2020–21 Liga Alef

Liga Alef
Season	2020–21
Champions	Maccabi Bnei Reineh; Hapoel "Adumim" Ashdod
	← 2019–20 2021–22 →

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

Hapoel Iksal and Hapoel Kfar Shalem were promoted to Liga Leumit; Hapoel Ashkelon and Hapoel Bnei Lod (both to South division) were relegated from Liga Leumit.
Since the previous season was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no team was relegated to Liga Bet. However Ironi Kiryat Gat and Hapoel Asi Gilboa folded and didn't register to this season.
Maccabi Tzur Shalom and Maccabi Ironi Kiryat Ata merged in July 2020.^[1]
Ihud Bnei Majd al-Krum, Hapoel Bu'eine, Hapoel Bnei Fureidis, Maccabi Bnei Reineh, Tzeirei Tayibe (to the North division), F.C. Dimona and Ironi Kuseife (to the South Division) were promoted from Liga Bet to complete a 34 team line-up, 18 teams in each division.

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]

First Phase

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	Promotion group
3	Hapoel Bu'eine	16	9	2	5	25	21	+4	29	Relegation group
4	Hapoel Bnei Fureidis	16	6	4	6	21	19	+2	22
5	Hapoel Kafr Kanna	16	6	4	6	20	20	0	22
6	Hapoel Herzliya	16	5	5	6	15	14	+1	20
7	Maccabi Tzur Shalom Bialik	16	4	4	8	19	23	−4	16
8	Ironi Tiberias	16	3	6	7	13	17	−4	15
9	Ihud Bnei Majd al-Krum	16	1	3	12	11	44	−33	6

Updated to match(es) played on 9 April 2021. 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	Promotion group
3	Tzeirei Tayibe	16	4	9	3	21	20	+1	21	Relegation group
4	Hapoel Baqa al-Gharbiyye	16	5	5	6	22	19	+3	20
5	Hapoel Migdal HaEmek	16	4	8	4	17	22	−5	20
6	Hapoel Bnei Arara-'Ara	16	4	6	6	13	18	−5	18
7	F.C. Haifa Robi Shapira	16	4	5	7	14	21	−7	17
8	Hapoel Bnei Zalafa F.C.	16	3	6	7	22	30	−8	15
9	F.C. Daburiyya	16	3	4	9	13	22	−9	13

Updated to match(es) played on 10 April 2021. 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	Promotion group
3	Shimshon Kafr Qasim	16	6	7	3	25	15	+10	25	Relegation group
4	Maccabi Herzliya	16	8	1	7	19	16	+3	25
5	Hapoel Azor	16	7	3	6	24	22	+2	24
6	Maccabi Yavne	16	5	4	7	14	19	−5	19
7	F.C Or Yehuda	16	5	3	8	20	34	−14	18
8	F.C. Dimona	16	4	5	7	13	13	0	17
9	Hapoel Bnei Lod	16	3	2	11	18	33	−15	11

Updated to match(es) played on 12 April 2021. 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	Promotion group
3	Hapoel Marmorek	16	8	4	4	26	17	+9	28	Relegation group
4	Maccabi Sha'arayim	16	6	6	4	16	15	+1	24
5	Maccabi Ashdod	16	4	6	6	19	17	+2	18
6	Hapoel Ashkelon	16	3	9	4	15	19	−4	18
7	Ironi Kuseife	16	4	6	6	13	24	−11	18
8	Nordia Jerusalem	16	3	4	9	16	29	−13	13
9	Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan	16	1	5	10	15	36	−21	8

Updated to match(es) played on 9 April 2021. 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.

Second Phase

Promotion groups

North division

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

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.

Relegation groups

North Division

Sub-division A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Hapoel Bu'eine	21	10	2	9	29	32	−3	32
2	Hapoel Herzliya	22	8	7	7	28	18	+10	31
3	Hapoel Bnei Fureidis	21	8	6	7	31	25	+6	30
4	Hapoel Kafr Kanna	21	8	6	7	31	26	+5	30
5	Maccabi Tzur Shalom Bialik (X)	21	7	6	8	27	25	+2	27
6	Ironi Tiberias (X)	21	6	6	9	19	21	−2	24	Relegation play-offs
7	Ihud Bnei Majd al-Krum (R)	21	1	3	17	13	65	−52	6	Relegation to Liga Bet

Updated to match(es) played on 7 May 2021. 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.
(R) Relegated; (X) Cannot be relegated directly, but may still qualify to the relegation play-offs

Sub-division B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Hapoel Bnei Arara-'Ara	22	7	8	7	26	29	−3	29
2	Hapoel Migdal HaEmek	21	6	10	5	28	29	−1	28
3	Hapoel Baqa al-Gharbiyye	21	7	6	8	29	29	0	27
4	F.C. Haifa Robi Shapira (X)	21	6	7	8	22	26	−4	25
5	Hapoel Bnei Zalafa F.C. (X)	21	6	6	9	32	39	−7	24
6	Tzeirei Tayibe (X)	21	4	11	6	27	31	−4	23	Relegation play-offs
7	F.C. Daburiyya (R)	21	3	7	11	16	27	−11	16	Relegation to Liga Bet

Updated to match(es) played on 7 May 2021. 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.
(R) Relegated; (X) Cannot be relegated directly, but may still qualify to the relegation play-offs

South Division

Sub-division A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Maccabi Herzliya	22	11	4	7	32	24	+8	37
2	Shimshon Kafr Qasim	21	7	10	4	30	20	+10	31
3	Hapoel Azor	21	7	6	8	24	26	−2	27
4	F.C. Dimona	21	6	8	7	18	15	+3	26
5	Maccabi Yavne	21	6	6	9	20	23	−3	24
6	Hapoel Bnei Lod (T)	21	5	5	11	25	36	−11	20	Relegation play-offs
7	F.C Or Yehuda (T)	21	5	4	12	21	45	−24	19	Relegation to Liga Bet

Updated to match(es) played on 7 May 2021. 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.
(T) Qualified, but not yet for the particular phase indicated

Sub-division B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Hapoel Marmorek	21	12	5	4	40	21	+19	41
2	Maccabi Sha'arayim	22	8	7	7	26	27	−1	31
3	Maccabi Ashdod	21	6	7	8	29	28	+1	25
4	Hapoel Ashkelon	21	5	10	6	21	25	−4	25
5	Ironi Kuseife (X)	21	5	8	8	20	34	−14	23
6	Nordia Jerusalem (X)	21	5	6	10	24	35	−11	21	Relegation play-offs
7	Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan (R)	21	2	5	14	23	50	−27	11	Relegation to Liga Bet

Updated to match(es) played on 7 May 2021. 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.
(R) Relegated; (X) Cannot be relegated directly, but may still qualify to the relegation play-offs.

Promotion play-offs

In the first round of the play-offs the second-placed team from the North division promotion group will face the second-placed team from the South division promotion group in a single match on neutral ground. The winner of the match will face the 14th-placed team from Liga Leumit in a home and away tie.

First round

13 May 2021

F.C. Tira	v	Maccabi Kabilio Jaffa

Relegation play-offs

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

References

^ 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.
^ "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.

[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.

[1]

[2]

v t e Liga Alef
North	F.C. Kiryat Yam F.C. Tira Hapoel Baqa al-Gharbiyye Hapoel Beit She'an Hapoel Bnei Musmus Hapoel Bnei Zalafa Hapoel Bu'eine Hapoel Kafr Kanna Hapoel Ironi Arraba Hapoel Migdal HaEmek Ihud Bnei Shefa-'Amr Ironi Nesher Maccabi Akhi Nazareth Maccabi Ata Bialik Maccabi Nujeidat Tzeirei Kafr Kanna Tzeirei Umm al-Fahm
South	F.C. Dimona F.C. Jerusalem F.C. Holon Yermiyahu Hapoel Ashdod Hapoel Bik'at HaYarden Hapoel Herzliya Hapoel Lod Hapoel Marmorek Maccabi Kiryat Malakhi Ironi Modi'in Maccabi Ironi Ashdod Maccabi Sha'arayim Maccabi Yavne Nordia Jerusalem Sektzia Ness Ziona Shimshon Kafr Qasim Shimshon Tel Aviv
Seasons (third level)	1938 1940 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
See also: Liga Artzit