| Season | 2008–09 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 30 August 2008 – 1 June 2009 |
| Champions | Maccabi Haifa 6th Premier League title 11th top-flight title |
| Runner up | Hapoel Tel Aviv |
| Relegated | Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan Ironi Kiryat Shmona |
| Champions League | Maccabi Haifa (second qualifying round) |
| Europa League | Hapoel Tel Aviv (third qualifying round) Maccabi Netanya (second qualifying round) Bnei Yehuda (first qualifying round) |
| Goals | 432 |
| Average goals/game | 2.18 |
| Top goalscorer | Barak Yitzhaki /Shimon Abuhatzira /Eliran Atar (14 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Hapoel Tel Aviv 4–0Beitar Jerusalem (9 February 2009) Beitar Jerusalem 4–0Hakoah Ramat Gan (4 April 2009) |
| Biggest away win | 8 games with a win by 3 goals[A] |
| Highest scoring | Hakoah Ramat Gan 2–4Beitar Jerusalem (20 September 2008) F.C. Ashdod 4–2Bnei Sakhnin (8 November 2008) F.C. Ashdod 3–3Maccabi Netanya (20 December 2008) (6 goals) |
2009–10 → | |
The2008–09 Israeli Premier League season began on 30 August 2008, and ended on 1 June 2009.Beitar Jerusalem were the defending champions, having won their 6th league titlethe previous year.
Two teams fromLiga Leumit were promoted at the end ofthe previous season:Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan andHapoel Petah Tikva. The two teamsrelegated wereHapoel Kfar Saba andMaccabi Herzliya.
At a 24 June 2008 IFA administration meeting[1] it was decided that the league would be expanded to 16 clubs forthe following season. Due to the expansion, only one team was relegated directly to Liga Leumit, while five clubs were promoted. The eleventh-ranked team played in a play-off match against the sixth-ranked team from Liga Leumit.
Maccabi Haifa clinched their 11th title after a 0–2 win againstMaccabi Netanya on 23 May 2009.
Twelve teams took part in the 2008-09 Israeli Premier League season, including ten teams from the2007-08 season, as well as two teams which were promoted from the2007-08 Liga Leumit.
Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan were promoted as champions of the2007-08 Liga Leumit.Hapoel Petah Tikva were promoted as runners up. They both returned to the top flight after an absence of one season.
Hapoel Kfar Saba andMaccabi Herzliya were relegated after finishing in the bottom two places in the2007-08 season.
In Italic: Players that left the club mid-season
The following do not fill a Visa position:
1Players who were born and started their professional career abroad but have since gained an Israeli passport or permanent residency, allowing them to play with Israeli status;
2Players who were born and started their professional career abroad but are eligible for Israeli citizenship due to Jewish ancestry;
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maccabi Haifa(C) | 33 | 19 | 10 | 4 | 49 | 24 | +25 | 67 | Qualification for theChampions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 33 | 17 | 10 | 6 | 49 | 28 | +21 | 61 | Qualification for theEuropa League third qualifying round |
| 3 | Beitar Jerusalem[a] | 33 | 16 | 12 | 5 | 47 | 28 | +19 | 57[b] | |
| 4 | Maccabi Netanya | 33 | 14 | 12 | 7 | 40 | 32 | +8 | 54 | Qualification for theEuropa League second qualifying round[c] |
| 5 | Bnei Yehuda | 33 | 14 | 7 | 12 | 38 | 31 | +7 | 49 | Qualification for theEuropa League first qualifying round[c] |
| 6 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 33 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 36 | 35 | +1 | 44 | |
| 7 | Maccabi Petah Tikva | 33 | 8 | 15 | 10 | 26 | 33 | −7 | 39 | |
| 8 | F.C. Ironi Ashdod | 33 | 10 | 8 | 15 | 41 | 48 | −7 | 38 | |
| 9 | Bnei Sakhnin | 33 | 7 | 12 | 14 | 26 | 41 | −15 | 33 | |
| 10 | Hapoel Petah Tikva | 33 | 8 | 7 | 18 | 30 | 42 | −12 | 31 | |
| 11 | Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan(R) | 33 | 6 | 11 | 16 | 26 | 46 | −20 | 29 | Qualification for therelegation play-offs |
| 12 | Ironi Kiryat Shmona(R) | 33 | 6 | 9 | 18 | 24 | 44 | −20 | 27 | Relegation toLiga Leumit |
| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maccabi Haifa | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | 4 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Beitar Jerusalem | 12 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Maccabi Netanya | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Bnei Yehuda | 10 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 |
| F.C. Ironi Ashdod | 11 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 |
| Bnei Sakhnin | 8 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 |
| Hapoel Petah Tikva | 7 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 |
| Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan | 3 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 11 |
| Ironi Kiryat Shmona | 9 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 12 |
The schedule consisted of three rounds. During first two rounds, each team played each other once home and away for a total of 22 matches. The pairings of the third round were then set according to the standings after first two rounds, giving every team a third game against each opponent for a total of 33 games per team.
| Home \ Away | BEI | BnS | BnY | ASH | HAR | HPT | HTA | IKS | MHA | MNE | MPT | MTA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beitar Jerusalem | — | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Bnei Sakhnin | 0–0 | — | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–3 |
| Bnei Yehuda | 0–3 | 2–0 | — | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 |
| F.C. Ironi Ashdod | 1–2 | 4–2 | 0–2 | — | 3–2 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan | 2–4 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | — | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–1 |
| Hapoel Petah Tikva | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | 0–2 | 3–0 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–2 | — | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Ironi Kiryat Shmona | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Maccabi Haifa | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | — | 2–3 | 3–1 | 3–2 |
| Maccabi Netanya | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | — | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | — | 0–0 |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | — |
Key numbers for pairing determination (number marks position after 22 games):
| Rounds | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23rd | 24th | 25th | 26th | 27th | 28th | 29th | 30th | 31st | 32nd | 33rd |
| 3 – 12 4 – 2 5 – 1 6 – 11 7 – 10 8 – 9 | 12 – 9 10 – 8 11 – 7 1 – 6 2 – 5 3 – 4 | 4 – 12 5 – 3 6 – 2 7 – 1 8 – 11 9 – 10 | 12 – 10 11 – 9 1 – 8 2 – 7 3 – 6 4 – 5 | 5 – 12 6 – 4 7 – 3 8 – 2 9 – 1 10 – 11 | 12 – 11 1 – 10 2 – 9 3 – 8 4 – 7 5 – 6 | 6 – 12 7 – 5 8 – 4 9 – 3 10 – 2 11 – 1 | 1 – 12 2 – 11 3 – 10 4 – 9 5 – 8 6 – 7 | 12 – 7 8 – 6 9 – 5 10 – 4 11 – 3 1 – 2 | 2 – 12 3 – 1 4 – 11 5 – 10 6 – 9 7 – 8 | 12 – 8 9 – 7 10 – 6 11 – 5 1 – 4 2 – 3 |
| Home \ Away | BEI | BnS | BnY | ASH | HAR | HPT | HTA | IKS | MHA | MNE | MPT | MTA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beitar Jerusalem | — | 3–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 4–0 | — | 2–1 | — | — | — | — | 2–0 |
| Bnei Sakhnin | — | — | 3–1 | 3–2 | — | — | — | — | 0–0 | 0–0 | — | 0–3 |
| Bnei Yehuda | — | — | — | — | 1–0 | 2–1 | — | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | — |
| F.C. Ironi Ashdod | — | — | 0–3 | — | — | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | 0–3 | 0–0 | — | — |
| Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan | — | 1–1 | — | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | — | — | — | 1–1 |
| Hapoel Petah Tikva | 0–0 | 2–2 | — | — | — | — | 0–1 | — | — | — | 2–0 | 1–2 |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | — | — | — | — | 1–2 | — | 1–1 |
| Ironi Kiryat Shmona | 2–0 | 0–2 | — | — | — | 1–1 | 1–3 | — | — | — | 1–2 | — |
| Maccabi Haifa | 1–1 | — | — | — | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | — | — | 0–0 | — |
| Maccabi Netanya | 1–0 | — | — | — | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–3 | 0–2 | — | 1–2 | — |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | 0–2 | 0–0 | — | 0–0 | 0–2 | — | 1–2 | — | — | — | — | 0–3 |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | — | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | — | — | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | — |
Hakoah Ramat Gan, as the 11th-placed team, faced the 6th-placedLiga Leumit teamMaccabi Ahi Nazareth in a two-legged playoff.Hakoah Ramat Gan lost both games and were relegated toLiga Leumit.
| Maccabi Ahi Nazareth | 2 – 1 | Hakoah Ramat Gan |
|---|---|---|
Ayeli 41'Silvas 48' | Report | For 42' |
| Hakoah Ramat Gan | 1 – 2 | Maccabi Ahi Nazareth |
|---|---|---|
| For 23' | Report | Jida 46' Ayeli 76' |
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals[17] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Barak Yitzhaki | Beitar Jerusalem | 14 |
| Shimon Abuhatzira | Hapoel Petah Tikva | 14 | |
| Eliran Atar | Bnei Yehuda | 14 | |
| 4 |  Samuel Yeboah | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 13 |
| 5 |  Dimitar Makriev | F.C. Ashdod | 11 |
 Thembinkosi Fanteni | Maccabi Haifa | 11 | |
| 7 | David Revivo | F.C. Ashdod | 10 |
 Pedro Galván | Bnei Yehuda | 10 | |
| 9 | Maor Buzaglo | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 9 |
| Lior Rafaelov | Maccabi Haifa | 9 | |
| Total | 432 | ||
| Average per game | 2.18 | ||
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