Lebanese Premier League

Lebanese Premier League

Country	Lebanon
Confederation	AFC
Founded	1933
Number of teams	12
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Lebanese Second Division
Domestic cup(s)	Lebanese Super Cup Lebanese Elite Cup
League cup(s)	Lebanese FA Cup
International cup(s)	AFC Cup
Current champions	Safa (2015–16)
Most championships	Al-Ansar (13 Titles)
TV partners	Al Jadeed(live matches) Al-Manar & Television de Liban (highlights)
Website	lebanese-goal.com
Current season

The Lebanese Premier League (French: Championnat du Liban de Football; Arabic: الدوري اللبناني لكرة القدم‎‎) is the top division of the Lebanese Football Association league competitions. It was founded in 1900 and began in 1934 and their confederation is the AFC. There are 12 teams competing; the bottom two teams are relegated each season to the Lebanese Second Division, and are replaced by the top two teams in the second division who are promoted to the Premier League.

Seasons run from October to May. Most games are played on Saturdays and Sundays, with a few games played during weekdays. The most successful club in the history of the league is Al-Ansar, topping with 13 league titles while Al-Nejmeh and Homenetmen Beirut have 7 titles. Al-Ansar set a Guinness world record by winning 11 consecutive league titles between 1988 and 1999, a record that has since been surpassed by Skonto FC from Latvia.^[1]

Overview

The Lebanese FA is composed of four divisions: the Lebanese Premier League (although it is rarely referred to with the First prefix), and, below that, the Lebanese Second Division, which has been the second tier of Lebanese football since 1934. Since 1950, the Lebanese Third Division in Lebanon is also a professional league, and the Lebanese Fourth Division is also founded in 1950. The Lebanese Premier League is based upon home and away fixtures. The points system is the international and most used system:

• Win: 3 points
• Draw: 1 point
• Loss: 0 points
• Entering Administration: 9 points deduction

Ranking structure

If teams are level on points, tie-breakers are applied in the following order:

1. Goal difference for the entire season
2. Total goals scored for the entire season
3. Head-to-head results (total points)
4. Head-to-head goals scored
5. Head-to-head away goals scored
6. Total away goals scored for the entire season

Media coverage

The Lebanese League broadcasting rights are distributed to Al Jadeed and Al-Manar TV. Live coverage of each game is broadcast 4 times a week, and weekly highlights of each match are produced once a week.

• Al Jadeed (Domestic Broadcasting) Official Television Station "http://www.aljadeed.tv/LebaneseLeague.html?LeagueId=14"
• Al-Manar (Domestic Broadcasting) Selected Matches

Lebanese Premier League clubs (2015-16)

Beirut

Al Egtmaaey Tripoli

Tripoli SC

Hekmeh

Shabab Al-Ghazieh

Salam Zgharta

Nabi Sheet

Locations of teams in the 2015–16 Lebanese Premier League

Al Ahed

Al Ansar

Al Nejmeh

Safa

Shabab Al-Sahel

Racing Beirut

Locations of teams in the 2015–16 Lebanese Premier League within Beirut

Club	Location	Stadium	Stadium capacity	Coach
Al Ahed	Beirut	Beirut Municipal Stadium	22,500	Mohammad Hammoud
Al Ansar	Beirut	Beirut Municipal Stadium	22,500	Jamal Taha
Al Egtmaaey Tripoli	Tripoli	Tripoli Municipal Stadium	22,000	Fadi Al Omari
Al Nejmeh	Beirut	Rafic El-Hariri Stadium	5,000	Valeriu Tița
Hekmeh (R)	Beirut	Bourj Hammoud Stadium	8,000	Fouad Hijazi
Nabi Sheet	Baalbek	Nabi Shayth Stadium	5,000	Mohammed Al-Dekka
Racing Beirut	Beirut	Bourj Hammoud Stadium	8,000	Eugen Moldovan
Safa	Beirut	Safa Stadium	4,000	Emile Rustom
Salam Zgharta	Zgharta	Zgharta Stadium	5,000	Louay Salah
Shabab Al-Sahel	Beirut	Beirut Municipal Stadium	22,500	Moussa Hojeij
Shabab Al-Ghazieh (R)	Saida	Saida International Stadium	22,600	Malek Hassoun
Tripoli SC	Tripoli	Tripoli Municipal Stadium	22,000	Ismael Qurtam

^[2]

Previous winners

Season Club 1933–34 Al Nahda FC 1934–35 AUB(Beirut) 1935–36 Sika Railways (Beirut) 1936–37 AUB (Beirut) 1937–38 AUB (Beirut) 1938–39 Sika Railways (Beirut) 1939–40 Not held 1940–41 Sika Railways (Beirut) 1941–42 Al Nahda FC 1942–43 Al Nahda FC 1943–44 Homenetmen Beirut 1944–45 Homenmen Beirut 1945–46 Homenetmen Beirut 1946–47 Al Nahda FC 1947–48 Homenetmen Beirut 1948–49 Al Nahda FC 1949–50 Not held 1950–51 Homenetmen Beirut 1951–1953 Not held 1953–54 Homenmen Beirut 1954–55 Homenetmen Beirut 1955–56 Racing Beirut 1956–57 Homenmen Beirut 1957–1960 Not held 1960–61 Homenmen Beirut 1961–62 Not held 1962–63 Homenetmen Beirut 1963–64 Not held 1964–65 Racing Beirut 1965–66 Not held 1966–67 Al-Shabiba Mazraa (Beirut) 1967–68 Not held 1968–69 Homenetmen Beirut 1969–70 Racing Beirut 1970–1972 Not held 1972–73 Al-Nejmeh (Beirut) 1973–74 Not held 1974–75 Al-Nejmeh (Beirut) 1975–1987 Not held 1987–88 Al-Ansar (Beirut) 1988–89 Not held 1989–90 Al-Ansar (Beirut) 1990–91 Al-Ansar (Beirut) 1991–92 Al-Ansar (Beirut) 1992–93 Al-Ansar (Beirut) 1993–94 Al-Ansar (Beirut) 1994–95 Al-Ansar (Beirut) 1995–96 Al-Ansar (Beirut) 1996–97 Al-Ansar (Beirut) 1997–98 Al-Ansar (Beirut) 1998–99 Al-Ansar (Beirut) 1999–00 Al-Nejmeh (Beirut) 2000–01 Abandoned 2001–02 Al-Nejmeh (Beirut) 2002–03 Tripoli SC 2003–04 Al-Nejmeh (Beirut) 2004–05 Al-Nejmeh (Beirut) 2005–06 Al-Ansar (Beirut) 2006–07 Al-Ansar (Beirut) 2007–08 Al-Ahed (Beirut) 2008–09 Al-Nejmeh (Beirut) 2009–10 Al-Ahed (Beirut) 2010–11 Al-Ahed (Beirut) 2011–12 Safa (Beirut) 2012–13 Safa (Beirut) 2013–14 Al-Nejmeh (Beirut) 2014–15 Al-Ahed (Beirut) 2015-16 Safa (Beirut) Champions Clubs Championships Al-Ansar 13 Al-Nejmeh 8 Homenetmen Beirut 7 Al Nahda FC 5 Al-Ahed 4 Homenmen Beirut 4 Safa 3 AUB 3 Racing Beirut 3 Sikka Railways Beirut 3 Al-Shabiba Mazraa 1 Tripoli SC (ex Olympic Beirut) 1 Topscorers Season Top scorer Club Goals 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 The championship was not held 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 The championship was not held 1950–51 1951–52 The championship was not held 1952–53 The championship was not held 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 The championship was not held 1958–59 The championship was not held 1959–60 The championship was not held 1960–61 Mardek Chabarian Homenmen Beirut 15 1961–62 The championship was not held 1962–63 Joseph Abou Murad Racing 18 1963–64 The championship was not held 1964–65 Levon Altonian Homenetmen Beirut 19 1965–66 The championship was not held 1966–67 Muhaddin Ayatani Al-Nejmeh 15 1967–68 The championship was not held 1968–69 1969–70 Hani Abdul Fattah Safa 19 1970–71 The championship was not held 1971–72 The championship was not held 1972–73 Youssef Al Ghoul Al-Ansar 8 1973–74 The championship was not held 1974–75 1975–76 The championship was not held 1976–77 The championship was not held 1977–78 The championship was not held 1978–79 The championship was not held 1979–80 The championship was not held 1980–81 The championship was not held 1981–82 The championship was not held 1982–83 The championship was not held 1983–84 The championship was not held 1984–85 The championship was not held 1985–86 The championship was not held 1986–87 The championship was not held 1987–88 Fouad Saad Al-Ansar 6 1988–89 The championship was not held 1989–90 1990–91 Fadi Alloush Al-Ansar 32 1991–92 Walid Dahrouj Safa 20 1992–93 Fadi Alloush Al-Ansar 27 1993–94 Mahmoud Hamoud Al-Nejmeh 15 1994–95 Vitali Aghassian Homenmen Beirut 16 1995–96 Assef Khalifa Al-Nejmeh 19 1996–97 Peter Prospar Al-Ansar 22 1997–98 Ahmad Jaradi Al-Ansar 13 1998–99 Haitham Zein Al-Tadamon 15 1999–00 Toninho Santos Sahib Abbas Al-Ansar Salam Zgharta 14 2000–01 Errol McFarlane Al-Nejmeh 21 2001–02 Mahmoud Majeed Shabab Al-Sahel 24 2002–03 Sílvio Olympic Beirut 18 2003–04 Mohammad Kassas Al-Nejmeh 22 2004–05 Mohammad Kassas Al-Nejmeh 21 2005–06 Ali Nasseredine Al-Nejmeh 17 2006–07 Mohammed Ghaddar Al-Nejmeh 25 2007–08 Mohammed Ghaddar Al-Nejmeh 22 2008–09 Salih Sadir Al-Ahed 27 2009–10 Makhete Diop Al-Nejmeh 23 2010–11 Hassan Maatouk Al-Ahed 15 2011–12 Mohamad Haidar Safa 12 2012–13 Imad Ghaddar Shabab Al-Ghazieh 20 2013–14 Adnan Melhem Racing Beirut 15 2014–15 Lucas Galan Salam Zgharta 17 Lebanese diaspora players Elrich was given a contract by Nejmeh before he started his career in Australia By inviting new players from the other nations which had a large Lebanese community from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Colombia, Sweden, Norway, Australia, Ivory Coast, Egypt, France and others, they are hoping for a new beginning of Lebanon's football, since this was becoming popular in Lebanon. The appearance of so many Lebanese players in other countries; like Faryd Mondragon (Colombia), Miguel Layún and Miguel Sabah (Mexico); or legendary players and managers such as Pierre Issa (South Africa), Antonio Mohamed (Argentina) and Ahmad Elrich (Australia) are sending the inspiration to Lebanese people in football. See also Lebanon Futsal League References "Season review: Latvia". UEFA. 8 November 2010. Retrieved 26 April 2012. European-record run of 14 straight championships "Lebanon - List of Champions". RSSSF. Retrieved 26 April 2012. External links Lebanese Premier League at FIFA website Lebanese Premier League - Hailoosport.com (Arabic) Lebanese Premier League - Hailoosport.com