2016–17 Israeli Premier League

The season's fixtures were announced on July 18, 2016, with the league campaign scheduled to begin on August 20.[1] Defending champion Hapoel Be'er Sheva was set to open at home against Hapoel Ra'anana at Turner Stadium, while Maccabi Haifa was to host Hapoel Tel Aviv.[1] The first Tel Aviv derby was scheduled for the weekend of September 24, and Be'er Sheva's first match against runner-up Maccabi Tel Aviv was planned as the eighth fixture of the campaign, on the weekend of October 29.[1]

The league's first stage comprised 26 matches per team across 14 clubs. At the end of that stage, Hapoel Be'er Sheva led with 59 points, followed by Maccabi Tel Aviv on 56 and Maccabi Petah Tikva in third place with 48.[2] Hapoel Tel Aviv sat last on just 17 points, already reduced by a nine-point deduction for entering liquidation proceedings.[2]

Hapoel Be'er Sheva returned to first place in matchweek six of the season and did not relinquish it.[3] Maccabi Tel Aviv briefly drew level on points for 48 hours in February, but Be'er Sheva responded by winning ten consecutive league matches — a new club record — to pull clear of its rival.[4][3] By early April, following a 1–0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv, Be'er Sheva held a six-point lead with eight matches remaining and boasted a goal difference of +46 against Maccabi's +28.[5] Coach Barak Bachar acknowledged the cushion but cautioned that every team in the championship playoff still had something to play for.[5]

All the while, Be'er Sheva was competing simultaneously on the European stage. The club reached the Europa League round of 32 after advancing from a group that included Inter Milan and Southampton.[4] Earlier in the season, a 2–0 home victory over Celtic in the Champions League playoff return leg was not sufficient to overturn a 5–2 first-leg deficit, ending Be'er Sheva's bid for Champions League group-stage football.[4]

The title was clinched on 29 April 2017, in round 33 of the upper playoff, at the municipal stadium in Netanya before an attendance of 12,236.[6] Maccabi Tel Aviv took the lead through Vidar Kjartansson's 24th-minute goal, but Maor Melikson equalized in the 57th minute and John Ogu scored the winner in the 89th, sparking Be'er Sheva's title celebrations.[6] Be'er Sheva became the fifth club in Israeli football history to seal a league championship by beating Maccabi Tel Aviv, following Hapoel Petah Tikva in 1961, Hakoah Ramat Gan in 1965, Beitar Jerusalem in 1987, and Hapoel Haifa in 1999.[7]

In the final upper-playoff table after 36 matches, Hapoel Be'er Sheva finished first with 26 wins, seven draws, three losses and 85 points, with a 73–18 goal record.[8] Maccabi Tel Aviv finished second on 72 points, followed by Beitar Jerusalem on 60, Maccabi Petah Tikva on 56, Bnei Sakhnin on 48, and Maccabi Haifa on 45.[8]

By the title-clinching round, Walla credited Be'er Sheva with 18 clean sheets and no red cards in league play. The same report recorded an unbeaten run of 33 home league matches at Turner Stadium since its September 2015 opening — 27 wins and six draws — and a perfect 15 points from the first five matches of the upper playoff.[3]

Vidar Kjartansson of Maccabi Tel Aviv finished as the league's leading scorer with 19 goals.[9] Anthony Nwakaeme and Ben Sahar of Hapoel Be'er Sheva and Itay Shechter of Beitar Jerusalem each scored 14.[9] Walla's final statistics also credit Nwakaeme with 11 assists, giving him one of the season's strongest combined scoring and creative records.[9]

Hapoel Tel Aviv was relegated following a 1–1 draw with Hapoel Ra'anana in the final round of the lower playoff on 13 May 2017.[10] The club had spent 27 consecutive seasons in the top division before its fall, and its relegation was only the second in the club's history.[10] Financial crisis had engulfed the club during the season: it entered administration, had nine points deducted, changed ownership, and cycled through three different head coaches.[11] Without the nine-point penalty, Tel Aviv would have avoided the drop.[11]

Hapoel Kfar Saba also went down, while Hapoel Ashkelon survived.[10] The third-place finish in the upper playoff carried direct qualification for the following season's Europa League qualifiers, while fourth place would qualify only if Maccabi Tel Aviv won the State Cup final — meaning the battle for third remained the final unresolved storyline on the last league weekend.[12]

Hapoel Tel Aviv's relegation sparked an incident that drew broad condemnation. Supporters of crosstown rival Maccabi Tel Aviv staged a mock funeral for the relegated club, arriving with a coffin containing an effigy dressed in Hapoel's red shirt and scarf, distributing mock mourning notices, lighting memorial candles, and burning red-and-white scarves.[11] Hapoel's spokesperson characterized the conduct as incitement, while Maccabi's spokesperson distanced the club from the fans' actions.[11] The Israel Football Association and Sports and Culture Minister Miri Regev both publicly condemned the episode.[11]

Published tables must be matched to the correct campaign. Walla's verified 2016–17 final table gives Hapoel Be'er Sheva 85 points and a 73–18 goal record over 36 matches.[8] The 83-point, 66–24 figures previously presented as conflicting totals are labeled as the 2015–16 upper-playoff table by ONE, rather than as results from 2016–17.[13] They are therefore not alternative totals for this season.