The 1954–55 season was the seventh 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 ...
Although league matches for the previous season ended on 13 March 1954, the confirmation of the league's final standings was delayed, as a match between Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Petah Tikva, which was played on 26 December 1953 and ended with a 3–2 win for Haifa, was claimed to be fixed, to allow Maccabi Haifa to win. Eventually, on 10 January 1955, the IFA decided to replay the match in a neutral venue, Maccabi Haifa won the rematch 4–1 and secured their spot in the top division.
However, with the IFA already deadlocked with an ongoing dispute between Hapoel and Maccabi, Beitar declared its resignation from the IFA in protest of the IFA decision to replay the Maccabi Haifa-Maccabi Petah Tikva match. Discussions were held with the help of Judge
Yosef-Michael Lamm
Yosef-Michael Lamm (, 1899 – 25 May 1976) was an Israeli judge and politician who served as a member of the Knesset between 1949 and 1951.
Biography
Born in Galicia in Austria-Hungary, Lamm attended school and university in Vienna, where he s ...
, and an agreement between the factions was reached on 28 January 1955, confirming the results of the season and reprieving
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,Hapoel Balfouria from relegation.
Final table
Shapira Cup
During the first half of the season, as no league matches were played,
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 ...
organized a league competition for the top Tel Aviv teams, Hapoel, Maccabi, Beitar and
Maccabi Jaffa
Maccabi Jaffa Football Club was one of the first football teams in Israel. It was founded in 1950 as "Zionist association of Maccabi Jaffa," by Jewish immigrants from Bulgaria.
The Team played for 32 seasons in the Israeli Top Division, though ...
. The competition was played as a double round-robin tournament, with the top placed team winning the cup, named after former Hapoel Tel Aviv treasurer, Yosef Shapira.
League table
Results
1954–55 Liga Alef
The 1954–55 Liga Alef season was the last in which it was the Israel's top football league, as the following season it was replaced by Liga Leumit
League matches were delayed until 6 February 1955, and by the time the IFA had gone to summer break, 20 rounds of matches were completed, delaying the end of the league season to the next season.
League table (as of 2 July 1955)
Domestic cups
The competition started on 22 January 1955, and by the end of the season reached the quarter-finals stage. The competition was completed during the next season.
No official matches were played by the national team during the season.
International club matches
Outgoing tours
Maccabi Tel Aviv tour of Italy
In August 1954, Maccabi Tel Aviv departed for a tour of Italy, intending to play Lazio, Torino, Roma and Napoli. However, the matches against Torino and Roma were cancelled, and the team returned home after playing just two matches in Italy and one more match, en route home, against RC Paris, which was Ernst Happel's first match for RC Paris.
Petah Tikva XI tour of Cyprus
On 24 September 1954 a team of players from both
Hapoel Petah Tikva
Hapoel Petah Tikva F.C. ( he, הפועל פתח תקווה) is an Israeli football club based in the city of Petah Tikva, currently playing in the Liga Leumit.
Its most successful period was throughout the 1950s and 1960s, in which the club won ...
and Maccabi Petah Tikva departed for a tour of Cyprus, without the consent of the IFA. The Hapoel organization sent a telegram forbidding the participation of Hapoel players in any match, and the team played as Maccabi Petah Tikva.
After returning to Israel, Maccabi Petah Tikva was banned for 6 months for its part of the tour, while Hapoel Petah Tikva received a fine of IL50.
Maccabi Israel tour of England
A Maccabi XI, composed of the best players affiliated with Maccabi clubs, took a tour of England between 21 October and 7 November 1954. Maccabi lost all four matches during the tour and was criticized heavily for arranging the tour and the pick of its opponents.The Great Disgrace of the Israeli Football Al HaMishmar, 31 October 1954, Historical Jewish Press
Visiting foreign teams
Beşiktaş
Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...
The visiting Turks met several composite teams, in
Petah Tikva
Petah Tikva ( he, פֶּתַח תִּקְוָה, , ), also known as ''Em HaMoshavot'' (), is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews of ...
Tirat HaCarmel
Tirat Carmel ( he, טִירַת כַּרְמֶל), or ''Tirat HaCarmel'', is a city in the Haifa District in Israel. In it had a population of .
Throughout the ages, the site of the modern city was controlled by many people, including the R ...
Udarnik was invited to a return visit to Hapoel tour of Bulgaria during the previous season. The team arrived 8 October 1954 and played three matches in Israel. At the end of the tour, as the Bulgarians encountered problems with obtaining visas for a layover in Istanbul, a fourth match was arranged with mixed teams of Udarnik,
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 ...
and
Maccabi Jaffa
Maccabi Jaffa Football Club was one of the first football teams in Israel. It was founded in 1950 as "Zionist association of Maccabi Jaffa," by Jewish immigrants from Bulgaria.
The Team played for 32 seasons in the Israeli Top Division, though ...