2015–16 Liga Leumit

Liga Leumit

Season	2015–16
Champions	F.C. Ashdod
Promoted	F.C. Ashdod Hapoel Ashkelon
Relegated	Maccabi Yavne Maccabi Kiryat Gat
Matches played	296
Goals scored	784 (2.65 per match)
Top goalscorer	Jordan Faucher (21)
Biggest home win	Hapoel Ramat Gan 5 - 0 Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem (25 April 2016) Hapoel Nazareth Illit 6 - 1 Maccabi Kiryat Gat (2 May 2016)
Biggest away win	Hapoel 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 scoring	Hapoel Ashkelon 5 - 4 Hapoel Petah Tikva (2 May 2016)
← 2014–15 2016–17 → All statistics correct as of 20 May 2016.

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

A total of sixteen teams are 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

Team changes

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

Stadia and locations

^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

Regular season table

Updated to games played on 4 April 2016.
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
¹ Winners of 2015–16 Israel State Cup qualify for the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Playoffs

Top Playoff

Top Playoff table

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
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Bottom Playoff

Bottom Playoff table

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
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Relegation playoff

Relegation playoff

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 Qasim v Hapoel Jerusalem

27 May 2016 16:00 UTC+3

F.C. Kafr Qasim	0 - 1	Hapoel Jerusalem
	Report (Hebrew)	I. Cohen  35'

Winter Stadium, Ramat Gan Referee: Eli Hacmon

Hapoel Jerusalem v F.C. Kafr Qasim

31 May 2016 19:00 UTC+3

Hapoel Jerusalem	2 - 1	F.C. Kafr Qasim
G. Cohen  37' Levy  90' (pen.)	Report (Hebrew)	Mo. Sarsour  72'

Teddy Stadium, Jerusalem Referee: Erez Papir

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

Season statistics

Scoring

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

• Most yellow cards:^[1] 13
  • Salem Abu Siam (Hapoel Bnei Lod)
  • Daniel Solomon (Maccabi Kiryat Gat)
• Most red cards:^[2] 3
  • Israel Rosh (Hapoel Ramat Gan)
  • Uri Peso (Hapoel Petah Tikva)
  • Ryan Adeleye (Hapoel Jerusalem)

See also

• 2015–16 Israel State Cup

References