Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C.

Football club infobox
clubname = Hapoel Tel Aviv


fullname = Hapoel Tel Aviv Football Club מועדון כדורגל הפועל תל אביב
nickname = The Red Demons
founded = 1927
ground = Bloomfield Stadium, Jaffa
capacity = 15,700
chairman = flagicon|Israel Moni Harel
manager = flagicon|Israel Eli Guttman
league = Israeli Premier League
season = 2007-08
position = 7th
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Hapoel Tel Aviv ( _he. הפועל תל-אביב) is an Israeli football 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 10 championships and 13 State Cups, making them the country's second most successful club after city rivals Maccabi Tel Aviv. In 1967 they became the first club to win the Asian Club Championships.

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. [http://www.hapoelta-fc.co.il/Data_eng.asp?id=5 History] Hapoel Tel Aviv FC] 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. [ [http://crwflags.com/fotw/flags/[e-mail] Hapoel Tel-Aviv Football Club (Israel)] Flags of the World]

In 1928 the club reached the Palestine Cup final (the first one to be recognised by the Israel Football Association). Although they beat Maccabi HaShmonai Jerusalem 2-0, Hapoel fielded an ineligible player, resulting in the cup being shared. [http://www.rsssf.com/tablesi/isracuphist.html Israel - List of Cup Finals] RSSSF]

The 1933-34 season saw the club win the double, [http://www.rsssf.com/tablesi/israchamp.html Israel - List of Champions] RSSSF] 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 following season Hapoel led the league table, but the championship was abandoned and the Palestine FA did not declare them 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

Following Israeli independence, Hapoel joined the new Israeli League. They won the title in 1956-57 and the State Cup in 1960, 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 1932 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. [ [http://www.rsssf.com/tablesi/isra90.html Israel 1989/90] RSSSF] In 1997-98 Hapoel finished second, and qualified for Europe for the first 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.

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 finshed 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 after Milan refused to play in Israel), 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.

Current squad

"As of August 2008"

Notable former players

*flagicon|Israel Yossi Abukasis
*flagicon|Poland Jarosław Bako
*flagicon|Israel Elyaniv Barda
*flagicon|Israel Pini Balili
*flagicon|Slovenia Sebastjan Cimirotič
*flagicon|Israel Shimon Gershon
*flagicon|Israel Shavit Elimelech
*flagicon|Israel Shiye Feigenbaum
*flagicon|Hungary Gábor Halmai
*flagicon|Israel Amatzia Levkowitch
*flagicon|Israel Ya'akov Hodorov
*flagicon|Israel Gili Landau
*flagicon|Nigeria Ibezito Ogbonna
*flagicon|Slovenia Milan Osterc
*flagicon|Ghana John Paintsil
*flagicon|Hungary István Pisont
*flagicon|Israel Rehavia Rosenbaum
*flagicon|Israel Ben Sahar
*flagicon|Israel Moshe Sinai
*flagicon|Israel Shalom Tikva
*flagicon|Israel Rifaat Turk

tadium

The club currently plays at the 15,700-capacity Bloomfield Stadium in Jaffa, which opened in 1962. Between 1950 and 1962 they had played at the Basa Stadium, which was located on the same site.

The stadium is currently shared with city rivals Maccabi (who moved to the ground in 1968) and Bnei Yehuda (since 2004).

Honours

*Israeli championships
**Winners 1933-34, 1934-35, 1935-36, 1937-38, 1939-40, 1942-43, 1956-57, 1965-66, 1968-69, 1980-81, 1985-86, 1987-88, 1999-00
*State Cup
**Winners 1927-28, 1933-34, 1936-37, 1937-38, 1938-39, 1960-61, 1971-72, 1982-83, 1998-99, 1999-00, 2005-06, 2006-07
*Toto Cup
**Winners 2001-02
*AFC Champions League
**Winners 1967

References

External links

* [http://www.hapoelta-fc.co.il/DefaultEng.asp Official website]
* [http://www.red-fans.com/En/ Fansite]
* [http://www.ultrashapoel.com/lenglish/ Ultras Hapoel]
* [http://www.Shedim.com Fans forum] he icon