Hapoel Kfar Saba F.C.

Hapoel Kfar Saba
Full name Hapoel Kfar Saba Football Club
מועדון כדורגל הפועל כפר סבא
Nickname(s) The greens
Founded 1928
Ground Levita Stadium, Kfar Saba
(Capacity: 5,800)
Owner Harel Raichman
Chairman Israel Ben-Yehuda
Manager Moshe Hershko
League Liga Leumit
2010–11 3rd
Home colours
Away colours
Third colours

Hapoel Kfar Saba F.C. (Hebrew: מועדון כדורגל הפועל כפר סבא‎, Moadon Kaduregel Hapoel Kfar Saba) are an Israeli football club based in Kfar Saba. They are currently in the Israeli Premier League and play at the Levita Stadium.

Contents

History

The club was established in 1928. In 1951–52 they won the South Division of Liga Bet to win promotion to Liga Alef (then the top division). Three years later they finished third from bottom and had to take part in promotion/relegation play-offs with the two top clubs from the second tier. They were unbeatnd during the play-offs and retained their place in Liga Leumit (which had replaced Liga Alef as the top division). However, in 1955–56, they finished bottom and were relegated.

Hapoel made an immediate return to Liga Leumit. They finished bottom in 1957–58, but avoided the drop as no clubs were relegated. However, they finished bottom again the following season and were relegated. The club returned to Liga Leumit in 1968. In 1975 they reached the State Cup final for the first time, beating Beitar Jerusalem 1-0. After several mid-table finishes, they were relegated at the end of the 1976–77 season. They made an immediate return to the top division, finishing third in Liga Artzit (the new second tier). In 1980 they reached the State Cup final again, beating Maccabi Ramat Amidar 4–1.

In 1980–81 they narrowly avoided relegation, finishing two points and one place above the relegation zone. The following season the club won the title for the first (and only) time under the management of Dror Kashtan. However, they finished bottom the season after, and returned to Liga Artzit.

They finished as runners-up to Hapoel Haifa in 1983–84 to make another immediate return to Liga Leumit. In 1990 the club reached the State Cup final for a third time, beating Shimshon Tel Aviv 1–0 after extra time. The following season they were relegated again after finishing bottom of the table. They returned to the top division in 1993, but finished bottom again and were relegated.

The club made another immediate return to the top division. In 1999–2000 they were relegated to Liga Leumit (now the second tier). They won the league in 2001–02 to return to the top division, but were relegated at the end of the following season. The club won Liga Leumit again in 2004–05, and avoided relegation on goal difference the following season. However, two seasons later they were relegated on goal difference. For the new season 2010-2011 a new owner(Harel Raihman) came on after almost 15 years (years of Tabib's era). A lot has changed from the last season on the management with some people from the past of the club, like past players that went on to the management (Marchinski) and others (nosovski and co). The squad has changed too a lot for this season (2010-2011).

Current squad

As of September 2011 Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 GK Ben Rahev
3 DF Adham Hadia
5 MF Robi Regev
6 MF Manuel Belestler
7 MF Ben Azubel
8 FW Eric Nyrako
9 FW Amar Fadida
10 MF Shai Biruk
11 MF Yuval Ya'akubovich
12 MF Liran Jan
13 MF Liad Meshulam
No. Position Player
15 MF Moshe Asulin
17 MF William Owusu
18 FW Raz Cohen
19 FW Avraham Chekol
20 MF Guy Melamed
21 DF Snir Mishan
22 GK Ido Levy
24 DF Ran Berkovich
25 MF Shay David
26 DF Itay Ozeri
40 FW Ahmad Merey

Honours

External links