The 1939–40 season was the 13th season of competitive

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

in the

British Mandate for Palestine The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British administration of the territories of Palestine and Transjordan, both of which had been conceded by the Ottoman Empire following the end of World War I in 1918. The manda ...

under the Eretz Israel Football Association.

IFA Competitions

1939 Palestine League

Matches of the

1939 Palestine League The 1939 Palestine League was the seventh season of league football in the British Mandate for Palestine. Due to the Arab Revolt the league was split into regional leagues in Tel Aviv (two tiers), Samaria and South districts, while in Jerusalem, H ...

, which, due to the Arab Revolt, was split into regional leagues, rather than holding a national championship, were carried from the previous season , and were finished in fall 1939. Maccabi Tel Aviv and

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won the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem divisions of top tier Liga Alef, while Hapoel Hadera,

Beitar Tel Aviv Beitar Tel Aviv Football Club (Hebrew: מועדון כדורגל בית"ר תל אביב) was an Israeli football club based from Tel Aviv. The club merged in 2000 with Shimshon Tel Aviv to create Beitar Shimshon Tel Aviv,Maccabi Rehovot Maccabi Rehovot F.C. ( he, מכבי רחובות) is an Israeli football club based in Rehovot. The club was a founding member of the Israeli League in 1949 and competed in the top division during the 1950s, but today plays in Liga Gimel, the f ...

won their Liga Bet regional divisions.

1940 Palestine League

Shortly after the conclusion of the previous league season, a new league season was held, starting on 3 February 1940. League matches were completed in early July 1940, with

Hapoel Tel Aviv Hapoel Tel Aviv ( he, הפועל תל אביב) is a sports club in Israel, founded in the 1920s, and part of the Hapoel association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, suc ...

winning the championship.

League table

Liga Bet

In Liga Bet, Hapoel Hadera, Degel Zion Tel Aviv and RSG Rehovot won their regional divisions. At the end of the season, Degel Zion, Hapoel Hadera and Hapoel Rishon LeZion (who finished as runners-up in the South division) competed for promotions to the top division, with Hapoel Rishon LeZion and Degel Zion winning promotion.

Liga Gimel

For the first time the EIFA arranged a third division, which was divided into two regions, Samaria (North) and South. Among the teams participating in the league were future league champions Bnei Yehuda and

Hapoel Kfar Saba Hapoel Kfar Saba F.C. ( he, מועדון כדורגל הפועל כפר סבא, ''Moadon Kaduregel Hapoel Kfar Saba'') is an Israeli football club based in Kfar Saba. The club competes in the Liga Leumit and plays home matches at Levita Stadiu ...

, both making their debut in the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

. Only a handful of results are known. Maccabi Kfar Saba and Hakoach Rishon LeZion won the Samaria and South divisions and qualified along with their runners-up, Hapoel Kfar Saba and HaMa'avir Tel Aviv to the promotion play-offs, at the end which the top three teams were promoted to Liga Bet. However, as club registration for the following season was low, all third division clubs that registered to play were placed in Liga Bet.

1940 Palestine Cup

, the defending cup holders were beaten by local rivals Maccabi Tel Aviv 0–4 in the semi-finals. In the final, Maccabi were beaten 1–3 by

National team

The national Eretz Israel team hosted the Lebanese national team in a friendly match, Lebanon's first official international, which was played on 27 April 1940.

Notable events

* On 9 December 1939, Maccabi Nes Tziona had beaten Maccabi Tel Aviv in a match for the Melchett Cup 2–1. In the match, held at the Maccabiah Stadium, The brothers Schneiderowitz scored the two goals for Nes Tziona on the 47th and 64th minute, while Gaul Machlis scored the only goal for Tel Aviv on the 61st minute.Maccabi Nes Tziona Won the Melchett Cup
HaBoker, 10 December 1939, via archive.football.org.il

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1939-40 in Mandatory Palestine football