2018–19 Israeli Premier League


The 2018–19 Israeli Premier League, also known as Ligat Japanika for sponsorship reasons, was the twentieth season since its introduction in 1999 and the 77th season of top-tier football in Israel. The season began on 25 August 2018 and concluded on 25 May 2019. Hapoel Be'er Sheva were the defending champions.

Teams

A total of fourteen teams were competing in the league, including twelve sides from the 2017–18 season and two promoted teams from the 2017–18 Liga Leumit.
Hapoel Acre and Hapoel Ashkelon were relegated to the 2018–19 Liga Leumit after finishing the 2017–18 Israeli Premier League in the bottom two places.
Hapoel Tel Aviv were promoted as the winners of the 2017–18 Liga Leumit. This ends the team's one-year absence from the top division.
Hapoel Hadera were promoted as the Runner-ups of the 2017–18 Liga Leumit. This marked the return of Hadera to the top division after 39 years of absence.

Stadiums and locations

TeamLocationStadiumCapacity
Beitar JerusalemJerusalemTeddy Stadium
Bnei SakhninSakhninDoha Stadium
Bnei YehudaTel AvivHaMoshava Stadium, Petah Tikva
F.C. AshdodAshdodYud-Alef Stadium
Hapoel Be'er ShevaBe'er ShevaTurner Stadium
Hapoel HaderaHaderaNetanya Stadium, Netanya
Hapoel HaifaHaifaSammy Ofer Stadium
Hapoel Ra'ananaRa'ananaRamat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan
Hapoel Tel AvivTel AvivHaMoshava Stadium, Petah Tikva
[Hapoel Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona F.C.|Ironi Kiryat Shmona F.C.|Ironi Kiryat Shmona]Kiryat ShmonaKiryat Shmona Stadium
Maccabi HaifaHaifaSammy Ofer Stadium
Maccabi NetanyaNetanyaNetanya Stadium
Maccabi Petah TikvaPetah TikvaHaMoshava Stadium
Maccabi Tel AvivTel AvivNetanya Stadium, Netanya

HaMoshava StadiumNetanya StadiumSammy Ofer Stadium
Bnei Yehuda
Hapoel Tel Aviv
Maccabi Petah Tikva
Hapoel Hadera
Maccabi Netanya
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Hapoel Haifa
Maccabi Haifa
Doha StadiumKiryat Shmona StadiumRamat Gan Stadium
Bnei SakhninIroni Kiryat ShmonaHapoel Ra'anana
Teddy StadiumTurner StadiumYud-Alef Stadium
Beitar JerusalemHapoel Be'er ShevaF.C. Ashdod

Foreign players

The number of foreign players were restricted to six per team, while only five could have been registered to a game.
ClubPlayer 1Player 2Player 3Player 4Player 5Player 6
Beitar Jerusalem

Regular season

Regular season table


Regular season results

Source:

Championship round

Key numbers for pairing determination
Due to 3 teams that play in the Netanya stadium qualifying to this round, and in order to insure that all the last games of this round, can be played in the same time, the order of the games, has been changed. Affecting fixtures 33,35 and 36.

Championship round table


2018–19 Israeli Premier League champions


Maccabi Tel Aviv
22nd title

Relegation round

Key numbers for pairing determination

Relegation round table


Season statistics

Top scorers

Source:

Attendances

Source:
No.ClubAverage attendanceChangeHighest
1Maccabi Haifa15,671-7,3%29,988
2Hapoel Be'er-Sheva13,590-6,1%15,800
3Beitar Jerusalem10,789-13,6%20,000
4Maccabi Tel Aviv9,781-2,7%12,551
5Hapoel Tel Aviv6,209-8,549
6Maccabi Netanya5,622-17,3%9,130
7Hapoel Haifa5,369-21,8%25,100
8Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv3,226-10,4%8,000
9Hapoel Hadera-Giv'at Olga2,851-6,436
10Maccabi Petah Tikva2,6342,3%9,500
11Ashdod1,755-13,9%5,090
12Bnei Sakhnin1,7509,1%4,447
13Hapoel Ra'anana1,528-10,7%4,600
14Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona1,43016,6%4,230