1997–98 Liga Leumit

Liga Leumit

Season	1997–98
Champions	Beitar Jerusalem 4th Liga Leumit title
Relegated	Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Ashkelon
Champions League	Beitar Jerusalem
UEFA Cup	Hapoel Tel Aviv
Intertoto Cup	Hapoel Haifa
Cup Winners' Cup	Maccabi Haifa
Matches played	240
Goals scored	650 (2.71 per match)
Top goalscorer	Alon Mizrahi (18)
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

The 1997–98 Liga Leumit season began on 2 August 1997 and ended on 9 May 1998, with Beitar Jerusalem win their second consecutive title.

That season had two rounds, each team played the other teams twice. The two teams that were relegated to Liga Artzit were: Hapoel Ashkelon and Hapoel Be'er Sheva.

Two team from Liga Artzit were promoted at the end of the previous season: Hapoel Ashkelon and Maccabi Ironi Ashdod. The two teams relegated were: Hapoel Tayibe and Hapoel Tzafririm Holon.

Final table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Beitar Jerusalem (C)	30	20	9	1	71	33	+38	69	1998–99 UEFA Champions League First qualifying round
2	Hapoel Tel Aviv	30	21	5	4	44	16	+28	68	1998–99 UEFA Cup First qualifying round
3	Hapoel Haifa	30	17	9	4	59	27	+32	60	1998 UEFA Intertoto Cup First round
4	Maccabi Haifa	30	15	7	8	49	34	+15	52	1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Qualifying round ^1
5	Hapoel Petah Tikva	30	12	6	12	41	41	0	42
6	Maccabi Tel Aviv	30	10	9	11	42	35	+7	39
7	Hapoel Kfar Saba	30	10	8	12	39	39	0	38
8	Maccabi Herzliya	30	9	9	12	37	40	−3	36
9	Maccabi Petah Tikva	30	8	12	10	27	31	−4	36
10	Ironi Rishon LeZion	30	10	6	14	42	52	−10	36
11	Hapoel Jerusalem	30	8	10	12	35	45	−10	34
12	Maccabi Ironi Ashdod	30	8	9	13	39	57	−18	33
13	Hapoel Beit She'an	30	8	7	15	35	51	−16	31
14	Bnei Yehuda	30	8	7	15	26	42	−16	31
15	Hapoel Be'er Sheva (R)	30	7	9	14	38	57	−19	30	Relegation to 1998–99 Liga Artzit
16	Hapoel Ashkelon (R)	30	5	6	19	26	50	−24	019^2

Updated to games played on 2 September 2012.
Source:
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
¹ Maccabi Haifa won the Israeli State Cup and was awarded with entry to the Cup Winner's Cup.
² Deducted 2 points.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Alon Mizrahi	Maccabi Haifa	18
2	Ofer Shitrit	Hapoel Tel Aviv	17
3	István Sallói	Beitar Jerusalem	16
4	Yossi Benayoun	Hapoel Be'er Sheva	15
	István Pisont	Beitar Jerusalem	15
6	Eli Driks	Maccabi Tel Aviv	14
7	Assi Tubi	Hapoel Jerusalem	13
8	Motti Kakoun	Hapoel Petah Tikva	12
	Nir Sevilia	Beitar Jerusalem	12
10	Liron Basis	Hapoel Haifa	11

References

• Israel - List of Final Tables RSSSF