Hapoel Afikim ( he, הפועל אפיקים) was an Israeli football club based in the

Kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

Afikim Afikim () is an Israeli kibbutz affiliated with the Kibbutz Movement located in the Jordan Valley three kilometers from the Sea of Galilee. It is within the jurisdiction of the Emek HaYarden Regional Council. In it had a population of . Ety ...

. The club played for eighteen successive seasons at the third tier of Israeli football league system.

History

The earliest documented match by members of the Kibbutz was played in May 1929, while they lived in what is today Kvutzat Kinneret. Footballers of the local Hapoel club met Hapoel Tiberias and won 1–0. Hapoel members continued to play football occasionally in the following years. The club was officially founded in 1948. During its early days, Hapoel Afikim played mostly in

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against nearby clubs and in regional league, comprising clubs from the Jordan Valley region, before folding in 1955 due to lack of proper reserve players. The club reformed prior to the 1962–63 season and joined Liga Gimel Valleys division. At the end of the season, the club finished runners-up, with 129 goals scored, and achieved promotion to Liga Bet, the third tier of Israeli football at the time. In the 1975–76 season, the club finished runners-up in Liga Bet North A division and achieved promotion to Liga Alef. However, at the end of that season, Liga Artzit came into existence and became the new second tier of Israeli football, whilst Liga Alef demoted to the third tier. After six seasons playing at the North division of Liga Alef, Afikim were relegated to Liga Bet, following second bottom finish in the 1981–82 season. Five years later, in 1986–87, the club finished at the bottom of Liga Bet North A division and relegated to Liga Gimel, the fifth and lowest tier, where they remained until folding at the mid-1990s. In 2008, a boarding house site was built over the club's football ground.Afikim's mythological football ground turned into a boarding house site
Eli Kedem, kibbutz.org.il, 5.2.2009

Cup performance

The club's best achievement in the

Israel State Cup The Israel State Cup ( he, גביע המדינה, ''Gvia HaMedina''), is a knockout cup competition in Israeli football, run by the Israel Football Association (IFA). The State Cup was first held in 1928 as the People's Cup. Because it involve ...

came in 1964–65, when progressed to the quarter-finals, where they narrowly defeated 0–1 by

top flight Top Flight (April 15, 1929 – 1949) was an American U.S. Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. She was the leading American filly of her generation at two and three years of age. Background Bred in Kentucky by the very prominent horseman Harry ...

club, Maccabi Petah Tikva. The club also made a remarkable run in 1982–83, while playing in Liga Bet, after they eliminated Ironi Ashdod of Liga Alef, 4–2 on

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

, after 2–2 draw, and Hapoel Tel Hanan of Liga Artzit, 2–1, and reached the seventh round, where they lost 0–3 to the eventual runners-up, Maccabi Tel Aviv, in

Bloomfield Stadium Bloomfield Stadium ( he, אצטדיון בלומפילד) is a football stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel, with a capacity of 29,400. It is the home stadium of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel Tel Aviv, and Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv. The stadium also serves the ...

.Maccabi Tel Aviv VS Hapoel Afikim
Maccabi Tel Aviv FC

Notable former players

* Ami Ayalon

Notable former managers

Abba Gindin Abraham "Abba" Gindin ( he, אברהם "אבא" גינדין; born 24 December 1945 in Helsinki, Finland) is a former Israeli professional football player. Early life Gindin was born and raised in Finland and grew up playing ice hockey and footb ...

External links

Sports – Football
Kibbutz Afikim, Archive

References

Yo-yo Afikim (Page 3)
Shmuel Raz, Hadshot HaSport, 17.7.1963, archive.football.co.il {{Football in Israel

Association football clubs established in 1948

1948 establishments in Israel