The 2013–14 Israeli Premier League was the fifteenth season since its introduction in 1999 and the 72nd season of top-tier football in Israel. It began on 24 August 2013 and ended on 17 May 2014. Maccabi Tel Aviv were the defending champions, having won their second Premier League title, and 19th championship last season. They successfully defended their title this season.
Teams
A total of fourteen teams are competing in the league, including twelve sides from the 2012–13 season and two promoted team from the 2012–13 Liga Leumit.
Maccabi Netanya and Hapoel Ramat Gan were relegated to the 2013–14 Liga Leumit after finishing the 2012–13 season in the bottom two places.
Maccabi Petah Tikva and Hapoel Ra'anana were promoted after finishing the 2012–13 Liga Leumit in the top two places.
Club Home City Stadium Capacity Beitar Jerusalem Jerusalem Teddy Stadium 31,733 Bnei Sakhnin Sakhnin Doha Stadium 8,500 Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv Bloomfield Stadium 14,413 F.C. Ashdod Ashdod Yud-Alef Stadium 7,800 Hapoel Ironi Acre Acre Acre Municipal Stadium 5,000 Hapoel Be'er Sheva Be'er Sheva Vasermil Stadium 13,000 Hapoel Haifa Haifa Kiryat Eliezer Stadium 14,002 Hapoel Ra'anana Ra'anana Netanya Stadium 13,610 Hapoel Ramat HaSharon Ramat HaSharon Grundman Stadium 4,300 Hapoel Tel Aviv Tel Aviv Bloomfield Stadium 14,413 Ironi Kiryat Shmona Kiryat Shmona Ironi Stadium 5,300 Maccabi Haifa Haifa Kiryat Eliezer Stadium 14,002 Maccabi Petah Tikva Petah Tikva HaMoshava Stadium 11,500 Maccabi Tel Aviv Tel Aviv Bloomfield Stadium 14,413
A: The club will play their home games at a neutral venue because their own ground does not meet Premier League requirements.
Beitar JerusalemBnei Yehuda Hapoel Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel AvivIroni Kiryat ShmonaHapoel AcreTeddy Stadium Bloomfield StadiumKiryat Shmona StadiumAcre StadiumHapoel Ra'ananaHapoel Haifa Maccabi HaifaMaccabi Petah TikvaHapoel Ramat HaSharonNetanya Stadium Kiryat Eliezer Stadium HaMoshava StadiumGrundman StadiumF.C. AshdodBnei SakhninHapoel Be'er ShevaYud-Alef StadiumDoha StadiumVasermil Stadium
Personnel and sponsorship
Team President Manager Captain Kitmaker Shirt sponsorBeitar Jerusalem Diadora Eldad Perry GroupBnei Sakhnin Lotto ToygaBnei Yehuda Macron Super CeramicF.C. Ashdod Legea Radio JerusalemHapoel Ironi Acre Nike Azrieli GroupHapoel Be'er Sheva Kappa MobliHapoel Haifa Diadora HatamaHapoel Ra'anana Joma ME Tel AvivHapoel Ramat HaSharon Lotto Trade MobileHapoel Tel Aviv Kappa FujicomIroni Kiryat Shmona Puma IturanMaccabi Haifa Nike HondaMaccabi Petah Tikva Lotto Panorama NorthMaccabi Tel Aviv Macron
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyTableIncoming managerDate of appointmentFinal positionBeitar Jerusalem Eli Cohen (b. 1951)End of contract4 May 201310th (12–13) Eli Cohen (b. 1961)23 June 201310thHapoel Haifa Nir KlingerEnd of contract4 May 20139th (12–13) Shlomi Dora23 May 2013F.C. Ashdod Yossi MizrahiEnd of contract4 May 20137th (12–13) Nir Klinger19 May 2013Hapoel Tel Aviv Freddy DavidEnd of contract18 May 20133rd (12–13) Ran Ben Shimon 20 May 2013Hapoel Ramat HaSharon Benny TabakSacked21 May 20136th (12–13) Rafi Cohen21 May 201314thMaccabi Tel Aviv Óscar GarcíaResigned22 May 20131st (12–13) Paulo Sousa12 June 2013Hapoel Ramat HaSharon Rafi CohenSacked22 September 201314th Haim Shabo(caretaker)22 September 2013Maccabi Petah Tikva Moshe SinaiResigned24 November 201312th Yitav Luzon24 November 201313th Kobi Refua19 December 2013Bnei Yehuda Dror KashtanResigned1 December 201314th Yaakov Asayag (caretaker)1 December 201314thBeitar Jerusalem Eli Cohen (b. 1961)Sacked3 December 201310th David Amsalem (caretaker)3 December 201311thBeitar Jerusalem David Amsalem (caretaker)End of caretaker spell9 December 201311th Ronny Levy9 December 2013Bnei Yehuda Yaakov Asayag (caretaker)End of caretaker spell22 December 201314th Yossi Abukasis22 December 2013
Yitav Luzon was Maccabi Petah Tikva sole manager until 19 December 2013, when Kobi Refua was appointed as joint-manager alongside him.
Foreign players Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Non-visa Foreign Former Players Beitar Jerusalem Pablo Brandán Bryan Dušan Matović Jonathan Vila Andrés Túñez Landry Mulemo Osa Guobadia Teteh Bangura Bnei Sahknin Albert Crusat Abraham Paz Cristian Jorge Alonso Marc Fernández Marko Markovski Bnei Yehuda Emiliano Fusco James Keene Liam Walker Dele Aiyenugba Kęstutis Ivaškevičius Ádám Hrepka Yoro Lamine Ly F.C. Ashdod Paty Yeye Lenkebe Gaëtan Varenne Juwon Oshaniwa Yero Bello Aleksandar Davidov David Solari Hapoel Ironi Acre Hamdi Salihi Juliano Spadacio Mirko Oremuš Branislav Jovanović Nenad Marinković Steven Cohen2 Leandrão Leo Costa Srđa Knežević Hapoel Be'er Sheva David Hubert William Soares Glynor Plet Austin Ejide Tomislav Pajović Nicolás Falczuk2 Bojan Marković Hapoel Haifa Darío Fernández Tadas Kijanskas Žarko Korać Danilo Nikolić Tvrtko Kale2 Nebojša Marinković Hapoel Ra'anana Liliu Anthony Nwakaeme Mamadou Thiam Emmanuel Mbola Francis Kasonde Eudis Hapoel Ramat HaSharon Emir Hadžić Aleksandar Đoković Fadi Zidan2 Kenny Saief2 Jadranko Bogičević Asrat Megersa Hapoel Tel Aviv Lucas Sasha Petar Orlandić Jürgen Colin Besart Abdurahimi Branko Ilić Bryan Gerzicich1 Ironi Kiryat Shmona Kassio David Manga Mindaugas Panka Rodgers Kola Darko Tasevski Dušan Matović Maccabi Haifa Edin Cocalić Tamás Priskin Bojan Šaranov Rubén Rayos Andriy Pylyavskyi Gustavo Boccoli1 Dino Ndlovu Maccabi Petah Tikva Pedro Galván Ivan Herceg Erfan Zeneli Zito Luka Rotković Bojan Đukić Emmanuel Ogude Maccabi Tel Aviv Rémi Maréval Nikola Mitrović Carlos García Juan Pablo Rade Prica Marcell Illés2 Mané
Regular season
Table
Results
Playoffs 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 – 57 – 148 – 139 – 1210 – 117 – 813 – 912 – 1014 – 118 – 149 – 710 – 1311 – 128 – 97 – 1013 – 1114 – 129 – 1410 – 811 – 712 – 139 – 108 – 117 – 1214 – 1310 – 1411 – 912 – 813 – 7
Top playoff
Table
Results
Bottom playoff
Table
Results
Season statistics
Top scorers RankScorerClubGoals1 Eran ZahaviMaccabi Tel Aviv292 Omer DamariHapoel Tel Aviv263 Alon TurgemanMaccabi Haifa154 Rade PricaMaccabi Tel Aviv125 David MangaIroni Kiryat Shmona11 Žarko KoraćHapoel Haifa Mohammed KalibatBnei Sakhnin Rubén RayosMaccabi Haifa Glynor PletHapoel Be'er Sheva10 Maor BuzagloHapoel Be'er Sheva10Total606Average per game Updated: 17 May 2014Source: Israel Football Association
Scoring First goal of the season: Barak Yitzhaki for Maccabi Tel Aviv against Hapoel Ironi Acre, 1st minute (24 August 2013) Biggest winning margin: 5 goals – Hapoel Ramat HaSharon 0–5 Hapoel Tel Aviv (26 October 2013) Maccabi Tel Aviv 5–0 Hapoel Ironi Acre (21 December 2013) Most goals scored by a losing team: 4 goals – F.C. Ashdod 4–5 Hapoel Tel Aviv (8 March 2014) Most goals in a match by one player: 3 goals - Itay Shechter for Hapoel Tel Aviv against Hapoel Ramat HaSharon (26 October 2013) Žarko Korać for Hapoel Haifa against Hapoel Ramat HaSharon (21 December 2013) Dovev Gabay for Hapoel Be'er Sheva against Hapoel Tel Aviv (30 December 2013) Eran Zahavi for Maccabi Tel Aviv against Hapoel Tel Aviv (17 March 2014) Eran Zahavi for Maccabi Tel Aviv against Bnei Sakhnin (17 May 2014)
Discipline First yellow card of the season: Amiya Taga for Hapoel Ironi Acre against Maccabi Tel Aviv, 7th minute (24 August 2013) Most yellow cards by a player: 10 Ali Ottman (Bnei Sakhnin) First red card of the season: Asrat Megersa for Hapoel Ramat HaSharon against Hapoel Haifa, 41st minute (24 August 2013) Most red cards by a player: 2 Ahad Azam (Hapoel Haifa) Yossi Dora (Hapoel Haifa) Ben Reichert (Hapoel Ramat HaSharon) Khaled Khalaila (Bnei Sakhnin) Zito (Maccabi Petah Tikva)
Clean sheets Most clean sheets: 18 Maccabi Tel Aviv Fewest clean sheets: 1 Maccabi Petah Tikva
Attendance Highest Attendance: 30,000 Round 6 - Beitar Jerusalem vs. Hapoel Tel Aviv (22 October 2013) at Teddy Stadium. This is the highest attendance of an Israeli Premier League regular season game since 1993. This game is also the highest attendance of a regular Premier League game outside of Ramat Gan Stadium.Source:
No. Club Average attendance 1 Maccabi Tel Aviv 11,195 2 Maccabi Haifa 10,626 3 Hapoel Tel Aviv 8,767 4 Beitar Jerusalem 7,917 5 Maccabi Netanya 5,146 6 Hapoel Haifa 4,601 7 Hapoel Be'er-Sheva 4,534 8 Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv 4,314 9 Bnei Sakhnin 3,106 10 Hapoel Ironi Acre 2,399 11 Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona 2,233 12 Ashdod 2,040 13 Hapoel Ramat Gan 1,848 14 Ironi Nir Ramat HaSharon 1,202
See also 2013–14 Israel State Cup
References