Liga Leumit ( he, ליגה לאומית, lit. ''National League'') is the second division of the
Israeli Football League
The Israel Football League (IFL; he, ליגת הפוטבול הישראלית), also known as the Kraft Family Israel Football League for sponsorship reasons with the Kraft Family, is an amateur American football league consisting of eight teams ...
, and below its
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
.
Structure
There are 16 clubs in the league. At the end of each season, the two lowest-placed teams are
relegated to
Liga Alef while the two highest-placed teams from Liga Alef are promoted in their place. The two highest-placed Liga Leumit teams are
promoted to the
Israeli Premier League
The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Israeli Football League – the state's league of Israel. The league is contested b ...
while the bottom two teams from Israeli Premier League are relegated in their place.
The participating clubs were first play a conventional
round-robin schedule for a total of 30 matches, with all points accumulated by the clubs are halved.
Following this, the top eight teams will first play in a promotion playoff. To determine the promoted teams. and the eight clubs play a single round-robin schedule.
The
Israeli State Cup
The Israel State Cup ( he, גביע המדינה, ''Gvia HaMedina''), is a knockout cup competition in Israeli football, run by the Israel Football Association (IFA).
The State Cup was first held in 1928 as the People's Cup. Because it involve ...
winners qualify for the
third qualifying round of the
2013–14 UEFA Europa League
The 2013–14 UEFA Europa League was the 43rd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the fifth season under its current title.
The 2014 UEFA Europa League Final was played between Sevilla and Benfica at ...
.
In addition, the bottom eight teams play out to avoid two relegation spots.
Broadcast rights
Television
Since the 2010–11 season, one match is broadcast live on
Sport +5 LIVE channel on Friday or Saturday afternoons. The rest have no TV coverage.
History
Liga Leumit came into existence at the start of the 1955–56 season, replacing
Liga Alef as the top division in Israeli football. However, it was usurped as the top flight in the 1999–2000 season, when it was replaced by the Premier League. Since then it has operated as the second tier in the Israeli football league system.
Current Liga Leumit clubs
The following clubs are participating in the 2022–23 season:
Past seasons champions
*In bold team that won the Championship
Record of finishing positions of clubs in the Liga Leumit
''Table correct as at the end of the 2021–22 Israeli Liga Leumit season.''
External links
Israel Football AssociationLiga Leumit
Soccerway
{{UEFA second leagues
2
Isr
Professional sports leagues in Israel