The Israeli Premier League (Hebrew: ליגת העל, Ligat HaAl, lit. Super League) is an Israeli professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Israeli football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 14 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Liga Leumit. Seasons run from August to May, with teams playing 32 matches each, totalling 224 matches in the season. Five games are played on Saturdays, with one game played on Sundays and one game on Mondays. It is sponsored by Toto Winner and therefore officially known as Ligat Winner (Hebrew: ליגת ווינר).
The competition formed on 1999 following the decision of the Israeli Football Association to form a new league. It is also ranked seventeenth in the UEFA coefficients of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the last five years, ahead of Romania's Liga I and the Czech Republic's Gambrinus liga.
Since 1923, a total of 14 clubs have been crowned champions of the Israeli football system. Of the twenty-six clubs to have competed since the inception of the Israeli Premier League in 1999, five have won the title: Beitar Jerusalem (twice), Hapoel Tel Aviv (twice), Maccabi Haifa (seven times), Maccabi Tel Aviv (once), and Ironi Kiryat Shmona (once). The current champions are Ironi Kiryat Shmona, who won the 2011–12 season.
Read more about Israeli Premier League: Background, Competition, Clubs, Sponsorship, Number of Foreigners, Revenue, UEFA League Ranking, Champions, Top Goalscorers By Season, All-time Table
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—Aaron Ben-Ze’Ev, Israeli philosopher. “The Vindication of Gossip,” Good Gossip, University Press of Kansas (1994)
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