Lilian Cup

Lilian Cup
Israeli League Cup

Founded	1982
Abolished	1989
Region	Israel
Number of teams	4
Last champions	Hapoel Petah Tikva (1989–90)
Most successful club(s)	Maccabi Netanya Maccabi Tel Aviv (2 titles)

The Lililan Cup (Hebrew: גביע ליליאן‎‎, Gvia Lililan), which was also known as The League Cup (Hebrew: גביע הליגה‎‎, Gvia HaLiga) was a Israeli men's football competition open to the top 4 clubs in Liga Leumit between 1981–82 and 1988–89. The competition was contested at the start of the footballing season.

History

The competition was established in 1982, as a season opening tournament, and was named after Yehuda Lilian, a former IFA treasurer and Hapoel member, who died the in February 1982.^[1]

Parallel to this competition the IFA also held the Israel Super Cup, which was played at the end of the season, and the Toto Cup, which was played throughout the season, mostly on weekdays.

Due to dwindling interest in the competition, and the preference to give more weight to hold most of the Toto Cup matches before the beginning of the league season, the cup was cancelled in 1989.

Format

The format of the competition varied during its years between a straight knock-out competition, held in two match days, and between a preliminary group, played as a single round-robin tournament, followed by a third place match and final.^[2]

Results

Year		Final				Third Place Match
		Champions	Score	Runners-Up		Third Place	Score	Fourth Place
1982		Maccabi Netanya	3–1	Hapoel Be'er Sheva		Hapoel Kfar Saba	2–0	Bnei Yehuda
1983		Maccabi Netanya	3–2	Hapoel Be'er Sheva		Hapoel Tel Aviv	2–1	Shimshon Tel Aviv
1984		Maccabi Haifa	5–4	Hapoel Tel Aviv		Maccabi Netanya	1–0	Beitar Jerusalem
1985		Beitar Jerusalem	3–1	Maccabi Petah Tikva		Maccabi Haifa	3–0	Shimshon Tel Aviv
1986		Maccabi Tel Aviv	2–1	Maccabi Haifa		Hapoel Tel Aviv	1–0	Beitar Jerusalem
1987		Maccabi Tel Aviv	2–0	Bnei Yehuda		Hapoel Lod	3–2	Beitar Jerusalem
1988		Hapoel Be'er Sheva	1–0	Hapoel Tel Aviv		Shimshon Tel Aviv	3–2	Maccabi Netanya
1989		Hapoel Petah Tikva	4–2	Beitar Tel Aviv		Maccabi Netanya Maccabi Haifa	^1

1. Third place match wasn't played.

^{Source: [3]}

Performance by club

Team	Participations	Winners	Runners-up	Third-place	Fourth-place
Maccabi Netanya	5	2	–	1	1
Maccabi Tel Aviv	2	2	–	–	–
Hapoel Be'er Sheva	3	1	2	–	–
Maccabi Haifa	4	1	1	2	–
Beitar Jerusalem	4	1	–	–	3
Hapoel Petah Tikva	1	1	–	–	–
Hapoel Tel Aviv	4	–	2	2	–
Maccabi Petah Tikva	1	–	1	–	–
Beitar Tel Aviv	1	–	1	–	–
Shimshon Tel Aviv	3	–	–	1	2
Hapoel Kfar Saba	1	–	–	1	–
Hapoel Lod	1	–	–	1	–

References

• 100 Years of Football 1906-2006, Elisha Shohat (Israel), 2006 (Hebrew)
• Official Tournaments – Maccabi Haifa (Hebrew)

1. Yehuda Lilian Dies, Davar, 16 February 1982, Historical Jewish Press (Hebrew)
2. Knock-out Instead of League Maariv, 15 April 1985, Historical Jewish Press (Hebrew)
3. Shohat, Elisha (2006). 100 Years of Football 1906-2006. p. 346.