Hapoel Petah Tikva F.C.

Hapoel Petah Tikva F.C. (Hebrew: הפועל פתח תקווה‎) is an Israeli football club based in the city of Petah Tikva. Their most successful period was the late 1950s and early 1960s, in which the club won six championships, five of them in consecutive seasons. Although they have not won the title since 1963, Hapoel still hold the record for the number of back-to-back titles.[1] The club's last piece of major silverware came in 2005 when they won the Toto Cup, and of all the clubs to have won the State Cup, Hapoel have the worst record in the finals, having won on only two of their nine appearances in the final.

Full nameHapoel Petah Tikva Football Club
Founded1934 (1934)
GroundHaMoshava Stadium, Petah Tikva
Capacity11,500
Owner Ha’Kechula (The Blue) NPO
Manager Messay Dego
LeagueLiga Leumit
2018–19Liga Leumit, 10th

History

The club was established in 1934. In 1945 they reached the cup final, but lost 1–0 to Hapoel Tel Aviv in a final that was abandoned after 89 minutes due to a Petah Tikva player refusing to leave the field after being sent off for insulting the referee. That year's tournament, which was known as the "War Cup" and was boycotted by Beitar-affiliated clubs, was not recognised by the Israel Football Association until recently.[2] Nowadays, the IFA recognize this cup edition (along with the 1943 Palestine Cup) as part of the competition's history.[3]

The club was included in the new Israeli League in 1949 and finished fourth in the first post-independence championship, with their 3–2 home defeat to Beitar Tel Aviv annulled.[4]

In the 1954–55 season the club won their first championship, but missed out on doing the double when they lost the cup final 3–1 to Maccabi Tel Aviv. They finished second for the next three seasons, winning the cup for the first time in 1957 (beating Maccabi Jaffa 2–1), before winning the title again in 1958–59. They retained the title in 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62 and 1962–63, setting a record for the number of consecutive championships (the next best is three, achieved by Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa). In both 1959 and 1960 the club also reached the cup final, but lost on both occasions, 4–3 to Maccabi Tel Aviv and 2–1 to Hapoel Tel Aviv respectively.

Hapoel finished second in 1964–65 and 1966–68 and reached the cup final again in 1968, but lost 1–0 to Bnei Yehuda. In the 1974 final they lost 1–0 to Hapoel Haifa after extra time.

At the end of the 1975–76 season the club were relegated for the first time in their history, and dropped into Liga Artzit. They returned to the top flight in 1978, but were relegated again at the end of the 1981–82 season, in which they finished bottom of the table with only three wins from 30 matches. The club returned to Liga Leumit in 1984. In 1986 they won the Toto Cup for the first time.

Despite a two-point deduction for breaking budget rules,[4] Hapoel finished second in 1988–89 and qualified for the Intertoto Cup. They also finished as runners-up in 1989–90 and 1990–91, winning the Toto Cup in both seasons. In the latter they also reached the State Cup final, but lost 3–1 to Maccabi Haifa. The following year the club also reached the final, this time winning, beating Maccabi Tel Aviv 3–1 after extra time, qualifying for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.

In their first season in Europe, Hapoel beat Strømsgodset 4–0 on aggregate in the first qualifying round, before losing on away goals to Feyenoord. Domestically, Hapoel struggled during the 1992–93 season, finishing second from bottom, only avoiding relegation after beating Maccabi Jaffa in a play-off.

In 1996–97 Hapoel finished second, qualifying for the UEFA Cup. After beating Flora Tallinn and Vejle in the qualifying rounds they were knocked out by Rapid Vienna. In 2005 they won the Toto Cup for a record fourth time (the record has since been equalled by Maccabi Haifa).

In 2006–07 the club finished bottom of the Israeli Premier League (which had replaced Liga Leumit as the top division), and were relegated after 23 successive seasons at the top flight. However, they made an immediate return to the top division after finishing as runners-up in the 2007–08 Liga Leumit,[5] also winning the Liga Leumit Toto Cup.

The club have developed a yo-yo pattern. Relegated in 2011–12, the club were promoted in 2013–14, before being relegated immediately.

Stadium

The home ground of Hapoel Petah Tikva is HaMoshava Stadium which opened at the end of 2011, and replaced Petah Tikva Municipal Stadium as the home ground of the team.

Current squad
As of 9 February 2020
No. Name Nat Position(s) Date of birth (Age) Signed in Previous Team Notes
Goalkeepers
1 Barak Levi GK (1993-01-07) 7 January 1993 2019 Hapoel Katamon
22 Omer Isa GK (2002-05-28) 28 May 2002 2019 Youth Team
55 Adi Nesse GK (1999-02-05) 5 February 1999 2018 Youth Team
Defenders
3 Nati Binyamin LB (1996-07-09) 9 July 1996 2015 Youth Team
4 Matan Gosha CB (1999-07-08) 8 July 1999 2018 Youth Team
12 Bar Ivgi LB (1994-07-10) 10 July 1994 2019 Maccabi Herzliya
16 Sapir Itach CB (1999-07-06) 6 July 1999 2018 Youth Team
17 Yakov Ababa CB (1992-01-20) 20 January 1992 2019 Hapoel Hadera Loan
23 Ofek Osher RB (2000-08-22) 22 August 2000 2019 Youth Team
94 Niv Sardal RB (1993-03-12) 12 March 1993 2020 Hapoel Umm al Fahm
Midfielders
5 Ram Levy DM / CM (1997-09-14) 14 September 1997 2016 Youth Team Captain
6 Naftali Belay CM (1997-03-28) 28 March 1997 2019 Maccabi Netanya Loan
7 Bar Yerucham CM (1996-10-13) 13 October 1996 2019 Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon
8 Amit Mizrahi CF (1996-04-15) 15 April 1996 2018 Hapoel Afula
11 Almog Ohayon CM (1994-08-05) 5 August 1994 2020 Hapoel Kfar Shalem
15 Yam Ben Yeuda CM (2000-01-02) 2 January 2000 2019 Youth Team
18 Omer Tchalisher CM (1993-01-22) 22 January 1993 2020 Hapoel Kfar Saba
19 Bar Nawi AM (2003-03-03) 3 March 2003 2019 Youth Team
20 Gal Asulin AM (1997-07-10) 10 July 1997 2018 Hapoel Rishon LeZion
21 Mohamad Agbaria CM (2000-09-11) 11 September 2000 2019 Youth Team
24 Nadav Reuveni CM (1999-01-06) 6 January 1999 2019 Youth Team
26 Daniel Schwarzboim RB (1994-06-18) 18 June 1994 2020 Hapoel Ramat HaSharon
77 Ben Levy CM (1996-01-08) 8 January 1996 2018 Free Agent
Forwards
9 Omer Buaron RW (1992-06-27) 27 June 1992 2019 Beitar Tel-Aviv Bat Yam
10 Benjamin Kuku ST (1995-03-08) 8 March 1995 2020 Hapoel Kfar Saba
14 Oz Peretz LW (1994-04-19) 19 April 1994 2019 Hapoel Ashkelon

Honours

League
Honour No. Years
Israeli Championships 6 1954–55, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63

Cup competitions
Honour No. Years
State Cup 2 1956–57, 1991–92
Toto Cup (top division) 4 1985–86, 1989–90, 1990–91, 2004–05
Toto Cup (second division) 1 2007–08
Lilian Cup 1 1989
20th Anniversary Cup 1 1968

Managers

References
  1. Trivia on the Israeli League 1949/50-2004/05 RSSSF
  2. Israel – List of Cup Finals RSSSF
  3. "List of Cup winners" (in Hebrew). Israel Football Association. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  4. Israel – List of Final Tables RSSSF
  5. Israel 2007/08 RSSSF
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