The 2015–16 Liga Leumit was the 17th season as second tier since its re-alignment in 1999 and the 74th season of second-tier football in Israel.

Liga Leumit
Season2015–16
ChampionsF.C. Ashdod
PromotedF.C. Ashdod
Hapoel Ashkelon
RelegatedMaccabi Yavne
Maccabi Kiryat Gat
Matches played296
Goals scored784 (2.65 per match)
Top goalscorerFrance Jordan Faucher (21)
Biggest home winHapoel Ramat Gan 5 - 0 Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem
(25 April 2016)
Hapoel Nazareth Illit 6 - 1 Maccabi Kiryat Gat
(2 May 2016)
Biggest away winHapoel Petah Tikva 0 - 4 Maccabi Yavne
(9 November 2015)
Hapoel Nazareth Illit 0 - 4 Hapoel Rishon LeZion
(18 December 2015)
Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla 0 - 4 Hapoel Jerusalem
(22 January 2016)
Hapoel Rishon LeZion 0 - 4 Hapoel Ashkelon
(15 February 2016)
Hapoel Afula 0 - 4 Maccabi Yavne
(25 April 2016)
Maccabi Kiryat Gat 0 - 4 Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla
(9 May 2016)
Maccabi Yavne 0 - 4 Hapoel Nazareth Illit
(13 May 2016)
Maccabi Kiryat Gat 0 - 4 Hapoel Rishon LeZion
(20 May 2016)
Highest scoringHapoel Ashkelon 5 - 4 Hapoel Petah Tikva
(2 May 2016)
All statistics correct as of 20 May 2016.

A total of sixteen teams were contesting in the league, including eleven sides from the 2014–15 season, the three promoted teams from 2014–15 Liga Alef and the two relegated teams from 2014–15 Israeli Premier League.

Changes from 2014–15 season

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Team changes

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Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv and Hapoel Kfar Saba, were promoted to the 2015–16 Israeli Premier League.

Hapoel Petah Tikva and FC Ashdod were directly relegated to the 2015–16 Liga Leumit after finishing the 2014–15 Israeli Premier League season in the bottom two places.

Hakoah Ramat Gan, and Ironi Tiberias were directly relegated to Liga Alef after finishing in the previous season in last two league places. They were replaced by Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem and Hapoel Ashkelon who finished first their respective 2014–15 Liga Alef.

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 2,000
F.C. Ashdod Ashdod Yud-Alef Stadium 7,800
Hapoel Afula Afula Afula Illit Stadium 3,000
Hapoel Ashkelon Ashkelon Sala Stadium 5,250
Hapoel Bnei Lod Lod Lod Municipal Stadium 3,000
Hapoel Jerusalem Jerusalem Teddy Stadium 31,733
Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem Jerusalem Teddy Stadium 31,733
Hapoel Nazareth Illit Nazareth Illit Green Stadium 4,000
Hapoel Petah Tikva Petah Tikva HaMoshava Stadium 11,500
Hapoel Ramat HaSharon Ramat HaSharon Grundman Stadium 4,300
Hapoel Ramat Gan Ramat Gan Ramat Gan Stadium 13,370
Hapoel Rishon LeZion Rishon LeZion Haberfeld Stadium 6,000
Maccabi Ahi Nazareth Nazareth Ilut Stadium 4,932
Maccabi Herzliya Herzliya Herzliya Municipal Stadium 8,100
Maccabi Kiryat Gat Kiryat Gat Sala Stadium[B] 5,250
Maccabi Yavne Yavne Ness Ziona Stadium[C] 3,500

^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.

Regular season

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Ashdod 30 16 9 5 52 32 +20 57 Qualification for the Promotion playoffs
2 Hapoel Ashkelon 30 13 11 6 50 31 +19 50
3 Hapoel Petah Tikva 30 13 8 9 40 37 +3 47
4 Maccabi Herzliya 30 12 10 8 36 29 +7 46
5 Maccabi Ahi Nazareth 30 13 5 12 34 35 −1 44
6 Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem 30 12 8 10 36 42 −6 44
7 Hapoel Bnei Lod 30 11 10 9 34 30 +4 43
8 Hapoel Ramat Gan 30 10 12 8 40 32 +8 42
9 Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla 30 13 3 14 42 46 −4 42 Qualification for the Relegation playoffs
10 Hapoel Afula 30 10 11 9 43 39 +4 41
11 Hapoel Rishon LeZion 30 11 8 11 42 43 −1 41
12 Hapoel Ramat HaSharon 30 10 10 10 43 38 +5 40
13 Maccabi Yavne 30 8 9 13 37 41 −4 33
14 Hapoel Jerusalem 30 7 10 13 26 37 −11 31
15 Hapoel Nazareth Illit 30 6 10 14 26 40 −14 28
16 Maccabi Kiryat Gat 30 3 10 17 18 47 −29 19
Source: Israel Football Association
Rules for classification: 1. points; 2. goal difference; 3. matches won; 4. goals scored; 5. head-to-head; 6. decision match.
Winners of 2015–16 Israel State Cup qualify for the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.


Playoffs

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Top playoff

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion
1 Ashdod (P) 37 19 13 5 66 38 +28 70 Promoted to Israeli Premier League
2 Hapoel Ashkelon (P) 37 16 14 7 62 40 +22 62
3 Hapoel Ramat Gan 37 14 14 9 56 38 +18 56
4 Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem 37 15 11 11 44 49 −5 56
5 Maccabi Herzliya 37 14 13 10 50 43 +7 55
6 Hapoel Petah Tikva 37 13 13 11 54 55 −1 52
7 Maccabi Ahi Nazareth 37 15 6 16 40 49 −9 51
8 Hapoel Bnei Lod 37 11 11 15 36 42 −6 44
Source: Israel Football Association
Rules for classification: 1. points; 2. goal difference; 3. matches won; 4. goals scored; 5. head-to-head; 6. decision match
(P) Promoted


Bottom playoff

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Relegation
9 Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla 37 19 4 14 60 50 +10 61
10 Hapoel Ramat HaSharon 37 13 11 13 57 49 +8 50
11 Hapoel Afula 37 13 11 13 53 53 0 50
12 Hapoel Rishon LeZion 37 13 9 15 51 53 −2 48
13 Hapoel Nazareth Illit 37 11 11 15 44 47 −3 44
14 Hapoel Jerusalem (O) 37 9 13 15 39 50 −11 40 Qualification for the relegation play-offs
15 Maccabi Yavne (R) 37 9 9 19 44 58 −14 36 Relegated to Liga Alef
16 Maccabi Kiryat Gat (R) 37 5 11 21 28 70 −42 26
Source: Israel Football Association
Rules for classification: 1. points; 2. goal difference; 3. matches won; 4. goals scored; 5. head-to-head; 6. decision match
(O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated


Relegation playoff

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Relegation playoff

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The 14th-placed Hapoel Jerusalem faced 2015–16 Liga Alef promotion play-offs winner, F.C. Kafr Qasim. The matches took place on May 27 and 31, 2016.

F.C. Kafr Qasim0 - 1Hapoel Jerusalem
Report (in Hebrew) I. Cohen   35'

Hapoel Jerusalem won 3–1 on aggregate and remained in Liga Leumit. F.C. Kafr Qasim remained in Liga Alef.

Season statistics

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Scoring

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As of matches played on 20 May 2016.
Rank Scorer Club Goals
1   Jordan Faucher Maccabi Herzliya 21
2   Miroslav Antonov Maccabi Yavne 16
  Kpéhi Brossou Hapoel Ramat Gan
  Idan Shriki Hapoel Ashkelon
5   Ben Azubel Hapoel Petah Tikva 15
6   Or Inbrom F.C. Ashdod 14
7   Ya'akov Berihon Hapoel Rishon LeZion 13
  Branko Mihajlović Hapoel Petah Tikva
  Rotem Shmul Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla
  Yossi Shivhon Hapoel Ramat HaSharon

Source: Israel Football Association

Discipline

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Liga Leumit Yellows Accumulation". football.org.il. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  2. ^ "Liga Leumit Reds Accumulation". football.org.il. Retrieved 4 June 2016.