1955–56 Liga Alef

The 1955–56 Liga Alef season was the first in which Liga Alef was the second tier of Israeli football due to the formation of Liga Leumit, and was the first nationwide second tier season (replacing Liga Bet North and South regional divisions).

Liga Alef

Season	1955-56
Champions	Hakoah Tel Aviv
Matches played	132
Goals scored	430 (3.26 per match)
← 1954-55 1956-57 →

Hakoah Tel Aviv won the league and qualified for the promotion play-offs against Maccabi Jaffa (10th at the 1955–56 Liga Leumit).

League matches were completed on 2 June 1956,^[1] however, Hapoel Balfouria appealed the results which were set in its matches against Hapoel Nahariya (a walkover loss of 0–3) and Hapoel Jerusalem (which was abandoned with a score of 4–0 to Hapoel Jerusalem),^[2] 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,^[3][4] 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 wasn't played due to misunderstanding between the teams regarding the time of the match,^[5] and was left unplayed at the end of the season.^[6]

Final table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Hakoah Tel Aviv	22	17	2	3	47	19	+28	36	Promotion play-offs
2	Hapoel Kiryat Haim	22	13	4	5	60	30	+30	30
3	Hapoel Jerusalem	22	9	7	6	38	33	+5	25
4	Hapoel Rehovot	22	8	7	7	28	29	−1	23
5	Hapoel Nahariya	21	7	8	6	40	36	+4	22[a]
6	Hapoel Mahane Yehuda	22	7	6	9	38	33	+5	20
7	Hapoel Hadera	22	9	2	11	42	38	+4	20
8	Maccabi Ramat Gan	22	7	6	9	31	34	−3	20
9	Ahva Notzrit Haifa	22	9	2	11	31	40	−9	20	Relegation play-offs
10	Beitar Jerusalem	21	7	3	11	26	45	−19	17[a]
11	Hapoel Ra'anana	22	6	4	12	20	49	−29	16	Relegated to Liga Bet
12	Hapoel Balfouria	22	5	3	14	29	44	−15	13

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

1. An 18th round match between Hapoel Nahariya and Beitar Jerusalem wasn't played due to misunderstanding between the teams regarding the time of the match,^[7] and was left unplayed at the end of the season.^[8]

Relegation playoff

Liga Alef winner, Hakoah Tel Aviv face Liga Leumit 10th-placed club, Maccabi Jaffa. The matches took place on June 10 and 17, 1956.

9 June 1956

Maccabi Jaffa	3–1	Hakoah Tel Aviv
B. Cohen 32', 53' Kalev 72'	Davar	74' Ashkenazi

Maccabi Jaffa Ground, Tel Aviv

Attendance: 5000

Referee: Reuven Frizner

16 June 1956

Hakoah Tel Aviv	0–1	Maccabi Jaffa
	Davar	18' Ghougasian

Hatikva Neighborhood Stadium, Tel Aviv

Attendance: 4000

Referee: Aharon Werner

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 Beitar Jerusalem, and the winners of the regional divisions of Liga Bet, Maccabi Sha'arayim and Maccabi Hadera. Each team played the other three once.

Ahva Notzrit Haifa v Maccabi Hadera

17 August 1956	Ahva Notzrit Haifa	0–3	Maccabi Hadera	Kfar Saba
	Yehuda 3'	report (p. 6) (in Hebrew)	50' Karni 70' Gvirzman	Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 800 Referee: Sulami

Beitar Jerusalem v Maccabi Sha'arayim

17 August 1956	Beitar Jerusalem	1–0	Maccabi Sha'arayim	Tel Aviv
	Zion 88'	report (p. 6) (in Hebrew)		Stadium: Hatikva Neighborhood Stadium Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Palman

Ahva Notzrit Haifa v Beitar Jerusalem

25 August 1956	Ahva Notzrit Haifa	0–3	Beitar Jerusalem	Kfar Saba
		report (p. 6) (in Hebrew)	73', 87' Hasson 83' Zion	Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Palman

Maccabi Hadera v Maccabi Sha'arayim

25 August 1956	Maccabi Hadera	1–3	Maccabi Sha'arayim	Tel Aviv
	Gvirzman 54'	report (p. 6) (in Hebrew)	34' Tzuman 46' Gamilel 61' Madhala	Stadium: Hatikva Neighborhood Stadium Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Sulami

Beitar Jerusalem v Maccabi Hadera

1 September 1956	Beitar Jerusalem	4–2	Maccabi Hadera	Tel Aviv
	Ashkenazi 37', 48', 52' Hasson 42'	report (p. 6) (in Hebrew)	44' Cohen 84' Gvirzman	Stadium: Maccabi Jaffa Ground Attendance: 500 Referee: Sulami

Maccabi Sha'arayim v Ahva Notzrit Haifa

1 September 1956	Maccabi Sha'arayim	1–1	Ahva Notzrit Haifa	Tel Aviv
	Rokvan 3'	report (p. 6) (in Hebrew)	5' Y. Salim	Stadium: Hatikva Neighborhood Stadium Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Palman

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Beitar Jerusalem	3	3	0	0	8	2	+6	6	Liga Alef
2	Maccabi Sha'arayim	3	1	1	1	4	3	+1	3
3	Maccabi Hadera	3	1	0	2	5	8	−3	2	Liga Bet
4	Ahva Notzrit Haifa	3	0	1	2	2	6	−4	1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

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.