Hello All, I am new to the Israeli Premier League; in fact I have only just done some research today. What got me interested? Well Im a very passionate soccer player and fan, my favorite team is AC Milan (family from Milan so its only natural) and my girlfriend is Jewish. So Ive decided to take it upon myself to learn about some Israeli soccer teams. Ive done a bit of research and have come to the conclusion that the team I would probably support is Maccabi Tel Aviv. The history and the fact that they are the first Jewish club in Israel to be established has engulfed me. If anyone else has any information about the league, teams, fans, etc, etc. please let me know. Im anxious to learn. All the best, Aaron
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010–11_Israeli_Premier_League has the standings through December 15 which is through 14 games each. The league has 16 clubs who each play each other twice in the regular season for 30 games each. Then each club has their points cut in half for the three final groups. The groups are 1 to 6, 7 to 10, and 11 to 16. The top group (1 to 6) are competing for one UEFA Champions League Second Qualifying Round spot and three UEFA Europa League spots. The cup winner, who starts in the latest qualifying round for any club from that country, starts in the Third Qualifying Round. The second and third place clubs start in the Second Qualifying Round if the cup winner doesn't finish in the Top 3. The middle group (7 to 10) are playing for final standings position only. The bottom group (11 to 16) are playing to avoid relegation. The bottom two clubs get relegated to the second level, Liga Leumit. The top two clubs from Liga Leumit play the next season in the Premier League. The 14th place club from the Premier League and the third place club from Liga Leumit play a promotion/relegation playoff with the winner playing in the next season's Premier League and the loser in the next season's Liga Leumit. In the final groups, each club plays one game against every other club in its group. The middle four clubs, 7 to 10, finish with 33 games played, and the rest of the clubs finish with 35 games played not including the promotion/relegation playoff for the 14th place club. http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/access2011.html is the access league for the 2011-2012 UEFA Champions League and Europa League that the 2010-2011 season qualifies clubs for. Israel is ranked 20th among the leagues in UEFA for the five year period 2005-2006 through 2009-2010. For the five year period 2006-2007 through 2010-2011 Israel is up to 17th in UEFA but Israel does not have any of the 48 clubs still alive in the 2010-2011 Champions League or Europa League so Israel's country coefficient rank can get worse but not better. http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/data/method4/crank2011.html has the country coefficient rankings. Thanks to the new format for the Champions League qualifying rounds where champions and non-champions are separated, the Israeli champion has reached the Champions League Group Stage the last two seasons after missing the Group Stage for four seasons before that. Under the old format, the Israeli champion could get drawn against an elite club that finished third or fourth in one of the top six leagues in UEFA in a qualifying round and that happened when an Israeli champion was eliminated by Liverpool in a qualifying round. Edit: I'm Jewish and I root for the Israeli national team as my second favorite national team behind the United States. I also root for Israeli clubs in UEFA competitions but I have not picked a favorite Israeli club. I've never been to Israel.
Evan... Thank you so much for all the information on the league, there are a lot of different rules that you dont see in the "normal" leagues that apply to this league that make it very interesting. Its hard here in the United States to see games so I doubt I will be able to follow any of the teams live; although I wish I could. Is there any reason you have not picked a team yet? I myself am not Jewish but have found the culture very interesting after reading a few books and obviously with the girlfriend being a part of that. Once again thank you very much. If you have any other advice or information it is greatly appreciated. All the best, Aaron
I have not picked a team yet but will once I visit Israel. I will probably root for Macabi Tel Aviv. They're the team I like the most because of the city and the basketball team. But in the Champions League, I was rooting for Hapoel
I don't plan on picking a club from any country other than the United States and England. I follow the Champions League to know who the best clubs in UEFA countries are and I know Inter Milan is having a disappointing season in Serie A, but I don't think I will ever care as much about another UEFA league as I care about the EPL.
Schnorrer... youre obviously a Maccabi Tel Aviv fan, can you give me some history on the team? And why youre a fan?
well amkelly802 Maccabi is the most prized team in Israel with 18 premier titles and 22 cup titles, we have the best fans in all of Israel, we are not stuck up who think that they are the best thing in the world like Haifa fans, nor are communist left wing sometimes even anti Israeli like Hapoel fans, nor are racist hooligans wannabe like the fans of Beitar. Maccabi's Ultras 96 where the first organized fans group in Israel, we are the oldest club in the country and also the only club to have played always on the top division of Israeli football...need another reason? and i became a fan of Maccabi cause when i was a child visiting Israel my cousin took me to my first football match ever, and Maccabi was playing, i have been a fan ever since
sounds like all great reasons. where do you watch maccabi play? can you? if so please let me know, i would like to watch. also, is there a place to order apparel?
to watch games i usually go to this sites... http://atdhe.net/index.html http://www.rojadirecta.org/ http://en.justin.tv/ to buy Maccabi merchandise http://www.maccabi-tlv-digital-shop.co.il/ http://www.pongo.co.il/israelmaccabi1.asp
yeah ive been to atdhe.net a lot of times. i just got a new computer and i am unsure if i want to risk going on that website because im not sure if its secure or not. any thoughts?