Maccabi Netanya F.C.
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| Full name | Maccabi Netanya Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Diamonds | ||
| Founded | 1934; 81 years ago | ||
| Ground | Netanya Stadium, Netanya | ||
| Capacity | 13,800 | ||
| Owner | Eyal Segal | ||
| Manager | Slobodan Drapić | ||
| League | Israeli Premier League | ||
| 2023–24 | Israeli Premier League, 9th of 14 | ||
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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 relegated 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[citation needed] . The senior derby only took place a handful of times when both clubs played in the second tier, in the 1939 season, 1940 season, 1941–42 season, 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. The derby also took place in the State Cup during the 1947 first round and the 1984 seventh round.
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 16 July 2016
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Youth team 2014–15
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Honours
Domestic
League
Cups
- State Cup
- League Cup
- Toto Cup
- Runners-up (2): 1986–87, 1988–89
- Toto Cup Leumit
- Winners (1): 2004–05
- Israeli Supercup
European
Minor honours
- Nesher Cup
- Winners (1): 1941
- Netanya Cup
- Winners (1): 1953
Records
Local
- First Goal in the Top Division: Yitzhak Casspi, 1948
- Record Win: 12–0 v Hapoel Ramla, 1974
- Record Defeat: 1–10 v Maccabi Petah Tikva, 25.6.1949
- Record home Attendance: 13,800 v Hapoel Tel Aviv in the opening game of the new Netanya Stadium, 4.11.2012
- Most Appearances: Haim Bar with 417
- All Time Scorer: Mordechai Spiegler with 274 goals (in all competitions)
- Most League Goals in a Season: 82, 1966–68
- Most League Goals in a Season by a Player: 38 goals by Mordechai Spiegler, Liga Leumit, 1966–68
- Most Goals in European competitions by a Player: 21 goals by David Lavi (scored in UEFA Intertoto Cup between 1978–1984)
- Most Points in a Season: 61 – 30 games, 1982–83
- Record signing – $400,000 Ferenc Hamori (1999),[9]Itay Shechter (2006)
- Record sale – $1,000,000 Orel Dgani (2011), Hen Ezra (2012)
European
- First Appearance in a European Competition: UEFA Intertoto Cup – vs.
FK Sloboda Tuzla, 24 June 1978 - Biggest Win in a European Competition: UEFA Intertoto Cup – vs.
IF Elfsborg (7:1), 1 July 1978[10] - Biggest Defeat in a European Competition: UEFA Intertoto Cup – vs.
FC Admira Wacker (0:6), 21 July 1984 & UEFA Europa League – vs. 
Galatasaray (0:6), 6 August 2009
Managers
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- Managers marked in bold have won an honour with the club.
References
- Notes
- ^ a b Israel – List of Cup Finals RSSSF
- ^ a b Israel – List of Final Tables RSSSF
- ^ http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3188093,00.html
- ^ http://www.israelhayom.co.il/article/180425
- ^ http://sports.walla.co.il/item/2948932
- ^ http://www.one.co.il/Article/15-16/1,1,3,0/266679.html
- ^ http://sports.walla.co.il/item/2946994
- ^ http://www.one.co.il/Article/268358.html
- ^ http://www.kan-naim.co.il/artical.asp?id=4938
- ^ http://wildstat.com/p/1/ch/all/club1/ISR_Maccabi_Netanya/ydate/1978