Hapoel Ramat Gan Giv'atayim F.C.

Hapoel Ramat Gan Giv'atayim
Full name Hapoel Ramat Gan Giv'atayim
מועדון כדורגל הפועל רמת גן גבעתיים
Nickname(s) Urduns
Founded 1927
Ground Winter Stadium, Ramat Gan
(Capacity: 8,000)
Chairman Natan Datner
Manager Freddy David
League Liga Leumit
2010–11 Israeli Premier League, 16th (relegated)
Home colours
Away colours

Hapoel Ramat Gan Giv'atayim F.C. (Hebrew: מועדון כדורגל הפועל רמת גן גבעתיים‎, Moadon Kaduregel Hapoel Ramat Gan Giv'atayim) is an Israeli football club from Ramat Gan and Giv'atayim. They play in an all-red strip, and are currently in the Israeli Premier League. Home matches are played at Winter Stadium, which has a capacity of around 8,000.

Contents

History

The club was founded in 1927 during the Mandate era by Jewish settlers in Ramat Gan. After independence, the club were placed in the top division.

After a series of mid-table finishes, they were relegated to the second division in 1959–60 after finishing bottom. In 1962–63, the club were promoted back to the top division, and followed it up by becoming the first team to win the championship in their first season after promotion. The championship-winning match against Hapoel Petah Tikva was watched by the club's record crowd of 9,000. However, this success proved to be their zenith, as they were overtaken by city rivals Hakoah who were champions in the following season, and were relegated at the end of the 1968–69 season.

The early 1980s was a yo-yo era, as the club were promoted and immediately relegated twice in succession from 1979-80 to 1982–83. In 1988–89 they won promotion again, but were again immediately relegated, this being their last period of time in the top flight.

By the end of the 1990s, the club had sunk into Liga Artzit, the third division, though they did pick up some silverware by winning the Toto Cup for third division teams in 1999–2000. In the same season, they were promoted back to the second division.

In 2002–03, Hapoel Ramat Gan became the first team from outside the top division to win the State Cup, when they beat Hapoel Be'er Sheva 5–4 on penalties after a 1–1 draw. The win also meant the club qualified for the UEFA Cup.

Hapoel were drawn against Levski Sofia of Bulgaria in the first round. However, because of a UEFA ban on matches in Israel at the time (due to the security situation), the club had to play their home match in Dunajská Streda, Slovakia. The "home" match attracted a crowd of just 300, and Hapoel lost the tie 5–0 on aggregate (1–0, 4–0).

The following season, the costs of playing in Europe and the loss of many of the best players saw the club finish bottom of the table, resulting in relegation back to the third level. A 9-point deduction for financial issues at the start of the 2005–06 season resulted in another season of struggle, with the club finishing one place above relegation. The following season they won the league, and were promoted back to Liga Leumit.

In 2008–09, the club was promoted to the Israeli Premier League.

At the end of the regular games of 2009/2010 season the team was ranked in 11th place, but after turning half points system offset various management problems is down to 14th place, promising only the remaining league playoff game against Hapoel Kfar Saba 0-1 after it increased . Summer 2010 was characterized by economic uncertainty following professional financial obligations. On June 30, the owner Yaron Koris announced that the team will continue to play after the coverage obligations by its sponsors, and that he leaves the group after four years. Group management was transferred to the management group headed by Shahar Ben Ami gave Datner. In addition, Yuval Naim left after five years as coach and was replaced by Shlomi Dora. On 15 November 2010, Dora was sacked as due to teams league ranking in the last place in the Israeli Premier League for a long time. He was replaced by Zvika Zemach. and now managed by Freddy David, who led the team to win the Toto Cup Leumit trophy in 2011.

Players

Current squad

As of 20 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 Itay Arkin
3 DF Tal Hen
5 DF Mishel Nahmias
7 MF Tal Meir
8 MF Eliyahu Levi
9 FW Adrián Fernández (footballer)
10 MF Omer Buksenbaum
11 MF Ofir Hemo
13 DF Idan Balestra
14 FW Carlos Chacana
15 FW Vladimir Browun
16 MF Uri Avraham
No. Position Player
17 MF Omer Peretz
18 DF Tamir Ben Ami
19 DF Ori Bibi
20 FW Aviv Azaria
21 FW Paul Kessany
22 GK Omri Alon
23 FW Lior Asulin
24 MF Lidor Cohen
25 DF Oz Ifrah
26 MF Yogev Ben-Simon
29 FW Chiam Mammadou Touré

Honours

Records

External links