Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C.

association football club in Israel

Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club (Hebrew: מועדון כדורגל מכבי תל אביב; Moadon Kaduregel Maccabi Tel Aviv) is an Israeli football club. It is one of the oldest clubs in Israeli football. The club is also the most successful. They have won 18 championships, 22 national cups, 2 Asian Champions Cups [1] and 3 Toto cups. The homeground of the team is the Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv, where also the city rival Hapoel Tel Aviv is playing.

Full nameMaccabi Tel Aviv Football Club
Founded1906
GroundBloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv
Capacity29,400
ChairmanMitchell Goldhar
ManagerRobbie Keane
LeagueIsraeli Premier League

History

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The club was founded in 1906. It was the first Jewish football club in Ottoman Palestine. The name was then Rishon Lezion-Yafo. The first match was a 3-0 win against a team of French sailors. After the foundation of Tel Aviv in 1909 the clubs name was changed into Maccabi Tel Aviv. Maccabi was founding member of the Palestine Football Association and the Palestine League.

 
Maccabi Tel Aviv in Australia, 1939

In 1936 the club was invited to play in the United States. On the way Maccabi played in France versus Racing Paris and Olympique Lille. In the United States they played against an All-star team of New York City at Yankee Stadium. Maccabi also defeated the American Soccer League team in Brooklyn and Philadelphia on their home ground 1–0. Other matches were against St. Louis Stars and the Boston Celtics. They played also in Canada, where they drew 1–1 with Toronto All-Stars. In 1939 they played 18 matches in Australia.

After the independence in 1948 Tel Aviv was the most successful club in Israel's top league.

The 1950s decade is considered to be their "golden age" because they won 5 league championships and 4 cups. The club was almost relegated in 1976 but beat Beitar Jerusalem in the relegation play-off.

In the 2011/12 season they reached the group stage of the UEFA Europa League. The team played versus PSV Eindhoven, Rapid Bucharest and Legia Warsaw. They failed to reach the next stage (2 wins, 1 draw, 3 lost).

Current team

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As of 13 October 2011

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   Israel Barak Levi
2 DF   Israel Klemi Saban
3 DF   Israel Uri Cohen
4 DF   Brazil Nivaldo (2nd VC)
5 DF   Israel Yagil Biton
6 MF   Israel Gal Alberman
7 MF   Israel Guillermo Israilevich
9 FW   Israel Barak Itzhaki (Captain)
10 MF   Bosnia and Herzegovina Haris Medunjanin
11 MF   Israel Eli Zizov
13 FW   Israel Moanes Dabour
14 DF   Israel Yoav Ziv
15 MF   Israel Dor Micha
16 FW   Israel Eliran Atar
17 DF   Montenegro Savo Pavićević
18 FW   Senegal Moussa Konaté
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 MF   Israel Roi Kahat
20 FW   Israel Dia Saba
21 MF   Israel Shiran Yeini (1st VC)
23 MF   Israel Moshe Lugasi
24 FW   Israel Roberto Colautti
25 MF   Israel Rafi Dahan
26 DF   Israel Avi Strul
27 DF   Israel Omer Vered
29 MF   Israel Rif Peretz
30 MF   Israel Omri Shkel
31 GK   Israel Yossi Ginzburg
42 DF   Israel Rahamim Checkol
43 MF   Israel Ruslan Barski
44 DF   Croatia Roberto Punčec
45 MF   Israel Tom Mansharov
55 GK   Israel Guy Haimov

In an Israel team only 5 foreigners are allowed. The foreigners are:

Honours

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References

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  1. Before joining the UEFA Israel was member of the Asian federation.
  2. "Maccabi Tel Aviv league titles". Archived from the original on 2012-01-11. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
  3. Israel – List of Cup Finals RSSSF
  4. Israeli Super Cup winners RSSSF