The 2012–13 Israeli Premier League was the fourteenth season since its introduction in 1999 and the 71st season of top-tier football in Israel. It began on 25 August 2012 and ended on 20 May 2013. Ironi Kiryat Shmona were the defending champions, having won their first Premier League title last season.

Maccabi Tel Aviv secured the title with a 2–0 win against Ironi Ramat HaSharon on 22 April 2012. This was their 19th Israeli league title, this win gave Maccabi Tel Aviv a 13-point advantage over the second-place team Maccabi Haifa with four more rounds to go.

Structural changes There were three structural changes: Only fourteen teams competed in this season, reducing from sixteen teams. The top playoff were contested by six teams which were played against each other twice, and the bottom playoff was contested by eight teams which were played against each other once. There were two relegated teams, and two promoted team from Liga Leumit.

Teams

A total of fourteen teams competed in the league, including thirteen sides from the 2011–12 season and one promoted team from the 2011–12 Liga Leumit.

Hapoel Petah Tikva, Hapoel Rishon LeZion, and Maccabi Petah Tikva were relegated to the 2012–13 Liga Leumit after finishing the 2011–12 season in the bottom three places. Maccabi Petah Tikva were relegated after 21 straight seasons, Hapoel Petah Tikva after four years consecutively and Hapoel Rishon LeZion after just one year on the top division.

Hapoel Ramat Gan were promoted to the 2012–13 Israeli Premier League after beating Hapoel Bnei Lod in the 2011–12 Liga Leumit promotion playoff. They last played in the top division in the 2010–11 Season.

Stadia and locations

Club Home City Stadium Capacity Beitar Jerusalem Jerusalem Teddy Stadium Bnei Sakhnin Sakhnin Doha Stadium Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv Bloomfield Stadium F.C. Ashdod Ashdod Yud-Alef Stadium Hapoel Acre Acre Acre Municipal Stadium Hapoel Be'er Sheva Be'er Sheva Vasermil Stadium Hapoel Haifa Haifa Kiryat Eliezer Stadium Hapoel Ramat Gan Ramat Gan Ramat Gan Stadium Hapoel Tel Aviv Tel Aviv Bloomfield Stadium Ironi Kiryat Shmona Kiryat Shmona Kiryat Shmona Stadium Ironi Ramat HaSharon Ramat HaSharon Grundman Stadium Maccabi Haifa Haifa Kiryat Eliezer Stadium Maccabi Netanya Netanya Netanya Stadium Maccabi Tel Aviv Tel Aviv Bloomfield Stadium A: The club plays its home games at a neutral venue because their own ground does not meet Premier League requirements. B: While Netanya Stadium was under construction. Maccabi Netanya hosted their home games in Ramat Gan Stadium until 6 October 2012.

Beitar JerusalemBnei Yehuda Hapoel Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel AvivIroni Kiryat ShmonaHapoel AcreTeddy Stadium Bloomfield StadiumKiryat Shmona StadiumAcre StadiumMaccabi NetanyaHapoel Haifa Maccabi HaifaHapoel Petah Tikva Maccabi Petah TikvaHapoel Ramat HaSharonNetanya Stadium Kiryat Eliezer Stadium HaMoshava Stadium Grundman StadiumF.C. AshdodBnei SakhninHapoel Be'er ShevaYud-Alef StadiumDoha StadiumVasermil Stadium

Personnel and sponsorship

Team President Manager Captain Kitmaker Shirt sponsorBeitar Jerusalem (b. 1951) Diadora EldanBnei Sakhnin Lotto Bank LeumiBnei Yehuda Puma Strauss F.C. Ashdod Nike Sektor TownHapoel Acre Nike Shahaf SecurityHapoel Be'er Sheva Kappa Mobli, DellHapoel Haifa Diadora Hatama SecurityHapoel Ramat Gan (b. 1961) Puma Avi SoferHapoel Tel Aviv Kappa Bonnie Hatichon, Shlomo SixtIroni Kiryat Shmona Lotto IturanIroni Ramat HaSharon Lotto —Maccabi Haifa Nike Honda, HerbalifeMaccabi Netanya Diadora Burgus Burger BarMaccabi Tel Aviv Under Armour Nivea

Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentFinal positionHapoel Acre Eli Cohen (b. 1961)End of contract13 May 201210th (11–12) Shimon Edri28 May 201214thHapoel Haifa Tal BaninEnd of contract13 May 201212th (11–12) Nir Klinger23 May 20129thMaccabi Netanya Reuven AtarEnd of contract13 May 20124th (11–12) Tal Banin13 May 201212thBnei Yehuda Yossi AbukasisEnd of contract13 May 20123rd (11–12) Dror Kashtan13 May 20125thHapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona Ran Ben ShimonEnd of contract13 May 20121st (11–12) Gili Landau13 May 20127thMaccabi Tel Aviv Nir LevineEnd of contract13 May 20126th (11–12) Óscar García22 May 20121stIroni Ramat HaSharon Yehoshua FeigenbaumEnd of contract13 May 201211th (11–12) Nissan Yehezkel14 May 20126thHapoel Be'er Sheva Guy LevyEnd of contract13 May 201213th (11–12) Elisha Levy16 May 201210thMaccabi Haifa Elisha LevyEnd of contract16 May 20125th (11–12) Reuven Atar16 May 201213thIroni Ramat HaSharon Nissan YehezkelSacked2 September 20126th Beni Tabak (joint manager) Meni Koretski (joint manager)4 September 20125thHapoel Tel Aviv Nitzan ShiraziStepped down for health reasons27 September 20123rd Yossi Abukasis27 September 20123rdHapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona Gili LandauSacked3 October 20127th Barak Bakhar (caretaker)3 October 20124thMaccabi Haifa Reuven AtarSacked13 November 201213th Arik Benado17 November 20122ndHapoel Ramat Gan Freddy DavidSacked28 November 201213th Eli Cohen (b. 1961)28 November 201212thIroni Ramat HaSharon Meni Koretski (joint manager)Resigned12 January 20135th Benny Tabak (sole manager)12 January 20136thHapoel Acre Shimon EdriSacked31 January 201314th Yuval Naim31 January 201311thHapoel Tel Aviv Yossi AbukasisSacked16 February 20133rd Freddy David18 February 20133rdBnei Sakhnin Shlomi DoraSacked10 March 201312th Marco Balbul11 March 201313thMaccabi Netanya Tal BaninSacked18 March 201312th Reuven Atar19 March 201314th

Arik Benado was acted as caretaker manager for eight days until his appointment as manager on 25 November 2012.

Foreign players Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Non-visa Foreign Former Players Beitar Jerusalem Darío Fernández Dino Škvorc Dominik Glavina Dzhabrail Kadiyev Zaur Sadayev Steven Cohen2 Bnei Sakhnin Pieter Mbemba Imoro Lukman Yero Bello Aleksandar Davidov Arafat Djako Maxime Josse Joël Damahou Bnei Yehuda Pedro Galván Ádám Hrepka Kęstutis Ivaškevičius Dele Aiyenugba Nenad Marinković F.C. Ashdod Dimitar Makriev Paty Yeye Lenkebe Juwon Oshaniwa Stefan Šćepović Sandi Arčon William Owusu Efe Ambrose Hapoel Acre Dimaku Fidelis Branislav Jovanović Nebojša Marinković Nemanja Arsenijević Srđa Knežević Leo Imoro Lukman Hapoel Be'er Sheva Bojan Marković William Soares Patrick Osiako Austin Ejide William Njobvu Ryan Adeleye2 Hapoel Haifa Stefan Denković Vladimir Gluščević Dušan Brković Danilo Nikolić Touvarno Pinas Tvrtko Kale2 Fabian Stoller Hapoel Ramat Gan David Manga Djibril Sidibé Bernard Itoua Dorin Goga Miran Burgić Carlos Chacana2 Miroslav Pejić Anton Arkhipov Hapoel Tel Aviv Apoula Edel Eric Djemba-Djemba Savo Pavićević Tiago Costa David Rochela Bruno Coutinho John Paintsil Nikola Petković Ironi Kiryat Shmona David Solari Osei Mawuli Darko Tasevski Dušan Matović Bryan Gerzicich1 Roni Porokara László Lencse Ironi Ramat HaSharon Adrián Fernández Savity Lipenia Udo Fortune Marko Anđelković Hugo López Cadu Yordan Miliev Hristijan Kirovski Maccabi Haifa Edin Cocalić Bojan Šaranov Dino Ndlovu Andriy Pylyavskyi Daniel Haber2 Joël Damahou

Regular season

Table

Results

Playoffs Key numbers for pairing determination (number marks position after 26 games):

Rounds 27th 28th 29th 30th 31st 32nd 33rd 34th 35th 36th1–62–53–41–25–36–42–63–14–51–42–36–53–64–25–16–15–24–32–13–54–66–21–35–43–24–15–66–32–41–57–148–139–1210–117–813–912–1014–118–149–710–1311–128–97–1013–1114–129–1410–811–712–139–108–117–1214–1310–1411–912–813–7 

Top Playoff

Table

Results

Bottom Playoff

Table

Results

Season statistics

Top scorers RankScorerClubGoals1 Eliran AtarMaccabi Tel Aviv222 Shimon AbuhatziraIroni Kiryat Shmona153 Ohad KadousiHapoel Acre144 Omer DamariHapoel Tel Aviv135 Weaam AmashaMaccabi Haifa11 Avi ReikanBeitar Jerusalem11 Pedro GalvánBnei Yehuda118 David MangaHapoel Ramat Gan10 Toto TamuzHapoel Tel Aviv10 Dovev GabayHapoel Be'er Sheva10 Mu'nas DabburMaccabi Tel Aviv10 Achmad Saba'aMaccabi Netanya10Total680Average per game

Source: Israel Football Association

Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Maccabi Tel Aviv Hapoel Haifa 3–1 Hapoel Acre Bnei Sakhnin 5–1 Hapoel Tel Aviv Hapoel Be'er Sheva 4–1 Hapoel Ramat Gan Hapoel Acre 3–0 Bnei Yehuda Maccabi Netanya 5–3 4 Maccabi Haifa Ironi Ramat HaSharon 6–0 4 Ironi Kiryat Shmona Hapoel Tel Aviv 4–1 4 Player scored 4 goals

Scoring First goal of the season: Murad Abu Anza for F.C. Ashdod against Ironi Ramat HaSharon, 8th minute (25 August 2012) Widest winning margin: 6 goals – Maccabi Haifa 6–0 Ironi Ramat HaSharon (2 April 2013) Most goals scored by a losing team: 3 goals Ironi Ramat HaSharon 3–4 Maccabi Tel Aviv (24 November 2012) Maccabi Netanya 3–4 Ironi Kiryat Shmona (29 December 2012) Maccabi Netanya 3–5 Bnei Yehuda (9 February 2013) Most goals in a match by one player: 4 goals Dino Ndlovu for Maccabi Haifa against Ironi Ramat HaSharon (2 April 2013) Shimon Abuhatzira for Ironi Kiryat Shmona against Hapoel Tel Aviv (20 April 2013)

Discipline First yellow card of the season: Bojan Marković for Hapoel Be'er Sheva against Bnei Sakhnin, 9th minute (25 August 2012) Most yellow cards by a player: 13 – Kobi Moyal (Beitar Jerusalem) First red card of the season: Dia Saba for Hapoel Be'er Sheva against Bnei Sakhnin, 89th minute (25 August 2012) Most red cards by a player: 2 – Mohammed Zbidat (Bnei Sakhnin) Elad Gabai (Ironi Kiryat Shmona)

Clean sheets Most clean sheets: 17 Maccabi Tel Aviv Fewest clean sheets: 4 Hapoel Ramat Gan

Attendances

Rank Club Average Highest 1 Maccabi Tel Aviv 11,195 14,000 2 Maccabi Haifa 10,626 14,363 3 Hapoel Tel Aviv 8,767 16,217 4 Beitar Jerusalem 7,917 28,000 5 Maccabi Netanya 5,146 14,000 6 Hapoel Haifa 4,601 10,228 7 Hapoel Be'er-Sheva 4,534 9,000 8 Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv 4,314 14,000 9 Bnei Sakhnin 3,106 8,500 10 Hapoel Ironi Acre 2,399 8,000 11 Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona 2,233 4,500 12 Ashdod 2,040 6,800 13 Hapoel Ramat Gan 1,848 4,800 14 Ironi Nir Ramat HaSharon 1,202 3,500Source:

See also 2012–13 Israel State Cup 2012–13 Toto Cup Al

References