Hapoel Jerusalem Football Club (Hebrew: מועדון כדורגל הפועל ירושלים, Mo'adon Kaduregel Hapoel Yerushalayim) is an Israeli professional football club based in Jerusalem. It competes in the Israeli Premier League, the top flight of Israeli football. Founded in 1926, their home ground is the Teddy Stadium. As a protest against the conduct of the club's owners since the 1990s, the Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem football club was established in 2007, the first football club in Israel owned by its fans. The club was named after Katamon Stadium, which was formerly used by Hapoel Jerusalem. The club existed in parallel with Hapoel Jerusalem for 12 years.

Hapoel Jerusalem
Full nameHapoel Jerusalem Football Club
מועדון כדורגל הפועל ירושלים
Nickname(s)Katamon
Founded1926
GroundTeddy Stadium, Jerusalem
Capacity31,733
OwnerFan-owned
ChairmanYotam Karmon (Chairman),
Uri Sheradsky (CEO)
ManagerZiv Arie
LeagueIsraeli Premier League
2022–23Israeli Premier League, 4th of 14

In 2019 Hapoel Jerusalem was disbanded and in August 2020, Hapoel Katamon acquired the rights to the name Hapoel Jerusalem and officially became Hapoel Jerusalem. Since then, the club is owned by its fans and is managed by a board of seven members.

The team's record achievement is winning the State Cup and third place in the First League in 1973.

History edit

 
Old logo
 
Old logo 2

Hapoel Jerusalem Club was established in 1926 and played in the inaugural season of the EIFA league, playing the league's first match against local rivals Maccabi Hasmonean Jerusalem.[1][2] The club played in the league for its first three seasons, however, the club was restricted to playing mainly in the Jerusalem area due to travelling difficulties. The club participated occasionally in the Palestine Cup, reaching the cup final in 1943, losing to a team from the Royal Artillery 1–7.[3]

After the establishment of Israel, the club registered to play in the makeshift second-tier league, Liga Meuhedet, in the Jerusalem-Central division, which the club won. The club continued to play in the second division (Liga Bet until 1956 and Liga Alef afterwards), until it was promoted to the top division at the end of the 1956–57 season, after finishing second in promotion play-offs. Following the promotion, the club stayed in the top division for 21 seasons, achieving its best position, 3rd, in 1972–73. In 1971–72 the club reached the State Cup final, losing to Hapoel Tel Aviv 0–1. A season later, the club reached the cup final again, this time winning the cup.[4]

The club was relegated to the second division in 1979, but bounced back the following season. The club continued to yo-yo between the two top divisions in the following seasons, playing his last season at the top division in 1999–2000. In 1998, the club reached its fourth cup final, but lost to Maccabi Haifa in extra time.

In the early 1990s, the club was transferred to businessmen Yossi Sassi and Victor Yona. The two ran the team together until falling out, leading to a long business and legal dispute[5] which lasted until 2009, when Yona left the club.[6] During the dispute, a group of supporters, tired of the feuding between the two businessmen, decided to establish a group, first in an attempt to purchase control of the club, and then in a bid to establish a fan-owned club, Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem. The fan-based club was established in 2009 (after a short period of existence as a merged club with Hapoel Mevaseret Zion) and progressed to the Liga Leumit in 2013–14, where the two clubs met for the first time.

The club played in the third tier Liga Aleph after being relegated from the second tier Liga Leumit in the 2016–17. On 26 August 2019 the Israeli Football Federation refused to list the club for 2019–20 season due to financial problems.

On 9 August 2020, the club has been officially recreated, as Hapoel Katamon renamed to Hapoel Jerusalem.

On 30 April 2021, Hapoel Jerusalem won against Sektzia Nes Ziona, thereby securing promotion to the top flight, after an absence of 21 years from the top flight.

Stadiums edit

Since the establishment of Israel, the club played in three stadiums, YMCA stadium, in which the club played between 1949 and 1955, when the club moved to its own Katamon Stadium, in the neighborhood of Katamon. Katamon Stadium was razed in 1982, with the intention to build a bigger modern stadium in its place, and in the meantime the club returned to play in YMCA stadium. The new stadium in Katamon was never built, and instead Teddy Stadium was built in the Malha neighborhood, to which the club moved in 1992.[citation needed]

Support edit

During the early years, support of the club came mostly from the labour organizations in Israel. City rivals Beitar were identified with the right-wing nationalist organizations. All this played out to create the Jerusalem derby. To this day the rivalry exists, though it is not nearly as heated as when both clubs played in the top division of Israeli football. In 2007 a large majority of fans, unhappy with the management of the club, defected and founded Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem F.C., the first fully fan-owned club in the country.[citation needed]

Current squad edit

As of 13 September 2023
No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   NGA Adebayo Adeleye
2 DF   ISR Shahar Piven
3 DF   ISR Noam Malmoud
4 DF   ISR Amit Glazer (on loan from Maccabi Tel Aviv)
5 DF   CIV Yao Eloge Koffi
6 MF   ETH Awaka Ashta
7 FW   ISR Matan Hozez (on loan from Maccabi Tel Aviv)
8 FW   ISR Or Roizman (on loan from Maccabi Tel Aviv)
9 FW   NED Jelle Duin
10 MF   ISR Tomer Altman
11 FW   CIV Cédric Franck Don
15 MF   ISR Ofek Bitton
16 DF   ISR Omer Agvadish
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 FW   ISR Karem Zoabi
19 FW   ISR Idan Dahan
20 DF   ISR Ofek Nadir
21 MF   ISR Ayano Preda
22 DF   ISR Yoray Maliah
24 MF   ISR Nadav Nidam
26 DF   ISR Peleg Hamani
29 FW   ANG Capita (on loan from Estrela Amadora)
33 DF   ISR Max Grechkin
55 GK   ISR Nadav Zamir
77 FW   ISR Ohad Almagor
93 FW   CMR Kévin Soni (on loan from Rapid București)
FW   EST Rauno Sappinen

Former players edit

Hapoel Jerusalem (1926–2019)
Hapoel Katamon (2007–2020)

Coaching staff edit

As of May 24 2019
Position Staff
Manager   Ziv Arie
Assistant manager   Lior Zada
  Yitzhak Sherman
First-team coach   Yitzhak Sherman
Goalkeeper coach   Guy Hakmon
Fitness coach   Lidor Ganon
Sportstherapist   Shlomi Zimmermann
Physiotherapist   Itay Azulay
Director of the youth department   Yehuda Herzog
Logistics Manager   Moshe Zakaria
Professional Manager   Shay Aharon

Honours edit

League edit

Honour No. Years
Second tier 3 1949–50, 1979–80, 1987–88
Third tier 3 2001–02, 2007–08, 2010–11

Cups edit

Honour No. Years
State Cup 1 1973

Other titles edit

Honour No. Years
Raghib al-Nashashibi Cup 1 1929[7]

See also edit

External links edit

References edit

  1. ^ Maccabi Hashmonai Hapoel Jerusalem 8 – 0 (2–0) Do'ar HaYom, 13 November 1931, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  2. ^ 80 Years to the Israeli League Archived 8 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine Asher Goldberg, 17 November 2011, IFA (in Hebrew)
  3. ^ Gunners Team Won the War Cup 1943 HaBoker, 17 October 1943 (in Hebrew)
  4. ^ Jerusalem's First Cup! Pinhas Zahavi, 21 June 1973, Hadshot HaSport, p. 1 (in Hebrew)
  5. ^ So What If Constructor Victor Yona Owes 6 Million NIS to Hapoel Jerusalem and Its Creditors? No'am Sharvit, 17 August 2008, Globes (in Hebrew)
  6. ^ Victor Yona: I Hope My Resignation Will Help the Team Lee Nof, 8 October 2009, One (in Hebrew)
  7. ^ Palestine from Day to Day – Hapoel Wins Nashashibi Cup The Palestine Bulletin, 26 April 1929, Historical Jewish Press