Maccabi Netanya F.C.

Maccabi Netanya
Full name Maccabi Netanya Football Club
Nickname(s) The Diamonds
Founded 1934; 81 years ago
Ground Netanya Stadium, Netanya
Ground Capacity 13,800
Owner City of Netanya
Manager Omer Peretz
League Israeli Premier League
2015–16 14th (Relgated)

Maccabi Netanya F.C. (Hebrew: מועדון כדורגל מכבי נתניה‎, Moadon Kaduregel Maccabi Netanya) is an Israeli football club based in Netanya. Established in 1934, the club was a founding member of the Israeli League in 1949. After winning their first championship in 1971, the club's golden period lasted until the late 1980s, including three more league titles and a double in 1978.

History

The club was established in the year 1934 as a Mandatory Palestinian Club and initially played in green and white stripes. The club's first season was in 1935-36 when they played in Liga Gimel which back then was the third tier in Israeli football. After three seasons in Liga Gimel the club won promotion to Liga Bet (second tier), and in the 1941-42 season they won Liga Bet to secure promotion to the top division which back then was known as the Palestine League.

They became founder members of the Israeli League in 1949, and in 1954 reached the State Cup final for the first time, losing 4–0 to Maccabi Tel Aviv.[1] In 1961–62 the club finished bottom of Liga Leumit (then the top division) and were relegated to Liga Alef.[2] They returned to the top division in 1964.

After a third-placed finish in 1968–69, the 1970–71 season saw Netanya win their first title by a margin of eleven points, back then the largest in Israeli football history. They also reached the State Cup final, but lost 2–1 to Maccabi Tel Aviv.[1] In 1972–73 Neyanya finished thirteenth in Liga Leumit, avoiding relegation by only two points. However, the following season they won their second title. In 1975 they changed their kit to play in black and yellow. They won a third title in 1977–78, and completed the double by beating Bnei Yehuda 2–1 in the State Cup final. They also finished as winners of their group in the UEFA Intertoto Cup. A fourth championship was won in 1979–80 by a margin of ten points, whilst their fifth title, in 1982–83 was won by a fourteen point margin.[2] In the same season they won the League Cup, a feat repeated the following year. In 1986–87 and 1988–89 they reached the League Cup final, but lost on both occasions.

In 1994–95 Netanya finished bottom of Liga Leumit and were relegated to Liga Artzit, in the same season the youth team won the youth championship. After winning the league in 1998–99 they returned to the top division. However, they were relegated again in 2003–04 after finishing second from bottom, though they made an immediate return to the top division after finishing as Liga Leumuit runners-up in 2004–05, a season in which they also won the Toto Cup Leumit.

In December 2005 Daniel Jammer, a Jewish German businessman bought the club for a fee of $1,500,000.[3] In 2006–07 the club finished as Premier League runners-up, a feat repeated the following season. In April 2008 Lothar Matthäus was appointed manager. Although the club led the league in the early part of the 2008–09 season, they eventually finished fourth and Matthäus was sacked and replaced by Nati Azaria.

The 2010-11 season saw the club finishing sixth in the top playoff games. The next season Netanya finished in the fourth place when they shared the same amount of points as the runners-up. This was quite an achievement considering the fact that the club didn't have a stable budget behind them or an owner to invest in the club. They were relegated again in 2012-13 after finishing second from bottom.

In August 2013 Eli Segav and Yossi Maor took over as the new owners of the club. Netanya made an immediate return to the top division after finishing as the champions of Liga Leumuit in the 2013-14 season, a season in which they also reached the State Cup final, losing 1–0 to Ironi Kiryat Shmona in front of more than 22,000 supporters of Netanya.[4]

The club got relgated again at the end of the 2015-16 season.[5] This season is regarded as the worst season the club has ever had in the first tier of Israeli football and most have said it was the worst in the history of the club.[6] Doron Osidon was appointed the chairman of the club by the mayor of Netanya. Shlomi Dora was signed as the manager of the club. At the start of the season five players got severely injured (including the main goalscorer and captain Eran Levy) which caused for many problems. Dora got sacked after the club didn't do well, Reuven Atar got called to replace him. After three months of no real change and barley winning any points, Atar was sacked as well. Guy Tzarfati was called up to be the caretaker manager and after he lost a State Cup game against Sektzia Nes Tziona of the third division he was sacked and was replaced by Meni Koretski who couldn't save the sinking ship. Koretski decided to quit on March 26.[7] Omer Peretz who retired at the start of the season (after he was one of the players that got injured), became the manager of the club.[8]

Rivalry

There is a strong rivalry between Netanya and Beitar Nes Tubruk Netanya. Originally, there were hopes of the two clubs uniting so as not to split allegiances of kids in the city. The merger never came to fruition and since, the two clubs have been at each other's throats both claiming that the other has forced a child not to switch clubs, which is illegal in Israel. On one occasion when two Tubruk players came to shake hands with Netanya players after a derby match in Liga Leumit LeNoar, they were subsequently left out of the team for the club's next league match . The senior derby took place when both clubs played in the second tier, in the 1962-63 season and in the 1963-64 season. The 1986–87 season was the only season the two teams played in the top division at the same time. The first game took place in Tubruk Stadium with 9,000 people in attendance, Yigal Menahem scored the only goal for Maccabi.

There's also a strong rivalry between Netanya and Hapoel Kfar Saba, games between the two are often called "Derby HaSharon" because the two clubs are known to be the major teams from the Sharon plain. The rivalry was at its peak in the 1981–82 season which saw the two clubs going head to head for the championship with Netanya losing the title in the final game of the season.

Since the late 1990s, the strongest rivalry has probably been Hapoel Beer Sheva.

Fans

The current Maccabi Netanya's organization fans is Diamonds Army, established in 2009 by 5 fans of the group. The organization supports the group in encouraging and preparing backdrops games.

Maccabi Netanya audience is the audience who most frequently named public value of the first round of the Premier League - Plan for kicking the violence and racism of the lots. The organization fans have a 3 wins title seasons 2009/2010, 2011/2012 and 2012/2013.

Stadium

The club plays its home matches at the 13,800-capacity Netanya Stadium, which was opened in October 2012. The club former stadium was the 7,500-capacity Sar-Tov Stadium, which was commonly known as HaKufsa (lit. The Box). It was named after Yosef Sar-Tov, who was amongst the club's founders, and was its first chairman.

Current squad

Senior team

As of 23 January 2016
No. Position Player
1 Israel GK Barak Levi
2 Israel DF Ze'ev Haimovich
4 Israel DF Omer Vered
5 Burkina Faso MF Issoumaila Lingane
8 Israel MF Aviad Bourla
9 Israel FW Itzik Cohen
10 Israel MF Dia Saba
12 Israel DF Yarin Hassan
13 Israel GK Dean Gal
15 Israel FW Gael Margulies
16 Israel DF Shimon Harush
17 Israel MF Moshe Lugasi
18 Israel MF Amiya Taga
No. Position Player
20 Israel MF Yair Ziv
21 Israel MF Aviv Avraham
22 Ukraine DF Andriy Mischenko
23 Serbia MF Milan Smiljanić
25 Israel DF Sayef Fedoul
26 Israel DF Amer Masarwa
29 Israel MF Moti Malka
33 Israel MF Eylon Yerushalmi
39 Serbia DF Nemanja Petrović
52 Israel FW Samah Mar'ab
77 Israel MF Abed Jabarin
99 Israel FW Eran Levy
Israel MF Israel Zaguri

Youth team 2014-15

No. Position Player
1 Israel GK Yair Hadar
3 Israel DF Wael Najer
4 Israel DF Gal Yosipovich
5 Israel DF El'ad Boaron
6 Israel MF Saif Fedul
7 Israel DF Mohammed Gharra
8 Israel MF Eylon Yerushalmi
12 Israel DF Niv Sarel
14 Israel DF Mohammed Agbaria
15 Israel DF Naftali Blay
No. Position Player
16 Israel MF Gozef Ganda
18 Israel MF Ido Vaisler
19 Israel FW Or Abuhatzira
20 Israel MF Eihab Msroah
22 Israel GK Omer Katzir
25 Israel FW Aviel Pariz
29 Israel FW Nir Azaria
Israel MF Omer Raz
Israel FW Harel Yehezkel

Honours

Domestic

League

Cups

European

Minor honours

Records

Local

European

Managers

References

Notes
    1. 1 2 Israel – List of Cup Finals RSSSF
    2. 1 2 Israel – List of Final Tables RSSSF
    3. ↑ http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3188093,00.html
    4. ↑ http://www.israelhayom.co.il/article/180425
    5. ↑ http://sports.walla.co.il/item/2948932
    6. ↑ http://www.one.co.il/Article/15-16/1,1,3,0/266679.html
    7. ↑ http://sports.walla.co.il/item/2946994
    8. ↑ http://www.one.co.il/Article/268358.html
    9. ↑ http://www.kan-naim.co.il/artical.asp?id=4938
    10. ↑ http://wildstat.com/p/1/ch/all/club1/ISR_Maccabi_Netanya/ydate/1978

    External links

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