Hapoel Ra'anana A.F.C.

Hapoel Ra'anana A.F.C.

Full name	Hapoel Ra'anana Association Football Club
Founded	1972
Ground	Karnei Oren, Ra'anana (Capacity: 1000)
Owner	Shlomo Stern & Asher Alon
Chairman	Alon Kittelman
Manager	Tzvika Tzemah
League	Liga Leumit
2010–11	5th
Home colours Away colours

Hapoel Ra'anana Association Football Club (Hebrew: עמותת הפועל רעננה מחלקת כדורגל‎, Amutat Hapoel Ra'anana Mahleket Kaduregel) is an Israeli football club, and based in Ra'anana. They are currently in the Liga Leumit and play at the Levita Stadium in Kfar Saba.

History

A Hapoel Ra'anana was in existence in the 1950s and 1960s. They were placed in the South Division of Liga Bet (then the second division) in 1951-52.

The modern club was established in 1972, and in the mid-1990s was playing in Liga Gimel, the lowest tier of Israeli football. In 1995 they started a remarkable period of success; in 1997 they won their division of Liga Gimel, and were promoted to Liga Bet. The following season they won their division of Liga Bet and were promoted to Liga Alef. In 1998–99 they won the North Division of Liga Alef to earn promotion to Liga Artzit. After finishing third in 1999–2000, they won the league the following season and were promoted to Liga Leumit.

In 2008–09, the club was promoted to the Israeli Premier League for the first time in their history. However, they had to play its home matches at Hapoel Kfar Saba's Levita Stadium, as its home ground, the Karnei Oren Memorial Field, did not meet Premier League requirements. In January 2010, the city cuoncil published plans for a 7,500-capacity new stadium in Lev HaPark neighborhood.

After a single season in the top division the club relegated to Liga Leumit.

Current squad

As of 25 March 2010. Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Shaul Smadja 3 DF Erik Hort 5 DF Avi Soffer 6 DF Lira 8 MF Snir Shooker 11 FW Cristiano 12 DF Omri Atia 13 DF Haim Pontramoli 14 FW Moshe Balbilya 16 MF Dror Posterman 17 MF Gil Cooper

No. Position Player 18 FW Raz Cohen 19 DF Itai Tuef 20 DF Alon Ziv 21 MF Michael Siroshtein 22 GK Raz Assaf 23 MF Maor Zohar 25 MF Daniel Barak 26 DF Gay Koaz 29 DF Irmantas Zelmikas FW Shlomi Avisidris

Honours

• Liga Artzit
  • Champions 2000-01
• Liga Alef (North)
  • Champions 1998–99
• Liga Bet (South A)
  • Champions 1997-98
• Liga Gimel (Sharon)
  • Champions 1996-97

Club officials

Boardroom

• Owner: Municipality of Ra'anana
• President: Asher Alon
• Chairman: Roee Daniel

Management

• Manager: Tzvika Tzemah
• Assistant Manager: Avi Elton

Academy Coaching Staff

• Youth Academy Director: Rafi Zaman
• Under 23 Coach: Ya'akov Maimoni

External links

• Club website (Hebrew)