 However, the league was abolished at the end of the 2008–09 season as part of structural reforms to the Israeli league system that saw the Premier League and Liga Leumit both expanded to 16 clubs.At the end of the season the top seven clubs were promoted to Liga Leumit; the 8th placed club was played in a play-off round against the 11th placed club in Liga Leumit for a place in Liga Leumit, whilst the 9–12th placed clubs was relegated to Liga Alef.Liga Artzit came into existence in 1976 with a restructuring of Israeli football.