The 1955–56

Liga Alef Liga Alef () is the third tier of the Israeli football league system. It is divided into two regional divisions, north and south. History League football began in Israel in 1949–50, a year after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. Howe ...

season was the first in which Liga Alef was the second tier of Israeli football due to the formation of

Liga Leumit The Israeli Liga Leumit (, HaLiga HaLeumit, ) is the second division of the professional Israeli association football (soccer) league system. This second-tier league is placed directly below the Israeli Premier League. Structure There are 16 ...

, and was the first nationwide second tier season (replacing

Liga Bet Liga Bet () is the fourth tier of the Israeli football league system. It is divided into four regional divisions. History League football started in Israel in 1949–50, a year after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. However, the financial ...

North and South regional divisions). Hakoah Tel Aviv won the league and qualified for the promotion play-offs against

Maccabi Jaffa Maccabi Jaffa Football Club () is an Israeli football club from Jaffa, Tel Aviv. Founded in 2007 as a phoenix football club by fans of Maccabi Jaffa F.C., which was dissolved in 2000 and all previous attempts in the intervening years to revive it ...

(10th at the

1955–56 Liga Leumit The 1955–56 Liga Leumit season was the first edition of Liga Leumit, which had replaced Liga Alef as the top division of football in Israel and the 17th season of top flight football under the Israel Football Association, IFA. Maccabi Tel Aviv ...

). League matches were completed on 2 June 1956, however, Hapoel Balfouria appealed the results which were set in its matches against Hapoel Nahariya (a

walkover John Baxter Taylor and William Robbins (athlete)">William Robbins to refuse to race in protest. A walkover, also W.O. or w/o (originally two words: "walk over"), is awarded to the opposing team/player, etc., if there are no other players avail ...

loss of 0–3) and

Hapoel Jerusalem Hapoel Jerusalem is a sport organization in Jerusalem as a local branch of the Hapoel movement. The branch was established in the 1920s and represents the city in more sports than any other sport organization in Jerusalem. Today, the club's lead ...

(which was abandoned with a score of 4–0 to Hapoel Jerusalem), as Balfouria could be spared from relegation with two wins in these matches. The first replayed match was played on 28 July 1956, and as Hapoel Balfouria lost 2–4 to Hapoel Nahariya, Balfouria gave up its claims regarding the match against Hapoel Jerusalem, agreeing to set the score to 0–4 to Hapoel Jerusalem. An 18th round match between Hapoel Nahariya and

Beitar Jerusalem Beitar Jerusalem Football Club (), commonly known as Beitar Jerusalem () or simply Beitar (), is an Israeli professional football club based in the city of Jerusalem, that plays in the Israeli Premier League, the top tier in Israeli football ...

wasn't played due to misunderstanding between the teams regarding the time of the match, and was left unplayed at the end of the season.Liga Alef Justified Its Existence
Herut, 10 June 1956, Historical Jewish Press

Final table

Relegation playoff

Liga Alef winner, Hakoah Tel Aviv face

10th-placed club, Maccabi Jaffa. The matches took place on June 10 and 17, 1956. Maccabi Jaffa won 4–1 on aggregate and remained in Liga Leumit. Hakoah Tel Aviv remained in Liga Alef.

Relegation play-offs

A promotion-relegation play-off between the 9th and 10th placed teams in Liga Alef, Ahva Notzrit Haifa and

, and the winners of the regional divisions of

, Maccabi Sha'arayim and Maccabi Hadera. Each team played the other three once.

Notes

1. Abandoned at the 70th minute with the score of 2–1 to Maccabi Hadera as Ahva Notzrit Haifa players protested awarding Hadera's second goal, which they claimed was stopped by the goalkeeper before the goal line.

References

Beitar Jerusalem in top of the play-offs table
Maariv, 26.8.56, Historical Jewish Press
Beitar Jerusalem 4-2 Maccabi Hadera
Heruth, 2.9.56, Historical Jewish Press
Previous seasons
The Israel Football Association {{DEFAULTSORT:1955-56 Liga Alef Liga Alef seasons

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...