Hapoel Afula F.C.

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Hapoel Afula
Hapoel Afula F.C.png
Full name Hapoel Afula Football Club
הפועל עפולה
Nickname(s)Afula
Founded1924;100 years ago (1924) (original club)
1951;73 years ago (1951) (reformed club)
1954;70 years ago (1954) (merged club)
2001;23 years ago (2001) (reformed club)
Ground Afula Illit Stadium
Capacity3,000
ChairmanDani Asulin
Manager Yossi Janah
League Liga Leumit
2023–24 Liga Leumit, 12th of 16

Hapoel Afula is an Israeli football club based in Afula. The club is currently in Liga Leumit and plays at the Afula Illit Stadium. Their main rivals are Hapoel Asi Gilboa.

Contents

History

Afula Municipal Stadium Afula Municipal Stadium (2).jpg
Afula Municipal Stadium

The club was founded in 1924 in Beit Jann, near Yavne'el, by Russian Jews affiliated with Hashomer Hatzair movement. Due to unemployment in Beit Gan, the club relocated to Afula. [1] During its early days, Hapoel Afula played mostly in friendlies against the likes of Hapoel Haifa [2] [3] and in regional leagues, comprising clubs from the Northern and Haifa regions. [4] [5]

After the Israeli Declaration of Independence, the club was re-established in 1951. At the summer of 1954, the club merged with neighboring football club, Hapoel Balfouria, [6] which played at the time at the top flight of Israeli football, and played home matches in Afula.

Since the 1957–58 season, while playing in Liga Alef, the second tier of Israeli football at the time, the club was officially known under its current name, although they were mentioned by the press in both Hapoel Afula and Hapoel Balfouria names. [7] [8] the club continued to play as Hapoel Afula, and the name of Balfouria was dropped. In the 1958–59 season the club finished bottom in Liga Alef, and went to play in the relegation play-offs. In spite the club finished the relegation play-offs in a perfect record against Hapoel Be'er Sheva, Hapoel Netanya and Maccabi Sha'arayim, they were eventually disqualified and demoted to Liga Bet for fielding ineligible player. [9]

The club played for 17 successive seasons in Liga Bet, until they were relegated to Liga Gimel at the end of the 1976–77 season. [10] The club made an immediate return to Liga Bet, where they played up until the 1983–84 season, in which the club folded during the season. [11]

The club reformed in 2001, and reached Liga Bet in the 2002–03 season, where they finished runners-up in the North B division. [12] In the following season, the club won that division and were promoted to Liga Alef. [13] After 9 seasons in Liga Alef, the club finally managed to win promotion to Liga Leumit, when they won the 2012–13 season in Liga Alef North, by a margin of ten points, and made a return to the second tier of Israeli football after 54 years.

In The 2013–14 season, the club reached the top play-off in Liga Leumit, and finished in the 6th place, an achievement which was bettered in the following season, after the club finished in the 4th place.

In the 2014–15 Israel State Cup, the club eliminated top flight club, Maccabi Petah Tikva, in the Quarter-finals by away goals (0–0, 2–2), and reached the Semi-finals for the first time in their history. However, in the Semi-finals, Hapoel Afula were hammered 0–7 by Hapoel Be'er Sheva in Teddy Stadium, Jerusalem.

On 6 December 2017, the club won its first major trophy, after beating Hapoel Ramat Gan in the Toto Cup Leumit final. [14] [15]

Current squad

As of 9 February 2024
No.Pos.NationPlayer
1 GK Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Amit Suiri
3 DF Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Ahmad Shaban
5 DF Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Erez Isakov
6 DF Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Alon Ginat
7 FW Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Walid Darwish
8 MF Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Eilon Elimelech
10 MF Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Shalev Daniel
11 DF Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Lavi Shukrun
12 DF Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Shalev Desta
14 FW Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Ahmed Khalaila
15 DF Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Niv Serdal
16 FW Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Amir Ahmed
17 MF Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Ilay Azar
18 FW Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.svg  COD Kule Mbombo
19 DF Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Itamar Guri
No.Pos.NationPlayer
22 GK Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Yonatan Ozer
23 DF Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Erez Shifman
24 MF Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Raz Cohen
26 DF Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Mor Naaman
30 FW Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Iyad Haj
33 GK Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Liav Salkind
42 DF Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Orel Cohen
55 DF Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Roy Katri
77 MF Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Afik Cohen
91 MF Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Elior Sabir
94 GK Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Sagi Malul
99 MF Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA David Nazim
DF Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Bar Ivgi
MF Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Nehorai Ifrach
MF Flag of Israel.svg  ISR Sa'ar Schwarz

Honours

League

HonourNo.Years
Third tier 1 2012–13
Fifth tier 2 1977–78, 2003–04
Sixth tier 1 2001–02

Cups

HonourNo.Years
Toto Cup Leumit1 2017–18

Managers

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. History of Hapoel Archived 2020-02-17 at the Wayback Machine Hapoel Legacy Website (in Hebrew)
  2. Sporting competition Davar, 8.4.1926, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  3. In "Hapoel" Davar, 26.9.1935, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  4. Football league committee at the Northern district Davar, 3.2.1936, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  5. Games at the Haifa district Doar Hayom, 16.3.1936, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  6. FA Operated Maariv, 29.8.1954, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  7. Bnei Yehuda 0–3 defeat to Kiryat Haim increase chances of Beitar Heruth, 20.4.1958, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  8. Hapoel Balfouria and Beer Sheva in Liga Alef Davar, 14.6.1959, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  9. Hapoel Afula disqualified Maariv, 5.7.1959, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  10. Liga Bet (Page 9) Hadshot HaSport, 24.4.1977, archive.football.co.il (in Hebrew)
  11. HaShikma, Dimona and Or Akiva to Liga Alef (Page 8) Hadshot HaSport, 13.5.1984, archive.football.co.il (in Hebrew)
  12. Liga Bet North B, 02-03 Archived 2014-08-11 at the Wayback Machine One (in Hebrew)
  13. Liga Bet North B, 03-04 Archived 2014-08-11 at the Wayback Machine One (in Hebrew)
  14. Toto Leumit: Hapoel Afula Defeated Hapoel Ramat Gan 3:0 and Won 6 December 2017, Walla! (in Hebrew)
  15. History: Hapoel Afula Won the Toto Cup Kobi Portal, 6 December 2017, Doublepass (in Hebrew)
  16. "The Israel Football Association". Archived from the original on 2016-12-02. Retrieved 2013-05-04.
  17. "The Israel Football Association". Archived from the original on 2016-12-02. Retrieved 2013-05-04.