Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C.
| Full name | Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1906 | |||
| Ground | Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv | |||
| Capacity | 29,400 | |||
| Chairman | Mitchell Goldhar | |||
| Manager | Robbie Keane | |||
| League | Israeli Premier League | |||
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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.
History[change | change source]
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.
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[change | change source]
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.
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In an Israel team only 5 foreigners are allowed. The foreigners are:
Honours[change | change source]
- Israeli championships
- Tel Aviv District championship
- State Cup
- Winners (22)[4] 1928–29, 1929–30, 1932–33, 1940–41, 1945–46, 1946–47, 1953–54, 1954–55, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1969–70, 1976–77, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1993–94, 1995–96, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2004–05
- Asian Club Championship
- Winners (2) 1968–69, 1970–71
- Toto Cup
- Winners (3) 1992–93, 1998–99, 2008–09
- Israeli Supercup
- Winners (5)[5] 1964–65 (shared cup with Hakoah Ramat Gan), 1967–68, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1987–88
References[change | change source]
- ↑ Before joining the UEFA Israel was member of the Asian federation.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Maccabi Tel Aviv league titles". Archived from the original on 2012-01-11. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
- ↑ No national championship was held; the Tel Aviv district league was won by Maccabi Tel Aviv, that of Jerusalem by British Police; the champions of Haifa are not known.
- ↑ Israel – List of Cup Finals RSSSF
- ↑ Israeli Super Cup winners RSSSF