Hapoel Nazareth Illit F.C.

Hapoel Nazareth Illit

Full name

Hapoel Nazareth Illit Football Club

Founded

1962

Ground

Green Stadium, Nazareth Illit

Capacity

4,000

Manager

Ofer Talker

League

Premier League

2014–15

14th

Home colours

Away colours

Third colours

Hapoel Nazareth Illit Football Club (Hebrew: מועדון כדורג להפועל נצרת עילית‎, Moadon Kaduregel Hapoel Natzrat Illit) is an Israeli football club based in the city of Nazareth Illit.

History

The club was founded in 1962 as Hapoel Kiryat Nazareth and competed in Liga Gimel for several seasons, before promoting to Liga Bet at the end of the 1971–72 season. The club changed its name in 1973 after Kiryat Nazareth gained city status and was renamed Nazareth Illit.

The club won 1975–76 Liga Bet, but, due to the league system restructuring, the club remained in the league system's third tier, which became Liga Alef. In 1978–79 the club won Liga Alef North division and was promoted to Liga Artzit, then the second tier. In 1983–84 they finished second from bottom, and were relegated to Liga Alef. Two seasons later the club finished second from bottom in Liga Alef and dropped to Liga Bet.

In 1998–99 the club finished as runners-up in Liga Alef North, and was promoted back to Liga Artzit, which was now the third tier following the formation of the Israeli Premier League in 1999. After narrowly avoiding relegation in 2000–01 when they finished one place above the relegation zone, the club finished as runners-up the following season, and were promoted back to the second tier. In 2003–04 they finished as runners-up (on goal difference), and were promoted to the top division for the first time in their history.

In their first season in the Premier League the club finished fifth. Home matches were initially played at Maccabi Ahi Nazareth's Ilut Stadium, whilst their home ground had floodlights installed. They returned home in February 2005. However, the following season, 2005–06, they finished second from bottom (on goal difference), and returned to Liga Leumit. In 2007–08 they finished bottom of Liga Leumit, and were relegated to Liga Artzit.

Despite only finishing seventh in Liga Artzit in 2008–09, F.C. Nazareth Illit were promoted back to Liga Leumit as restructuring meant the top seven clubs were automatically promoted. Since then, Nazareth Illit hasn't been relegated for 3 consecutive seasons, finishing seventh in 2009–10, 11th in 2010–11 and twelfth in 2011–12.

In the 2012–13 season the club signed several new players, including Ibrahim Basit, Eran Malchin and Moti Malka; they finished second in the league, but lost 3–1 at home in a crucial match against Hapoel Ra'anana in the play-offs,^[1] with Ra'anana eventually promoted to the Israeli Premier League, whilst Nazareth Illit finished third and remained in Liga Leumit.

Current squad

As of 1 January 2016.

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Ron Shushan
3	DF	Eden Gendler
4	DF	Eliran Hudeda
5	DF	Jenia Berkman
6	DF	Niv Serdal
7	FW	Roi Atar
8	MF	Yehuda Zano
9	MF	Yarden Cohen
11	FW	Aviv Solomon
12	MF	Dolev Azulay
14	MF	George Amsis
15	MF	Amit Amzaleg

No.	Position	Player
16	MF	William Owusu
17	DF	Oren Biton
18	DF	Reuven Gal
20	DF	Ohad Rabinovic
21	MF	Liad Elmaliah
22	GK	Sagi Malul
23	MF	Gateon Triko
25	FW	Mauricio Aubone
26	FW	Tomer Seden
41	FW	Osei Mawuli
55	MF	Mindaugas Kalonas

Notable former players

Shahar Simantov
Yoav Ziv
Jalen Pokorn

Honours

Liga Bet
- Champions 1975–76
Liga Gimel
- Champions 1971–72

References

↑ Three on top: 3-1 for Ra'anana over Nazareth Illit Best Ball, 26.4.2013 (Hebrew)

External links

Hapoel Nazareth Illit Israel Football Association (Hebrew)

Liga Leumit

Clubs	Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla F.C. Ashdod Hapoel Afula Hapoel Ashkelon Hapoel Bnei Lod Hapoel Jerusalem Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem Hapoel Nazareth Illit Hapoel Petah Tikva Hapoel Ramat Gan Hapoel Ramat HaSharon Hapoel Rishon LeZion Maccabi Ahi Nazareth Maccabi Herzliya Maccabi Kiryat Gat Maccabi Yavne

Stadia	Afula Illit Stadium Green Stadium Grundman Stadium Haberfeld Stadium HaMoshava Stadium Herzliya Municipal Stadium Ilut Stadium Lod Municipal Stadium Ness Ziona Stadium Ramla Municipal Stadium Sala Stadium Teddy Stadium Winter Stadium Yud-Alef Stadium

Seasons (second level)	1937 1939 1940 1941–42 1946–47 1949–50 1951–52 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

Israeli Premier League

Clubs	Beitar Jerusalem Bnei Sakhnin Bnei Yehuda Hapoel Acre Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Haifa Hapoel Kfar Saba Hapoel Ra'anana Hapoel Tel Aviv Ironi Kiryat Shmona Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Netanya Maccabi Petah Tikva Maccabi Tel Aviv

Stadiums	Acre Stadium Bloomfield Stadium Doha Stadium HaMoshava Stadium Ironi Stadium Levita Stadium Netanya Stadium Sammy Ofer Stadium Teddy Stadium Turner Stadium

Former clubs	F.C. Ashdod Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan Hapoel Ashkelon Hapoel Jerusalem Hapoel Petah Tikva Hapoel Ramat Gan Hapoel Rishon LeZion Hapoel Nazareth Illit Hapoel Tzafririm Holon Hapoel Ramat HaSharon Maccabi Ahi Nazareth Maccabi Herzliya Maccabi Kiryat Gat

Competition	Champions Foreign players Players with 100+ goals Records All-time table

Seasons	1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

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