Israeli Handball League

Israeli Handball League

Sport	Team handball
Founded	1954
No. of teams	12
Country	Israel
Most recent champion(s)	Hapoel Rishon LeZion

Israeli Handball League (Hebrew: ליגת העל בכדוריד‎), known for sponsorship as Handball Winner League (Hebrew: ליגת וינר בכדוריד‎) is the highest league in the Israeli handball and comprises the top 12 elite men teams. The league began in 1954.

History

The league was established in 1954–55 with 10 teams competing in a double round-robin tournament, Maccabi Rehovot winning the first three championships. At first, all matches were played as Field handball, before reverting to 7-players handball, with the last matches being held on football fields were held in 1963.^[1]

Structure

12 teams play in the league, competing in a double round-robin tournament. After the end of the regular season, the top 8 teams compete for the championship, with the top four teams being seeded. The playoffs follow a tournament format, each team plays an opponent in a best-of-three series, with the first team to win two games advancing to the next round. In case of a draw in one of the matches, the tie is decided on goal difference with a 10 minutes extra time being played of the goal difference is equal. The final playoff round, a best-of-five series between the two semi-final winners, sets the league champions. The bottom 4 teams compete in a single round-robin tournament to avoid relegation, with the bottom club relegating to Liga Leumit and the 10th and 11th placed teams compete in promotion/relegation playoffs against the 2nd and 3rd placed teams from Liga Leumit.

Champions

The complete list of the Israeli handball champions since 1955.

Season Champion 1954–55 Maccabi Rehovot (1) 1955–56 Maccabi Rehovot (2) 1956–57 Maccabi Rehovot (3) 1957–58 Hapoel Rehovot (1) 1958–59 Maccabi Rishon LeZion (1) 1959–60 Maccabi Rehovot (4) 1960–61 Maccabi Ramat Gan (1) 1961–62 Hapoel Rehovot (2) 1962–63 Maccabi Rehovot (5) 1963–64 Hapoel Rehovot (3) 1964–65 Hapoel Rehovot (4) 1965–66 Hapoel Petah Tikva (1) 1966–67 Hapoel Petah Tikva (2) 1967–68 Hapoel Rehovot (5) 1968–69 Hapoel Ramat Gan (1) 1969–70 Hapoel Petah Tikva (3) 1970–71 Hapoel Ramat Gan (2) 1971–72 Hapoel Herzliya (1) 1972–73 Hapoel Rehovot (6) 1973–74 Not Held 1974–75 Hapoel Rehovot (7) 1975–76 Hapoel Rehovot (8) 1976–77 Hapoel Rehovot (9) 1977–78 Maccabi Petah Tikva (1) 1978–79 Hapoel Rehovot (10) 1979–89 Maccabi Petah Tikva (2) 1980–81 Maccabi Petah Tikva (3) 1981–82 Hapoel Rehovot (11) 1982–83 Hapoel Rehovot (12) 1983–84 Hapoel Rehovot (13) 1984–85 Maccabi Rishon LeZion (2) 1985–86 Maccabi Rishon LeZion (3) 1986–87 Maccabi Rishon LeZion (4) 1987–88 Hapoel Rishon LeZion (1) 1988–89 Maccabi Rishon LeZion (5) 1989–99 Hapoel Rishon LeZion (2)

Year Champion 1990–91 Hapoel Rishon LeZion (3) 1991–92 Maccabi Rishon LeZion (6) 1992–93 Hapoel Rishon LeZion (4) 1993–94 Hapoel Rishon LeZion (5) 1994–95 Hapoel Rishon LeZion (6) 1995–96 Hapoel Rishon LeZion (7) 1996–97 Hapoel Rishon LeZion (8) 1997–98 Hapoel Rishon LeZion (9) 1998–99 Hapoel Rishon LeZion (10) 1999–2000 Hapoel Rishon LeZion (11) 2000–01 Hapoel Rishon LeZion (12) 2001–02 ASA Tel Aviv (1) 2002–03 Hapoel Rishon LeZion (13) 2003–04 Hapoel Rishon LeZion (14) 2004–05 Maccabi Rishon LeZion (7) 2005–06 Maccabi Rishon LeZion (8) 2006–07 Maccabi Rishon LeZion (9) 2007–08 Hapoel Rishon LeZion (15) 2008–09 Maccabi Rishon LeZion (10) 2009–10 Maccabi Rishon LeZion (11) 2010–11 Maccabi Rishon LeZion (12) 2011–12 Maccabi Rishon LeZion (13) 2012–13 Hapoel Rishon LeZion (16) 2013–14 Maccabi Tel Aviv (1) 2014–15 Hapoel Rishon LeZion (17)

See also

• Israeli Women's Handball League

External links

• Israel Handball Association

References

1. From Liga Leumit to Ligat HaAl, from 1954 to Today Israel Handball Association, 11 April 2009 (Hebrew)