2007–08 Israeli Premier League
# 2007–08 Israeli Premier League

The 2007–08 Israeli Premier League season began on 18 August 2007 and ended on 1 June 2008, with Beitar Jerusalem win their second consecutive title.

Two teams from Liga Leumit were promoted at the end of the previous season: Ironi Kiryat Shmona and Bnei Sakhnin. The two teams relegated were Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan and Hapoel Petah Tikva.

## Teams and Locations

Twelve teams took part in the 2007-08 Israeli Premier League season, including ten teams from the 2006-07 season, as well as two teams which were promoted from the 2006-07 Liga Leumit.

Ironi Kiryat Shmona were promoted as champions of the 2006-07 Liga Leumit. Bnei Sakhnin were promoted as runners up. Bnei Sakhnin returned after an absence of one season, while Ironi Kiryat Shmona made their debut in the top flight.

Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan and Hapoel Petah Tikva were relegated after finishing in the bottom two places in the 2006-07 season.

| Club | Stadium | Capacity |
| - | - | - |
| Beitar Jerusalem | Teddy Stadium | 21,600 |
| Bnei Yehuda | Bloomfield Stadium | 15,700 |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | Bloomfield Stadium | 15,700 |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | Bloomfield Stadium | 15,700 |
| Maccabi Haifa | Kiryat Eliezer Stadium | 14,002 |
| Maccabi Herzliya | Herzliya Municipal Stadium | 08,100 |
| F.C. Ashdod | Yud-Alef Stadium | 07,800 |
| Maccabi Netanya | Sar-Tov Stadium | 07,500 |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | Petah Tikva Municipal Stadium | 06,800 |
| Hapoel Kfar Saba | Levita Stadium | 05,800 |
| Ironi Kiryat Shmona | Kiryat Shmona Municipal Stadium | 05,300 |
| Bnei Sakhnin | Doha Stadium | 05,000 |
| Beitar Jerusalem | Bnei Yehuda Hapoel Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Kfar Saba | Maccabi Herzliya |
| Teddy Stadium | Bloomfield Stadium | Levita Stadium | Herzliya Municipal Stadium |
| Maccabi Netanya | Maccabi Haifa | Maccabi Petah Tikva |
| Sar-Tov Stadium | Kiryat Eliezer Stadium | Petah Tikva Municipal Stadium |
| F.C. Ashdod | Bnei Sakhnin | Ironi Kiryat Shmona |
| Yud-Alef Stadium | Doha Stadium | Kiryat Shmona Stadium |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Beitar Jerusalem (C) | 33 | 20 | 7 | 6 | 61 | 23 | +38 | 67 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Maccabi Netanya | 33 | 16 | 10 | 7 | 40 | 24 | +16 | 58 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup second qualifying round |
| 3 | Ironi Kiryat Shmona | 33 | 15 | 11 | 7 | 43 | 34 | +9 | 56 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round |
| 4 | Bnei Sakhnin | 33 | 15 | 10 | 8 | 35 | 29 | +6 | 55 | Qualification for the Intertoto Cup second round |
| 5 | Maccabi Haifa | 33 | 13 | 8 | 12 | 38 | 27 | +11 | 47 | |
| 6 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 33 | 11 | 8 | 14 | 43 | 43 | 0 | 41 | |
| 7 | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 33 | 12 | 5 | 16 | 35 | 40 | −5 | 41 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round |
| 8 | F.C. Ashdod | 33 | 11 | 6 | 16 | 36 | 52 | −16 | 39 | |
| 9 | Bnei Yehuda | 33 | 11 | 5 | 17 | 31 | 43 | −12 | 38 | |
| 10 | Maccabi Petah Tikva | 33 | 10 | 7 | 16 | 28 | 39 | −11 | 37 | |
| 11 | Hapoel Kfar Saba (R) | 33 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 37 | 54 | −17 | 37 | Relegation to Liga Leumit |
| 12 | Maccabi Herzliya (R) | 33 | 7 | 9 | 17 | 32 | 51 | −19 | 30 | Relegation to Liga Leumit |

* ↑ Since Beitar Jerusalem won both Israeli State Cup and the Israeli Premier League championship, then the cup-runner-up, Hapoel Tel Aviv, awarded with entry to the 2008–09 UEFA Cup.

## Results

The schedule consisted of three rounds. During first two rounds, each team played each other once home and away for a total of 22 matches. The pairings of the third round were then set according to the standings after first two rounds, giving every team a third game against each opponent for a total of 33 games per team.

### First and second round

| Home \ Away | BEI | BnS | BnY | ASH | HKS | HTA | IKS | MHA | MHE | MNE | MPT | MTA |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Beitar Jerusalem | — | 0–1 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| Bnei Sakhnin | 2–2 | — | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 |
| Bnei Yehuda | 0–3 | 3–0 | — | 3–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–4 |
| F.C. Ashdod | 1–2 | 3–1 | 3–0 | — | 2–4 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–6 | 1–3 | 0–0 |
| Hapoel Kfar Saba | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | — | 1–1 | 2–3 | 0–3 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–3 |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | — | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Ironi Kiryat Shmona | 0–3 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | — | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Maccabi Haifa | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 3–1 |
| Maccabi Herzliya | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 0–1 | — | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–3 |
| Maccabi Netanya | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | — | 3–2 |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | — |

### Third round

| Home \ Away | BEI | BnS | BnY | ASH | HKS | HTA | IKS | MHA | MHE | MNE | MPT | MTA |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Beitar Jerusalem | — | 1–2 | 0–1 | — | — | — | — | — | 3–1 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 |
| Bnei Sakhnin | — | — | 1–3 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | — | — |
| Bnei Yehuda | — | — | — | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–3 | — | — | 2–0 | — | — | 0–1 |
| F.C. Ashdod | 1–0 | — | — | — | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | — | — | — | — |
| Hapoel Kfar Saba | 0–4 | — | — | — | — | — | 1–3 | 1–0 | 3–3 | — | — | 2–3 |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | 3–1 | — | — | — | 0–1 | — | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | — | — |
| Ironi Kiryat Shmona | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | — | — | — | — | — | 2–2 | — | 1–0 | 3–1 |
| Maccabi Haifa | 0–1 | — | 0–1 | — | — | — | 2–1 | — | 3–0 | — | 0–0 | 3–3 |
| Maccabi Herzliya | — | 0–2 | — | 2–0 | — | — | — | — | — | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| Maccabi Netanya | — | — | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | — | — | — | — |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | — | 0–4 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–2 | — | — | — | 0–1 | — | — |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | — | 3–1 | — | 2–0 | — | 2–1 | — | — | — | 0–0 | 2–1 | — |

## Goals

### Top Goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Samuel Yeboah | Hapoel Kfar Saba | 15 |
| 2 | Rômulo | Beitar Jerusalem | 12 |
| 2 | Yannick Kamanan | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 12 |
| 2 | Moshe Biton | Bnei Yehuda | 12 |
| 5 | Dimitar Makriev | F.C. Ashdod | 11 |
| 6 | Yero Bello | Ironi Kiryat Shmona | 10 |
| 6 | Yeghia Yavruyan | Bnei Sakhnin | 10 |
| 8 | Yossi Shivhon | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 9 |
| 8 | Maor Buzaglo | Bnei Sakhnin | 9 |
| 8 | Yuval Avidor | Ironi Kiryat Shmona | 9 |

Source: The Israel Football Association

## IFPA Leading Players of Season 2007–08

### Best Player of the Year

* Gal Alberman - Beitar Jerusalem

### Best Foreign Player of the Year

* Derek Boateng - Beitar Jerusalem

### Best Manager of the Year

* Itzhak Shum - Beitar Jerusalem

### Discovery of the Year

* Maor Buzaglo - Bnei Sakhnin

### Best Goalkeeper of the Year

* Liran Strauber - Maccabi Netanya

### Best Defender of the Year

* Arik Benado - Beitar Jerusalem
