Israeli Football League
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Israel Football League logo
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| Sport | American football |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2005 |
| Commissioner | Betzalel Friedman |
| No. of teams | 8 |
| Country | Israel |
| Most recent champion(s) |
Jerusalem "Big Blue" Lions |
| Most titles | Tel Aviv-Jaffa Sabres, Judean Rebels (3) |
| Official website | www.IFL.co.il |
The Israel Football League (IFL) is the official tackle football league of Israel. All players in the league are amateur.
The IFL was founded in the summer of 2005 by a group of Israelis who wanted to play tackle American football. The first season, played without pads or an official governing body, began in the Fall of 2005. In 2007, the league began fully equipped play under the umbrella of American Football in Israel (AFI), and Israel Bowl I was held in 2008. The most recent Israel Bowl champions are the Jerusalem "Big Blue" Lions with David Abell being named Israel Bowl MVP.
The IFL is sponsored by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his family.
Currently in Israel there are no American football stadiums. The new "Kraft Family Sport Campus" is under construction. Currently all games are played in soccer stadiums when available.
The league currently plays nine-on-nine football with hopes to expanding to eleven-on-eleven, due to there currently being 450 players divided up among the 8 teams.
The inaugural season of the IFL, with regulation pads and staff, witnessed a surprisingly high level of play for a first-year tackle league. There were four teams in the league for the 2007–2008 season: the Big Blue Jerusalem Lions, the Real Housing Haifa Underdogs, the Dancing Camel Hasharon Pioneers, and the Mike's Place Tel Aviv Sabres. In the championship game, Israel Bowl I, the Big Blue Jerusalem Lions defeated the Real Housing Haifa Underdogs in overtime.
Final Standings:
Playoffs:
Awards:
The league grew to five teams with the addition of another team in Jerusalem (The Blue Sun Music Kings), while the Dancing Camel Pioneers moved to a new home in Modi'in. The Pioneers defeated the defending champion Lions, 32–26, after two overtimes, in Israel Bowl II.
Final Standings:
Playoffs:
Awards:
After growing from four to five teams the previous year, the IFL expanded to seven teams for the 2009–10 season with the addition of two new teams, the Beer Sheva Black Swarm and the Judean Rebels. The schedule grew, as well, as each team was scheduled to play 10 regular season games followed by playoffs. The teams who finished the regular season in first through sixth place qualified for the playoffs. The Tel Aviv Sabres defeated the Jerusalem Lions in Israel Bowl III.
Final Standings:
Playoffs:
Awards:
With eight teams in the I.F.L., the league was split into two divisions: the North Division, consisting of the Tel Aviv/Jaffa Sabres, the newly relocated Tel Aviv Pioneers, the Haifa Underdogs, and the expansion Herzliya Hammers; and the South Division, consisting of the Jerusalem Lions, the Jerusalem Kings, the Judean Rebels, and the Be'er Sheva Black Swarm. Each team played a home-and-away series against each of its division rivals and one game against each team in the other division for a total of ten regular season games. The top team in each division got an automatic bye into the semi-finals, with the number two seed in each division hosting the number three seed in a "wild-card" game, and the last team in each division missing the playoffs. In the North Division, the Sabres clinched the bye and in the semis beat the Pioneers, who had beaten the Hammers in the first round. In the South division, the Rebels beat the Black Swarm in the first round and then beat the Lions in the semis in an unforgettable comeback, coming back from an 18-point deficit with 7:40 to go in the game. Rebels QB and League M.V.P. Alex Swieca took the winning score in himself with just sixteen seconds left. The Rebels defeated the Sabres in Israel Bowl IV by a score of 32–30, having almost let the Sabres complete a comeback of their own.
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