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Revision as of 07:15, 16 September 2009
| File:Maccabi Haifa FC.png | ||||
| Full name | Maccabi Haifa Football Club מועדון הכדורגל מכבי חיפה | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Greens הירוקים (Hayerukim) The Green Demons | |||
| Founded | 1913 | |||
| Ground | Kiryat Eliezer, Haifa | |||
| Capacity | 14,000 | |||
| Chairman |  Ya'akov Shahar | |||
| Manager | Elisha Levy | |||
| League | Israeli Premier League | |||
| 2008-09 | 1st (Champions) | |||
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Maccabi Haifa Football Club (Hebrew: מועדון הכדורגל מכבי חיפה, Moadon HaKaduregel Maccabi Haifa) is an Israeli football club from the city of Haifa, a section of Maccabi Haifa sports club. It is the most successful team in the country with 11 championships, 5 State Cups and 3 Toto Cups. The club was founded in 1913, and it is one of the country's most successful teams in Europe, being the first Israeli club to qualify for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.
Maccabi Haifa is also the first Israeli team that will participate in one of the Pro Evolution Soccer Series video games, by participating in Pro Evolution Soccer 2010.
History
First seventy years of obscurity
Maccabi Haifa Football Club was established in 1913 in the port city of Haifa. It was a small, struggling club that spent most of its time bouncing between the Liga Leumit and the lower leagues.
The club was overshadowed by their city rivals Hapoel Haifa, who were then the darling club of the city of Haifa and especially of then mayor Abba Hushi. But even in its first years the club adapted a very adventurous and offensive style of play based on technique and short passes. In 1942, the club reached the Israel State Cup final, but was humiliated 12-1 by Beitar Tel Aviv in the final, which is the club's worst defeat ever. In 1962, the club won its only honour until the 80s, when the team defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv 5-2 in the State Cup final. In 1963 they reached the final again, but failed to defend their title losing to arch-rivals Hapoel Haifa 1-0.
The Eighties
During the 1980s Maccabi Haifa finally entered the Israeli champions' club, clinching the title thrice (in 1983/84, 1984/85 and 1988/1989 seasons). In the 1983-84 season Maccabi Haifa won its first ever championship, under coach Shlomo Sharf and general manager Yochanan Vollach, overcoming Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Tel Aviv in a dramatic struggle. This was a total surprise to the Greens, as the club was known for its "all-around-offense" and flashy technique football style - often resulting in bad defensive formation and resultant losses. Sharf's team played with 4 strikers including: Moshe Selekter, Zahi Armeli and Ronny Rosenthal positioned at point and midfield and managed to build their defense around the late legendary goalkeeper Avi Ran. A year later, Maccabi Haifa won a second championship in a decisive performance. In 1986 Maccabi lost the championship in a controversial final match against runner-ups Hapoel Tel Aviv. The single goal scored in that match by Gili Landau was said to be scored from a passive offside position, which by the rules of the time should have resulted in a disqualification of the goal and a scoreless draw, guaranteeing MHFC the title. Due to less-than-satisfactory TV coverage, the issue has never been fully resolved. In 1988, Maccabi Haifa decimated Maccabi Tel Aviv 10-0 to earn its biggest win ever. In 1989, under the capable hands of Amazzia Levkovic, the club won another championship.
The Nineties
In 1990 Maccabi Haifa established itself as an elite, and dominating club in Israel. It began by winning the "double" - League championship and the national cup in the 1990/1 season and continued with the introduction of three talented young players: Eyal Berkovic, Reuven Atar and Tal Banin. In 1992 Maccabi Haifa was purchased by Ya'akov Shahar, who became the owner and president of the club. Under Shahar's management, Maccabi Haifa enjoyed a financial stability and a professional working regulation similar to European football clubs' standards. Maccabi Haifa's highlight season was 1993-94. After winning the 1993 cup, Maccabi Haifa gave a stunning performance in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (CWC), beating FC Torpedo Moscow 3-1 and Parma A.C. 1-0 in the last 16, only to lose on penalties. During the season in the domestic league (then called Liga Leumit), the team went unbeaten for the entire season, out of an overall unbeaten streak of 48 games, thus winning a spectacular championship, and breaking many Israeli records. The Maccabi Haifa 1993/4 squad including Eyal Berkovic, Reuven Atar, Alon Mizrahi and Serhiy Kandaurov, and is considered one of the best squads in Israeli football history.
In 1996 Eyal Berkovic and Haim Revivo, the latter had joined the team the previous season, both left Haifa for European clubs. While the two gained great personal success there, Maccabi Haifa went into a slump. The team's standards of maintaining the services of the manager for multiple seasons was thrown as the team went through several managers during 4 years. As result, the team failed to win the national championship title, despite securing the National cup in 1998.
In 1999, under the guidance of the Czech manager Dušan Uhrin, Maccabi Haifa beat French giants Paris Saint-Germain and Austrian club SV Ried to reach the quarter-final of the Cup Winners' Cup. In the middle of the season, Haifa's excellent striker Alon Mizrahi left for French club Nice resulting in a defeat in the CWC quarter final and a slump in the club's league performance. The club's winning record continued to falter until the arrival of Avraham Grant.
From the millennium to the present
Previously Maccabi Tel Aviv's coach, Avraham Grant was appointed in 2000 as manager of Maccabi Haifa. Under Grant's guidance, the team regained their dominating offensive style. Grant, along with a much improved squad, led the club with an almost unstoppable team, winning the championship. At the center of attention were a series of virtuoso performances by Israeli prodigy Yossi Benayoun, including what some consider to be several of the finest goals in Israeli league history. The championship ended Haifa's "seven year itch" and the spontaneous burst of celebrating fans onto the pitch caused a tragic disaster. A young fan, Amir Rand, was crushed against the guarding rails and went into a coma, from which he hasn't managed to recover as of yet.
A year later, Grant won a second championship with relative ease, relying on a trio of foreign footballers: Giovanni Rosso (Croatia), Raimondas Žutautas (Lithuania) and the young Nigerian striker Aiyegbeni Yakubu. Following the second championship, Avraham Grant left Haifa for the Israeli national team and was replaced by then Israel U-21 manager Itzhak Shum.
In 2002, Haifa made Israeli club history by becoming the first Israeli team to qualify for the group phase of the UEFA Champions League. In the group phase, the team defeated Olympiacos and Manchester United. Haifa managed 7 points overall scoring 12 goals, and finished in the third place, securing a place in the UEFA Cup.
In the 2003/4 season Maccabi Haifa won an easy but somewhat unconvincing championship with the young coach and ex-Maccabi footballer Ronny Levy. In the eyes of football fans and media, the team failed to show their usual offensive flair, winning the championship due to an overall weakness of the other league teams.The team's squad, considered the finest in the league due to a consistent high budget in domestic standards, was seen as one that should score many goals in every match, yet disappointment rose when this was not the case. In this season, Maccabi Haifa youth club (ages 16-18) won the domestic championship, and an Israel national kids team which was constituted solely from Maccabi Haifa players won Fox Kids World Cup for 12-year-olds.
History would be made during the 2005/06 season. After months of indecision regarding the contract of Ronny Levy, it was finally decided that it would be renewed. Levy returned the favor by guiding the club to eleven straight victories in the first eleven games of the Israeli Premier League season. This was also the key to Maccabi Haifa taking the league title after building a strong enough lead. While the club enjoyed great domestic success, they were not as fortunate in European play. Though Haifa was a seeded team for the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round, they drew the strong Swedish club, Malmö FF. In both matches Haifa blew the lead and was subsequently punished both times.
In the 2006/07 season, seven years after the opportunity to play against Liverpool was taken from Haifa, they received a second chance to meet the Reds. Haifa's players were excited after their historic performance in Old Trafford a few years back, especially those who have personally experienced it (like Alon Harazi and Yaniv Katan), and stepped on to the dreamy grass in the mythological Anfield. The first game of the third round of the qualifying matches that was held in England was a sensation. Haifa's Gustavo Boccoli scored on the 29th minute an advantage that lasted just four minutes. Craig Bellamy evened the score and in front of 40,000 local fans, Haifa stood bravely up to the 88th minute when Mark Gonzales scored the winning goal for the hosts. Again, due to the security situation in Israel, the return match was not held in Ramat-Gan. At the end of long searches Haifa decided to host the game in Kiev, Ukraine. There, in the Valery Lobanovsky stadium, to the eyes of 1700 spectators, a few from Israel, the game ended in a 1:1 tie. But the last twenty minutes of the game were stressful for Rafa Benitez's players. Indeed, the giant Peter Crouch gave his team the advantage (54) and an away goal, but Roberto Colautti (63) tied the score and from here on the movement towards the host's goalpost became one-sided. The tie score sent Haifa to compete in the UEFA Cup.
Maccabi Haifa wanted to play in the real thing, the group stage, a place where only one Israeli group played before, Maccabi Petach-Tikva. In order to do so, it had to face the Bulgarian team, Litex Lovech in…Holland, again due to security restrictions. The Bulgarians returned optimistic to their country after a 1:1 tie, when Yaniv Katan (7) gave Haifa some hope and Peter Dimitrov (51) took it away. But, in the return match, in Bulgaria, Haifa played excellently and left no doubt as to who should be in the next stage. Xavier Dirsau (19) with a huge goal from a distance, Alain Massudi (32) and Roberto Colautti (66) left Eljendario Sanderinio (37) just one honor goal. Ronnie Levy's team made another little peace of history.
In the Groups stage Haifa had strong opponents: The Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers, the Serbian Partizan Belgrade, the French Auxerre and the italian Serie A team Livorno. All five teams were looking to finish in one of the first three places that gave the ticket to the middle stage before the last sixteen. UEFA agreed to give Haifa its home field back. But not all the way. They had to play 100 KM away from Haifa in Bloomfield stadium as their home field and Haifa's "Greens" turned it into a charged atmosphere. The first team to experience this was Auxerre. When Alain Masudi, Haifa's new foreigner scored first (13)which made the fans go crazy then . Daniel Niculae (29) calmed them down, but in the second half the hosts gave a strong performance. Gustavo Boccoli gave Haifa its advantage back (56) and two minutes later Roberto Colautti scored the goal to seal the match. The visitor, Stephan Grichting was sent off (65) and Haifa had a flicker of hope that the mission to make it to the next stage was possible.
This hope did not fade even when Haifa left to Glasgow's mighty Ibrox stadium and lost 2:0. The incredible atmosphere of 50,000 spectators pushing their team resulted in a quick goal by Nacho Novo (5). Haifa struggled with the atmosphere. Its goalkeeper, Nir Davidovitch, blocked a penalty kick in the opening minute of the second half that was taken by Kris Boyd even though it just prevented the inevitable of the scottish giants sealing the win.In the 88th minute the Scots succeeded in doubling the score from another penalty kick given away by a Haifa defender. This time Charlie Adam scored and sealed the scots victory.
The third game became critical. Haifa returned home and hosted the strong Partizan Belgrade. An early goal by Anderson Xavier, the Brazilian midfielder, put Haifa in an excellent place with six points. Haifa needed one point in the away game in Italy against Livorno to complete the task successfully. Cristiano Lucarelli gave Livorno the advantage (19), Haifa fought with gnashed teeth and right with the last whistle Roberto Colautti evened the score 1:1 and the joy was overwhelming: "the Greens" became the first Israeli team to make it to the next stage.
In this high unprecedented stage Haifa was drawn against CSKA Moscow. The game was moved to the Spartak stadium in Vladikavkaz due to extreme weather in Moscow. 30,000 Russian fans made it to the stadium certain that Haifa would fail again against the Russian Capital's representative. Torpedo beat Haifa 1:0 and Lokomotiv beat it 3:0. Again Haifa did not score an away goal, but the result (0:0) signaled that Haifa might use its home advantage in the return match. And they did make another historic move: A goal by Roberto Colautti (13) unanswered by the Russians sent Haifa to the last sixteen, where the Spanish Espanyol was waiting for it.
In the first game Haifa's players struggled to realize their home advantage (although Bloomfield isn't the home stadium), but the Spaniards' strong defense left the two nets empty. In the return match in Barcelona's Olympic stadium Haifa did not give in, but once Ivan De La Peña scored the first goal (53), the Israelis tried to tie and gain an away goal that would send them to the quarterfinals. Instead, within one minute (60-61) two goals by Raul Tamudo and Luis Garcia wiped out all Israeli desire. Walter Pandiani completed Haifa's defeat. Maccabi Haifa finished at the 5th place in the Premier League in Israel.
In the 2007/08 season, Maccabi Haifa finished at the 5th place in the League and was eliminated in the last-16 phase of the State Cup. Ronny Levy announced that he will not continue with the club. Although a bad season, Haifa had won the Toto Cup after a 2-0 victory over Bnei-Sakhnin.
Haifa opened the 2008/09 season with hidden hopes to remain a top team, when its' main goal is to build a team for the years to come. But plans apart and reality apart. Haifa hit the road, noticed it could be one of the top teams and very early on understood it was in its' power to take the Championship, without giving up the other goals it set for itself. At the end of the season coach, Elisha Levy, succeeded in winning his first personal title, Haifa's eleventh Championship that made history in Israeli soccer by succeeding in winning six Championships in one decade.
Maccabi Haifa has returned to the Champions League for the 2009-2010 season. A smooth 3:0 win over FC Red Bull Salzburg insured a second experience within seven years. Dvalishvili, Golasa and Ghadir scored and the festivities in Ramat-Gan's stadium were perfect.
Maccabi Haifa has drawed in the Champions League into group A with FC Bayern Munich,Juventus and Girondins de Bordeaux.
Sponsorship
Club chairman Ya'akov Shahar provides the main sponsorship of the club. Thus for the past several years, the club's shirts have had Volvo and Honda printed on them as he is the chairman of Mayer's Cars and Trucks Ltd., the official importer to Israel of Volvo and Honda.
Support
Much of the club support comes from the surrounding areas of Haifa and the North of Israel .Though there are also many fans throughout the country. The club is one of the most popular in Israel and the average attendance in the home matches is approximately 12,000 fans. In 2002, the first ultras group was formed, calling themselves "Green Apes" and sitting in the "Gimel" gate.
Stadium
Maccabi originally played in Kiryat Haim, which is the site for the main training grounds of city rivals, Hapoel. In 1955, a gift from the Italian Labour Union was a football pitch in the heart of the city of Haifa, which would become the new home of Maccabi. The opening match was a Haifa derby, won by Maccabi 4-1 over their rivals, Hapoel. The stadium does not meet UEFA's highest standard,and can't host matches in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League or latter stages of the Europa League.
Kiryat Eliezer missed out on staging a historic event when Maccabi reached the group stage of the UEFA Champions League. It was the first time an Israeli club had made it that far in the competition, though the lucrative gate receipts expected to have been made by hosting matches in Israel were lost when UEFA forced Maccabi to look for an alternative in Europe but outside of Israel because of security concern. The choice was to host the matches at Neo GSP Stadium in Nicosia, Cyprus.
New stadium
There have been indications that Maccabi may soon move from Kiryat Eliezer. Due to the recent success of the club in European competitions, the municipality of Haifa has offered the club land to develop a stadium at the southern entrance to the city.
In the fall of 2008, the final plans were approved and Maccabi Haifa is scheduled to move into Sammy Ofer Stadium in the summer of 2012.
Players
Current squad
As of September 1 2009.
Players in bold are Internationals players.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Squad changes for 2009/10
In
Jorge Teixeira - 
AEP Paphos for €220.000
Vladimir Dvalishvili - 
Skonto Riga for €300.000
Yero Bello - 
Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona - loan return- Shai Maimon - F.C. Ashdod - loan return
Eial Strahman - River Plate for $500,000- Ali Ottman - Bnei Sakhnin for $500,000
Tiago da Silva Dutra - 
Villarreal CF - loan
Out
- Omri Afek - Bnei Yehuda - free transfer
- Ronny Gafney - Maccabi Tel Aviv - free transfer
Leo Krupnik - Red Bull New York - free transfer- Anderson West - Maccabi Ahi Nazareth - loan
- Yero Bello - Hapoel Haifa - loan
Thembinkosi Fanteni - Orlando Pirates F.C. - free transfer
Osei Ransford - 
FC Twente - loan
Foreigners 2009-10
Only up to five non-Israeli nationals can be in an Israeli club squad. Those with Jewish ancestry , married to an Israeli or have played in Israel for an extended period of time (e.g. Gustavo Boccoli), can claim a passport or permanent residency which would allow them to play with Israeli status.
Managerial history
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Notable former players
See Also: Category:Maccabi Haifa F.C. players
Honours
- Israeli Championships
- Winners (11): 1983–84, 1984–85, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1993–94, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09
- Second Division
- Winners (2): 1965–66, 1974–75
- State Cup
- Winners (5): 1962, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1998
- Toto Cup
- Winners: (4) 1994, 2002, 2006, 2008
- Israel Champion of Champions Cup
- Winners (3): 1962, 1985, 1989
- Sukkot Cup
- Winners (1): 1958
- Lilian Cup
- Winners (1): 1984
- Milk Cup
- Winners (1): 2004
Records
- Record home win: 10-0 v Maccabi Tel Aviv 1988
- Record away win: 7-0 v Ironi Rishon LeZion 1999
- Record League Defeat: 0-9 v Hapoel Petah Tikva, 1953
- Record Cup Defeat: 1-12 v Beitar Tel Aviv, Israel State Cup, Final, 1942
- Record 'home' Attendance: 38,000 v Rosenborg, 2004
- Most League Appearances: 419 Alon Harazi
- Most appearances in one season: 66 Adoram Keise
- Most League Goals: 90 Zahi Armeli
- Most League Goals in a Season: 28 Alon Mizrahi, Liga Leumit, 1993/94
- Most Goals scored in a Match: 6 Aharon Gershgoren v Ironi Kiryat Shmona, 1965
- Most League Goals in a Season: 97 1993/94
- Most points in a season: 95 - 39 games 1993/94
- Most Games without a loss 46 (throughout 3 seasons) 1993, 1993/94, 1994
- Most Games in a row scoring at least one goal 39 1993/94
- Most Away Games without losing 30 1993/94
Club officials
Boardroom
- Owner: Ya'akov Shahar
- Chief Executive: Uzi Mor
- Executive Directors: Uddy Shochtowicz
- Executive Directors: Barak Kana
Senior Management
- Club Secretary: Itamar Chizek
- Head of Football Media Relations (Press Officer): Roei Daniel
- Director of Merchandising: Tal Goldstein
- Director of Commercial Enterprise: Haim Izkowicz
- Director of Finance & IT: Yitzhak Haberman
- Director of Financial Services: Dalit Zimmerman
- Director of Venue: Zion Biton
Management
- Manager: Elisha Levy
- Assistant Manager: Georgi Derasilia
- First Team Coach: Adoram Keisi
- Goalkeeping Coach: Giora Antman
- Fitness Coach: Yoram Rozenbaum
Academy Coaching Staff
- Director of Youth Academy: Yehoshua Frankel
Medical Staff
- Club Doctor: Dr. Ami Berber
- First Team Physio: Pinny Sharon
- Masseurs: Alexandre Robichek
Kit & Equipment Staff
- Kit Manager: Benny Idan
Performance in the top division
Maccabi Haifa have spent 48 seasons in the national top flight, finishing in these positions:
| 1st | 11 | 9th | 4 |
| 2nd | 5 | 10th | 1 |
| 3rd | 5 | 11th | 1 |
| 4th | 3 | 12th | 1 |
| 5th | 8 | 13th | 1 |
| 6th | 2 | 14th | 0 |
| 7th | 3 | 15th | 2 |
| 8th | 1 | 16th | 1 |
European record
As of August 28, 2009.
Notes
Template:Fnb The real result between FC Haka and Maccabi Haifa was 4-0 to Haifa. The loss was a punishment for a participation of a banned player (Walid Badir).