relegated, but were saved by the intervention of Knesset members Ehud Olmert and Yossi Sarid, who forced the suspension of the relegation threat and called for an investigation of Israel Football Association corruption. In 1974–75 the club reached the State Cup final for the first time, but lost 3–1 to Hapoel Kfar Saba. In the same season they finished second bottom of the league, and were due to be relegated to Liga Alef. However, an IFA decision to expand the league from 16 to 18 clubs saw them reprieved. The next season they finished runners-up in the league to Hapoel Be'er Sheva and reached the State Cup final again, this time beating Maccabi Tel Aviv 2–1 to claim their first piece of major silverware, on 16 June 1976, 55,000 or 60,000 spectators saw the game in an overcrowded Ramat Gan Stadium. Danny Noyman and Uri Malmilian scored for Beitar Jerusalem. On 11 September 1976, the club won the Israeli Super Cup for the first time after beating Hapoel Be'er Sheva 3–2. Uri Malmilian scored two goals and David Yishai scored another goal for Beitar Jerusalem. The club finished as runners-up in 1977–78. In 1978–79, the club ended as runners-up: they also reached the cup final, winning 2–1 against Maccabi Tel Aviv, on 6 June 1979. Danny Noyman and Yossi Avrahami scored for Beitar Jerusalem, to win the State Cup for the 2nd time. Despite the run of success towards the end of the 1970s, the club was dependent mainly on Uri Malmilian's ability. Early in the season he suffered an awful injury, crippling him with the need of three operations until 1981, and missing most of the games until the summer of 1981. Beitar finished bottom of the division in 1979–80, and were relegated to Liga Artzit. However, they made an immediate return to the top division after finishing as runners-up to Beitar Tel Aviv in their first season back in the second tier. 1980s The 1981–82 started with a sports disaster for the club. On 12 September 1981, referee Avraham Klein gave a win to Maccabi Tel Aviv in a series of a wrong decisions: cancelling a goal of Beitar Jerusalem's player Yaron Adiv when he and Beitar's players celebrated the goal, then allowing seconds after Maccabi player Moti Ivanir to score a goal from an offside position. A crowd of 8,000 Beitar Jerusalem's fans went crazy. The Israeli