Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C.

Hapoel Tel Aviv
הפועל תל אביב

Full name	Hapoel Tel Aviv Football Club מועדון כדורגל הפועל תל אביב
Nickname(s)	The Red Demons, The Workers השדים האדומים, הפועלים
Founded	1923 (1923)
Ground	Bloomfield Stadium
Ground Capacity	14,413
Owner	Amir Gross Kabiri
Chairman	Amir Gross Kabiri
Manager	Eli Guttman
League	Israeli Premier League
2014–15	8th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Hapoel Tel Aviv Football Club (Hebrew: הפועל תל-אביב‎, Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Tel Aviv) is an Israeli football club based in Tel Aviv. The club currently competes in the Israeli Premier League and plays its home matches at the Bloomfield Stadium. To date, the club has won thirteen championships and sixteen State Cups. In 1967 Hapoel Tel Aviv became the first club to win the Asian Club Championships.

Since 1995 the club competes in European club competitions, and has the highest rank among all Israeli clubs, with some outstanding achievements, such as wins against Chelsea, Milan, Hamburg, Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica, Rangers, and Celtic. It is also one of the only 3 Israeli teams to have been qualified to the UEFA Champions League group stage.

The club name, "Hapoel", translates to "The Worker",and combined with its red Hammer and sickle crest represents the club ties to Socialism and working class. For many years, the club was owned by Israeli largest trade union, and to this date it's fans are considered "lefties".

History

Pre-independence

Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. was originally established in 1923, but was disbanded soon after. The club was re-formed in 1925, and then for a third time in May 1926. In 1927 the club merged with Allenby F.C., giving the club its modern form. It is part of the Hapoel sports association which was affiliated with the Histadrut trade union, and supporters of the club were often referred to as communists.

In 1928 the club reached the Palestine Cup final (the first one to be recognised by the Israel Football Association). Although they beat Maccabi Hasmonean Jerusalem 2–0, Hapoel fielded an ineligible player, resulting in the cup being shared.

The 1933–34 saw the club win the double, finishing as champions of the Palestine League, winning every match, the only Israeli club to have achieved such a feat, and winners of the cup, beating local rivals Maccabi Tel Aviv 3–2 in the final. The 1934–35 season saw Hapoel led the league table, but the championship was abandoned and they were not declared champions. The 1937–38 season ended the same way, with Hapoel top of the league, but the season abandoned. In the meantime, the club won the cup again in 1937, 1938 and 1939, and remain the only club to have won the trophy in three successive seasons (although the Royal Air Force won it four years in a row between 1924 and 1927, pre-1928 wins are not recognised by the IFA).

In 1939–40 they won their second championship. The following season no national championships were held, but the club won the tournament for Hapoel-affiliated clubs. They won a third championship in the 1943–44 season, and in the following year won the northern region league, as well as what became known as the "War Cup", which was boycotted by Beitar-affiliated clubs. In the cup final Hapoel were leading Hapoel Petah Tikva 1–0, but the match was abandoned on 89 minutes when a Petah Tikva player refused to leave the pitch after being sent off for insulting the referee.

Post-independence

Pyrotechnics at the Tel Aviv derby, 2005–06

Following Israeli independence, Hapoel joined the new Israeli League. They won the title in 1956–57 and the State Cup in 1961, beating Hapoel Petah Tikva 2–1.

In the 1965–66 season Hapoel won the title, and qualified for the first Asian Club Championships. In the tournament Hapoel were given byes all the way to the final, where they beat Selangor 2–1 to become Asia's first club champions. The club also reached the State Cup final that year, but lost 2–1 to Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Hapoel won the title again in 1968–69, and again qualified for the Asian Club championships. Although they reached the final, they lost 2–1 to Iranian side Taj Club (in an era when Iran and Israel had diplomatic relations). They won the State Cup again in 1972, beating Hapoel Jerusalem 1–0 in the final, but did not win the title again until 1980–81, when they missed out on the double after losing the cup final 4–3 on penalties (after a 2–2 draw) to Bnei Yehuda. The following season they reached the cup final again, but lost 1–0 to Hapoel Yehud. A hat-trick of cup final defeats was avoided when they beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 3–2 in the 1982 final.

Another title was won in 1985–86, and another in 1987–88. However, the following season Hapoel finished bottom of the league (with a four-point deduction for breaking budget rules) and were relegated to the second tier for the first time in their history.

The club made an immediate return to the top division as Liga Artzit runners-up, though they only beat Maccabi Yavne to the second promotion slot on goal difference. In 1997–98 Hapoel finished second, and qualified for Europe for the second time. In the 1998–99 UEFA Cup Hapoel knocked out FinnPa, before losing on penalties to Strømsgodset. In the same season they won the State Cup, beating Beitar Jerusalem 3–1 on penalties after a 1–1 draw.

21st Century

The 1999–2000 season saw Hapoel win the double, claiming their first title in over a decade and winning the State Cup (beating Beitar Jerusalem on penalties again). However, they failed to reach the group stages of the Champions League after being beaten 5–1 on aggregate by Sturm Graz. They finished second in the league in 2000–01 and 2001–02 and third in 2002–03, qualifying for the UEFA Cup on each occasion. In the 2001–02 UEFA Cup Hapoel reached the quarter-finals after knocking out Chelsea, Lokomotiv Moscow and Parma. Although they beat A.C. Milan 1–0 in the home leg (a match which had to be played in the GSP Stadium in Cyprus as UEFA did not allow matches to be held in Israel due to security reasons), Hapoel lost the away leg 2–0.

In 2002 the club won its first Toto Cup. They won the State Cup in 2006, beating Bnei Yehuda 1–0 in the final, and also won it the following season, when they defeated second division Hapoel Ashkelon on penalties. They reached the final again in 2007–08, but lost 5–4 on penalties to Beitar Jerusalem after a 0–0 draw.

In 2009–10, the club won the double, claiming the State Cup after a 3–1 victory over Bnei Yehuda. The title was won after a dramatic game against Beitar Jerusalem on the final day of the season, with Eran Zahavi scoring the title winning goal two minutes into injury time. The club also had a successful season in the Europa League, winning their group, before losing to Rubin Kazan in the second round. The following season they reached the group stages of the Champions League for the first time,but failed to advance to the next round. at the same season the team reached to the second place and won the Israeli State Cup for the second time in row.

In the beginning of season 2011–12 Most of the successful players of the team left and spread at Europe, also the Team's manager Eli Guttman left too. The club's legendary coach, Dror Kashtan, returned and new players came as part of the transfer of ownership of the club to Eli Tabib. During the season there was tension between the manager Dror Kashtan and Eli Tabib, which led to the manager's departure and current Manager was appointed in his place, Nitzan Shirazi, who led the team winning the Israeli State Cup for the third time in a row. After large-scale protests of the fans against the club's owner Tabib and his unprofessional conduct, he decided to leave the club after one year and sold it to Haim Ramon and to the supporters' trust called "Haadumim", "The Reds" in Hebrew, that establish at the summer of 2012 and raise 2 million shekel for 20% of the ownership. The other part of the club sold to several other businessmen. all together the club sold at summer 2012 for 12 million NIS (about $ 3 Million). At the beginning of season 2012–13, Yossi Abuksis was appointed coach in place of Nitzan Shirazi, who appointed professional manager due to his health reasons. On July 1, 2015, the club was bought by Amir Gross Kabiri.

Stadium

Hapoel T.A. at Gate 5 in Bloomfield Stadium

Main article: Bloomfield Stadium

After playing at three different stadiums, the club moved to the old Bloomfield Stadium in 1949, after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. In 1962 the ground was renovated using donation from the Bloomfield family, thus receiving it's official name. The ground was owned by Tel-Aviv histadrut branch, who were also owners of Hapoel, although today it is a municipal stadium.

The stadium, located in Jaffa, is an upgraded version of the older stadium called "Basa". The first match at the new Bloomfield was played on 12 December 1962 against FC Twente, the game ending in a 1–1 draw. The stadium is currently shared with city rivals Maccabi (who moved to the ground in 2000) and Bnei Yehuda (since 2004).

Hapoel main fans' gate is gate 5, where Ultras Hapoel leads the chirring, and away crowds sit oppositely, on Gate 11.

Supporters and politics

The team is the standard-bearer of the Israeli left. It was the last club to cut formal links with politics, in this case the trade union movement and Labour Party, and the two communist parties Mapam and Maki.

Ultras Hapoel, the sole fan organization, unroll banners emblazoned with the faces of Che Guevara and Karl Marx, and banners with the political slogan "Workers of the world, unite!". The club ultras has a friendship with antifa supporter groups all over the world and strong bonds with fans of FC St. Pauli, Standard Liège, Omonia Nicosia and Celtic F.C..

Hapoel two bitters rivals are Maccabi Tel Aviv, whose game against them consist of the Tel Aviv derby, and Beitar Jerusalem, which is considered the team of the Israeli right wing- both Revisionist and Kahanist.

A Haaretz poll published on June 2011 identified Hapoel Tel Aviv as the second most popular football team among Israeli Arabs, behind Maccabi Haifa.

Another survey had been conducted in March 2012 by Yedioth showed that Hapoel is the fourth most popular team among Israeli football fans (nineteen percent). Same survey revealed that thirty-two percent of Tel Aviv residents support the team.

Current squad

As of 29 January 2016.

No. Position Player 1 GK Ariel Harush 2 DF Ofer Verta 4 DF Gal Shish 5 DF Eyad Abu Abied 6 DF Adi Gotlieb 7 MF Claudiu Bumba 8 MF Lotem Zino (on loan from FC Thun) 9 MF Ben Reichert 10 MF Omri Altman 11 MF Ramzi Safouri 12 FW Aaron Schoenfeld 15 MF Nir Lax 16 FW Sagiv Yehezkel 17 FW Alon Turgeman (on loan from Maccabi Haifa)

No. Position Player 18 DF Samuel Scheimann 19 MF Cauê 20 MF Hamza Barry (on loan from Apollon Limassol) 21 MF Anas Mahamid (eligible for youth team) 22 GK Tzlil Hatuka 23 MF Nemanja Nikolić 24 DF Loukas Vyntra 25 FW Roy Melika (eligible for youth team) 26 MF Avihai Yadin (on loan from Maccabi Haifa) 29 MF Gai Assulin 33 GK Dudi Alon (eligible for youth team) 77 MF Siraj Nassar - MF Farhat Abbade (eligible for youth team) - MF Yair Shpungin (eligible for youth team)

Players out on loan

No. Position Player — DF Mohamed Abu Alhija (at Hapoel Rishon LeZion until 30 June 2016) — DF Idan Cohen (at Hapoel Rishon LeZion until 30 June 2016) — DF Ben Grabli (at Bnei Yehuda until 30 June 2016) — DF Yehuda Huta (at Hapoel Katamon until 30 June 2016) — DF Lidor Lazar (at Sektzia Nes Tziona until 30 June 2016) — DF Mor Pahima (at Ironi Kiryat Gat until 30 June 2016) — MF Liviu Antal (at Pandurii until 30 June 2016) — MF Aviv Dado (at Hapoel Rishon LeZion until 30 June 2016)

No. Position Player — MF Guy Hadida (at Maccabi Yavne until 30 June 2016) — MF Ariel Lazmi (at Hapoel Rishon LeZion until 30 June 2016) — MF Issoumaila Lingane (at Maccabi Netanya until 30 June 2016) — MF Raz Nahmias (at Hapoel Rishon LeZion until 30 June 2016) — MF Omri Shekel (at Maccabi Herzliya until 30 June 2016) — MF Israel Zaguri (at Maccabi Netanya until 30 June 2016) — FW Dudu Biton (at Hapoel Kfar Saba until 30 June 2016) — FW Eyal Danin (at Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon until 30 June 2016)

Foreigners 2015–16

Only up to five non-Israeli nationals can be in an Israeli club squad. Those with Jewish ancestry, married to an Israeli, or have played in Israel for an extended period of time, can claim a passport or permanent residency which would allow them to play with Israeli status.

• Claudiu Bumba
• Loukas Vyntra
• Cauê
• Nemanja Nikolić
• Hamza Barry

Coaching staff

Position	Staff
Head Coach	Eli Guttman
Assistant Coach	Walid Badir
Fitness Coach	Alejandro Esteve
Goalkeeping Coach	Gabi Burstein
Technical Manager	Alon Afek
Head of Physiology Department	Dr. Mark Wertheim
Club Doctor	Dr. George Canada Dr. Robert Cohen
Physio	Rami Ingel Gil Puterman
Head Scout	Nir Efrtati
Head of Youth Department	Sharon Zahavian
Youth Team Manager	Eli Hayat
Equipment Manager	Eli Bueno

Honours

Domestic

League

Honour	No.	Years
Championships	14	1933–34, 1934–35, 1938–39, 1940, 1943–44, 1944–45, 1956–57,1965–66, 1968–69, 1980–81, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1999–2000, 2009–10

Cups

Honour	No.	Years
State Cup	16	1928, 1934, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1944, 1960–61, 1971–72, 1982–83, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12
Toto Cup (top division)	1	2001–02
Super Cup	3	1969, 1970, 1981

International

Honour	No.	Years
Asian Club Championship	1	1967

Other

Honour	No.	Years
Champion of Champions	2	1957, 1966
Shapira Cup	1	1954–55

Youth Division

Honour	No.	Years
Israeli Noar Premier League	5	1944–45, 1965–66, 1977–78, 1980–81, 1989–90
Israel Youth State Cup	7	1959–60, 1967–68, 1985–86, 1989–90, 1991–92, 2008–09, 2014–15

Record in Europe

Main article: Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. in Europe

European competitions

• UEFA Champions League
  • Group stage: 2010–11
• UEFA Europa League
  • Last 32: 2009–10
  • Group Stage (2): 2011–12,2012–13
• UEFA Cup
  • Quarter Finalists : 2001–02
  • Last 32: 2006–07
  • Group Stage: 2007–08

UEFA club rankings

As of 25 July 2013

Rank	Team	Coefficient
60	Steaua București	33.026
61	Celtic	31.838
62	Hamburg	31.728
63	Club Brugge	31.220
64	Hapoel Tel Aviv	30.250
65	Viktoria Plzeň	29.945
66	VfL Wolfsburg	29.728
67	Panathinaikos	29.200
67	PAOK	29.200
69	Red Bull Salzburg	29.145
70	Newcastle United	28.935

Managers

• Monia Goldstein (1947–??)
• Musta Poliakov (1949–??)
• Zvi Erlich (1950–??)
• Ivan Jazbinšek (1956–57)
• Edmond Schmilovich (1958–60)
• Jenő Kalmár (1960–62)
• Harry Game (1963–64)
• David Schweitzer (1965–66)
• Yosef Merimovich (1966–68)
• Rehavia Rosenbaum (1968–70)
• Harry Game (1971–74)
• Shimon Ben Yehonathan (1974–75)
• Rehavia Rosenbaum (1975–76)
• Yosef Merimovich (1977–79)

• David Schweitzer (1980–82)
• Zvi Rosen (1982–83)
• Mordechai Spiegler (1984)
• David Schweitzer (1986–87)
• David Schweitzer (1989–90)
• Shimon Shenhar (1990)
• Moshe Sinai (1991–96)
• Ya'akov Grundman (1992)
• Yehoshua Feigenbaum (1993–94)
• Dror Kashtan (July 1, 1996 – June 30, 1997)
• Eli Cohen (July 1, 1997 – June 30, 1999)
• Dror Kashtan (July 1, 1999 – June 30, 2004)
• Gili Landau (June 2004–Dec 04)
• Shmuel Hanin (Nov 15, 2004–Dec 31, 2004)

• Yehoshua Feigenbaum (Dec 2004–June 5)
• Dror Kashtan (July 1, 2005–Dec 31, 2005)
• Itzhak Shum (July 1, 2006–Dec 31, 2006)
• Nir Levine (Dec 2006–June 7)
• Guy Luzon (July 1, 2007–Jan 15, 2008)
• Eli Guttman (Dec 2007–May 25, 2011)
• Dror Kashtan (June 4, 2011–Jan 9, 2012)
• Nitzan Shirazi (Jan 11, 2012–Sept 27, 2012)
• Yossi Abukasis (Sept 27, 2012–Feb 17, 2013)
• Freddy David (Feb 18, 2013–May 18, 2013)
• Ran Ben Shimon (May 20, 2013 – May 26, 2014)
• Asi Domb (May 26, 2014 – January 24, 2015)
• Eli Cohen (January 24, 2015 – November 5, 2015)
• Guy Levy (November 5, 2015–January 2016)
• Eli Guttman (January 2016-)

Notable former players

Category:Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. players

1920's:

• Willy Berger (GK)
• Shlomo Poliakov (MF)
• Moshe Poliakov (DF)
• Avraham Nudelman (MF)

1930's:

• Zvi Erlich (FW)
• Zalman Friedman (DF)
• Amnon Harlap (MF)
• Herbert Meitner (FW)
• Meir Melika (GK)

1940's:

• Moshe Melamed (DF)
• Avraham Palman (DF)

1950's:

• Ya'akov Hodorov (GK)
• David Schweitzer (DF)
• Asher Blut (MF)
• Amatsia Levkovich (DF)
• Rehavia Rozenboim (FW)
• Shimon Zimerman (MF)

1960's:

• Gideon Tish (MF)
• Shabi Ben Baruch (MF)
• Danny Borsok (MF)
• Yehoshua Feigenbaum (FW)
• George Borba (FW)
• Danny Elkayam (GK)
• Yehezkel Hazum (FW)
• David Primo (DF)
• Shimon Ben Yehonathan (DF)

1970's:

• Arie Bejerano (GK)
• Ronnie Calderon (MF)
• Kiko Rachminovich (DF)
• Nachman Castro (DF)
• Rifaat Turk (MF)

1980's:

• Moshe Sinai (MF)
• Eli Cohen (MF)
• Ya'akov Ekhoiz (DF)
• Gili Landau (FW)
• Moris Zano (FW)
• Shabtai Levi (FW)
• Yossi Zana (DF)
• Gabi Lasri (DF)

1990's:

• Felix Halfon (DF)
• Haim Revivo (MF)
• Jarosław Bako (GK)
• Shavit Elimelech (GK)
• Shalom Tikva (MF)
• Shimon Gershon (DF)
• Pini Balili (FW)
• Kazimierz Moskal (MF)
• Davor Rupnik (MF)
• Dean Računica (MF)
• Sebastjan Cimirotič (FW)

2000's:

• Yossi Abuksis (MF)
• István Pisont (MF)
• Milan Osterc (FW)
• Gábor Halmai (MF)
• Ibezito Ogbonna (FW)
• John Paintsil (DF)
• Vincent Enyeama (GK)
• Douglas da Silva (DF)
• Bibras Natkho (MF)
• Avihai Yadin (MF)
• Mahran Lala (FW)
• Walid Badir (DF)
• Yigal Antebi (DF)
• Salim Tuama (MF)
• Itay Shechter (FW)

2010's:

• Toto Tamuz (FW)
• Omer Damari (FW)

Captains

Years	Captain
1951	Shimon Zimerman (MF)
1967	Haim Nurieli (MF)
1971	Shimon Ben Yehonathan (DF)
1972–1979	Yehoshua Feigenbaum (FW)
1983–1987	Moshe Sinai (MF)
1990	Yaakov Ekhoiz (DF)
1993–1994	Haim Revivo (MF)
1994–1995	Ya'akov Schwartz (MF)
1995–1997	Guy Sharabi (DF)
1997–1999	Felix Halfon (DF)
1999–2006	Shimon Gershon (DF)
2006–2007	Yossi Abuksis (MF)
2007–2013	Walid Badir (DF)
2013–2015	Shay Abutbul (MF)
2015–2016	Mihai Pintilii (MF)
2016–	Loukas Vyntra (DF)

References

14 ^Hapoel Tel Aviv wins the Israeli Cup in UEFA.com by Boaz Goren

External links

• Official website
• Ultras Hapoel Official website
• "Haadumim" fans Association – Owner of 20% of Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C.
• "Red-Fans" - Fans website
• Shedim – Hapoel Tel Aviv Forum
• Fans Wikipedia (in Hebrew)

Achievements
Preceded by Inaugural Champions	Champions of Asia 1967	Succeeded by Maccabi Tel Aviv