1954–55 in Israeli football

The 1954–55 season was the 7th season of competitive football in Israel and the 29th season under the Israeli Football Association, established in 1928, during the British Mandate.

Football in Israel
Season1954–55
← 1953–54 1955–56 →

Domestic leagues

1953–54 Liga Alef

Although league matches for the previous season ended on 13 March 1954,[1] the confirmation of the league's final standings was delayed, as a match between Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Petah Tikva, which was played on 26 December 1953 and ended with a 3–2 win for Haifa, was claimed to be fixed, to allow Maccabi Haifa to win.[2] Eventually, on 10 January 1955, the IFA decided to replay the match in a neutral venue,[3] Maccabi Haifa won the rematch 4–1 and secured their spot in the top division.[4] However, with the IFA already deadlocked with an ongoing dispute between Hapoel and Maccabi, Beitar declared its resignation from the IFA in protest of the IFA decision to replay the Maccabi Haifa-Maccabi Petah Tikva match.[5][6] Discussions were held with the help of Judge Yosef-Michael Lamm, and an agreement between the factions was reached on 28 January 1955, confirming the results of the season and reprieving Beitar Tel Aviv and Hapoel Balfouria from relegation.[7][8]

Final table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts
1 Maccabi Tel Aviv (C) 22 16 6 0 59 11 5.364 38
2 Maccabi Petah Tikva 22 13 6 3 50 22 2.273 32
3 Hapoel Petah Tikva 22 12 3 7 55 25 2.200 27
4 Hapoel Tel Aviv 22 9 7 6 35 18 1.944 25
5 Maccabi Rehovot 22 6 9 7 30 33 0.909 21
6 Hapoel Ramat Gan 22 8 4 10 31 35 0.886 20
7 Maccabi Netanya 22 7 5 10 23 36 0.639 19
8 Maccabi Haifa 22 8 3 11 26 51 0.510 19
9 Hapoel Haifa 22 7 4 11 26 37 0.703 18
10 Hapoel Kfar Saba 22 8 1 13 27 38 0.711 17
11 Beitar Tel Aviv 22 7 3 12 23 42 0.548 17
12 Hapoel Balfouria 22 4 3 15 20 57 0.351 11
Updated to match(es) played on 15 January 1955. Source: 100 Years of Football 1906-2006, Elisha Shohat (Israel), 2006
(C) Champion.

Shapira Cup

During the first half of the season, as no league matches were played, Hapoel Tel Aviv organized a league competition for the top Tel Aviv teams, Hapoel, Maccabi, Beitar and Maccabi Jaffa. The competition was played as a double round-robin tournament, with the top placed team winning the cup, named after former Hapoel Tel Aviv treasurer, Yosef Shapira.

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts
1 Hapoel Tel Aviv (W) 6 5 0 1 12 7 1.714 10
2 Maccabi Tel Aviv 6 4 0 2 16 8 2.000 8
3 Beitar Tel Aviv 6 2 0 4 7 8 0.875 4
4 Maccabi Jaffa 6 1 0 5 5 17 0.294 2
Source: Hadshot HaSport, p. 1
(W) Winners.

Results
Home \ Away BTA HTA MJA MTA
Beitar Tel Aviv — 1–2 2–0 2–1[lower-alpha 1]
Hapoel Tel Aviv 2–1 — 2–1 2–1
Maccabi Jaffa 1–0 1–3 — 1–5
Maccabi Tel Aviv 2–1 2–1 5–1 —
Source: Hadshot HaSport, p. 1
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. Match was abandoned

1954–55 Liga Alef

League matches were delayed until 6 February 1955, and by the time the IFA had gone to summer break, 20 rounds of matches were completed, delaying the end of the league season to the next season.[9]

League table (as of 2 July 1955)
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts
1 Maccabi Tel Aviv 20 14 3 3 68 20 3.400 31
2 Hapoel Petah Tikva 20 13 4 3 38 15 2.533 30
3 Hapoel Tel Aviv 20 9 8 3 37 17 2.176 26
4 Beitar Tel Aviv 20 9 5 6 48 36 1.333 23
5 Maccabi Petah Tikva 20 8 6 6 27 24 1.125 22
6 Maccabi Haifa 20 8 5 7 36 29 1.241 21
7 Maccabi Netanya 20 7 7 6 39 39 1.000 21
8 Hapoel Kfar Saba 20 6 6 8 29 30 0.967 18
9 Maccabi Rehovot 20 7 4 9 35 37 0.946 18
10 Hapoel Haifa 20 6 6 8 31 35 0.886 18
11 Hapoel Ramat Gan 20 7 3 10 23 27 0.852 17
12 Beitar Jerusalem 20 5 5 10 27 47 0.574 15
13 Hapoel Hadera 20 6 2 12 24 37 0.649 14
14 Hapoel Balfouria 20 2 2 16 23 92 0.250 6
Updated to match(es) played on 2 July 1955. Source: Hadshot HaSport, 3 July 1955 (in Hebrew)

Domestic cups
Main article: 1954–55 Israel State Cup

The competition started on 22 January 1955, and by the end of the season reached the quarter-finals stage. The competition was completed during the next season.

National Teams

National team

No official matches were played by the national team during the season.[10]

International club matches

Maccabi Tel Aviv tour of Italy

In August 1954, Maccabi Tel Aviv departed for a tour of Italy, intending to play Lazio, Torino, Roma and Napoli. However, the matches against Torino and Roma were cancelled,[11] and the team returned home after playing just two matches in Italy and one more match, en route home, against RC Paris, which was Ernst Happel's first match for RC Paris.[12]

29 August 1954 Lazio 0–0 Maccabi Tel Aviv Rome
[13] Stadium: Stadio della Rondinella
Referee: Giacomo Bertolio
12 September 1954 Napoli 7–1 Maccabi Tel Aviv Napoli
Coccarelli  1'
Jeppson  4', 10'
Posio  26'
Vitali  35', 52'
Pesaola  43'		 [14][15] Merimovich  82' Stadium: Stadio Arturo Collana
16 September 1954 RC Paris 1–1 Maccabi Tel Aviv Paris
Sénac  88' [16] Goldstein  64' Stadium: Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir

Petah Tikva XI tour of Cyprus

On 24 September 1954 a team of players from both Hapoel Petah Tikva and Maccabi Petah Tikva departed for a tour of Cyprus, without the consent of the IFA. The Hapoel organization sent a telegram forbidding the participation of Hapoel players in any match, and the team played as Maccabi Petah Tikva.[17] After returning to Israel, Maccabi Petah Tikva was banned for 6 months for its part of the tour, while Hapoel Petah Tikva received a fine of 50 pounds.[18]

25 September 1954 APOEL FC 2–1 Petah Tikva XI Nicosia
[19]
26 September 1954 Omonia 2–2 Petah Tikva XI Nicosia
28 September 1954 Çetinkaya 3–1 Petah Tikva XI Nicosia

Maccabi Israel tour of England

A Maccabi XI, composed of the best players affiliated with Maccabi clubs, took a tour of England between 21 October and 7 November 1954. Maccabi lost all four matches during the tour and was criticized heavily for arranging the tour and the pick of its opponents.[20]

26 October 1954 Arsenal 4–1 Maccabi XI London
Holton  20' (pen.), 28'
Milton  69'
Tapscott  70'		 [21] Israeli  76' Stadium: Highbury
Attendance: 10,000
29 October 1954 Wolves 10–0 Maccabi XI Wolverhampton
Flowers  11'
Swinbourne  16', 60', 86'
Broadbent  19'
Hancocks  42', 62'
Wilshaw  50'
McDonald  63'		 [22] Stadium: Molineux
Attendance: 30,000
1 November 1954 Hull City 4–0 Maccabi XI Hull
Ackerman  15'
Reznik  22' (o.g.)
Horton  56'
Downie  89'		 [23] Stadium: Boothferry Park
Attendance: 10,500
3 November 1954 Notts County 4–2 Maccabi XI Nottingham
Stadium: Meadow Lane

Beşiktaş

The visiting Turks met several composite teams, in Petah Tikva, a team from the local Hapoel and Maccabi teams, in Tel Aviv a team of the best Hapoel affiliated players and in Haifa a team from the Hapoel teams of Haifa, Kiryat Haim and Tirat HaCarmel.

19 September 1954 Petah Tikva XI 0–2 Beşiktaş Petah Tikva
Stadium: Hapoel Ground
22 September 1954 Hapoel XI 3–1 Beşiktaş Tel Aviv
Stadium: Basa Stadium
25 September 1954 Haifa Region Hapoel XI 1–2 Beşiktaş Haifa
Stadium: Kiryat Haim Stadium

Udarnik Sofia

Udarnik was invited to a return visit to Hapoel tour of Bulgaria during the previous season. The team arrived 8 October 1954 and played three matches in Israel. At the end of the tour, as the Bulgarians encountered problems with obtaining visas for a layover in Istanbul, a fourth match was arranged with mixed teams of Udarnik, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Maccabi Jaffa.

10 October 1954 Hapoel XI 0–3 Udarnik Sofia Tel Aviv
Stadium: Basa Stadium
12 October 1954 Tel Aviv XI 1–3 Udarnik Sofia Tel Aviv
Stadium: Basa Stadium
16 October 1954 Petah Tikva XI 2–3 Udarnik Sofia Petah Tikva
Stadium: Hapoel Ground
23 October 1954 Maccabi Jaffa/Udarnik 3–1 Hapoel Tel Aviv/Udarnik Tel Aviv
Stadium: Basa Stadium

APOEL FC
7 April 1955 Maccabi Tel Aviv 3–1 APOEL FC Tel Aviv
Stadium: Basa Stadium
9 April 1955 Maccabi Haifa 2–0 APOEL FC Haifa
Stadium: Kiryat Eliezer Stadium
11 April 1955 Jerusalem XI 2–2 APOEL FC Jerusalem
Stadium: YMCA Stadium

Associação Atlética Portuguesa
4 May 1955 Maccabi Tel Aviv 0–3 Portuguesa Tel Aviv
Stadium: Basa Stadium
7 May 1955 Hapoel Tel Aviv 0–4 Portuguesa Tel Aviv
Stadium: Basa Stadium
10 May 1955 Tel Aviv XI 0–4 Portuguesa Tel Aviv
Stadium: Basa Stadium

AC Omonia
27 May 1955 Petah Tikva XI 4–1 AC Omonia Petah Tikva
Stadium: Hapoel Ground
28 May 1955 Hapoel Kfar Saba 1–4 AC Omonia Kfar Saba
Stadium: Hapoel Ground
31 May 1955 Beitar Tel Aviv 4–2 AC Omonia Tel Aviv
Stadium: Maccabiah Stadium

References
  1. Beitar Tel Aviv to Liga Bet Al HaMishmar, 14 March 1954, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  2. The Scandal in Haifa Herut, 3 January 1954, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  3. The League Match Maccabi Haifa-P.T. Will Be Replayed This Saturday in Kfar Saba Hadshot HaSport, 12 January 1955, via archive.football.org.il (in Hebrew)
  4. Maccabi Haifa - Maccabi P.T. 4:1 (2:1) Ma'ariv, 16 January 1955, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  5. Hapoel Left Alone in the FA Ma'ariv, 16 January 1955, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  6. Beitar Withdrew from the FA Management Hadshot HaSport, 16 January 1955, via archive.football.org.il (in Hebrew)
  7. The Football Conflict Is Eliminated - 14 Teams Will Begin Liga Alef Matches Next Saturday Hadshot HaSport, 30 January 1955, via archive.football.org.il (in Hebrew)
  8. Peace Returned to the Football Association Ma'ariv, 30 January 1955, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  9. 1955-1955 Liga Leumit Schedule Archived 2015-07-26 at the Wayback Machine dribblist.com (in Hebrew)
  10. Matches Against National Teams elel.co.il (via Internet Archive) (in Hebrew)
  11. Today: Napoli–Maccabi T.A. Al HaMishmar, 12 September 1954, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  12. Today: Two Minutes Before the Whistle The Equalizing Goal Was Score in the Maccabi Racing Match Al HaMishmar, 21 September 1954, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  13. A Nice Game of Maccabi T.A. Herut, 3 September 1954, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  14. So Maccabi Was Defeated in Napoli Herut, 17 September 1954, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  15. A Torrent of Goals in Napoli Stadium Davar, 17 September 1954, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  16. A Draw for Maccabi T.A. in Its Match With Racing Herut, 22 September 1954, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  17. Petah Tikva XI Plays in Cyprus Without the FA's Consent Herut, 1 October 1954, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  18. Maccabi P.T. Punished for Six Months Over an "Underground" Tour of Cyprus Hadshot HaSport, 14 November 1954, p. 2 (in Hebrew)
  19. The Cypriot Football Took a Step Forward Davar, 6 October 1954, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  20. The Great Disgrace of the Israeli Football Al HaMishmar, 31 October 1954, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  21. Two "Black Moments" Denied a Great Achievement Hadshot Hasport, 27 October 1954, p. 1 & 4 (in Hebrew)
  22. How the Wolves Won 10:0 Hadshot HaSport, 31 October 1954, p. 1 & 8 (in Hebrew)
  23. Hull City – Maccabi 4:0 Hadshot Hasport, 3 November 1954, p. 1 & 4 (in Hebrew)
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