 | ||||
| Full name | Hapoel Afula Football Club הפועל עפולה | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Afula | |||
| Founded | 1924 (original club) 1951 (reformed club) 1954 (merged club) 2001 (reformed club) | |||
| Ground | Afula Illit Stadium | |||
| Capacity | 3,000 | |||
| Chairman | Dani 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.
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]
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|
| Honour | No. | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Third tier | 1 | 2012–13 |
| Fifth tier | 2 | 1977–78, 2003–04 |
| Sixth tier | 1 | 2001–02 |
| Honour | No. | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Toto Cup Leumit | 1 | 2017–18 |
Tzahi Tayer (2006–07) [16] Felix Naim (2007) [17] Dror Cohen (2007) Baruch Sa'ar (2007) Erez Benodis (2007) Felix Naim (2008) Albert Edri (2008) Lior Levy (2008–2009) Alon Schwager (2009–2010) Oded Koter (2010–11) Yaron Hochenboim (2011–2015) Nissan Yehezkel (2015–2016) Eyal Lahman (2016–2017) Reuven Atar (2017) Benny Ben Zaken (2017) Ofir Haim (2017–2019) Yigal Antebi (2019) Idan Bar On (2019) Shlomi Dora (2019–)The 1954–55 Liga Alef season was the last in which it was the Israel's top football league, as the following season it was replaced by Liga Leumit and became the country's second tier. It consisted of 14 clubs, the 12 from the top division in the previous season and two promoted clubs. It used two points for a win and one for a draw.
Hapoel Balfouria was an Israeli football club based in Balfouria. The club spent two seasons in the top division in the mid-1950s, finishing at the bottom on both occasions.
Beitar Haifa F.C. is an Israeli football club based in Haifa. The club currently plays in the North A division of Liga Bet. Their main rivals are Hapoel Ahva Haifa.
The 1957–58 Liga Alef season saw Beitar Jerusalem win the title. However, there was no promotion to Liga Leumit or relegation to Liga Bet, after the Israel Football Association decided to abandon the league before the end of the season, due to suspicions of bribery.
The 1958–59 Liga Alef season saw Bnei Yehuda win the title and promotion to Liga Leumit.
Hapoel Tiberias was a football club from Tiberias, Israel. The club spent several seasons in the top division of Israeli football in the 1960s, making one additional appearance in the top flight in 1988 before relegating back to the lower leagues and dissolving.
The 1955–56 Liga Alef season was the first in which Liga Alef was the second tier of Israeli football due to the formation of Liga Leumit, and was the first nationwide second tier season.
The 1958–59 Liga Bet season saw Hapoel Tiberias and Hapoel Ramla promoted to Liga Alef as the respective winners of the north and south divisions. They were joined by runners-up, Hapoel Netanya and Hapoel Be'er Sheva, which were promoted after promotion play-offs.
The 1968–69 Israel State Cup was the 30th season of Israel's nationwide football cup competition and the 15th after the Israeli Declaration of Independence.
Hapoel Kiryat Haim is an Israeli football club based in the Haifa suburb of Kiryat Haim. The club plays its home matches at the Thomas D'Alesandro Stadium.
The 1962–63 Liga Gimel season saw 158 clubs competing in 14 regional divisions for promotion to Liga Bet.
The 1966–68 Liga Gimel season saw 192 clubs competing in 16 regional divisions for promotion to Liga Bet.
Hapoel Kiryat Ata was an Israeli football club based in Kiryat Ata.
The 1955–56 season was the eighth season of competitive football in Israel and the 30th season under the Israeli Football Association, established in 1928, during the British Mandate.
The 1958–59 season was the 11th season of competitive football in Israel and the 33rd season under the Israeli Football Association, established in 1928, during the British Mandate.
The 1955–56 Liga Gimel season saw 72 clubs competing in 10 regional divisions for promotion to Liga Bet. This was the first season of fourth tier football in Israel, following the formation of Liga Leumit as the top division.
The 1954–55 Maccabi Haifa season was the club's 42nd season since its establishment, in 1913, and 7th since the establishment of the State of Israel.
The 1954–55 Hapoel Balfouria season was the club's 13th season since its establishment, in 1906, and 7th since the establishment of the State of Israel. This was the club's second and last season in the top division.
The 1955–56 Hapoel Balfouria season was the club's 13th season since its establishment, in 1942, and 8th since the establishment of the State of Israel.
