West Bank Premier League


The West Bank Premier League is one of the two top divisions of the Palestinian Football Association. The other is the Gaza Strip Premier League. Palestinian clubs have a rich history stretching back to the early 1930s, but most teams folded due to the political turmoil, and ensuing reduction of the geographical area of the country. Over the years, the format of the league has taken many different shapes. It was most recently contested in 2022–23.
WWW pfa.ps

History

Pre-Officialization (1970s–2000s)

Emergence of High-Profile Signings (2010s)

The 2010–11 season marked the creation of the first professional league in the territories and saw high-profile signings for many clubs. Most notably Fadi Lafi of the Hilal Al-Quds, and Hernán Madrid of Wadi Al-Nes, and many Palestinians-Israelis who played for teams in the second and third tier of Israeli football.
The original format of the WBPL consisted of 12 teams playing each other twice over 22 matchdays, the bottom two clubs are relegated to the second division and the team with the most points are crowned champions.
The 2011–12 included only 10 teams but the PFA announced that four teams will be promoted from the First Division returning the league to its traditional 12-team format. The PFA also altered the rules on player eligibility banning the use of foreign players but letting teams have an unlimited amount of Arab Israeli citizens in their squads

Clubs

Season 2022–23 clubs:
ClubCoachCityCaptain2021–22 seasonNotes
Ahli Al-KhaleelHebronWest Bank First League, 2nd
Hilal Al-QudsJamal MahmoudEast JerusalemFadi Lafi3rd
Islami QalqilyaQalqilya6th
Jabal Al-MukaberEast Jerusalem2nd
Markaz BalataNablus5th
Mosaset Al-BirehAl-Bireh9th
Shabab Al-Am'ariAm'ari10th
Shabab Al-DhahiriyaAd-Dhahiriya7th
Shabab Al-KhalilHebron1st
Shabab AlsamuAl Samu4th
Taraji Wadi Al-NesBethlehemWest Bank First League, 1st
Thaqafi TulkarmMihaTulkaremOsama Sabah8th

Past champions

The winners were:

Multiple hat-tricks

RankCountryPlayerHat-tricks
1