The 1955–56 Maccabi Haifa season was the club's 43rd season since its establishment in 1913, and 8th since the establishment of the State of Israel.
At the start of the season, the league which started during the previous season was completed, with the club finishing 6th. The new league season, with the top division being renamed Liga Leumit, began on 3 December 1955 and was completed on 3 June 1956, with the club finishing 5th.[1]
During the season, the club also competed in the State Cup, which was also carried over the summer break. The club eliminated city rivals Hapoel Haifa in the quarter-finals, winning 4–0,[2][3] but was defeated by Maccabi Tel Aviv 0–5 in the semi-finals.[4]
On 15 September 1955 a new stadium, Kiryat Eliezer Stadium, officially called Haifa Municipal Stadium or Luigi Antonini Stadium,[5][6] was opened with a match between a Haifa XI and a Tel Aviv XI.[7] Maccabi Haifa started playing home matches in the stadium on 24 September 1955, starting with a match against Hapoel Haifa.[8]
Match Results
Legend
Win Draw Loss
International friendly matches
During the season Maccabi Haifa played three international friendly matches, losing all of them.
| 16 February 1956 | Maccabi Haifa | 2–3 | Kapfenberger SV | Haifa |
Ben-Tzvi  8' Litvak 72' |
Davar (in Hebrew) |
60' Wirboda 65' Hauberger 87' Gollnhuber |
Stadium: Kiryat Eliezer Stadium Attendance: 6,500 Referee: Klein |
| 5 May 1956 | Maccabi Haifa | 3–4 | Sunderland | Haifa |
| Held 23', 58' Almani 41' |
16' Elliott 76' Fleming 81' Morrison 87' Shackleton |
Stadium: Kiryat Eliezer Stadium Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Sher |
| 30 June 1956 | Maccabi Haifa | 1–4 | First Vienna | Tel Aviv |
| Almani 71' |
51', 73', 47' Buzek 67' Manasse |
Stadium: Basa Stadium Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Palman |
The league began on 6 February 1955, and by the time the previous season ended, only 20 rounds of matches were completed, with the final 6 rounds being played during September and October 1955.[9]
Final table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Maccabi Netanya | 26 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 54 | 43 | 1.256 | 33 |
| 5 | Beitar Tel Aviv | 26 | 12 | 5 | 9 | 64 | 47 | 1.362 | 29 |
| 6 | Maccabi Haifa | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 54 | 41 | 1.317 | 28 |
| 7 | Maccabi Petah Tikva | 26 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 37 | 41 | 0.902 | 27 |
| 8 | Maccabi Rehovot | 26 | 11 | 4 | 11 | 49 | 48 | 1.021 | 26 |
Matches
| 3 September 1955 21 | Maccabi Haifa | 3–2 | Hapoel Hadera | Haifa |
| Tenenbaum 18', 76' Georgiou 46' |
Report (p. 8) | 30' Rubin 41' (o.g.) T. Cohen |
Stadium: Kiryat Haim Stadium Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Rosenbaum |
| 10 September 1955 22 | Hapoel Balfouria | 0–6 | Maccabi Haifa | Afula |
| Report (p. 8) | 7' Hardy 19', 82' Fuchs 31' (pen.) Ben-Tzvi 73', 88' Held |
Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 500 Referee: Markovich |
| 24 September 1955 23 | Maccabi Haifa | 4–1 | Hapoel Haifa | Haifa |
| Hardy 41' Fuchs 65' Held 75' Tenenbaum 87' |
Report (p. 8) | 24' Kremer |
Stadium: Kiryat Eliezer Stadium Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Fritzner |
| 1 October 1955 24 | Maccabi Rehovot | 3–2 | Maccabi Haifa | Rehovot |
| Shrager 13', 32' Litvak 75' |
Report (p. 8) | 39' Hardy 78' Fuchs |
Stadium: Maccabi Ground Attendance: 2,200 Referee: Werner |
| 8 October 1955 25 | Maccabi Haifa | 0–3 | Hapoel Tel Aviv | Haifa |
| Report (p. 8) | 43', 61' Yehudayoff 81' Michaelov |
Stadium: Kiryat Eliezer Stadium Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Rosenbaum |
| 15 October 1955 26 | Maccabi Petah Tikva | 3–3 | Maccabi Haifa | Petah Tikva |
| Spiegel 31' Itzhaki 36' Leba 89' (pen.) |
Report (p. 8) | 47' Held 73', 81' Hardy |
Stadium: Maccabi Ground Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Fried |
Results by match
Final table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 49 | 29 | 1.690 | 29 |
| 4 | Maccabi Petah Tikva | 22 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 43 | 34 | 1.265 | 27 |
| 5 | Maccabi Haifa | 22 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 53 | 27 | 1.963 | 25 |
| 6 | Hapoel Haifa | 22 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 32 | 39 | 0.821 | 22 |
| 7 | Beitar Tel Aviv | 22 | 10 | 0 | 12 | 41 | 48 | 0.854 | 20 |
Matches
| 3 December 1955 1 | Maccabi Haifa | 1–2 | Hapoel Petah Tikva | Haifa |
| Almani 80' |
24' (pen.) Kofman 76' Chirik |
Stadium: Kiryat Eliezer Stadium Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Ben-Rubi |
| 10 December 1955 2 | Hapoel Kfar Saba | 1–4 | Maccabi Haifa | Kfar Saba |
| Bulman 60' |
6', 62' Menchel 25', 84' S. Levi |
Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 1,400 Referee: Moshe Cohen |
| 17 December 1955 3 | Maccabi Haifa | 1–3 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Haifa |
| Ben-Tzvi 53' (pen.) |
7' Merimovich 55' Israeli 88' Studinski |
Stadium: Kiryat Eliezer Stadium Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Fritzner |
| 24 December 1955 4 | Maccabi Haifa | 5–0 | Maccabi Rehovot | Haifa |
| Ben-Tzvi 8' (pen.) Held 42', 75' S. Levi 67' Hardy 86' |
Stadium: Kiryat Eliezer Stadium Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Fried |
| 31 December 1955 5 | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 0–2 | Maccabi Haifa | Tel Aviv |
| 22', 66' S. Levi |
Stadium: Basa Stadium Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Levichter |
| 7 January 1956 6 | Maccabi Jaffa | 3–2 | Maccabi Haifa | Tel Aviv |
| Ghougasian 38', 78' Miranda 61' |
53' Hardy 85' Almani |
Stadium: Maccabi Jaffa Ground Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Fried |
| 14 January 1956 7 | Beitar Tel Aviv | 1–6 | Maccabi Haifa | Tel Aviv |
| Huli 90' |
2', 38', 47' Georgiou 27' Hardy 51' Held 84' S. Levi |
Stadium: Maccabi Jaffa Ground Referee: Werner |
| 21 January 1956 8 | Maccabi Haifa | 5–0 | Hapoel Haifa | Haifa |
| Hardy 39' S. Levi 60', 86', 89' Almani 76' |
Stadium: Kiryat Eliezer Stadium Attendance: 6,500 Referee: Ben-Rubi |
| 11 February 1956 9 | Maccabi Haifa | 1–3 | Maccabi Petah Tikva | Haifa |
| S. Levi 9' |
16', 17' Spiegel 67' Carmeli |
Stadium: Kiryat Eliezer Stadium Attendance: 5,537 Referee: Dudkevich |
| 18 February 1956 10 | Maccabi Haifa | 0–2 | Maccabi Netanya | Haifa |
| 43', 50' (pen.) I. Caspi |
Stadium: Kiryat Eliezer Stadium Referee: Fried |
| 25 February 1956 11 | Hapoel Ramat Gan | 0–1 | Maccabi Haifa | Givatayim |
| 36' Hardy |
Stadium: HaMakhtesh Stadium Referee: Fritzner |
| 3 March 1956 12 | Hapoel Petah Tikva | 1–3 | Maccabi Haifa | Petah Tikva |
| Z. Ratzabi 33' |
16', 55' S. Levi 60' Hardy |
Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Fritzner |
| 10 March 1956 13 | Maccabi Haifa | 1–2 | Hapoel Kfar Saba | Haifa |
| Abramovich 31' |
57' Tzahobel 80' H. Glazer |
Stadium: Kiryat Eliezer Stadium Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Wackermann |
| 17 March 1956 14 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 1–1 | Maccabi Haifa | Tel Aviv |
| Y. Glazer 18' |
13' S. Levi |
Stadium: Basa Stadium Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Moshe Cohen |
| 24 March 1956 15 | Maccabi Rehovot | 0–3 | Maccabi Haifa | Rehovot |
| 49' Held 63', 76' Menchel |
Stadium: Maccabi Ground Referee: Rosenbaum |
| 31 March 1956 16 | Maccabi Haifa | 2–2 | Hapoel Tel Aviv | Haifa |
| Ben-Tzvi 75' (pen.) Almani 83' |
69' Michaelov 88' Balut |
Stadium: Kiryat Eliezer Stadium Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Dudkevich |
| 7 April 1956 17 | Maccabi Haifa | 5–1 | Maccabi Jaffa | Haifa |
| Held 10', 22', 87' Menchel 45' Hardy 67' |
34' B. Cohen |
Stadium: Kiryat Eliezer Stadium Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Rosenbaum |
| 14 April 1956 18 | Maccabi Haifa | 4–2 | Beitar Tel Aviv | Haifa |
| Hardy 7', 52' Held 10', 55' |
39' Gleit 73' Huli |
Stadium: Kiryat Eliezer Stadium Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Hillman |
| 22 April 1956 19 | Hapoel Haifa | 0–0 | Maccabi Haifa | Haifa |
| Stadium: Kiryat Eliezer Stadium Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Sher |
| 19 May 1956 20 | Maccabi Petah Tikva | 2–0 | Maccabi Haifa | Petah Tikva |
| Spiegel 35' Scharf 72' |
Stadium: Maccabi Ground, Petah Tikva |
| 27 May 1956 21 | Maccabi Netanya | 3–1 | Maccabi Haifa | Netanya |
| Shrager 9' Orenstein 50' Statzki 64' |
88' (o.g.) H. Meller |
Stadium: Sar-Tov Stadium Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Sher |
| 2 June 1956 22 | Maccabi Haifa | 3–0 | Hapoel Ramat Gan | Haifa |
| S. Levi 32' Menchel 38' Hardy 65' |
Stadium: Kiryat Eliezer Stadium Referee: Werner |
Results by match
State Cup
| 27 August 1955 QF | Maccabi Haifa | 4–0 | Hapoel Haifa | Haifa |
| Georgiou 36' Hardy 37' Held 53' Fuchs 71' |
Report (p. 8) | Stadium: Kiryat Haim Stadium Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Ben-Rubi |
| 22 October 1955 SF | Maccabi Haifa | 0–5 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Petah Tikva |
| Report (p. 8) | 36' Merimovich 40', 55', 84' Studinski 89' Glazer |
Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Ben-Rubi |
Shapira Cup
While the promotion playoffs and the State Cup were being played in October and November, two cup competitions were organized by Liga Leumit Clubs, the second edition of the Shapira Cup, and the Netanya 25th Anniversary Cup. Maccabi Haifa, Hapoel Petah Tikva, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv played for the Shapira Cup, named after former Hapoel Tel Aviv treasurer Yosef Shapira. The competition was designed to be played as a double round-robin tournament. However, the competition was delayed after the teams played only two matches each. The third-round matches were postponed due to weather conditions and the 1954–55 Israel State Cup final, which involved Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Petah Tikva. As league matches started on 3 December 1955, the competition was abandoned altogether.
Table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 1.750 | 4 |
| 2 | Maccabi Haifa | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 1.000 | 2 |
| 3 | Hapoel Petah Tikva | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 1.000 | 2 |
| 4 | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 0.500 | 0 |
| 27 August 1955 1 | Maccabi Haifa | 4–2 | Hapoel Petah Tikva | Tel Aviv |
| Ben-Tzvi 60' (pen.) Parizat 69' (o.g.) S. Levi 88' Held 89' |
24' Kofman 40' Stelmach |
Stadium: Basa Stadium Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Dudkevich |
| 5 November 1955 2 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 5–3 | Maccabi Haifa | Tel Aviv |
| Glazer 6', 15', 17', 19' Miremovich 78' |
Report (p. 8) | 8', 89' Hardy 10' Menchel |
Stadium: Basa Stadium Attendance: 5,500 Referee: Moshe Cohen |
References
- ^ Maccabi T.A. Won the Liga Leumit Championship After Beating Hapoel T.A. 3:0 (1:0) Davar, 3 June 1956, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
- ^ Maccabi T.A. – Maccabi Haifa, Hapoel P.T. – Hapoel R.G. in the semi-finals Hadshot HaSport, 28 August 1955, p. 1 (in Hebrew)
- ^ Many Went to Jaffa – and Missed a Drama in P.T. Izhar Brener, 31 August 1955, Hadshot HaSport, p. 2 (in Hebrew)
- ^ Studinski Repaid His Debt With Interest... Hadshot HaSport, 23 October 1955, p. 8 (in Hebrew)
- ^ Luigi Rocco Antonini Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine luigiantonini.com
- ^ Named After Mati Sin-Krona, 11 May 2014, MiTzad Sheni (in Hebrew)
- ^ Tel Aviv team – Haifa team 3:3 Davar, 16 September 1955, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
- ^ Abba Left at Four Archived 2016-09-21 at the Wayback Machine Mordechai Alon, 11 December 2014, Maccabi Haifa (in Hebrew)
- ^ 1955-1955 Liga Leumit Schedule Archived 2015-07-26 at the Wayback Machine dribblist.com (in Hebrew)