The 2015–16 Israeli Premier League was the seventeenth season since its introduction in 1999 and the 74th season of top-tier football in Israel. It began on 22 August 2015 and endedi in May 2016. Hapoel Be'er Sheva became champion after 40 years without winning a main national competition, interrupting the sequence of three consecutive titles of Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Teams A total of fourteen teams were competing in the league, including twelve sides from the 2014–15 season and two promoted teams from the 2014–15 Liga Leumit.
Hapoel Petah Tikva and F.C. Ashdod were relegated to the 2015–16 Liga Leumit after finishing the 2014–15 Israeli Premier League in the bottom two places.
Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv and Hapoel Kfar Saba were promoted after finishing the 2014–15 Liga Leumit in the top two places.
Stadia and locations
Team Location Stadium CapacityBeitar JerusalemJerusalemTeddy StadiumBnei SakhninSakhninDoha StadiumBnei YehudaTel AvivBloomfield StadiumHapoel AcreAcreAcre StadiumHapoel Be'er ShevaBe'er ShevaTurner StadiumHapoel HaifaHaifaSammy Ofer StadiumHapoel Kfar SabaKfar SabaLevita StadiumHapoel Ra'ananaRa'ananaNetanya Stadium, NetanyaHapoel Tel AvivTel AvivBloomfield StadiumIroni Kiryat ShmonaKiryat ShmonaKiryat Shmona StadiumMaccabi HaifaHaifaSammy Ofer StadiumMaccabi NetanyaNetanyaNetanya StadiumMaccabi Petah TikvaPetah TikvaHaMoshava StadiumMaccabi Tel AvivTel AvivBloomfield Stadium
Bloomfield StadiumNetanya StadiumSammy Ofer StadiumBnei Yehuda Hapoel Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel AvivHapoel Ra'anana Maccabi NetanyaHapoel Haifa Maccabi HaifaAcre StadiumDoha StadiumHaMoshava StadiumHapoel AcreBnei SakhninMaccabi Petah TikvaKiryat Shmona StadiumLevita StadiumTeddy StadiumTurner StadiumIroni Kiryat ShmonaHapoel Kfar SabaBeitar JerusalemHapoel Be'er Sheva
Personnel and sponsorship
Team President Manager Captain Kitmaker Shirt sponsorBeitar Jerusalem Puma itraderBnei Sakhnin Umbro ToygaBnei Yehuda Macron Azrieli GroupHapoel Acre Macron Azrieli GroupHapoel Be'er Sheva Kappa MobliHapoel Kfar Saba Lotto Hapoel Haifa Diadora HatamaHapoel Ra'anana Umbro ME Tel AvivHapoel Tel Aviv Puma FujicomIroni Kiryat Shmona Puma IturanMaccabi Haifa Nike HondaMaccabi Netanya Joma Burgus Burger BarMaccabi Petah Tikva Macron Panorama NorthMaccabi Tel Aviv Adidas
Foreign players The number of foreign players is restricted to five per team.
ClubPlayer 1Player 2Player 3Player 4Player 5Former player Beitar Jerusalem Nikita Rukavytsya Claudemir Arsenio Valpoort Dušan Matović Jesús Rueda Pablo de Lucas Bnei Sakhnin Eldar Hasanović Georginho Diogo Kachuba Wanderson Abraham Paz Igor Jovanović Bnei Yehuda Pedro Galván Antonio Mršić Thierry Doubai Dele Aiyenugba Jude Nworuh Hapoel Acre Dylan Seys Boris Kopitović Samuel Gilmore Lanry Kahinda Branislav Jovanović Adnan Zahirović Hapoel Be'er Sheva William Soares Anthony Nwakaeme John Ogu Ovidiu Hoban Hapoel Haifa Dmitriy Baga Marijan Antolovic Tadas Kijanskas Žarko Korać Bruno Pinheiro Přemysl Kovář Hapoel Kfar Saba Mavis Tchibota Dino Škvorc Yiannis Papadopoulos Hugo López Lanry Kahinda Hapoel Ra'anana Dejan Radonjić Mamadou Thiam Rene Mihelič Evans Kangwa Emmanuel Mbola Elis Bakaj Hapoel Tel Aviv Cauê Hamza Barry Loukas Vyntra Nemanja Nikolić Claudiu Bumba Issoumaila Lingane Liviu Antal Mihai Pintilii Ironi Kiryat Shmona Luis Gutiérrez Bruno Cantanhede Kassio Rokas Stanulevičius Austin Amutu Maurício David Manga Uzochukwu Ugwu Maccabi Haifa Romário Glynor Plet Ludovic Obraniak Vladimir Stojković Marc Valiente Nikola Drinčić Maccabi Netanya Issoumaila Lingane Mircea Axente Nemanja Petrović Milan Smiljanić Andriy Mischenko Romário Thiago Santos Hamza Barry Momodou Ceesay Maccabi Petah Tikva Allyson Joachim Mununga Xavier Tomas Aitor Monroy Rade Prica Mindaugas Panka Maccabi Tel Aviv Haris Medunjanin Nosa Igiebor Orlando Sá Predrag Rajković Carlos García Dejan Radonjić Nikola Mitrović Juan Pablo In bold: Players that join the club mid-season In Italic: Players that left the club mid-season
Managerial changes
TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentIroni Kiryat Shmona Barak BakharSacked14 May 2015 Pre-season Salah Hasarma30 May 2015Hapoel Be'er Sheva Elisha LevyEnd of contract30 May 2015 Barak Bakhar30 May 2015Maccabi Haifa Marco BalbulEnd of contract30 May 2015 Ronny Levy30 May 2015Hapoel Tel Aviv Eli CohenEnd of contract30 May 2015 César Mendiondo30 May 2015Maccabi Tel Aviv Pako AyestaránEnd of contract30 May 2015 15 June 2015Maccabi Netanya Ronny LevyEnd of contract30 May 2015 Shlomi Dora21 June 2015Beitar Jerusalem Guy LevyEnd of contract7 June 2015 Slobodan Drapić7 June 2015Hapoel Acre Shlomi DoraSacked21 June 2015 Yaron Hochenboim28 June 2015Hapoel Tel Aviv César MendiondoSacked3 September 201512th Walid Badir (caretaker)3 September 2015Maccabi Netanya Shlomi DoraSacked2 November 2015 14th Reuven Atar 6 November 2015 Hapoel Tel Aviv Walid Badir (caretaker)End of caretaker time5 November 2015 13th Guy Levy 5 November 2015Bnei Yehuda Yossi Abukasis Sacked8 December 20159th Yossi Mizrahi9 December 2015Bnei Sakhnin Eli CohenSacked18 December 201512th Yossi Abukasis19 December 2015Hapoel Haifa Tal BaninSacked21 December 201510th Meir Ben Margi21 December 2015Maccabi Tel Aviv Slaviša JokanovićSigned By Fulham27 December 20152nd Javier Pereira Megía (caretaker)27 December 2015Hapoel Kfar Saba Felix NaimSacked3 January 201613th Sharon Mimer11 January 2016Maccabi Tel Aviv Javier Pereira Megía (caretaker)End of caretaker time4 January 20162nd Peter Bosz4 January 2016Maccabi Netanya Reuven Atar Sacked10 January 201614th Menahem Koretski 20 January 2016Hapoel Tel Aviv Guy Levi Sacked 19 January 201611th Eli Guttman19 January 2016Ironi Kiryat Shmona Salah HasarmaSacked13 February 201610th Shlomi Dora14 February 2016
Regular season
Regular season table
Regular season results
Play-offs
Championship round
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 – 5
Championship round table
2015–16 Israeli Premier League champions Hapoel Be'er Sheva3rd title
Championship round results
Relegation round Key numbers for pairing determination (number marks position after 26 games):
Rounds 27th 28th 29th 30th 31st 32nd 33rd7 – 118 – 139 – 1210 – 147 – 813 – 912 – 1011 – 148 – 119 – 710 – 1314 – 128 – 97 – 1013 – 1411 – 129 – 1110 – 814 – 712 – 139 – 108 – 147 – 1211 – 1310 – 1114 – 912 – 813 – 7
Relegation round table
Relegation round results
Positions by round The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. Note that Championship round teams will play in 36 matchdays, and the Relegation round teams will compete in only 33 matches.
Team \ Round1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2 7 3 2 7 3 2 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1Maccabi Tel Aviv 3 2 2 4 2 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2Beitar Jerusalem 8 10 9 12 10 5 7 5 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3Maccabi Haifa 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 12 11 13 11 8 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 6 5 5 5 6 6 4 4 6 6 5 5 5 5 4 4 4Bnei Sakhnin 10 13 13 9 6 9 6 7 8 9 10 7 7 10 12 13 12 11 12 10 10 9 7 5 5 5 6 5 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5Hapoel Ra'anana 7 3 6 3 4 8 5 3 5 5 4 5 5 5 4 4 5 5 6 4 4 4 4 4 4 6 5 4 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 Maccabi Petah Tikva 5 1 1 1 1 2 4 6 6 7 5 4 4 4 5 5 4 4 4 5 6 7 9 8 8 8 8 7 7 8 8 7 7 Bnei Yehuda 1 6 10 5 11 12 8 8 7 6 7 9 9 7 7 7 8 10 8 8 8 6 6 7 7 7 7 8 8 7 7 8 8 Hapoel Tel Aviv 9 12 12 8 5 6 9 10 13 10 12 10 10 8 11 11 11 9 11 12 12 12 11 11 12 12 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 Hapoel Kfar Saba 6 4 7 10 12 13 11 9 12 12 8 11 11 11 9 12 13 12 10 9 9 10 8 9 9 9 11 12 12 10 10 10 10 Ironi Kiryat Shmona 13 5 5 7 9 4 3 4 4 4 6 6 8 9 8 8 7 7 7 7 7 8 10 10 10 10 12 11 11 11 12 11 11 Hapoel Haifa 4 9 8 11 8 10 12 13 9 11 13 13 13 12 10 9 9 8 9 11 11 11 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 12 11 12 12 Hapoel Acre 11 8 4 6 3 7 10 11 10 8 9 12 12 13 13 10 10 13 13 13 13 13 12 12 11 11 9 10 10 13 13 13 13 Maccabi Netanya 12 11 11 13 13 11 13 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 Source: Palestine Football Association
2016–17 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round 2016–17 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round Relegation to 2016–17 Liga Leumit
Season statistics
Top scorers
RankScorerClubGoals1 Eran ZahaviMaccabi Tel Aviv352 Nikita Rukavytsya Beitar Jerusalem14 Shlomi Azulay Bnei Sakhnin Elyaniv Barda Hapoel Be'er Sheva5 Evans KangwaHapoel Ra'anana 11 Pedro Joaquín GalvánBnei Yehuda Anthony NwakaemeHapoel Be'er Sheva Mahran Lala Hapoel Haifa 9 Eliran Atar Maccabi Haifa 10 Ofir Mizrahi Ironi Kiryat Shmona Tal Ben Haim Maccabi Tel Aviv Source: Palestine Football Association
Attendances
References
External links uefa.com