula 20
4   Ran Itzhak Hapoel Kfar Saba 17
5   Shalom Akiva Ironi Tiberias 13
6   Jordan Faucher Maccabi Herzliya 12
7   Nevo Mizrahi Hapoel Jerusalem 11
  Yossi Ofir Maccabi Yavne
9   Moshe Ben Lulu Hapoel Bnei Lod 10
  Ali Khatib Maccabi Ahi Nazareth
  Omri Shekel Hapoel Rishon LeZion
  Yossi Shivhon Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon
  Gal Tzruya Bnei Yeuhda
14   Yinon Barda Hapoel Bnei Lod 9
  Almog Buzaglo Hapoel Ramat Gan
  Idan David Hapoel Kfar Saba
  Liron Elimelech Ironi Tiberias
  Uri Magbo Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla
19   Ben Azubel Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon 8
  Liron Diamant Hapoel Ramat Gan
  Eli Elbaz Maccabi Ahi Nazareth/Ironi Tiberias
  Didier Kougbenya Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla
  Issoumaila Lingane Hapoel Ramat Gan
  Branko Mihajlović Hapoel Kfar Saba
  Nir Nachum Hapoel Rishon LeZion
26 5 players 7
31 11 players 6
42 13 players 5
55 25 players 4
80 22 players 3
102 23 players 2
125 73 players 1
198 Own goals 10
Total 739
Average per game 2.497

Updated: 25 May 2015
Source: Israel Football Association

Discipline

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Maman, Asi (11 February 2015). "הפסד טכני לבני יהודה, קוסטה הורחק למשחק" [Technical loss for Bnei Yehuda, Ivaškevičius suspended for one match]. One. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  2. ^ "League Goal Scorers 2014–15". football.org.il. Israeli Football Association. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  3. ^ "Liga Leumit Yellows Accumulation". football.org.il. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  4. ^ "Liga Leumit Reds Accumulation". football.org.il. Retrieved 9 September 2014.