The 2018–19 Israeli Premier League, also known as Ligat Japanika for sponsorship reasons, was the twentieth season since its introduction in 1999 and the 77th season of top-tier football in Israel. The season began on 25 August 2018 and concluded on 25 May 2019. Hapoel Be'er Sheva were the defending champions.
Teams A total of fourteen teams were competing in the league, including twelve sides from the 2017–18 season and two promoted teams from the 2017–18 Liga Leumit.
Hapoel Acre and Hapoel Ashkelon were relegated to the 2018–19 Liga Leumit after finishing the 2017–18 Israeli Premier League in the bottom two places.
Hapoel Tel Aviv were promoted as the winners of the 2017–18 Liga Leumit. This ends the team's one-year absence from the top division.
Hapoel Hadera were promoted as the Runner-ups of the 2017–18 Liga Leumit. This marked the return of Hadera to the top division after 39 years of absence.
Stadiums and locations
Team Location Stadium CapacityBeitar JerusalemJerusalemTeddy StadiumBnei SakhninSakhninDoha StadiumBnei YehudaTel AvivHaMoshava Stadium, Petah TikvaF.C. AshdodAshdodYud-Alef StadiumHapoel Be'er ShevaBe'er ShevaTurner StadiumHapoel HaderaHaderaNetanya Stadium, NetanyaHapoel HaifaHaifaSammy Ofer StadiumHapoel Ra'ananaRa'ananaRamat Gan Stadium, Ramat GanHapoel Tel AvivTel AvivHaMoshava Stadium, Petah TikvaIroni Kiryat ShmonaKiryat ShmonaKiryat Shmona StadiumMaccabi HaifaHaifaSammy Ofer StadiumMaccabi NetanyaNetanyaNetanya StadiumMaccabi Petah TikvaPetah TikvaHaMoshava StadiumMaccabi Tel AvivTel AvivNetanya Stadium, Netanya
HaMoshava StadiumNetanya StadiumSammy Ofer StadiumBnei Yehuda Hapoel Tel Aviv Maccabi Petah TikvaHapoel Hadera Maccabi Netanya Maccabi Tel AvivHapoel Haifa Maccabi HaifaDoha StadiumKiryat Shmona StadiumRamat Gan StadiumBnei SakhninIroni Kiryat ShmonaHapoel Ra'ananaTeddy StadiumTurner StadiumYud-Alef StadiumBeitar JerusalemHapoel Be'er ShevaF.C. Ashdod
Personnel and sponsorship Team President Manager Captain Kitmaker Shirt sponsorBeitar Jerusalem Givova Appli CheckBnei Sakhnin Joma ScaniaBnei Yehuda Kappa HAPF.C. Ashdod Nike ——Hapoel Be'er Sheva Puma TadiranHapoel Haifa Joma BOGARTHapoel Hadera Lotto ——Ironi Kiryat Shmona Kappa IturanHapoel Ra'anana Givova ME Tel AvivHapoel Tel Aviv Macron ArkiaMaccabi Haifa Nike VolvoMaccabi Netanya Lotto Kesrei ThofaMaccabi Petah Tikva Macron Panorama NorthMaccabi Tel Aviv —— PenguinPickUp
Foreign players The number of foreign players were restricted to six per team, while only five could have been registered to a game.
ClubPlayer 1Player 2Player 3Player 4Player 5Player 6 Beitar Jerusalem Antoine Conte Ange-Freddy Plumain Anthony Annan Afonso Taira Mihai Voduț Bnei Sakhnin Alban Pnishi George Akpabio Shuaibu Ibrahim Emmanuel Mbola Bnei Yehuda Ismaila Soro Emilijus Zubas Mavis Tchibota Fejsal Mulić Jakub Sylvestr Carlos Cuéllar F.C. Ashdod Issoumaila Lingane Romain Habran Johan Martial Leonard Owusu Seybou Koita Filip Knežević Hapoel Be'er Sheva Kevin Tapoko Nigel Hasselbaink John Ogu Miguel Vítor Erik Sabo Hapoel Haifa Ernestas Šetkus Radu Gînsari Risto Mitrevski Gabriel Tamaș Rasmus Sjöstedt Hapoel Hadera Lúcio Nathan Oduwa Austin Ejide David Mateos George Fochive Ironi Kiryat Shmona Valon Ahmedi Marcus Diniz Hadji Barry Džiugas Bartkus Jorge Morcillo Levi García Hapoel Ra'anana Ariel Ngueukam Mirko Oremuš Martin Zeman Teddy Mézague Eugene Ansah Hapoel Tel Aviv Marvin Peersman Caio Alves Claudemir Emmanuel Boateng Nerijus Valskis Maccabi Haifa Allyson Ernest Mabouka Georges Mandjeck Manuel Iturra Etiënne Reijnen Kerim Frei Maccabi Netanya Jahmir Hyka Branko Vrgoč Tim Heubach Fatos Bećiraj Ali Mohamed Maccabi Petah Tikva Tomáš Sivok Franck-Yves Bambock Kpehi Didier Brossou Armando Cooper Issa Cissokho Anton Bratkov Maccabi Tel Aviv Chikeluba Ofoedu Jair Amador Uroš Nikolić Predrag Rajković Enric Saborit In bold: Players that have been capped for their national team.
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentBeitar JerusalemBenny Ben Zaken1 June 2018Pre-seasonGuy LuzonBnei SakhninTal BaninBenny Ben ZakenF.C. AshdodYossi Mizrahi Blagoja MilevskiMaccabi Petah TikvaSharon MimerElisha LevyMaccabi Tel Aviv Jordi CruyffLeft Vladimir Ivić1 June 2018Beitar JerusalemGuy LuzonSacked22 October 201813thNir Klinger30 October 2018Hapoel HaifaNir KlingerLeft25 October 201811thSharon Mimer31 October 2018Maccabi Haifa Fred RuttenLeft1 November 20188thEli Guttman8 November 2018Bnei SakhninBenny Ben ZakenSacked5 November 201814thAmir Turgeman18 November 2018F.C. Ashdod Blagoja MilevskiSacked13 November 201813thYuval Naim23 November 2018Hapoel Tel AvivKobi RefuaSacked25 November 201812thOfir Haim26 November 2018Maccabi HaifaEli GuttmanRetired3 December 201811th Itay Mordechai (caretaker) 3 December 2018Maccabi Haifa Itay Mordechai (caretaker)Caretaking spell over19 December 201810thMarco Balbul19 December 2018Ironi Kiryat ShmonaHaim SilvasSacked30 December 201810th Tomer Kashtan 30 December 2018Hapoel Tel AvivOfir HaimSacked6 January 201912thKobi Refua6 January 2019Maccabi Petah TikvaElisha LevySacked6 January 20199th Murad Magomedov (caretaker) 6 January 2019Maccabi Petah Tikva Murad Magomedov (caretaker) Caretaking spell over20 January 20199thGuy Luzon20 January 2019Bnei SakhninBenny Ben ZakenSacked20 January 201913th Giorgi Daraselia23 January 2019F.C. AshdodYuval NaimSacked26 January 201914thAvi Bohbot19 February 2019Bnei Sakhnin Giorgi DaraseliaSacked5 March 201914th Juan Carlos (caretaker) 5 March 2019Bnei Sakhnin Juan Carlos (caretaker) Caretaking spell over26 March 201914th Eldad Shavit 26 March 2019Hapoel HaifaSharon MimerSacked14 April 201910thHaim Silvas17 April 2019Ironi Kiryat Shmona Tomer Kashtan Sacked6 May 201912th Shimon Hadri6 May 2019
Regular season Regular season table
Regular season results
Source:
Positions by round
Championship round 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 – 5
Due to 3 teams that play in the Netanya stadium qualifying to this round, and in order to insure that all the last games of this round, can be played in the same time(for purity reasons), the order of the games, has been changed. Affecting fixtures 33,35 and 36.
Rounds 33rd 34th 35th 36th6 – 32 – 41 – 56 – 21 – 35 – 42 – 13 – 54 – 63 – 24 – 15 – 6
Championship round table
2018–19 Israeli Premier League champions Maccabi Tel Aviv22nd title
Championship round results
Positions by round
Relegation round Key numbers for pairing determination (number marks position after 26 games)
Rounds 27th 28th 29th 30th 31st 32nd 33rd7 – 118 – 139 – 1210 – 1411 - 1412 - 1013 - 97 - 88 - 119 - 710 – 1314 - 1211 - 1213 - 147 - 108 - 99 - 1110 - 814 - 712 - 1311 - 137 - 128 - 149 -1010 - 1114 - 912 - 813 - 7
Relegation round table
Relegation round results
Positions by round
Season statistics Top scorers RankScorerClubGoals1 Ben SaharHapoel Be'er Sheva152 Fatos BećirajMaccabi Netanya13 LúcioHapoel Hadera4 Yarden ShuaBnei Yehuda / Maccabi Haifa12 Eliran AtarMaccabi Tel Aviv6 Mavis TchibotaBnei Yehuda11 Omer AtziliMaccabi Tel Aviv8 Guy MelamedHapoel Be'er Sheva / Maccabi Netanya109 Nikita RukavytsyaMaccabi Haifa9 Ange-Freddy PlumainHapoel Hadera / Beitar Jerusalem Shlomi AzulayBnei Sakhnin126 different players3 different teams8
Source: (Hebrew)
Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Round Reference Matan HozezHapoel HaifaBnei Sakhnin4–019 January 201919
Attendances Source:
No. Club Average attendance Change Highest 1 Maccabi Haifa 15,671 -7,3% 29,988 2 Hapoel Be'er-Sheva 13,590 -6,1% 15,800 3 Beitar Jerusalem 10,789 -13,6% 20,000 4 Maccabi Tel Aviv 9,781 -2,7% 12,551 5 Hapoel Tel Aviv 6,209 - 8,549 6 Maccabi Netanya 5,622 -17,3% 9,130 7 Hapoel Haifa 5,369 -21,8% 25,100 8 Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv 3,226 -10,4% 8,000 9 Hapoel Hadera-Giv'at Olga 2,851 - 6,436 10 Maccabi Petah Tikva 2,634 2,3% 9,500 11 Ashdod 1,755 -13,9% 5,090 12 Bnei Sakhnin 1,750 9,1% 4,447 13 Hapoel Ra'anana 1,528 -10,7% 4,600 14 Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona 1,430 16,6% 4,230
See also 2018–19 Liga Leumit 2018-19 Ligat Nashim
References
External links uefa.com