Hapoel Acre

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Hapoel Acre

Full name

Hapoel Acre
הפועל עכו

Founded

1940s

Ground

Napoleon, Acre

Capacity

2,500

Chairman

Tzion Weitzman

Manager

Momi Zafran

League

Liga Leumit

2005/06

Liga Leumit, 7th





Home colours





Away colours

Hapoel Acre (Hebrew: הפועל עכו) are a football club from the northern Israeli city of Acre. They are also known as Hapoel Akko after the Hebrew name of the city. The club plays in dark blue shirts with white sleeves, dark blue shorts and white socks, and are currently in Liga Leumit, the second tier of Israeli football. Home matches are played at the Napoleon Stadium.

[edit] History

After Israel's foundation, the club dwelt in the country's lower leagues until the 1970s. In 1973/4, they finished high enough in the second division (then known as Liga Alef) to take part in a promotion play-off to reach the top division (then known as Liga Leumit). However, after finishing in 5th position (out of 6), they were not promoted.

In the summer of 1974 Liga Artzit replaced Liga Alef as the second division of Israeli football (Liga Alef became the third division). In 1975-6, Hapoel finished second in the new league and were promoted to the top division for the first time. After a decent finish of 11th (out of 16) in their first season, they won only two matches the next season, and were relegated. This proved to be their last appearance in the top division.

By 2000, the club had fallen into Liga Artzit, which was by then the third level of Israeli football thanks to the creation of Ligat Ha'Al in 1999. However, in 2003-4, the club finished as runners up, and were promoted back to Liga Leumit. In 2005-6, the club won their first ever piece of silverware, picking up the second division's Toto Cup after beating Hapoel Be'er Sheva 5-3 on penalties after a 0-0 draw.