The 2012–13 Liga Alef season saw Hapoel Afula (champions of the North Division) and Hapoel Katamon (champions of the South Division) win the title and promotion to Liga Leumit. Beitar Kfar Saba won the promotion play-offs and met Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla of Liga Leumit and lost 2–4 on aggregate and thus remained in Liga Alef.

At the bottom, the bottom two clubs in each division, Hapoel Kafr Kanna, Maccabi Sektzia Ma'alot-Tarshiha (from North division), Maccabi Ironi Kfar Yona and Ortodoxim Lod were all automatically relegated to Liga Bet, whilst the two clubs which were ranked in 14th place in each division, Maccabi Kafr Kanna and Hapoel Arad entered a promotion/relegation play-offs, Maccabi Kafr Kanna prevailing to stay in Liga Alef, while Hapoel Arad were relegated after losing the play-offs.

Changes from last season edit

Format changes edit

  • The divisions reverted to being played under the same rules as 2010–11 Liga Alef, with the champions of each division winning promotion, the clubs ranked 2nd to 5th entering promotion play-offs, the clubs ranked 14th entering relegation play-offs and the bottom two clubs relegating automatically to Liga Bet.

Team changes edit

North Division edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Hapoel Afula 30 22 4 4 65 17 +48 70 Promoted to Liga Leumit
2 Maccabi Daliyat al-Karmel 30 16 12 2 45 22 +23 60 Promotion play-offs
3 Hapoel Migdal HaEmek 30 15 11 4 45 25 +20 56
4 Hapoel Asi Gilboa 30 12 11 7 38 27 +11 47
5 Hapoel Herzliya 30 12 10 8 40 32 +8 46
6 Ironi Tiberias 30 11 10 9 35 25 +10 43
7 Hapoel Hadera 30 10 7 13 42 40 +2 37
8 Maccabi Tzur Shalom 30 11 4 15 30 39 −9 37
9 Maccabi Ironi Kiryat Ata 30 9 10 11 25 35 −10 37
10 F.C. Karmiel Safed 30 7 13 10 31 33 −2 34
11 Ahva Arraba 30 9 6 15 22 39 −17 33
12 Hapoel Daliyat al-Karmel 30 9 6 15 31 53 −22 33
13 F.C. Givat Olga 30 8 8 14 30 38 −8 32
14 Maccabi Kafr Kanna 30 7 11 12 19 31 −12 32 Relegation play-offs
15 Hapoel Kafr Kanna 30 6 13 11 25 36 −11 31 Relegated to Liga Bet
16 Sektzia Ma'alot 30 4 8 18 34 65 −31 20
Source: [citation needed]

South Division edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Hapoel Katamon 30 15 12 3 64 33 +31 57 Promoted to Liga Leumit
2 Maccabi Kabilio Jaffa 30 17 6 7 55 31 +24 57 Promotion play-offs
3 Ironi Bat Yam 30 14 10 6 58 36 +22 52
4 Hapoel Azor 30 13 9 8 38 23 +15 48
5 Beitar Kfar Saba 30 13 9 8 43 33 +10 48
6 Maccabi Amishav Petah Tikva 30 13 6 11 47 32 +15 45
7 Hapoel Kfar Shalem 30 9 13 8 45 35 +10 40
8 Maccabi Kiryat Gat 30 11 7 12 46 44 +2 40
9 Maccabi Be'er Sheva 30 11 5 14 38 35 +3 38
10 Hapoel Marmorek 30 8 14 8 27 28 −1 38
11 Maccabi Sha'arayim 30 10 8 12 39 44 −5 38
12 Maccabi Kiryat Malakhi 30 9 8 13 31 35 −4 35
13 Bnei Eilat 30 8 11 11 36 51 −15 35
14 Hapoel Arad 30 6 13 11 24 34 −10 31 Relegation play-offs
15 Maccabi Ironi Kfar Yona 30 7 10 13 37 50 −13 31 Relegated to Liga Bet
16 Ortodoxim Lod 30 3 5 22 28 112 −84 14
Source: [citation needed]

Promotion play-offs edit

First round edit

Second and third placed clubs played single match at home against the fourth and fifth placed clubs in their respective regional division.


Hapoel Migdal HaEmek and Hapoel Herzliya (from North division) and Hapoel Azor and Beitar Kfar Saba (from South division) advanced to the second round.


Second round edit

The winners of the first round played single match at home of the higher ranked club (from each regional division).


Hapoel Migdal HaEmek and Beitar Kfar Saba advanced to the third round.


Third round edit

Hapoel Migdal HaEmek and Beitar Kfar Saba faced each other for a single match in neutral venue. the winner advanced to the fourth round against the 14th placed club in Liga Leumit.

Beitar Kfar Saba advanced to the fourth round.


Fourth round edit

Beitar Kfar Saba faced the 14th placed in 2012–13 Liga Leumit Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla. the winner on aggregate earned a spot in the 2013–14 Liga Leumit. The matches took place on May 24 and 28, 2013.


Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla3 – 1Beitar Kfar Saba
Amos   14', 58'
Soltan   78'
Report Deri   40'

Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla won 4–2 on aggregate and remained in Liga Leumit. Beitar Kfar Saba remained in Liga Alef.

Relegation play-offs edit

North play-off edit

The 14th placed club in Liga Alef North, Maccabi Kafr Kanna, faced the Liga Bet play-offs winner, Hapoel Iksal. the winner earned a spot in the 2013–14 Liga Alef.

Maccabi Kafr Kanna remained in Liga Alef.

South play-off edit

The 14th placed club in Liga Alef South, Hapoel Arad, faced the Liga Bet play-offs winner, F.C. Kafr Qasim. the winner earned a spot in the 2013–14 Liga Alef.

Hapoel Arad relegated to Liga Bet.

References edit