1955–56 Hapoel Petah Tikva F.C. season

Hapoel Petah Tikva
1955–56 season
Manager	Moshe Varon
Stadium	Hapoel Ground, Petah Tikva
Liga Alef (1955) ; Liga Leumit (1956)	Winners ; 2nd
State Cup	Runners-up
Top goalscorer	League: Stelmach (26); All: Stelmach (31)
	← 1954–55 1956–57 →

The 1955–56 Hapoel Petah Tikva season was the club's 21st season since its establishment in 1935, 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 1st, winning its first ever championship.^[1] The new league season, with the top division being re-named Liga Leumit, began on 3 December 1955 and was completed on 3 June 1956, with the club finishing as runners-up.^[2]

During the season, the club also competed in the State Cup, which was also carried over the summer break. The club eliminated Beitar Tel Aviv^[3] and Hapoel Ramat Gan^[4] to reach the cup final against Hapoel Petah Tikva. Maccabi Tel Aviv won the match 3–1 and won its 8th State Cup. ^[5]

Match Results

Legend

Win Draw Loss

International friendly matches

During the season Hapoel Petah Tikva played two international friendly matches, drawing one and winning the other.

In February 1956 the Israeli government lifted the ban on hosting teams from Austria and Hapoel and Maccabi Petah Tikva invited Kapfenberger SV to a tour of Israel.^[6] The visit was met with criticism from right-wing politicians^[7]^[8] and acts of sabotage in order to stop the Austrian team from playing,^[9]^[10] but the matches went ahead as planned.

12 February 1956	Hapoel Petah Tikva	2–2	Kapfenberger SV	Petah Tikva
	Kofman 17' Flascher 45' (o.g.)	Davar (in Hebrew)	41' Bihas 59' Gollnhuber	Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 3,500

6 June 1956	Hapoel Petah Tikva	3–0	São Cristóvão	Petah Tikva
	Kofman 18' Stelmach 51' Ratzabi 75'	Davar (in Hebrew)		Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Dudkevich

1954–55 Liga Alef

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.^[11]

Final table

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Gr	Pts	Notes
1	Hapoel Petah Tikva	26	18	4	4	68	23	2.96	40	Champions
2	Maccabi Tel Aviv	26	17	4	5	84	28	3.00	38
3	Hapoel Tel Aviv	26	12	9	5	49	23	2.13	33
4	Maccabi Netanya	26	13	7	6	54	43	1.26	33
5	Beitar Tel Aviv	26	12	5	9	64	47	1.36	29

Matches

3 September 1955 21	Beitar Jerusalem	2–1	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Jerusalem
	Elfasi 49' Yehezkel 58'	Report (p. 8)	Kofman 72'	Stadium: YMCA Stadium Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Werner

10 September 1955 22	Hapoel Petah Tikva	3–1	Hapoel Hadera	Petah Tikva
	Stelmach 28', 40', 60'	Report (p. 8)	12' (pen.) Weinberg	Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Scheindling

24 September 1955 23	Hapoel Petah Tikva	13–2	Hapoel Balfouria	Petah Tikva
	Chirik 3', 23', 42' Kofman 22', 73' Markus 26', 53', 81' Stelmach 28', 77', 85', 89' Zelikovich 58'	Report (p. 8)	18' Dubnov 57' Tal	Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 500 Referee: Zahavi

1 October 1955 24	Hapoel Haifa	3–9	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Haifa
	Kremer 13' Nestenfober 65' Schneid 71'	Report (p. 8)	2', 12', 29', 39', 87' Stelmach 35' Chirik 70', 73', 86' Kofman	Stadium: Kiryat Haim Stadium Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Dudkevich

8 October 1955 25	Hapoel Petah Tikva	3–0	Maccabi Rehovot	Petah Tikva
	Kofman 6' Stelmach 12' Zelikovich 60'	Report (p. 8)		Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Nahman Cohen

15 October 1955 26	Hapoel Tel Aviv	0–1	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Tel Aviv
		Report (p. 8)	49' Kofman	Stadium: Basa Stadium Attendance: 6,500 Referee: Werner

Results by match

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
Result	W	D	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	D	W	L	D	L	L	D	L	W	W	W	W	L
Position	3	4	4	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1

Updated to match(es) played on 15 October 1955. Source: 2 Dear Points
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

1955–56 Liga Leumit

Final table

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Notes
1	Hapoel Petah Tikva	22	13	6	3	47	16	2.94	32	Champions
2	Hapoel Petah Tikva	22	12	5	5	54	28	1.93	29
3	Hapoel Tel Aviv	22	12	5	5	49	29	1.69	29
4	Maccabi Petah Tikva	22	10	7	5	47	34	1.38	27
5	Maccabi Haifa	22	11	3	8	51	29	1.76	25

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	Maccabi Tel Aviv	1–1	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Tel Aviv
	Merimovich 77'		36' Haldi	Stadium: Basa Stadium Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Werner

17 December 1955 3	Hapoel Petah Tikva	4–2	Maccabi Jaffa	Petah Tikva
	Kofman 23', 50', 63' Zelikovich 80'		86' Ghougasian 89' B. Cohen	Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Markovich

24 December 1955 4	Maccabi Netanya	1–3	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Netanya
	H. Meller 81'		68' Kofman 70' Stelmach 75' Markus	Stadium: Sar-Tov Stadium Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Klein

31 December 1955 5	Hapoel Petah Tikva	2–0	Beitar Tel Aviv	Petah Tikva
	Kofman 12' (pen.) Zelikovich 72'			Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Frizner

7 January 1956 6	Hapoel Petah Tikva	3–0	Hapoel Ramat Gan	Petah Tikva
	Mizrahi 27' Stelmach 46' Kofman 60'	Report		Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Yunes

14 January 1956 7	Hapoel Kfar Saba	2–1	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Kfar Saba
	Bonin 11' Tobiash 47'		65' Nahari	Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Dudkevich

21 January 1956 8	Hapoel Tel Aviv	1–0	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Tel Aviv
	Michaelov 45'			Stadium: Basa Stadium Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Sher

11 February 1956 9	Hapoel Petah Tikva	2–2	Hapoel Haifa	Petah Tikva
	Kofman 22' (Pen.) Zelikovich 35'		57' Schneid 62' M. Simantiris	Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Rosenbaum

18 February 1956 10	Maccabi Petah Tikva	4–4	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Petah Tikva
	Spiegel 7' Nadel 61', 64' Bernard 68'		14', 35' Stelmach 74' Kofman 80' Nahari	Stadium: Maccabi Ground Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Werner

25 February 1956 11	Hapoel Petah Tikva	3–0	Maccabi Rehovot	Petah Tikva
	Zelikovich 44' Nahari 68' Stemlach 89'			Stadium: Hapoel Ground

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	Hapoel Petah Tikva	1–1	Maccabi Tel Aviv	Petah Tikva
	Kofman 44'		37' Nahmias	Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Ben-Rubi

17 March 1956 14	Maccabi Jaffa	3–3	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Tel Aviv
	Ghougasian 54', 69' Aroyo 78'		38' Kofman 59', 63' Stelmach	Stadium: Maccabi Jaffa Ground Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Frizner

24 March 1956 15	Hapoel Petah Tikva	6–0	Maccabi Netanya	Petah Tikva
	Nahari 6', 19', 78' Stelmach 57' Z. Ratzabi 65' Kofman 81'			Stadium: Hapoel Ground Referee: Dudkevich

31 March 1956 16	Beitar Tel Aviv	1–2	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Tel Aviv
	Arbiv 61'		1' Stelmach 59' Z. Ratzabi	Stadium: Maccabi Jaffa Ground Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Ben-Rubi

7 April 1956 17	Hapoel Ramat Gan	2–5	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Givatayim
	Mesika 19' Kirschenberg 60'		6' Kofman 37', 72' Stelmach 42' Ratzabi 55' Varon	Stadium: HaMakhtesh Stadium Referee: Werner

14 April 1956 18	Hapoel Petah Tikva	4–0	Hapoel Kfar Saba	Petah Tikva
	Rabayov 3' Zelikovich 18' Kofman 77' Ratzabi 88'			Stadium: Hapoel Ground Referee: Moshe Cohen

22 April 1956 19	Hapoel Petah Tikva	1–2	Hapoel Tel Aviv	Petah Tikva
	Vissoker 65' (pen.)		20' Michaelov 30' (pen.) Balut	Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Fritzner

19 May 1956 20	Hapoel Haifa	1–0	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Haifa
	Schneid 73'			Stadium: Kiryat Eliezer Stadium Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Moshe Cohen

27 May 1956 21	Hapoel Petah Tikva	3–1	Maccabi Petah Tikva	Petah Tikva
	Z. Ratzabi 1' Stelmach 27' Nahari 74'		4' Spiegel	Stadium: Hapoel Ground Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Frizner

2 June 1956 22	Maccabi Rehovot	0–3	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Rehovot
			28' Stelmach 60' (pen.) Kermer 85' Nahari	Stadium: Maccabi Ground Referee: Fried

Results by match

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Result	W	D	W	W	W	W	L	L	D	D	W	L	L	D	D	W	W	W	L	L	W	W
Position	3	4	2	4	2	1	1	2	2	3	2	4	4	3	2	1	1	1	3	4	3	2

Updated to match(es) played on 28 July 1956. Source: IFA
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

State Cup

27 August 1955 QF	Beitar Tel Aviv	0–4	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Tel Aviv
		Report (p. 8)	47', 59' Chirik 61' Stelmach 75' Zelikovich	Stadium: Basa Stadium Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Frizner

22 October 1955 SF	Hapoel Petah Tikva	2–0	Hapoel Ramat Gan	Tel Aviv
	Chirik 32' Stelmach 86'	Report (p. 8)		Stadium: Basa Stadium Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Sher

19 November 1955 F	Hapoel Petah Tikva	1–3	Maccabi Tel Aviv	Tel Aviv
	Kofman 84'	Report (p. 8)	8' Nahmias 35' Glazer 68' Studinski	Stadium: Basa Stadium Attendance: 12,000 Referee: Fritzner

Shapira Cup

In October and November, while the promotion playoffs and the State Cup were being played, 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, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Maccabi 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 but the competition was delayed after the teams playing only two matches each, as the third round matches were postponed due to weather conditions and then due to 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	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts
1	Maccabi Tel Aviv	2	2	0	7	4	1.750	4
2	Maccabi Haifa	2	1	1	7	7	1.000	2
3	Hapoel Petah Tikva	2	1	1	6	6	1.000	2
4	Hapoel Tel Aviv	2	0	2	3	6	0.500	0

Source: Hadshot HaSport, p. 1

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	Hapoel Tel Aviv	2–4	Hapoel Petah Tikva	Tel Aviv
	Weiss 12', 15'	Report (p. 8)	11' Stelmach 27', 65' Kofman 68' Markus	Stadium: Basa Stadium Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Rosenbaum

References

^ Hapoel P.T. Took the Championship Title from Maccabi T.A. After 10 Years Hadshot HaSport, 16 October 1955 (in Hebrew)
^ 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)
^ Chirik Began – Stelmach Finished Hadshot HaSport, 23 October 1955, p. 8 (in Hebrew)
^ State Cup to Maccabi T.A., Beat Hapoel P.T. 3:1 Hadshot HaSport, 20 November 1955 (in Hebrew)
^ Kapfenberg Will Go Through the Mandelbaum Gate to Israel on Friday Davar, 8 February 1956, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
^ Kapfenberg A. Hetzroni, Herut, 14 February 1956, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
^ Footnotes Davar, 15 February 1956, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
^ The Efforts to Prevent the Shame – to No Avail Herut, 13 February 1956, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
^ The Day the Goals Went Aflame Nisim Kalderon, 1 July 2014, P.T. Neto (in Hebrew)
^ 1955-1955 Liga Leumit Schedule Archived 2015-07-26 at the Wayback Machine dribblist.com (in Hebrew)

[1] Hapoel P.T. Took the Championship Title from Maccabi T.A. After 10 Years Hadshot HaSport, 16 October 1955 (in Hebrew)

[2] 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)

[3] Maccabi T.A. – Maccabi Haifa, Hapoel P.T. – Hapoel R.G. in the Semi-Finals Hadshot HaSport, 28 August 1955, p. 1 (in Hebrew)

[4] Chirik Began – Stelmach Finished Hadshot HaSport, 23 October 1955, p. 8 (in Hebrew)

[5] State Cup to Maccabi T.A., Beat Hapoel P.T. 3:1 Hadshot HaSport, 20 November 1955 (in Hebrew)

[6] Kapfenberg Will Go Through the Mandelbaum Gate to Israel on Friday Davar, 8 February 1956, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)

[7] Kapfenberg A. Hetzroni, Herut, 14 February 1956, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)

[8] Footnotes Davar, 15 February 1956, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)

[9] The Efforts to Prevent the Shame – to No Avail Herut, 13 February 1956, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)

[10] The Day the Goals Went Aflame Nisim Kalderon, 1 July 2014, P.T. Neto (in Hebrew)

[11] 1955-1955 Liga Leumit Schedule Archived 2015-07-26 at the Wayback Machine dribblist.com (in Hebrew)

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v t e Hapoel Petah Tikva F.C. seasons
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2020–21 2021–22

v t e 1955–56 in Israeli football
Domestic leagues	1st Division 1954–55 Liga Alef 1955–56 Liga Leumit 2nd Division 1954–55 Liga Bet 1955–56 Liga Alef 3rd Division 1954–55 Liga Gimel 1955–56 Liga Bet 4th Division 1955–56 Liga Gimel
Domestic cups	Israel State Cup 1954–55 1956–57
Related to national team	Results 1956 Olympics qualification
Club seasons
Liga Alef/Liga Leumit	Beitar Jerusalem Beitar Tel Aviv Hapoel Balfouria Hapoel Hadera Hapoel Haifa Hapoel Kfar Saba Hapoel Petah Tikva Hapoel Ramat Gan Hapoel Tel Aviv Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Jaffa Maccabi Netanya Maccabi Petah Tikva Maccabi Rehovot Maccabi Tel Aviv