The West Bank Premier League is one of the two top divisions of the Palestinian Football Association (PFA); the other is the Gaza Strip Premier League.
Palestinian clubs date back to the early 1930s, but most teams folded due to political turmoil and ensuing reduction of the geographical area of the country. Over the years, the format of the league has taken many different shapes. It was most recently contested in 2022–23.
History
Pre-officialization (1970s–2000s)
In 1977, Silwan won a five-team league on 28 points ahead of Al-Arabi Beit Safafa, YMCA, Al-Bireh Group, and Shabab Al-Khaleel. In 1982, Shabab Al-Khaleel won a 24-team league on 81 points five points ahead of closest challengers YMCA. In 1984, Markaz Tulkarem won a 12-team league on 60 points one point ahead of closest challengers Hateen. In 1985, Shabab Al-Khaleel won their second league title, the league once again featured 12 teams. Shabab Al-Khaleel finished on 60 points, six ahead of Thaqafi Tulkarm. In 1997, Markaz Shabab Al-Am'ari won their first league title on 64 points, the league featured 16 teams, Thaqafi Tulkarm finished as runner-up on 53 points. In 2008–09, Taraji Wadi Al-Nes won a 22-team league that would determine the members of the First and Second Division. They collected 49 points from 21 games. In 2009–10 Jabal Al-Mukaber won a 12-team league, the last before the PFA instituted a professional set-up. They collected 49 points from 22 games, 7 more than their closest challengers Hilal Al-Quds.
Emergence of high-profile signings (2010s) The 2010–11 season marked the creation of the first professional league in the territories and saw high-profile signings for many clubs. Most notably Fadi Lafi of the Hilal Al-Quds, and Hernán Madrid of Wadi Al-Nes, and many Palestinians-Israelis who played for teams in the second and third tier of Israeli football.
The original format of the WBPL consisted of 12 teams playing each other twice over 22 matchdays, the bottom two clubs are relegated to the second division and the team with the most points are crowned champions.
The 2011–12 included only 10 teams but the PFA announced that four teams will be promoted from the First Division returning the league to its traditional 12-team format. The PFA also altered the rules on player eligibility banning the use of foreign players but letting teams have an unlimited amount of Arab Israeli citizens in their squads
Clubs Season 2022–23 clubs: Club Coach City Captain 2021–22 season Notes Ahli Al-Khaleel Hebron West Bank First League, 2nd Hilal Al-Quds Jamal Mahmoud East Jerusalem Fadi Lafi 3rd Islami Qalqilya Qalqilya 6th Jabal Al-Mukaber East Jerusalem 2nd Markaz Balata Nablus 5th Mosaset Al-Bireh Al-Bireh 9th Shabab Al-Am'ari Am'ari 10th Shabab Al-Dhahiriya Ad-Dhahiriya 7th Shabab Al-Khalil Hebron 1st (Champions) Shabab Alsamu Al Samu 4th Taraji Wadi Al-Nes Bethlehem West Bank First League, 1st Thaqafi Tulkarm Miha Tulkarem Osama Sabah 8th
Past champions The winners were: 1977: Silwan 1982: Shabab Al-Khalil 1984: Markaz Tulkarem 1985: Shabab Al-Khalil (2) 1986: Shabab Al-Khalil (3) 1997: Markaz Shabab Al-Am'ari 1999: Shabab Al-Khalil (4) 2000: Wadi Al-Nes 2006: Markaz Tulkarem (2) 2007: Wadi Al-Nes (2) 2008–09: Taraji Wadi Al-Nes 2009–10: Jabal Al-Mukaber Club 2010–11: Markaz Shabab Al-Am'ari (2) 2011–12: Hilal Al-Quds 2012–13: Shabab Al-Dhahiriya 2013–14: Taraji Wadi Al-Nes (2) 2014–15: Shabab Al-Dhahiriya (2) 2015–16: Shabab Al-Khalil (5) 2016–17: Hilal Al-Quds (2) 2017–18: Hilal Al-Quds (3) 2018–19: Hilal Al-Quds (4) 2019–20: Markaz Balata 2020–21: Shabab Al-Khalil (6) 2021–22: Shabab Al-Khalil (7) 2022–23: Jabal Al-Mukaber (2) 2023–24: Cancelled 2024–25: Not Held
Top goalscorers Season Scorer TeamGoals2020–21 Shehab QumborJabal Al-Mukaber 152021–22 Shehab Qumbor Jabal Al-Mukaber242022–23 Sameh MaraabaHilal Al-Quds 21
Multiple hat-tricks
Rank Country Player Hat-tricks 1 Sameh Maraaba42Shehab Qanbar33Mahmoud Abu Warda1 Rashid Adwi Aref Al HajMahmoud Al IwisatMohammed Al Jaabari Wael AwawdehShaher Daoud Oday Mohammad Hamad Hamza Issa Zaid QunbarKhaled Salem Musa Tarabin
References
External links League at FIFA.com League at Soccerway.com