Hapoel Haifa F.C. facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Hapoel Haifa

Full name	Hapoel Haifa Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Sharks
Founded	April 24, 1924; 101 years ago (1924-04-24)
Ground	Sammy Ofer Stadium, Haifa, Israel
Ground Capacity	30,942
Owner	Yoav Katz
Manager	Ronny Levy
League	Israeli Premier League
2021–22	Israeli Premier League, 11th of 14
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Departments of Hapoel Haifa
Football	Basketball	Woman Basketball
Handball	Swimming	Judo

The team crest for the 2014–15 season

The team crest (1999–2011)

Hapoel Haifa Football Club is a professional football team from Haifa, Israel. The club is often called "The Sharks". They have won one Israeli championship in 1998–99. They also won the Israel State Cup four times: in 1962–63, 1965–66, 1973–74, and 2017–18.

Their home stadium is the Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa. They have played there since 2014. Before that, they played at Kiryat Eliezer Stadium and Kiryat Haim's Thomas D'Alesandro Stadium. The Sammy Ofer Stadium is the second largest in Israeli football. It can hold 30,942 fans. Hapoel Haifa shares this stadium with their rivals, Maccabi Haifa. The team's home uniform is all red. Their away uniform has white shirts with black shorts and socks.

Club History

How Hapoel Haifa Started

The club began in 1924 in Haifa, which was then part of the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem. It was part of a larger group that included sports and worker movements. Their main goal was to create the first ever football club for workers in Palestine.

On April 24, 1924, during Passover, 36 people met in Haifa to officially start the club. Yehoshua Sherpstein and Yair Aharony led this important meeting.

The first match was played on May 1, 1924, which is Labour Day. Hapoel Haifa won 3–1 against the train workers of Haifa. In its early years, the club mostly played friendly matches. This was because the Football Association had not yet been formed.

At first, Hapoel Haifa was part of the Maccabi sports group. But two years later, they left Maccabi. They then helped create a new sports group called Hapoel.

Early Official Matches

In 1928, the Israel Football Association (IFA) was created. This meant official matches could be played. For the first four years, only cup matches were held. Later, league matches were added.

During these early years, Hapoel Haifa did not win many trophies. However, they were still one of the top teams in the country. In 1932, they reached their first cup final against the British Police team. The game had some controversial decisions. When Hapoel Haifa was leading 1–0, one of their players took the cup. Because of this, Hapoel Haifa was disqualified from the match. That same year, five Hapoel Haifa players were chosen for the Palestine national team.

The Fifties: After the War

After the 1947–1949 Palestine war, the Israeli League started again in 1950. Hapoel Haifa finished in 3rd place that season. They were behind Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv. Two years later, cup matches also restarted. The team continued to be a strong contender but still did not win any major trophies.

The Sixties and Seventies: A Strong Period

Hapoel Haifa was not very strong in the early 1960s. In the 1962–63 season, they were almost moved down to a lower division. But due to issues with other matches, the relegation was canceled.

This was a turning point for the club. Many talented young players from their youth team joined the main squad. This led to a big improvement and started one of the club's best times. In that same 1962–63 season, Hapoel Haifa won the Israel State Cup. They beat Maccabi Haifa 1–0 in the final.

In the years that followed, the team always finished in the top part of the league. They also reached the cup final three more times. Key players during this time included Abba Gindin, Yitzhak Englander, Yochanan Vollach, and Roby Young. These players were some of the best in Israeli football and played for the Israel national team. Roby Young even became the team's captain.

In 1974, Hapoel Haifa won the Israeli cup again. After this, some of the club's best players started to leave. Englander and Vollach even moved to their rival, Maccabi Haifa. This happened because Hapoel's management was not doing well. Even though the team finished 2nd in 1975, a big decline began. This led to a very difficult time for the club in the 1980s.

The Eighties: A Difficult Time

In 1981, Hapoel Haifa was moved down to the second division for the first time ever. Before this, they were one of only three clubs that had never been relegated. This marked the start of the club's worst decade.

Even bringing in Peter Lorimer, a famous player from Leeds United, as manager did not help much. He left after only a few months. The club faced serious financial problems and was almost bankrupt. There were also many changes in the club's leadership.

Towards the end of the 1980s, three former players, Yitzhak Englander, Avi Kaufman, and Efraim Gabay, tried to help the club. They hoped to save it from bankruptcy. However, they could not find enough money to solve the financial crisis.

The Nineties: Robi Shapira's Era

In 1992, the team was promoted back to the first division. During this season, there were rumors about a secret businessman helping the club. This person turned out to be Robi Shapira. He was a businessman who made a lot of money in the fishing industry.

Shapira gave a lot of money to the club, saving it from financial collapse. This money was used to buy many top players. However, the team did not achieve much and was still at risk of being relegated. After many losses in the 1993–94 season, Shapira decided to buy the club completely. In his first years, many great players and managers joined. Still, the team could not win trophies or achieve their big dream: a championship.

1998–99: The Championship Season

In the 1997–98 season, Hapoel Haifa finished in 3rd place with Eli Guttman as manager. The next season, the team was seen as a good team, but not expected to win the championship.

However, Hapoel Haifa started winning many games. They quickly took 1st place with a big lead over other teams. They played a very smart and effective style of football. This style sometimes received criticism from the media and other teams. But Hapoel Haifa kept their lead and even increased it.

On Saturday, May 8, 1999, in the 27th game of the league, Hapoel Haifa played against Maccabi Tel Aviv. Maccabi Tel Aviv was in 2nd place at the time. Hapoel Haifa won the match 3–2 at Kiryat Eliezer Stadium. Two goals were scored by Oren Zeituni and one by Oren Nissim. With this win, Hapoel Haifa became champions for the first and only time in their history!

2000s to Present: Ups and Downs

After winning the championship, the team had a disappointing season, finishing 7th. Two important players left, and their replacements could not help the team repeat their success. The next season, manager Guttman left. His replacement, Guy Levy, brought in new foreign players. The team finished in 3rd place that year. They won two local derby matches against Maccabi Haifa (3–0 and 3–1). They also won three games against the current champions, Hapoel Tel Aviv.

In the summer of 2001, news spread that Robi Shapira would greatly reduce his funding for the club. The club's budget was cut, and key players were released. It was later found that Shapira was having serious financial problems. At the end of the 2001–02 season, Hapoel Haifa was moved down to the second division. For almost three years, the club was managed by people who tried to keep the team going and find new owners.

In 2004, after returning to the top division, the club was bought by Yoav Katz, an Israeli businessman living in the United States. Hapoel Haifa played one season (2004–05) in the top league before being relegated again. They stayed in the second division until the end of the 2008–09 season. After finishing first in the second division that year, Hapoel Haifa returned to the Israeli Premier League. They managed to avoid relegation in 2010.

The club is still well-known and respected in the local league, even if they haven't won many trophies recently. Many foreign players who join Hapoel Haifa later become successful in bigger leagues. This is because the club helps players develop and move forward in their careers.

In the 2005–06 season, the club's youth team won the youth league championship. This showed they were one of the best youth teams in Israel.

European Competitions

Hapoel Haifa was the first Israeli team to reach the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League in 2000. They beat Beşiktaş from Turkey in the second qualifying round. The score was 1–1 in Turkey and 0–0 at home, so Hapoel Haifa advanced on away goals. In the third qualifying round, they lost twice (2–0 each time) to Valencia from Spain. Valencia went on to reach the Champions League Final that year.

After losing to Valencia, Hapoel Haifa played against Club Brugge from Belgium in the UEFA Cup. Hapoel Haifa won the first match 3–1. In the second match in Belgium, Hapoel Haifa scored early. Club Brugge came back to lead 3–1, but Hapoel Haifa scored again to make it 3–2. Even though Brugge scored late to win 4–2, Hapoel Haifa moved on because they scored more away goals. This was the first time an Israeli team reached the second round of the UEFA Cup.

In the second round, Hapoel Haifa played against Ajax from the Netherlands. Ajax won the first match in Israel 3–0. In the second match, Hapoel Haifa had a surprising 1–0 victory. They scored a penalty kick but missed another. Even with the win, they lost 3–1 on total score and were out of the competition.

European Match Results

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1996	Intertoto Cup	Group Stage	Standard Liège	N/A	2–2	4th
			Aalborg	N/A	4–5
			VFB Stuttgart	0–4	N/A
			Cliftonville F.C.	1–1	N/A
1998	Intertoto Cup	R1	Naţional București	1–2 .	1–3 .	2–5
1999–2000	Champions League	Q2	Besiktas	0–0 .	1–1 .	1–1 (a)
		Q3	Valencia CF	0–2 .	0–2 .	0–4
	UEFA Cup	R1	Club Brugge KV	3–1 .	2–4 .	5–5 (a)
		R2	Ajax FC	0–3 .	1–0 .	1–3
2001	Intertoto Cup	R1	TVMK Tallinn	2–0 .	3–0 .	5–0
		R2	FC Dinamo Minsk	0–1 .	0–2 .	0–3
2018–19	Europa League	Q2	FH	1–1.	1–0.	2–1
		Q3	Atalanta	1–4.	0–2.	1–6

Home Stadiums

Kiryat Eliezer Stadium during a derby match against Maccabi Haifa F.C.

Hapoel Haifa first played at Kiryat Haim. This stadium is still used for the club's training. In 1955, the Italian Labour Union gave a football field to Haifa. This became Hapoel's new home. The first game there was a Haifa derby, which Hapoel lost 4–1 to Maccabi.

Sammy Ofer Stadium

The city of Haifa offered the club land for a new stadium. The Sammy Ofer Stadium was built there. It is now Hapoel's main home stadium. It has 30,942 seats.

Rivalry with Maccabi Haifa

Hapoel Haifa and Maccabi Haifa are the two main football clubs in Haifa. They have a long and intense rivalry. This rivalry continued even when Hapoel Haifa was in lower divisions.

The rivalry mainly started because of the clubs' political backgrounds. Hapoel was founded as a socialist team, linked to worker movements. It was seen as the team supported by the authorities. Because of this, Maccabi Haifa became known as the underdog team that had to fight harder.

These differences created different fan bases. Hapoel Haifa fans were traditionally linked to left-wing politics. Many were workers from Haifa's industries. Maccabi Haifa fans were mostly from the middle class.

In recent years, these differences have become less clear. This is mainly because Maccabi has achieved a lot, which has made their fan base larger and more diverse. However, there is still a slight difference between the two fan groups. Many Hapoel fans live in the Krayot area. Today, the rivalry is more about sports, especially before derby matches.

Team Kit Sponsors

Team Titles

League Championships

Cup Wins

Coaching Staff

Position	Name
Manager	Ronny Levy
Assistant Manager	Gal Arel
Goalkeeper Coach	Ran Kadosh
Fitness Coach	Danny Bibsebs
Analyst	Shi Barcho
Masseur	Jonathan Danino
Team Doctor	Dr. Avi Wiseman
Graphic Designer	Ami Ravid
Team Member	Meli Lavi
Staff Member	Dori Yamin

Past Coaches

• Mordechai Spiegler (1979–80)
• Yehoshua Feigenbaum (1983–84)
• Dror Kashtan (1994–95)
• Avram Grant (1995–96)
• Ivan Katalinić (1996–97)
• Eli Guttman (1997–00)
• Guy Levy (2000–02)
• Eli Guttman (2002)
• Yehoshua Feigenbaum (2002–03)
• Baruch Maman (2003–04)
• Nir Levine (2004–05)
• Ran Ben Shimon (2005–06)
• Rafi Cohen (2006)
• Shlomi Dora (2007–10)
• Nitzan Shirazi (2010–11)
• Tal Banin (2011–12)
• Nir Klinger (2012–13)
• Shlomi Dora (2013–14)
• Reuven Atar (2014–15)
• Tal Banin (2015)
• Meir Ben Margi (2015–16)
• Eli Cohen (2016)
• Dani Golan (2016–17)
• Nir Klinger (2017–18)
• Sharon Mimer (2018–19)
• Haim Silvas (2019–21)
• Elisha Levi (2021–22)
• Nir Klinger (2022)
• Ronny Levy (2022–present)

See also

In Spanish: Hapoel Haifa Football Club para niños