Toto Cup

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Toto Cup
Gvia Hatoto.png
Country Israel Israel
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
First season 1984; 40 years ago (1984)
Number of teams 30 (14 participants in Al, 16 in Leumit)
Current champions Maccabi Petah Tikva (2015–116 Al)
Hapoel Ashkelon (2015–16 Leumit)
Most championships Hapoel Petah Tikva
Maccabi Haifa
Maccabi Tel Aviv (4 cups each)
Website Toto Cup Al
Toto Cup Leumit

The Toto Cup (Hebrew: גביע הטוטו‎, Gvia HaToto) is an association football tournament that exists separately in the two highest divisions in Israel: the Premier League and Liga Leumit.

From 1999 to 2009, the Toto Cup tournament was also held for the third division which was later canceled due to the cancellation of Liga Artzit.

The Toto Cup is the third important competition in Israeli football after the Israeli Premier League and the Israeli State Cup and is considered as a negligible cup, and therefore the Israeli football teams are not investing in many of its games and uses the game to test the foreign players and to give a chance to the bench players and the youth players. However, the Israeli Sports Betting Council pays 1.25 million NIS for the winner, while the runner-up receive 950,000 NIS.[1]

History

League cups, in different formats, were played in Israel irregularly since the 1950s. In 1958, 1968 and 1973, anniversary cups, celebrating the 10th, 20th and 25th anniversary of independence of Israel, were played as a league cup competition, by Liga Leumit and Liga Alef clubs separately. In 1975–76 a League Cup competition was played, won by Hapoel Hadera (in Liga Leumit) and Maccabi Ramat Amidar (in Liga Alef), but the competition wasn't played again in the following seasons.

In 1982 the IFA introduced a league cup, called Lilian Cup, after former IFA treasurer Yehuda Lilian, who died in February 1982.[2] The competition, played at the beginning of the season, involved the top four teams from previous season. Its format was changed during its years of play, at times being played in league format and at times being played as a knock-out competition. The competition was last played in 1989–90. This cup is sometimes being referred as a predecessor of the Toto Cup,[3] but these competitions are unconnected.[4]

In 1984–85 the IFA introduced a League Cup competition for the two top tiers of the Israeli football league system. The first round of the competition was played on 30 October 1984,[5] while the first finals, played on 7 May 1985, was won by Maccabi Yavne (Liga Leumit) and Hapoel Ashkelon (Liga Artzit). Before the 1986–87 Season the Israeli Sports Betting Council started sponsoring the competition, which was renamed "Toto Cup", and guaranteed rewards for participation and achievements in the competition.[6]

In 1999–2000, following the creation of the Israeli Premier League, the competition for the two top tiers was merged, so that the competition was played by the 24 top teams, and a separate competition was introduced for the third tier, Liga Artzit. In 2004–05 the competitions were separated once again so starting from this season and up until the closure of Liga Artzit at the end of the 2008–09 season there were three league cup competitions running, for each of the three top divisions.

In the 2013–14 season, the Toto Cup was not played due to a disagreement between the Israeli Sports Betting Council and the IFA following the publication of a report by a committee headed by Yaron Zelekha which was set up to examine the way football in Israel was managed.[7][8] The IFA and the Israeli Sports Betting Council reached an agreement in October 2013, which confirmed the cancellation of the 2013–14 competitions.[9]

Current Competition Structure

Group Stages

Premier League

The group stages are usually played before the opening of the football leagues and take place from August to October, and the finals take place in January. the 14 teams in league are divided into three groups, Five teams in two groups, and four teams in one group. Each team plays against each team once. The two teams placed last in each group are eliminated with the rest of teams advance to the quarterfinals.

Liga Leumit

The group stages are usually played before the opening of the football leagues and take place from August to September, and the finals take place in December. the 16 teams in league are divided into four groups, four teams in each group. Each team plays against each team once, making a total of three games for each team. The best two teams in each group advances to the quarterfinals.

Further rounds

Until 2009, the eight teams that played in the quarterfinals played in a regular knock-out, two meetings for each team in the quarterfinals. Each team played one meeting at their home in the order determined in a raffle.

From the 2009–10 season until the 2012–13 season both Al and Leumit cups had just one game was played in the quarterfinals on the home ground of one of the team by a raffle just like the State Cup games.

Since the 2012–13 season, Al teams play each other twice in the quarterfinals while Leumit play each other once.

The four winning teams who progressed to the semifinals play against their opponent once. the two winners reaches the final and the final winner is the cup winner. the final and the Toto Cup semifinals are all played in the same stadium.

From the quarterfinals and above if a match is drawn, the game is settled with extra time and penalty shootouts.

Holders

File:Totocup.JPG
The Toto Cup trophy

Toto Cup

Season Top Division Second Division Third Division
1984–85 (Leumit | Artzit) Maccabi Yavne Hapoel Ashkelon Not held
1985–86 (Leumit | Artzit) Hapoel Petah Tikva Hapoel Hadera Not held
1986–87 (Leumit | Artzit) Shimshon Tel Aviv Hapoel Haifa Not held
1987–88 (Leumit | Artzit) Shimshon Tel Aviv Hapoel Bat Yam Not held
1988–89 (Leumit | Artzit) Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Hadera Not held
1989–90 (Leumit | Artzit) Hapoel Petah Tikva Maccabi Petah Tikva Not held
1990–91 (Leumit | Artzit) Hapoel Petah Tikva Maccabi Petah Tikva Not held
1991–92 (Leumit | Artzit) Bnei Yehuda Maccabi Jaffa Not held
1992–93 (Leumit | Artzit) Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Jaffa Not held
1993–94 (Leumit | Artzit) Maccabi Haifa Beitar Tel Aviv Not held
1994–95 (Leumit | Artzit) Maccabi Petah Tikva Hapoel Bat Yam Not held
1995–96 (Leumit | Artzit) Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hakoah Maccabi Ramat Gan Not held
1996–97 (Leumit | Artzit) Bnei Yehuda Hakoah Maccabi Ramat Gan Not held
1997–98 (Leumit | Artzit) Beitar Jerusalem Maccabi Jaffa Not held
1998–99 (Leumit | Artzit) Maccabi Tel Aviv Hakoah Maccabi Ramat Gan Not held
1999–2000 (Al-Leumit | Artzit) Maccabi Petah Tikva Hapoel Ramat Gan
2000–01 (Al-Leumit | Artzit) Hapoel Haifa Maccabi Kafr Kanna
2001–02 (Al-Leumit | Artzit) Hapoel Tel Aviv Hapoel Ashkelon
2002–03 (Al-Leumit | Artzit) Maccabi Haifa Hapoel Ashkelon
2003–04 (Al-Leumit | Artzit) Maccabi Petah Tikva Ironi Ramat HaSharon
2004–05 (Al | Leumit | Artzit) Hapoel Petah Tikva Maccabi Netanya Hapoel Ashkelon
2005–06 (Al | Leumit | Artzit) Maccabi Haifa Hapoel Acre Hapoel Ramat Gan
2006–07 (Al | Leumit | Artzit) Maccabi Herzliya Ironi Kiryat Shmona Hapoel Ramat Gan
2007–08 (Al | Leumit | Artzit) Maccabi Haifa Hapoel Petah Tikva Ironi Kiryat Ata
2008–09 (Al | Leumit | Artzit) Maccabi Tel Aviv Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Marmorek
2009–10 (Al | Leumit) Beitar Jerusalem Ironi Kiryat Shmona Not held
2010–11 (Al | Leumit) Ironi Kiryat Shmona Ironi Ramat HaSharon Not held
2011–12 (Al | Leumit) Ironi Kiryat Shmona Hapoel Ramat Gan Not held
2012–13 (Al | Leumit) Hapoel Haifa Hapoel Rishon LeZion Not held
2013–14 Not held Not held Not held
2014–15 (Al | Leumit) Maccabi Tel Aviv Hapoel Bnei Lod Not held
2015–16 (Al | Leumit) Maccabi Petah Tikva Hapoel Ashkelon Not held

Winnings table

Top Division
Rank Team Winnings
1 Maccabi Haifa 4
Hapoel Petah Tikva 4
Maccabi Tel Aviv 4
Maccabi Petah Tikva 4
5 Beitar Jerusalem 2
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2
Shimshon Tel Aviv 2
Bnei Yehuda 2
Ironi Kiryat Shmona 2
Hapoel Haifa 2
11 Hapoel Tel Aviv 1
Maccabi Herzliya 1
Maccabi Yavne 1
 
Second Division
Rank Team Winnings
1 Hakoah Maccabi Ramat Gan 3
Maccabi Jaffa 3
3 Hapoel Bat Yam 2
Hapoel Hadera 2
Ironi Kiryat Shmona 2
Maccabi Petah Tikva 2
7 Hapoel Ashkelon 1
Beitar Tel Aviv 1
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 1
Hapoel Haifa 1
Hapoel Acre 1
Hapoel Petah Tikva 1
Maccabi Netanya 1
Ironi Ramat HaSharon 1
Hapoel Bnei Lod 1
Hapoel Ramat Gan 1
Hapoel Rishon LeZion 1
 
Third Division
Rank Team Winnings
1 Hapoel Ashkelon 3
Hapoel Ramat Gan 3
3 Hapoel Marmorek 1
Maccabi Kafr Kanna 1
Ironi Ramat HaSharon 1
Ironi Kiryat Ata 1

External links

References

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  2. Yehuda Lilian Dies, Davar, 16 February 1982, Historical Jewish Press (Hebrew)
  3. Sinai? Ivanir? Malmilian? That's How the Toto Cup Started Yoni Lev Ari, 01 August 2009, ynet.co.il (Hebrew)
  4. A League Cup in the English Method – From the Next Season Maariv, 26 January 1984, Historical Jewish Press (Hebrew)
  5. 53 Tickets Were Sold for Two Matches in the "Shkhuna" Maariv, 31 October 1984, Historical Jewish Press (Hebrew)
  6. The Grants Will Interest the Teams as the Toto Cup Begins Ma'ariv, 5 September 1986, Historical Jewish Press (Hebrew)
  7. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. The FA and the Toto Agreed on the terms of the marketing of the Premier League Itzik Itzchaki, 20 October 2013, walla.co.il (Hebrew)