1953–54 Liga Alef

The 1953–54 Liga Alef season saw Maccabi Tel Aviv were crowned champions for the third successive time, whilst Eliezer Spiegel of Maccabi Petah Tikva was the league's top scorer with 16 goals. No clubs were relegated as the league was expanded to 14 clubs in the following season.

Liga Alef
Season1953-54
ChampionsMaccabi Tel Aviv
7th title
Matches played133
Goals scored405 (3.05 per match)
Top goalscorerEliezer Spiegel (16)

Although league matches ended on 13 March 1954,[1] the confirmation of the league's final standings was delayed, as a match between Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Petah Tikva, which was played on 26 December 1953 and ended with a 3–2 win for Haifa, was claimed to be fixed, to allow Maccabi Haifa to win.[2] Eventually, on 10 January 1955, the IFA decided to replay the match in a neutral venue,[3] Maccabi Haifa won the rematch 4–1 and secured their spot in the top division.[4] However, with the IFA already deadlocked with an ongoing dispute between Hapoel and Maccabi, Beitar declared its resignation from the IFA in protest of the IFA decision to replay the Maccabi Haifa-Maccabi Petah Tikva match.[5][6] Discussions were held with the help of Judge Yosef-Michael Lamm, and an agreement between the factions was reached on 28 January 1955, confirming the results of the season and reprieving Beitar Tel Aviv and Hapoel Balfouria from relegation.[7][8]

The league was played with two points for a win and one for a draw.

Final table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts
1 Maccabi Tel Aviv (C) 22 16 6 0 59 11 5.364 38
2 Maccabi Petah Tikva 22 13 6 3 50 22 2.273 32
3 Hapoel Petah Tikva 22 12 3 7 55 25 2.200 27
4 Hapoel Tel Aviv 22 9 7 6 35 18 1.944 25
5 Maccabi Rehovot 22 6 9 7 30 33 0.909 21
6 Hapoel Ramat Gan 22 8 4 10 31 35 0.886 20
7 Maccabi Netanya 22 7 5 10 23 36 0.639 19
8 Maccabi Haifa 22 8 3 11 26 51 0.510 19
9 Hapoel Haifa 22 7 4 11 26 37 0.703 18
10 Hapoel Kfar Saba 22 8 1 13 27 38 0.711 17
11 Beitar Tel Aviv 22 7 3 12 23 42 0.548 17
12 Hapoel Balfouria 22 4 3 15 20 57 0.351 11
Updated to match(es) played on 15 January 1955. Source: 100 Years of Football 1906-2006, Elisha Shohat (Israel), 2006
(C) Champion.

Results
Home \ Away BTA BLF HHA HKS HPT HRG HTA MHA MNE MPT MRV MTA
Beitar Tel Aviv — 1–2 2–1 0–1 0–2 3–1 1–0 4–0 0–0 2–1 1–0 0–6
Hapoel Balfouria 1–3 — 0–3 1–0 0–0 3–2 1–1 1–2 1–3 2–4 1–2 0–6
Hapoel Haifa 2–2 0–1 — 3–0 1–2 3–1 2–1 1–0 0–0 1–1 1–3 1–3
Hapoel Kfar Saba 3–1 4–3 0–1 — 1–2 1–0 0–2 4–1 2–0 1–2 1–1 1–5
Hapoel Petah Tikva 6–0 4–0 7–0 3–1 — 1–2 1–0 9–0 4–1 1–1 2–2 2–3
Hapoel Ramat Gan 4–0 4–0 2–0 3–1 2–3 — 0–2 4–0 0–0 1–2 3–2 1–1
Hapoel Tel Aviv 3–0 1–1 3–2 0–1 2–0 8–0 — 2–0 4–0 0–1 1–1 0–3
Maccabi Haifa 3–1 4–1 1–0 2–1 2–1 0–1 1–1 — 2–1 4–1[lower-alpha 1] 3–5 0–0
Maccabi Netanya 1–0 2–0 1–2 2–1 1–3 1–0 0–1 4–0 — 0–2 2–2 1–1
Maccabi Petah Tikva 1–1 5–1 2–0 4–1 2–1 4–0 1–1 3–0 7–1 — 5–2 0–0
Maccabi Rehovot 2–1 3–0 2–2 0–1 2–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 0–2 0–0 — 0–3
Maccabi Tel Aviv 2–0 3–0 3–0 2–1 2–1 0–0 2–2 5–0 4–0 2–1 3–0 —
Updated to match(es) played on 15 January 1955. Source: 100 Years of Football 1906-2006, Elisha Shohat (Israel), 2006
Legend: Blue = home team win; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. The match was originally ended with Maccabi Haifa winning 3–2. Due to claims of alleged match fixing the match was replayed.

References
  1. Beitar Tel Aviv to Liga Bet Al HaMishmar, 14 March 1954, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  2. The Scandal in Haifa Herut, 3 January 1954, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  3. The League Match Maccabi Haifa-P.T. Will Be Replayed This Saturday in Kfar Saba Hadshot HaSport, 12 January 1955, via archive.football.org.il (in Hebrew)
  4. Maccabi Haifa - Maccabi P.T. 4:1 (2:1) Ma'ariv, 16 January 1955, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  5. Hapoel Left Alone in the FA Ma'ariv, 16 January 1955, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  6. Beitar Withdrew from the FA Management Hadshot HaSport, 16 January 1955, via archive.football.org.il (in Hebrew)
  7. The Football Conflict Is Eliminated - 14 Teams Will Begin Liga Alef Matches Next Saturday Hadshot HaSport, 30 January 1955, via archive.football.org.il (in Hebrew)
  8. Peace Returned to the Football Association Ma'ariv, 30 January 1955, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.