Maccabi Rehovot F.C.

Maccabi Rehovot
Full name	Maccabi Rehovot Football Club
Founded	1912
Ground	Kiryat Moshe, Rehovot
Chairman	Meir Nahmani
2014–15	Liga Gimel Central, 9th
Home colours	Away colours

Maccabi Rehovot F.C. (Hebrew: מכבי רחובות) is an Israeli football club based in Rehovot. The club was a founding member of the Israeli League in 1949 and competed in the top division during the 1950s, but today plays in Liga Gimel, the fifth and lowest level of Israeli football.

History[edit]

Founded in 1912,^[1] Maccabi Rehovot is one of the oldest clubs in Israeli football. Prior to the Israeli Declaration of Independence, the club played at the Palestine League and were runners-up in the 1943–44 season, behind champions, Hapoel Tel Aviv.

Maccabi Rehovot took part in the first post-independence league in 1949–50, finishing 8th out of 13. After several mid-table finishes, the club was relegated to Liga Alef at the end of the 1955–56 season after finishing second from bottom. The following season the club finished second in Liga Alef, which would have resulted in automatic promotion to the top division. However, after it was discovered that 9 out of the 12 clubs of Liga Alef were involved in match-fixing, the Israel Football Association decided to hold a promotion/relegation play-offs.^[2] Maccabi finished bottom of the group and remained in the second tier.

In the 1959–60 season, the club was relegated to Liga Bet, the third tier at the time. Ever since, the club plays in the lower divisions of Israeli football. In the 1990s they dropped into Liga Gimel, where they play today.

References[edit]

^ The buds of division – The controversy about Hebrew labor within Maccabi Dr. Haim Kaufman, lib.cet.ac.il (in Hebrew)
^ Football commission of inquiry: "Five more play-off matches will be held" Heruth, 9.7.1957, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)

External links[edit]

Maccabi Rehovot Israel Football Association (in Hebrew)

[1] The buds of division – The controversy about Hebrew labor within Maccabi Dr. Haim Kaufman, lib.cet.ac.il (in Hebrew)

[Football_commission_of_inquiry:_Five_more_play-off_matches_will_be_held-2] Football commission of inquiry: "Five more play-off matches will be held" Heruth, 9.7.1957, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)

[1]

[2]

v t e Liga Gimel
Upper Galilee	Bnei Maghar Hapoel Mi'ilya Hapoel Nahef F.C. Beit Jann Hapoel Fassuta Hapoel Ihud Bnei Sumei Hapoel Shlomi Ihud Bnei Majd al-Krum Maccabi Sektzia Ma'alot-Tarshiha Tzeirei Sakhnin
Lower Galilee	Beitar Kafr Kanna Beitar Kiryat Ata Bnei Kafr Yasif F.C. Kabul F.C. Kafr Yasif Hapoel Bnei Dir al-Asad Hapoel Ironi Ibli'in Maccabi Basmat Tab'un Maccabi Ihud Bnei Ibtin Tzeirei Kafr Manda
Jezreel	Beitar Umm al-Fahm Bnei Daburiyya Bnei Umm al-Fahm F.C. Kafr Kama F.C. Mash'ad Hapoel Daliyat al-Karmel Hapoel Ein as-Sahala Hapoel Ramot Menashe Megido Hapoel Reineh Hapoel Tzeirei Nazareth Maccabi Ironi Barta'a Tzeirei Iksal
Samaria	Beitar Pardes Hanna F.C. Kababir F.C. Kiryat Haim F.C. Pardes Hanna-Karkur F.C. Or Akiva F.C. Karmel Haifa Hapoel Bnei Jasr a-Zarqa Hapoel Ihud Bnei Jatt Hapoel Kiryat Haim Maccabi Barkai Tzeirei Haifa Tzofey Haifa
Sharon	Beitar Kfar Saba Beitar Mate Binyamin Beitar Tubruk Bnei Jaljulia Bnei Tira F.C. Bnei Ra'anana F.C. Bnei Zemer F.C. Giv'at Shmuel F.C. Kafr Qasim Nibrass F.C. Ironi Ariel Hapoel 1928 Kfar Saba Hapoel Oranit Hapoel Pardesiya Ironi Rosh HaAyin Maccabi Ironi Kfar Yona Maccabi HaSharon Netanya Shimshon Bnei Tayibe
Tel Aviv	Agudat Sport Holon Beitar Ezra Beitar Jaffa Bnei Herzliya Bnei Yehud Dizengoff Tel Aviv Elitzur Jaffa Tel Aviv Elitzur Yehud Yotel F.C. Tel Aviv Hakoah Gil Ramat Gan Hapoel Neve Golan Hapoel Ramat Yisrael Hapoel Tzafririm Holon Maccabi Giv'at Shmuel Maccabi Hashikma Ramat Hen Maccabi Ironi Or Yehuda Maccabi Pardes Katz Maccabi Spartak Ramat Gan Maccabi Yehud-Monosson Shikun Vatikim Ramat Gan
Central	Ashdod City Beitar Gan Yavne Beitar Gedera Bnei Ramla Bnei Yeechalal Rehovot Beitar Ironi Ma'ale Adumim F.C. Be'er Ya'akov F.C. Rishon LeZion Hapoel Mevaseret Zion Hapoel Tirat Shalom Ihud Tzeirei Abu Gush Ironi Beit Shemesh Maccabi Be'er Ya'akov Maccabi Bnei Abu Gush Macccabi Kiryat Ekron Tzeirei Lod
South	Bnei Yeruham F.C. Be'er Sheva F.C. Be'er Sheva Haim Levy F.C. Meitar Hapoel Bnei Kuseife Hapoel Rahat Maccabi Ashkelon Maccabi Be'er Sheva Maccabi Ironi Hura Otzma Be'er Sheva Tzeirei Rahat
Seasons (fifth tier)	1958–59 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
Seasons (sixth tier)	1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09